Zohar Prologue Section 5 - Mother Lends Her Clothes to the Daughter

It is recommended to read / scan / study the Section prior to reading the Synopsis

Zohar Commentary on the Prologue

Synopsis

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai describes to his son, Rabbi Elazar, his mystical encounter with Elijah the Prophet (Eliyahu). It was then that the supernal secrets of Creation concealed within the previous section were revealed to the holy Master. The words and sentences of this story imbue us with the power to achieve an even stronger connection to the Light.

Pasook 11. from the Zohar Commentary on the Prologue

אָמַר רָבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן, אֶלְעָזָר בְּנִי פְּסוֹק מִילָךְ, וְיִתְגְּלֵי סְתִימָא דְרָזָא עִלָּאָה דִּבְנֵי עָלְמָא לָא יָדְעִין. שָׁתִיק ר' אֶלְעָזָר. בָּכָה ר"ש, וְקָאֵים רִגְעָא חֲדָא. אָמַר רָבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן, אֶלְעָזָר, מַאי אֵלֶּה. אִי תֵימָא כֹּכְבַיָא וּמַזָּלֵי, הָא אִתְחֲזָן תַּמָּן תָּדִיר. וּבַמֶּ"ה אִיתְבְּרִיאוּ, כד"א בִּדְבַר ה' שָׁמַיִם נַעֲשׁוּ. אִי עַל מִלִּין סְתִימִין, לָא לִכְתּוֹב אֵלֶּה, דְּהָא אִיתְגַּלְּיָא אִיהוּ.

Rabbi Shimon said, Elazar, my son, stop talking lest the supernal hidden secret, which humans know nothing about, be revealed. Rabbi Elazar stopped talking and was silent. Rabbi Shimon wept and stood still for a moment. Rabbi Shimon then said, Elazar, what is these (Heb. eleh, which is spelled ALEPH LAMED HEI)? If you say that they are the planets and the constellations, have they not always been seen? And they were created by Mah WHICH IS MALCHUT. As it is written, "By the word of Hashem were the heavens made" (Tehilim 33:6), THAT IS BY MALCHUT THAT IS CALLED THE "WORD OF HASHEM" WERE THE HEAVENS MADE. And if the term Eleh was said about the hidden things, then there is no NEED to write Eleh, because they, THE PLANETS AND THE CONSTELLATION, are visible.

chanoch's Commentary

One of the most important teachings in Kabbalah is that which relates to revealment and concealment. What things need to be concealed until they are revealed. Even Keter which is always concealed will eventually be revealed. Here are some examples of this practical application. On Motzei Shabbat we use the fingernails of the right hand to reflect the light of the Havdalah candle. The keter which is our thumb is concealed beneath the other four fingers since Keter is always concealed. When you have arrived at the level of consciousness of the previous frame of reference like when we are doing Teshuvah then we are in Malchut of frame 1 revealing the future which is Keter of frame 2. We do this when we apply the techniques of Teshuvah within our meditations. Usually our ability to "see" the future of frame 2 is limited since in the Keter we are connected to all possibilities.

Pasook 12. from the Zohar Commentary on the Prologue

אֶלָּא רָזָא דָא לָא אִתְגַּלְּיָא, בַּר יוֹמָא חַד דַּהֲוֵינָא עַל כֵּיף יַמָּא, וַאֲתָא אֵלִיָּהוּ וַאֲמַר לִי, רַבִּי יָדַעְתְּ מַה הוּא מִי בָּרָא אֵלֶּה. אֲמֵינָא לֵיהּ, אִלֵּין שְׁמַיָּא וְחֵילֵהוֹן, עוֹבָדָא דְקָדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא דְּאִית לֵיהּ לְבַר נָשׁ לְאִסְתַּכְּלָא בְּהוֹ, וּלְבָרְכָא לֵיהּ, דִּכְתִיב כִּי אֶרְאֶה שָׁמֶיךָ מַעֲשֵׂה אֶצְבְּעוֹתֶיךָ וגו' ה' אֲדוֹנֵינוּ מָה אַדִּיר שִׁמְךָ בְּכָל הָאָרֶץ.

