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THE ZOHAR |
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KEDOSHIM Leviticus XIX, 1-XX, 27 YE SHALL BE HOLY, ETC. R. Eleazar cited here the text: "Be ye not as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding", etc. (Ps. XXXII, 9). 'How often', he said, 'does the Torah warn men, how often does it cry aloud on all sides to rouse them, yet they all sleep in their sins [1] and heed not! With what face will they rise on the day of judgement when the Most High King will visit upon them their neglect of the Torah in not listening to her call, since they are full of blemishes and know not the faith of the Heavenly King. Alas for them and for their souls I For the Torah has warned them saying: "Whoso is simple let him turn in hither; as for him that is void of understanding (lit. heart), she saith to him" (Prov. IX, 4). Why is he called "void of heart"? Because he has no faith; since he who does not study the Torah has no faith and is wholly blemished. It is the supernal Torah which "saith to him", and calls him "void of heart". Similarly we have learnt that if a man does not study the Torah it is forbidden to go near him, to associate with him, to do business with him, all the more so to walk in the road with him. We have learnt that if a man walks abroad and no words of Torah accompany him, his life is forfeit; still more one who goes with a man who has no faith and heeds neither the honour of his Master nor his own, being regardless of his soul. Hence it is written: "Be not as the horse or as the mule", etc. Happy are the righteous who study the Torah and know the ways of the Holy One, blessed be He, and sanctify themselves with the holiness of the King and become holy throughout, thereby drawing down a holy spirit from above, so that all their children are truly virtuous and are called "sons of the king". Woe to the wicked who are shameless and do shameless deeds, for which their children inherit an unclean soul from the unclean side. "Be not like a horse or a mule", which are lustful above other creatures, for "they which have no understanding" fall a prey to the "dogs which are greedy and can never have enough" (Isa. LVI, 11), and which are ready to "shepherd them that have no understanding" (Ibid.) [80b] into Gehinnom. Why does all this come upon them? Because they do not duly sanctify themselves in wedlock. God said: Of all peoples I desired to attach to myself only Israel; hence, "Ye shall be holy".' YE SHALL BE HOLY FOR I THE LORD AM HOLY. R. Isaac cited here the verse: "Ah land of the rustling of wings", etc. (Isa. XVIII, 1). 'When God', he said, 'came to create the world and reveal what was hidden in the depths and disclose light out of darkness, they were all wrapped in one another, and therefore light emerged from darkness and from the impenetrable came forth the profound. So, too, from good issues evil and from mercy issues judgement, and all are intertwined, the good impulse and the evil impulse, right and left, Israel and other peoples, white and black -- all depend on one another.' Said R. Isaac in the name of R. Judah: 'The whole world is like a garland of variegated flowers; when it is tried, it is judged with judgement mingled with mercy; otherwise it could not stand an instant. We have learnt that when judgement is suspended over the world and righteousness is crowned with its judgements, many winged messengers arise to meet the lords of stern judgement and to obtain sway over the world, and they spread their wings on both sides to overshadow the earth, which is then called "the land of the rustling of wings".' R. Judah said: 'I perceive that all mankind are shameless save the truly virtuous. So, if one may say so, it is throughout: if one commences to purify himself he is supported from above and similarly if he commences to defile himself.' [2] As R. Jose was once on the road he met R. Hiya and said to him: 'In reference to the verse, "Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever" (I Sam. III, 4), the Companions, you know, have stated that it will not be purged with sacrifices nor offering, but it can be purged with words of Torah. [3] Why is this? Because the words of the Torah rise above all offerings.' He replied: 'This is truly so, and if a man studies the Torah it benefits him more than all sacrifices and burnt-offerings, and even though punishment has been decreed against him from above: it is annulled. Therefore it is that words of the Torah are not susceptible to uncleanness, [4] because it can itself purify those who are unclean. We know this from the verse: "The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever" (Ps. XIX, 9).' Said