| |
The Saba & Reincarnation of the Soul
This is part 1 of a series of selections from the Zohar
The rationale behind reincarnation or transmigration
is dealt with in the Zohar in a long passage called Saba d'Mishpatim, a
portion of which has been translated below. The central idea is that
reincarnation, or gilgul, has two purposes: a) to rectify sin; b) to
acquire higher levels of soul. The former types of souls are the "old souls"
referred to above, while the latter are "new souls," which do not require
rectification as such. The following section is based on the verse, "If you buy
a Jewish slave, he shall work for six years and in the seventh year he shall go
free, without liability" (Ex. 21:2). A Jewish person can become a slave in one
of two ways: a) Due to extreme poverty, he sells himself. (In this case the
slave's master is obligated to treat him as a hired laborer rather than as a
slave per se, providing for his needs and those of his entire family (see Lev.
25:39). This is not the type of slave discussed below.) b) he is sold by the
court after conviction as a thief, if he does not have the means to repay what
he stole. This is the type of slave discussed in this section. | | " The soul must be reincarnated either because of sin or because it failed to completely fulfill its obligations in Torah and mitzvot" | | |
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai began his discourse reciting
the verse:
"These are the ordinances (mishpatim) that you
shall place before them..." (Ex. 21:2). The Targum translates this
as "these are the judgments (mishpatim) that you shall arrange
before them." This refers to the coordination of gilgulim
(reincarnations, sing. gilgul) - the judgments of souls that must be
reincarnated and return to this world to receive the punishments to which they
have been condemned.
"If you buy a Jewish slave, he shall work for six
years and in the seventh year he shall go free, without liability." Rabbi Shimon
said to his circle of disciples: Now is the time to reveal a number of
closely-guarded secrets concerning gilgul: "If you buy a Jewish slave, he
shall work for six years" - this applies when the soul must be reincarnated,
either because of sin or because it failed to completely fulfill its obligations
in Torah and mitzvot while alive in this world. Now if the person's soul is from
the aspect of the angel Metatron, comprising six levels chesed, gevura,
tiferet, netzach, hod and yesod of the world of Beriya, then
the verse states, "he shall work for six years." The soul is obligated to
undergo gilgul only until it completes the rectification of those six
levels, in regard to that aspect whence it was taken - the six sefirot of
Metatron just mentioned.
However, if the soul is from the aspect of the
Shechina malchut of Atzilut, the seventh of the emotional
sefirot, corresponding to Shabbat, the seventh day, what is written? "In the
seventh year he shall go free, without liability," because a righteous tzadik
who has merited a soul from malchut of Atzilut does not have any
work in the sense of rectification. Accordingly, the gilgul for such a
soul is not a rectification or punishment of any sort, but for another purpose -
for the sake of benefiting the world and providing leadership. Such a soul is
comparable to the Sabbath, the seventh day, when all types of work are
prohibited. Indeed, elsewhere a Tzadik and a Torah scholar are called
"Shabbat." And since he has no obligation to work, he is not enslaved. Regarding
such a soul it states, "in the seventh year he shall go free, without
liability." "Without liability" - without being enslaved. | | " Rabbi, what is unique about that soul regarding which it states, 'the seventh day is Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work...'" | | |
Just then an old man [Saba, literally
"grandfather" in Hebrew] came down to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, and said: If this
is so, Rabbi, what is unique about that soul regarding which it states, "the
seventh day is Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work - you,
your son, your daughter, your slave, your maidservant, your animal?" (Ex.
20:10). Since even "your slave and your maidservant" - souls from the world of
Beriya and Yetziraand your animals - souls from the world of
Asiya- are prohibited from doing any work on the Sabbath, just like "you,
your son and your daughter" - souls from Atzilut - what difference is
there between them?
He [ Rebbe Shimon] replied: Saba, Saba! This you are
asking? This entire verse is certainly said regarding the soul of a righteous
tzadik, which is from Atzilut. Although it is obligated to descend
and be reincarnated in all these levels, even as a slave and a maidservant, and
in animals, which are the ofanim, or in any beasts into which human souls
transmigrate, nevertheless, the verse "you shall not do any work" is written in
regard to it. When the soul of a tzadik from the world of Atzilut
is obligated to descend into this world, and be reincarnated even into beasts of
the forest, it nevertheless does not have to do any work (of rectification).
