{"id":34,"date":"2012-01-23T16:33:41","date_gmt":"2012-01-23T16:33:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/talesfromthezohar.wordpress.com\/?p=34"},"modified":"2012-01-23T16:33:41","modified_gmt":"2012-01-23T16:33:41","slug":"5-the-first-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/zohar\/2012\/01\/23\/5-the-first-light\/","title":{"rendered":"5. The First Light"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Book of Radiance: Tales from the Zohar<\/em><\/p>\n

By Rabbi Yaakov Feldman<\/p>\n

Few things stun as much as the catch of quick light out of the blue. Given that, just imagine the sight of a gloomy crowd of wicked blind people — foolish souls who can\u2019t see, yet who manage to strike out at others in the dark, to steal their jewels in the night, or to panic children in the shadows. And imagine turning a light on them suddenly that\u2019s so strong that not only are their victims saved but the wicked blind themselves are able to see their own wickedness. How stunning would that<\/em> light be!<\/p>\n

Imagine then the moments before light itself was created by G-d with the simple command, \u201cLet there be light!\u201d (Genesis 1:3). For, all there was then was utterly dark, frigid cold, and unreadable nothingness suddenly lit up from out of nowhere.<\/p>\n

In fact we\u2019re told that before “stretching out the heavens like a curtain,” G-d “wrapped Himself in light like a garment” (Psalms 104:2) and the radiance of His glory then illuminated the world from one end to the other (Breishit<\/em> Rabbah<\/em> 3). We\u2019re likewise taught that it\u2019s as a consequence of the act of wrapping Himself in that light that G-d became invisible to us (see Megilah<\/em> 19b).<\/p>\n

There\u2019s much to say about G-d\u2019s invisibleness, which is the single greatest deterrent to our belief in Him, to be sure, though it\u2019s rarely mentioned. But the fact that His invisibleness is caused by His being over-covered by Light is captivating! It implies for one thing that were He not<\/em> over-covered with it, we\u2019d be able to see Him indeed.<\/p>\n

One thing we can derive from that fact, of course, is that we\u2019d do well to sit in the dark from time to time ourselves, with our eyes closed shut and our hearts stilled, in order to \u201ccatch sight\u201d of Him!<\/p>\n

Shut out that light, in other words, listen closely to the dark stillness, and allow G-d in. For not only does He dwell in the heart and minds of those fortunate souls who know Him by catching sight of the great light that surrounds Him and by surmising His own presence within it, He likewise dwells in the poor and wretched souls who sit in the dark but who \u201csee\u201d Him there, too. For in truth \u201cthe whole world is full of His Glory\u201d (Isaiah 6:13) as He suffuses and surrounds all worlds (\u00a0Zohar III, 225a).<\/p>\n

In any event, the Zohar refers to that light as the \u201cPrimal Light\u201d (Zohar 1, 31b). And we\u2019re taught that \u201cone could see with it from one end of the world to the other\u201d (Chagigah<\/em>\u00a012a), though this unearthly light only \u201cshone in full splendor until Adam sinned\u201d at which point G-d withdrew it from the world (Breishit<\/em> Rabbah<\/em> 12).<\/p>\n

So, let\u2019s see what else the Zohar offers there about this Primal Light. We learn (Zohar 1, 31b) that G-d had shined it upon Moshe when he was a baby, when \u201chis mother hid him for the first three months of his life\u201d; but that many years later \u201cG-d took it away from him when he appeared before Pharaoh\u201d so that the latter wouldn\u2019t\u00a0 benefit from being exposed to it; and that \u201cHe gave it back to Moshe when he stood at Mount Sinai to receive the Torah\u201d so the Primal Light and the Light of Torah could finally be rejoined.<\/p>\n

And we\u2019re told that Moshe enjoyed that Primal Light from then on to the end of his life, thanks to which he was able to see \u201cthe (whole) Land of Israel from Gilead to Dan\u201d which he couldn\u2019t do otherwise. That suggests of course that the land of Israel is available on some subtle discreet levels to anyone wherever he or she stands, when that person derives his inspiration from G-d\u2019s own Light.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, though, the Zohar speaks about light in \u201canother light\u201d, so to speak (Zohar<\/em> Chadash<\/em>, Breishit<\/em> 15 b-d). It offers there that the light of the sun is actually derived from the Primordial Light we referred to above, which it terms Aspaklariah<\/em> D\u2019Liayla<\/em> — the great \u201cSpeculum Above\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t be surprised by this fact,\u201d it offers, because a lot of things down below derive from sources up above, for which it gives examples.<\/p>\n