R. Jose: 'But it says here "the fear of the Lord", and not "the Torah"?' He replied: 'It means the same thing, because the Torah comes from the side of Geburah (Might).' Said R. Jose: 'Rather derive it from here: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Ibid. CXI, 10). It is written: "The fear of the Lord is pure", and the Torah is called "holiness", as it is written, "I the Lord am holy", and the Torah is the supernal holy Name. Therefore [81a] he who studies it is first purified and then sanctified. We have learnt that the holiness of the Torah surpasses all other sanctifications, and the holiness of the superior recondite wisdom is highest of all.' He said to him: 'There is no Torah without wisdom and no wisdom without Torah, both being in the same grade, the root of the Torah being in the supernal Wisdom by which it is sustained. As they were going along they came across a man riding on a horse through a garden, and as he raised his hand he broke off the branch of a tree. Said. R. Jose: 'This illustrates the verse: "Ye shall sanctify yourselves and become holy"; if a man sanctifies himself below, he is further sanctified above.' R. Abba taught: 'This section sums up the whole Torah, and is the seal of truth. In this section are contained profound mysteries of the Torah relative to the Ten Commandments and divine decrees and penalties and precepts, so that when the Companions came to this section they used to rejoice.' Said R. Abba: 'Why does the section of "holiness" follow immediately upon the section dealing with sexual offences? Because we have learnt that whoever preserves himself from these offences shows that he was begotten in holiness; all the more so if he sanctifies himself with the holiness of his Master. The Companions have indicated the proper time of marital intercourse for all classes. He who desires to sanctify himself according to the will of his Master should not have intercourse save from midnight onwards, or at midnight, for at that time the Holy One, blessed be He, is in the Garden of Eden, and greater holiness is abroad, wherefore it is a time for a man to sanctify himself. This is the rule for the ordinary man. But students who know the ways of the Torah should rise at midnight to study and to join themselves with the Community of Israel to praise the holy name and the holy King; and their time of intercourse is at that hour on the night of the Sabbath [5] when grace abounds, that they may obtain favour from the Community of Israel and the Holy One, blessed be He, and those are called holy.' R. Abba quoted here the verse: "Who is like thy people Israel, one nation in the earth?" (I Sam. VII, 23). 'God', he said, 'chose Israel alone of all peoples, and made them one unique nation in the world and called them "one nation", after His own name. He gave them many precepts to be crowned withal, including the phylacteries of the head and the arm, wherewith a man becomes one and complete. For he is only called "one" when he is complete, and not if he is defective, and therefore God is called One when He is consummated with the Patriarchs and the Community of Israel. When, therefore, the Israelite puts on his phylacteries and wraps himself in the fringed garment, he is crowned with holy crowns after the supernal pattern and is called "one", and it is fitting that One should come and attend to one. And when is a man called "one"? When he is male with female and is sanctified with a high holiness and is bent upon sanctification; [81b] then alone he is called one without blemish. Therefore a man should rejoice with his wife at that hour to bind her in affection to him, and they should both have the same intent. When they are thus united, they form one soul and one body: one soul through their affection, and one body, as we have learnt, that if a man is not married he is, as it were, divided in halves, and only when male and female are joined do they become one body. Then God rests upon "one" and lodges a holy spirit in it: and such are called "the sons of God", as has been said.' YE SHALL FEAR EVERY MAN HIS MOTHER AND HIS FATHER, ETC. The fear of mother and father is here put side by side with the keeping of the Sabbath. Said R. Jose: 'It is all one; he who fears one keeps the other. Why is the mother here placed before the father? As we have learnt, because she has not so much power as the father.' R. Isaac connected this with the preceding words, "ye shall be holy": when a man comes to sanctify himself together with his wife, it is the female who deserves the greater credit for that sanctification, and therefore the mother is placed first here.' R. Judah pointed out that in another place the father is placed before the