This secret was never before revealed, until one day when I was on the seashore, Elijah came and asked me: Sir do you know what "who (Heb. mi) has created these (Heb. eleh)" means? I answered 'these' are the heavens and their hosts, the works of the Holy One, blessed be He. And man should look at them and bless Him, as is written, "When I behold Your heavens, the work of Your fingers... Adonai our Master, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!" (Tehilim 8:4-10).

chanoch adds: Elijah is asking the following question in Hebrew. It will be necessary to follow the Hebrew letters as you will see. ?מי ברא אלה Elijah is doing this because this is the cause of the generation of Enos making the mistake that they did, in my opinion based on the Midrash which tells us that Enosh thanked the Angels along with HaShem and that caused people to stop thanking both since people are always looking for the shortcut or so it seems. Mi Bara Ela translates as "Who Created These? Remeber in Genesis the Name of HaShem that is used for Creation is Elohim.

Pasook 13. from the Zohar Commentary on the Prologue

אָמַר לוֹ, רַבִּי: מִלָּה סְתִימָא הֲוָה קַמֵּי קָדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, וְגָלֵי בִּמְתִיבְתָּא עִלָּאָה, וְדָא הוּא. בְּשַׁעְתָּא דִּסְתִימָא דְכָל סְתִימִין בָּעָא לְאִתְגַּלְּיָא, עֲבַד בְּרֵישָׁא נְקוּדָה חֲדָא, וְדָא סָלֵיק לְמֶהֱוֵי מַחֲשָׁבָה. צַיֵּיר בָּהּ כָּל צִיּוּרִין חָקַק בָּהּ כָּל גְּלִיפִין.

He told me, Rabbi, the Holy One, blessed be He, had a great secret, which He revealed to the celestial Yeshivah. The secret is that when the most concealed One desired to reveal Himself, He first made one Point, WHICH IS MALCHUT, and this point ascended and became a Thought, WHICH IS BINAH. THIS MEANS THAT MALCHUT ROSE UP AND WAS INCLUDED WITHIN BINAH. He shaped in it all the images and engraved all the designs.

chanoch's Commentary

This Zohar is teaching you about the energy store of Binah. How on Yom Kippur you as Malchut can rise to Binah and shape the year ahead and engrave all the designs of what will happen in your new year. All you have to do is unify with Binah. Grow your Malchut consciousness into Binah consciousness which is a thought of what is to be in your new year. What do you want to change about yourself and then your world and life will be changed just like pushing the buttons on a remote control changes your channel.

Pasook 14. from the Zohar Commentary on the Prologue

וְאַגְלִיף גּוֹ בּוֹצִינָא קַדִּישָׁא סְתִימָא גְּלִיפוּ דְּחַד צִיּוּרָא סְתִימָאָה קֹדֶשׁ קַדִּישִׁין בִּנְיָינָא עֲמִיקָא דְּנָפֵיק מִגּוֹ מַחֲשָׁבָה, וְאִקְרֵי מִי שֵׂירוּתָא לְבִנְיָנָא קַיָּימָא וְלָא קַיָּימָא, עָמִיק וְסָתִים בִּשְׁמָא. לָא אִקְרֵי אֶלָּא מִי. בָּעָא לְאִתְגַּלְיָיא וּלְאִתְקְרֵי בִּשְׁמָא דָא, וְאִתְלַבַּשׁ בִּלְבוּשׁ יְקָר דְּנָהֵיר, וּבָרָא אֵלֶּ"ה, וְסָלֵיק אֵלֶּ"ה בִּשְׁמָא. אִתְחַבְּרוּן אַתְוָון אִלֵּין בְּאִלֵּין וְאִשְׁתְּלִים בִּשְׁמָא אֱלֹהִים. וְעַד לָא בָרָא אֵלֶּה לָא סָלֵיק בִּשְׁמָא אֱלֹהִים. וְאִינוּן דְּחָבוּ בְּעֶגְלָא. עַל רָזָא דְנָא אֲמָרוּ אֵלֶּה אֱלֹהֶיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל.