This is the meaning of "you shall not work him like a slave" (Lev. 25:39). In
regard to a tzadik, who is the Sabbath day, "you shall not work him like
a slave," who is the weekday. | | " The Sabbath...is the soul-mate of the tzadik..." | | |
But, Saba, Saba! The Sabbath, which is an only
daughter, i.e., malchut of Atzilut, called bat (daughter),
is the soul-mate of the tzadik , who is also called the Sabbath, as
explained above. But since this is so, since she is his soul mate, why is it
written in regard to him, "and if he shall take another in addition to her...?"
(Ex. 21:10). If he has found his soul mate, why would he need an additional
mate? He said: This is without a doubt the difference: "and if he shall take
another" refers to the weekday aspect of the Sabbath. The meaning of this phrase
will be explained shortly. For there are ordinary weekdays that are not called
the weekday aspect of the Sabbath, but rather a spiritually impure slave girl (shifcha).
The old man asked: What is "the weekday aspect of the
Sabbath?"
Rabbi Shimon replied: this is the amma [a
maidservant] bina of malchut of the world of Beriya who is the
body for the only daughter. The only daughter (malchut of the world of
Atzilut) is clothed within an amma like the soul is clothed in the
body. Regarding her it is said, "and if he shall take another in addition to
her."
The explanation of this is as follows:
Come, look! There are souls called 'amma' and
there are souls called 'shifcha' (slave-girl), and there are souls called
'the daughter of the king.' Each is named according to the source whence it is
drawn, or to where it transmigrates. And in the verse there is also a man - "if
a man will sell his daughter as a maidservant..." (Ex. 21:7), regarding
whom it is said, "the Lord is a man of war" (Ex. 15:3) referring to
Zeir Anpin of Atzilut, and there is also another man, regarding whom
it is said, "and the man Gabriel" (Daniel 9:21), referring to the
archangel deriving from gevura of Beriya. This part of the verse
is therefore interpreted as: "if a man (the Holy One blessed be He) will sell
his daughter (a soul from Atzilut, which is called "an only daughter") as
a maidservant (the soul transmigrates to that level of Beriya called
amma)...." | | " That is, the Jewish people will not leave the exile in the manner of slaves - hastily and in flight" | | |
Therefore, a soul that must be reincarnated, if she is
a daughter of the Holy One blessed be He i.e., if the soul derives from
malchut of Atzilut, do not say that she may be sold into the body of
a gentile, Heaven forbid, for that is where the yetzer hara [evil
inclination] from Samael rules. As it is written, "I am God, this [the
Tetragrammaton] is My name; I will not give My glory to another" (Isaiah 42:8) -
i.e., to the yetzer hara. Thus, if the soul is from Atzilut, even
though it transmigrates to the world of Beriya, it is not obligated to do
the work of rectification, nor is it subject to the kelipot.
Now regarding the body in which the daughter of the
King [the soul from Atzilut] resides - do not say that she can be sold to
the lower crowns of impurity, may Heaven have mercy upon us. In this regard the
verse states, "the land [malchut] shall not be sold in perpetuity, for
the land is Mine" (Lev.25:23). Now what is the body of the King's daughter? This
is the angel Metatron, who is the amma [maidservant] of the Shechina,
since the Shechina is clothed within him. Thus the body becomes an
amma [maidservant] for the King's daughter who is held captive therein, and
it nevertheless transmigrates in gilgul. What is written in this regard?
"If a man sells his daughter as an amma [maidservant] she shall not go
free like the going free of a slave" (Ex. 21:7).
Furthermore, another interpretation of the verse: "If
a man sells" refers to the Holy One blessed be He; "his daughter" refers to the
Jewish people, who are the aspect of an only daughter malchut, which is
called "daughter." Now if you will say that they will go free in the future,
with the advent of the Mashiach, like those enslaved in Egypt, who were from the
aspect of a slave, Metatron, and fled from Egypt, the verse states: "your shall
not depart in haste, nor in flight" (Isaiah 52:12). That is, the Jewish people
will not leave the exile in the manner of slaves - hastily and in flight, in
fear of their former slave-masters, because they will not be from the aspect of
slaves, but rather like the only daughter of the Holy One blessed be He. Thus,
when a person is worthy of the souls from the aspect of "the only daughter", it
is said regarding this soul, "she shall not go free like the going free of a
slave." For the continuation of this series: Reincarnation and the Nations, click here.
|
Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server error '80040e57'
String or binary data would be truncated.
/componentskab/feedbacktracking/feedbacktrackingform.asp, line 139 | |