mother, the object being to indicate that both contributed equally to producing the son. The verse continues: AND YE SHALL KEEP MY SABBATHS, to show that one precept is of equal weight with the other. [82a] R. Simeon said: 'When a man sanctifies himself below, as, for instance, the Companions who sanctify themselves from Sabbath to Sabbath at the hour of the supernal wedlock, when grace abounds and blessings are at hand, then all cleave together, the soul of Sabbath and the body that has been prepared for Sabbath. Therefore it is written, "Ye shall fear every one his mother and his father", who form one wedlock in the body at that hour which has been sanctified. "Ye shall keep my sabbaths": the plural refers to the upper and the lower Sabbath which invite the soul to that body from that supernal wedlock. We may also translate "Ye shall wait for my sabbaths", this being an admonition to those who wait for their marital intercourse from Sabbath to Sabbath, as it is written, "the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths" (Isa. LVI, 4), for so we may call the Companions who emasculate themselves all the other days of the week in order to labour in the study of the Torah and wait from Sabbath to Sabbath. We may also take "father and mother" here to refer to the Body, and "my sabbaths" to the Soul, both of which cleave together.' [83b] TURN YE NOT UNTO IDOLS NOR MAKE TO YOURSELVES MOLTEN GODS. R. Hiya adduced in this connection the verse: "Turn not unto the stubbornness of this people" (Deut. IX, 27). 'How', he said, 'could Moses address such a request to the Almighty who observes all things and passes all deeds in judgement? The answer is as follows. If a man performs a religious action, that action ascends and stands before the Almighty and says: I am from So-and-so who has performed me; and God then sets it before Him that He may look upon it all the day and treat the doer well for its sake. Similarly, if a man transgresses a precept of the Law, that action ascends and stands before the Almighty and says: I am from So-and-so who has performed me; and God sets that action where the sight of it will remind him to destroy that man. But if the man repents, then He removes that sin to where He will not observe it. Hence Moses said to God: "Turn not to the wickedness of this people, nor to their wickedness nor to their sin".' R. Jose the younger once went in to see R. Simeon and found him expounding the verse: "And the man said: The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat" (Gen. III, 12). 'The expression "with me",' he said, 'indicates that Adam and Eve were created together with one body.' Said R. Jose to him: 'If so, what of the words of Hannah to Eli: "I am the woman who stood with thee here" (I Sam. I, 26)?' He replied: 'It does not say here "was given".' 'But,' said the other, 'what of the verse, "And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone, I will make him an help meet for him" (Gen. II, 18), which implies that she was not made until then ?' He replied: 'Adam was indeed alone in so far as he had no support from his female, because she was fixed in his side, as we have explained. Hence God did not say "I will create a help", but "I will make", that is, fashion; and so God did by taking one of his sides and fashioning it and bringing it to him. Then Adam cohabited with his wife, and she became a support to him. 'We have learnt that the beauty of Adam was like an emanation from the supernal effulgence, and the beauty of Eve such that no creature could look steadily at her. Even Adam could not look steadily at her until they had sinned and their beauty had been diminished. Then only did Adam gaze steadfastly at her and "know" her. We have learnt that it is forbidden to a man to gaze at the beauty of a woman [6] lest evil thoughts should be provoked in him and he should be incited [84a] to something worse.' When R. Simeon went through the town, followed by the Companions, if he saw a beautiful woman he used to lower his eyes and say to the Companions, Do not turn. Whoever gazes at the beauty of a woman by day will have lustful thoughts at night, and if these gain the better of him he will transgress the precept, "Ye shall not make to yourselves molten gods". And if he has intercourse with his wife while under the influence of those imaginings, the children born from such union are called "molten gods". R. Abba said: 'It is forbidden to a man to fix his gaze upon heathen idols and upon Gentile women, or to receive benefit or healing from them.' R. Abba discoursed on the verse: "Turn unto me and have mercy upon me, give thy strength unto thy servant" (Ps. LXXXVI, 15). 