And He engraved inside the sacred and hidden candlelight, WHICH IS MALCHUT THAT IS INCLUDED WITHIN BINAH, an engraving of a mystical and holy design. It is a very profound structure that emerges from the thought, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF THE UPPER THREE SFIROT, and is called Mi, which is the inception of this edifice. And it is exists and exists not; it is hidden deep inside the name ELOHIM. FURTHERMORE, it is called only Mi (Mem Yud). This means that it lacks the letters Aleph, Lamed, and Hei FROM THE NAME ELOHIM (ALEPH-LAMED-HEI-YUD -MEM). He desired to reveal Himself and to be called ELOHIM, so He dressed Himself up in a precious shining garment, WHICH IS THE LIGHT OF CHASSADIM, and created Eleh. And these letters, Aleph, Lamed, and Hei, after being joined together ascended to the name ELOHIM, MEANING THAT the letters MEM AND YUD, combined with ALEPH, LAMED, AND HEI, complete the name Elohim. Furthermore, as long as He did not create the letters Aleph, Lamed, and Hei, they did not amount to the name Elohim. Those who sinned in worshipping the Golden Calf used this secret by saying, "These (Heb. eleh) are your Elohim, Yisrael" (Shemot 32:4).

chanoch adds: With what i wrote you are able to understand this verse. This is very powerful teaching when one truly understands the letters when combined into words produce the Creations. To do this one must first reveal the formation of Elohim as described and then also realize that this is the explanation of why Elohim goes against the Hebrew grammer rules. IT is a male name with a female grammatical ending. This is because it takes both male and female to create a creation. That is a great lesson to learn as you attempt to utilize the energy store of Binah to transform your new year into a new creation of you.

Pasook 15. from the Zohar Commentary on the Prologue

וּכְמָה דְּאִשְׁתַּתַּף מִ"י בְּאֵלֶּה, הָכֵי הוּא שְׁמָא דְּאִשְׁתַּתַּף תָּדִיר, וּבְרָזָא דָא אִתְקַיֵּים עָלְמָא. וּפְרַח אֵלִיָּהוּ וְלָא חָמֵינָא לֵיהּ. וּמִנֵּיהּ יְדַעְנָא מִלָּה דְאוֹקִימְנָא עַל רָזָא וְסִתְרָא דִילָהּ. אֲתָא ר' אֶלְעָזָר וְכָלְהוֹ חַבְרַיָיא וְאִשְׁתְּטָחוּ קַמֵּיהּ, בְּכוֹ וַאֲמָרוּ, אִלְמָלֵא לָא אֲתֵינָא לְעָלְמָא אֶלָּא לְמִשְׁמַע דָּא דַּי.

Just as the letters Mi joined Eleh, AND FORMED THE NAME ELOHIM, USING THE PRECIOUS SHINING GARMENT, WHICH IS THE LIGHT OF CHASSADIM, so the name has remained forever combined. And the continued existence of the world is based on this secret, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF THE VERSE, "The world is built by love (Heb. chesed)" (TEHILIM 89:3). Elijah then flew away, and I could not see him anymore. And it is from him that I received this knowledge and was able to grasp this hidden secret. Rabbi Elazar came with all the other friends and bowed down before him. They wept and then said, if we had not come into this world but only to hear this secret, it would have been enough for us.

chanoch adds: Another famous saying that comes from the Kabbalah is "The Answer is in the Question; you have to ask the right question". Here is the Hebrew question that is incorrect - not the right question. Who Created This? In Hebrew מי ברא זה? One can not reveal the answer from within the question. One can reveal another answer. Now when we ask the right question we get מי ברא אלה? Who Created These? What appears from within the question is the answer Elohim אלהים. As a Kabbalah student do not be afraid to ask a question. Do learn to ask the right question. And realize that the answer is always in the question if you have asked the right question. Yet there is never a wrong question. Are there any questions?

P.S. The answer within the question "Who Created This? is Yah creates water for the Seven. the meaning is the Name of HaShem creates water for the seven lower Sefirot.