After all, \u201cwhen a master teaches Torah, he first divulges it to his translator\u201d (see below), who then passes the teaching on \u201cto those close to him\u201d, who then likewise pass it along to others down the line until the entire auditorium gets to hear the master\u2019s words. Thus we find that when all is said and done, \u201ceverything depends on the master\u201d who revealed the Torah\u2019s teaching in the first place, even though the rest heard it from others\u2019 lips.<\/p>\n

First of all, the \u201ctranslator\u201d referred to could also be termed a \u201creciter\u201d, as our rabbis taught Torah in auditoriums that were too large to carry their voices all the way through, so their messages were passed along from one \u201creciter\u201d to another, so on down the line, so everyone could benefit from his wisdom. The point of the matter is that like the sun which draws its light from up above, you and I derive the Torah we live by from a loftier source — one great master or another. But it goes deeper yet.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s likewise true that while \u201cMoshe was shone upon by G-d\u2019s Glory\u201d itself because he was so close to G-d, \u201cJoshua was \u2018shone upon\u2019 by Moshe\u201d, the \u201celders were \u2018shone upon\u2019 by Joshua\u201d, the \u201cprophets were \u2018shone upon\u2019 by the elders\u201d, and the tribal \u201cchiefs and leaders were \u2018shone upon\u2019 by the prophets\u201d offers the Zohar (see Pirkei<\/em> Avot<\/em> 1:1). That\u2019s to say that the Torah that the master whom we<\/em> depend upon for our sustenance draws its light from the earlier masters all the way back to Moshe, who drew upon G-d\u2019s own Glory for his revelations.<\/p>\n

Returning to the idea that the sun derives its light from the great \u201cSpeculum Above\u201d, Rabbi Elazar says in our Zohar that the sun only receives \u201ca single thread of splendor\u201d, despite its apparent radiance; and he volunteers that the sun\u2019s light is a mere 1\/60,075 th<\/sup>\u2019s of the Speculum\u2019s own light — which is a far, far dimmer light than the 1\/100 th<\/sup>\u2019s depicted in Midrash<\/em> Tachuma<\/em> (Beha’alotecha<\/em>) to be sure!<\/p>\n

The point of the matter is as follows. Whatever light you and I may exhibit in this life and whatever wisdom we may have is wholly derivative without exception. Nothing we do, think, or say that seems to radiate or to be splendid is our own. All of our assumed originality comes down to our pinching something off the edges of something or another we\u2019d already learned, and adding a dollop or two of something we\u2019d learned elsewhere to it, or the like.<\/p>\n

Or better yet, it comes to our turning full-face toward our source and acknowledging it, and simply expressing its own brilliance to some \u201clesser lights\u201d than ourselves in our own terms without actually adding a thing.<\/p>\n

For such is the human condition: while we know precious little on our own, we can and often do derive the insights of others who know more than we, but who themselves in fact derive their insights from sources who knew far more than they. As such at bottom let it be said that everything ever known, said, or proposed is a reflection of G-d\u2019s own \u201cSpeculum Above\u201d which is its ultimate source.<\/p>\n

The sooner we take that to heart, the wiser we\u2019ll be, in fact. For, as a sage once put it, \u201cThe greatest knowledge is the realization that we know nothing in fact\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2012 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman<\/p>\n

Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org<\/a><\/p>\n

——————————————————<\/p>\n

AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman’s translation of Maimonides’ “Eight Chapters” is available here<\/a> at a discount.<\/p>\n

You can still purchase a copy of Rabbi Feldman’s translation of “The Gates of Repentance” here<\/a> at a discount as well.<\/p>\n

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon “The Path of the Just” and “The Duties of the Heart” (Jason Aronson Publishers).<\/p>\n

Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled “Spiritual Excellence<\/a>\u201d and \u201cRamchal<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Book of Radiance: Tales from the Zohar By Rabbi Yaakov Feldman Few things stun as much as the catch of quick light out of the blue. Given that, just imagine the sight of a gloomy crowd of wicked blind … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7iqmS-y","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/zohar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/zohar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/zohar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/zohar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/zohar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/zohar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/zohar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/zohar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/zohar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}