'Had God, then', he said, 'nothing more beautiful than David to turn to? It is, however, as we have learnt, that God has another David who is in command of many celestial hosts and legions: and when God desires to be gracious to the world He looks upon this David with a smiling countenance, and he in turn sheds light and grace upon the world through his beauty, his head being a skull of gold broidered with seven ornaments of gold. And through God's great love for him, He tells him to turn his eyes towards Him and look at Him, because they are very beautiful; and when he does so, His heart is, as it were, pierced with shafts of supernal love. And for the sake of that celestial David, beautiful, beloved and desired of God, David said: "Turn to me and be gracious unto me". Similarly, when Isaac said to Jacob, "Behold the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed", this, we are told, was because the Garden of Eden entered with Jacob. Here, too, we may ask, how could the Garden of Eden enter with him, seeing that it is of immense extent in length and breadth, with many compartments and residences? The truth is that God has another holy Garden of which He is specially fond, and which He guards Himself and which He appoints to be continually with the righteous; and this it was that entered with Jacob. Similarly when we are told that the whole land of Israel came and folded itself under Abram, [7] this refers to another holy supernal land which God has and which is also called "the land of Israel". This is below the grade of Jacob and has been transmitted by God to Israel out of His love for them to abide with them and to lead and protect them, and it is called "the land of the living". 'It is forbidden to a man to gaze upon a place which God loathes, and even on one which God loves. For instance, it is forbidden to gaze upon the rainbow, [8] because it is the mirror Of the supernal form. It is forbidden to a man to gaze upon the sign of the covenant upon him, because this is emblematic of the Righteous One of the world. It is forbidden to gaze upon the fingers of the priests when they spread out their hands to bless the congregation, [9] because the glory of the most high King rests there. If one must not gaze at a holy place, [84b] how much less may he at an unclean and loathsome one! Therefore, "turn not to the idols".' R. Isaac said: 'If it is forbidden to look at them, how much more to worship them! 'The injunctions in this section correspond to those in the Ten Commandments. Thus: "Ye shall not turn to the idols" corresponds to "Thou shalt have no other gods before me"; "nor make to yourselves molten gods" to "thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image"; "I am the Lord your God" to "I am the Lord thy God"; "ye shall fear every one his mother and his father" to "honour thy father and thy mother"; "and ye shall keep my sabbaths" to "remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy"; "ye shall not swear by my name falsely" to "thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain"; "ye shall not steal" to "thou shalt not steal"; "neither shall ye deal falsely nor lie to one another" to "thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour"; "the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death" (XX, 10) to "thou shalt not commit adultery"; "neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour" to "thou shalt not murder". Thus the Law is summed up in this section.' R. Hiya asked: 'Why in the Ten Commandments is the singular (thou) used and here the plural (you)? Because in the whole of their existence Israel were never so united in heart and mind in devotion to God as on that day when they stood before Mount Sinai; hence they were addressed there as a single individual, hut later they were not so single-hearted.' R. Eleazar once went to pay a visit to R. Jose ben R. Simeon ben Lakunia, his father-in-law, accompanied by R. Hiya and R. Jose. On reaching a certain field they sat down under a tree, and R. Eleazar said: 'Let each of us give a discourse on the Torah.' He himself commenced with the text : "Yet I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me" (Hos. XIII, 4). He said: 'Was God then their king only from the land of Egypt and not previously? Did not Jacob say to his sons, "Remove the strange gods from your midst" (Gen. XXXV, 2)? The truth is that Israel never paid such recognition to the glory of God as in the land of Egypt, where they were so bitterly oppressed and yet did not change their customs; nay more, they saw every day much magic and sorcery which might have seduced them, and yet they turned aside neither to the right nor to the left, although they did not actually know much of the glory of God, but only adhered to the customs of their fathers. Afterwards they saw many wonders and miracles, and therefore God said to them, "I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt", where His glory was revealed to them by the sea, and they saw the brightness of His glory face to face, so that they should not say it was another God who spoke with them, but should know that it was the same one who brought them out of the land of Egypt, whom they had seen in the land of Egypt, who had slain their enemies there and wrought the ten plagues there.' He further discoursed on the verse: THOU SHALT NOT OPPRESS THY NEIGHBOUR, NOR ROB HIM; THE WAGES OF A HIRED SERVANT SHALL NOT ABIDE WITH THEE ALL NIGHT UNTIL MORNING. 'The reason for this last injunction is to be found in the verse, "In his day thou shalt give him his hire, and the sun shall not go down upon him" (Deut. XXIV, 15): that is to say, that thou be not gathered in from the world on his account before thy time cometh. From this we learn another thing, that if one restores the soul of a poor man, even [85a] if his time has arrived to depart from the world, God restores his soul and gives him a further lease of life. To withhold the wage of a poor man is like taking his life and the life of his household. As he diminishes their souls, so God diminishes his days, and cuts off his soul from the other world. For all the breaths which issue from his mouth for the whole of that day ascend and stand before the Almighty, and afterwards his soul and the souls of his household ascend and stand in those breaths. Thus, even if length of days and many blessings had been decreed for that man, they are all withdrawn, nor does his soul mount aloft. Therefore R. Abba said: God save us from them and from their plaint! And the same is true even if it is a rich man, and his right is withheld from him. Hence R. Hamnuna, when a hired worker had finished his work, used to give him his wage and say to him: Take your soul which you have entrusted to my hand! Take your deposit! And even if the other asked him to keep it for him, he was unwilling to do so, saying: It is not fitting that your body shall be deposited with me, still less then your soul, which should be deposited only with God. Why is it written, "On his day thou shalt give him his hire"? Because every day is under the surveillance of another, a supernal Day, and if he does not give him his soul on that day, it is as if he impairs that supernal Day.' R. Hiya discoursed on the next verse: THOU SHALT NOT CURSE THE DEAF NOR PUT A STUMBLING BLOCK BEFORE THE BLIND. 'This verse can be taken literally, but all this section has also other significations, and each set is connected with the other. See now. If a man curses his neighbour in his presence, it is as if he spills his blood. When, however, he curses him not in his presence, the voice of his words ascends, and is joined by many emissaries of judgement until the place of the great abyss is aroused. Woe, therefore, to him who lets an evil word issue from his mouth. The words, "thou shalt not put a stumbling block before the blind" we interpret of one who leads another into sin, [10] and also of one who strikes his grown-up son; or again, of one who not being competent gives decisions on points of Jewish law, because he causes his fellow-man to come to grief in the future world. For we have learnt that he who walks straightly in the path of the Torah and who studies it in the fitting manner has ever a goodly portion in the world to come, since the word of Torah which issues from his lips flits about the world and goes aloft, where many angels join it, and it is crowned with a holy crown and bathed in the light of the world to come, so that there proceeds from it a celestial light which crowns him during the whole of the day. But if a man studies the Torah not in the true and [85b] proper manner, his words stray from the path and no angels join them, but they are thrust away by all and find no resting place. Who is the cause of this? The one who led him astray from the right path. If a man, however, desires to study the Torah and cannot find a proper teacher, and yet out of his love for the Torah he pores over it and babbles it ignorantly, all his words ascend and God rejoices in them and plants them around the River, where they grow into mighty trees and are called "willows of the brook". Happy are those who know the ways of the Torah and study it in the proper manner, for they plant trees of life which are superior to all healing medicines. Therefore it says, "The law of truth was in his mouth" (Mal. II, 6). For there is a law which is not of truth, namely, of him who gives decisions without being qualified, and one who learns from him learns something which is not truth. None the less it behoves a man to learn Torah, even from one who is not qualified, in order that thus his interest may be aroused and he may eventually learn from one who is qualified and walk in the straight path of the Torah.' R. Jose then discoursed on the next verse: YE SHALL DO NO UNRIGHTEOUSNESS IN JUDGEMENT, ETC. IN RIGHTEOUSNESS SHALT THOU JUDGE THY NEIGHBOUR. 'Two grades are here mentioned, "judgement" and "righteousness". What is the difference between them? One is mercy and one judgement, and one is established by the other. When "righteousness" is aroused it deals out sentence to all impartially without indulgence; but when "judgement" is aroused, clemency is also in it. I might then think that judgement alone should be used; therefore the verse says, "In righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour", not sentencing one and passing over another, but treating all equally. Should, then, righteousness alone be used? No: the verse tells us "thou shalt judge", implying that both must be together. Why so? Because God is there, and therefore the trial must be without flaw: as he does below, so does God do above. For God sets up His throne of judgement when the judges sit on earth, and it is from there that God's Throne is established, that Throne consisting of righteousness and judgement. Hence if a judge offends against these, he, as it were, impairs the Throne of the King, and then God leaves the judges and does not remain among them.' [86a] They then rose, and as they went along R. Eleazar cited the verse: THOU SHALT NOT GO UP AND DOWN AS A TALE-BEARER AMONG THY PEOPLE, ETC. 'All these rules', he said, 'have been commented on by the Companions. Let us, however, also give some exposition of this section. It is written: YE SHALL KEEP MY STATUTES. THOU SHALT NOT LET THY CATTLE GENDER WITH A DIVERSE KIND, ETC. It is written: "Ye are my witnesses said the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen" (Isa. XLIII, 10). Israel are called witnesses and the heaven and earth are called witnesses, as it says, "I testify against you heaven and earth" (Deut. XXX, 19). Israel witness against one another and heaven and earth against all. Observe now. When God created the world, He assigned all things to their respective sides, and appointed over them celestial powers, so that there is not even a tiny herb without such a supervisor, [11] and whatever they do is done through the power of that heavenly control, and all are rigidly assigned, and none [86b] leaves its appointed sphere. All are guided by another superior regulation which gives to each its portion, which comes from the heavens, and all together are called "the statutes of the heavens". Hence it is written, "Ye shall keep my statutes", because each power is appointed over a certain sphere in the world in virtue of a certain statute. Therefore it is forbidden to confound species and mate them one with another, because this dislodges the heavenly power from its place and is a defiance of the celestial household. The word kilaim (divers kinds) may be connected with kele (prison), and it also bears the meaning of preventing, indicating that one who does this prevents the celestial powers from carrying out their function, and throws them into confusion. As has been said, he alters the commands of the King, and exchanges the Tree of Life, by which all is perfected and on which faith depends, for another place. 'We have learnt that in all things a man should act after the supernal model and perform the right thing, and that if he alters it he draws upon himself something which he would better have avoided. When a man does things below in the right way, he draws upon himself a celestial holy spirit. But if he does things in a crooked way, he draws upon himself another spirit which leads him astray to an evil side. What brings upon him this evil spirit? The action which he exhibited in the other side. Such is he who joins wool and flax. (In the case of the fringes, however, this is allowed, [12] because when making these a man is in the category of completeness, and therefore he does no wrong.) But if one joins them when he is not in the category of completeness, he brings an unwelcome spirit on himself. We have a proof of this in Cain and Abel, because they came from different sides; therefore the offering of Cain was rejected for that of Abel. Another proof is in the prohibition to plough with an ox and an ass, which are names given to two different sides. These must not be mingled together, lest the junction should harm the world, whereas he who keeps them separate benefits the world. So, too, he who keeps flax and wool separate. [87a] Cain was of the type of kilaim because he came partly from another side which was not of the species of Adam and Eve; and his offering also came from that side. In the case of Abel the two sides were joined in the womb of Eve, and because they were joined no benefit came to the world from them and they perished. Hence he who makes this union arouses both sides together and may come to harm, and a wrong spirit rests on him. Israel, however, ought to call down upon themselves a holy spirit, so as to be at peace in this world and the next. Therefore the High Priest on the Day of Atonement wore only linen garments when he came to clear away the ashes from the altar (Lev. VI, 10), because the burnt-offering is an atonement for evil thoughts; but when he went into the Sanctuary, the place where there was completeness and all services of completeness, it mattered not if he wore wool and flax together, because there all the different celestial species were found together in harmony, and similarly all kinds of holy vessels were there in combination, after the supernal model. R. Hiya followed him with a discourse on the text: WHEN YE SHALL HAVE COME INTO THE LAND AND SHALL HAVE PLANTED ALL MANNER OF TREES FOR FOOD ... IN THE FOURTH YEAR ALL THE FRUIT THEREOF SHALL BE HOLY, FOR GIVING PRAISE UNTO THE LORD. 'Observe', he said, 'that the tree only produces fruit from the earth, which is its true source, nor does the earth produce the fruit save through another power above it, just as the female only produces issue from the energy of the male. Now, that fruit does not reach its complete state until three years have passed, nor is any power appointed over it above until it has reached its complete state. Then, too, the earth is established with it, and the establishment of both constitutes completeness. Similarly the progeny of a woman does not reach completeness till her third delivery, and therefore Levi was chosen from all the sons of Jacob, being the third to his mother who was established with him. Thus after three years a power is appointed over the fruit above, and in the fourth year "all its fruit is holy for giving praise" to the Holy One, blessed be He. For in the fourth year [87b] the Community of Israel becomes united with the Holy One, blessed be He, and then celestial powers are appointed over the world, an appropriate one for each object. Thenceforward all products are blessed and are permitted to be eaten, since all are in their complete state, in regard both to heaven and to earth. Till that time it is forbidden to eat of them; and he who eats of them is like one who has no share in the Holy One, blessed be He, and in the Community of Israel, since that fruit is as yet under no holy celestial control, nor is the strength of the earth established in it, so that he who eats of it shows that he has no portion either above or below, and if he makes a blessing over it, it is an idle blessing.' R. Jose then said: 'The succeeding verses are to be taken in their literal meaning, but some remarks may be made on the verse: THOU SHALT RISE UP BEFORE THE HOARY HEAD, AND HONOUR THE FACE OF AN OLD MAN. The "hoary head" refers to the Torah, and a man should rise before the Scroll of the Torah. When R. Hamnuna the Elder saw a Scroll of the Law, he used to rise and say, "Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head". Similarly a man should rise before a man of learning, because he exhibits the holy supernal image and is emblematic of the supernal Priest. Further we may derive from the verse the lesson that we should rise up to do good deeds before old age comes upon us; for there is not much credit to a man in doing this when he is old and cannot do evil any more; but it is an honour to him if he is good while still in his prime.' Said R. Eleazar: 'In very truth this way of ours is made straight before us, and it is the way of the Holy One, blessed be He. For "God knows the way of the righteous" (Ps. I, 6), to benefit them and protect them. Therefore when a man goes forth on the way he should see that that is the way of the Holy One, blessed be He, and should obtain His companionship. [88a] Of such a way it is written: "The path of the righteous is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day" (Prov. IV, 18).' _______________ Notes: 1. Al. "in their dens". 2. v. T.B. Yoma, 38b. 3. v. T.B. Rosh Hashanah, 18a. 4. v. T.B. Berachoth, 22a. 5. v. T.B. Ketuboth, 62b. 6. v. T.B. Berachoth, 24a et passim. 7. v. Midrash Rabbah on Genesis XIII, 15. 8. v. T.R Hagigah. 16a. 9. v. Ibid. 10. v. T.B. Moed Katon, 17a. 11. v. Bereshith Rabbah, 10. 12. v. T.B. Yebamoth, 4a et passim.
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