{"id":59,"date":"2010-09-21T15:16:09","date_gmt":"2010-09-21T15:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/talesfromthezohar.wordpress.com\/?p=5"},"modified":"2010-09-21T15:16:09","modified_gmt":"2010-09-21T15:16:09","slug":"1-the-stories-in-the-torah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/zohar\/2010\/09\/21\/1-the-stories-in-the-torah\/","title":{"rendered":"1. The Stories in the Torah"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

By Rabbi Yaakov Feldman<\/p>\n

Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the sage behind most of the teachings of the Zohar, once offered a remarkable statement there about the Torah \u2026 and about the holy Zohar itself (3:152a).<\/p>\n

\u201cWoe to those who say that the Torah only came to relate simple stories and foolish tales!\u201d he warned. For, \u201cif that were so, why, then even we ourselves could create a \u2018Torah\u2019 with foolish tales — and even better ones<\/em>!\u201d<\/p>\n

What an astounding thing to say! But how could he ever say that about the Torah, which \u201cexisted 974 generations before the world was created\u201d (Zevachim<\/em> 116a), which \u201cG-d took council (with) before He created the world\u201d (Pirkei d\u2019Rebbe Eliezer 3<\/em>), which is \u201cone of the three things thanks to which the world is sustained\u201d (Pirkei Avot<\/em> 1:2), and without which \u201cheaven and earth couldn\u2019t continue to exist\u201d (Petachim<\/em> 68b)?<\/p>\n

Rabbi Shimon didn\u2019t stop there, though. He went on to say that \u201cif (the Torah only came) to address material matters\u201d as it sometimes seems to, \u201cthen our<\/em> leaders would have better stories to tell, so we should follow their example and produce (such) a \u2018Torah\u2019\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n

He ended his point there, though, and offered the following insight.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe truth of the matter is that all the words of the Torah are exalted and (contain) arcane mysteries.\u201d They aren\u2019t at all what they seem to be. And his point is that it\u2019s the job of the Zohar to reveal those secrets.<\/p>\n

All kinds of mysteries and secrets are discussed in the Zohar:\u00a0 the secret details about creation, about the ways of the angels and the tzaddikim, about the meaning of life, about the purpose of this mitzvah and that one, about the Jewish Holydays, as well as about birth and death, happiness and sadness, and much more.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome and see,\u201d Rabbi Shimon goes on \u2026. \u201cIt\u2019s said of the angels (that G-d) \u2018formed His angels (as pure) spirits\u2019 (Psalms 104:4), yet when they descend down here the angels don earthly clothing\u201d.\u00a0 Why — \u201cbecause if they wouldn\u2019t, they couldn\u2019t function in this world, and the world couldn\u2019t endure them\u201d. That is, seeing them in their native clothes of bright, celestial light would be too intense to bear, so they have to \u201cdress down\u201d, as the expression goes.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, if that\u2019s true of angels,\u201d he says, \u201cthen how much more so is it true of the Torah \u2026 which all the worlds exist thanks to!\u201d Shouldn\u2019t it \u201cdon earthly clothing\u201d, too? After all, who could stare straight ahead at the Torah in all its celestial light?<\/p>\n

So in fact \u201cthe Torah did<\/em> do that when it was conveyed to this world, (because) if it didn\u2019t don worldly garments, the world couldn\u2019t bear it.\u201d The point is that \u201cthe Torah\u2019s stories are its \u2018garments\u2019\u201d and the Torah has to don them so that we can handle it.<\/p>\n

And so, for example, when the Torah speaks about the various goings-on of our ancestors or about the sights and sounds it depicts in one story or another, it isn\u2019t just passing information on to us and trying to catch our interest — it\u2019s stowing away a clue here and there about the secrets of the universe.<\/p>\n

Rabbi Shimon goes on to offer this parable about our naivet\u00e9 when it comes to this.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome and see!\u201d he says, \u201cwhen simple folks see someone dressed beautifully they (look at his garment alright, but they) don\u2019t look any further. In fact, they look at his outfit as if it was his body, and they look at his body as if it were his soul\u201d.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s to say, when some people see someone\u2019s clothes they look at it as if they were actually catching sight of the person<\/em> behind it, when they\u2019re really not. After all, they think they\u2019re looking right at a person\u2019s soul<\/em> when they look at him face to face.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the same thing when it comes to the Torah\u201d Rabbi Shimon says. \u201cFor it (too) has a \u2018body\u2019 \u2026 (which) wears (different) garments, and they\u2019re the Torah\u2019s stories\u201d that cover-over the Torah\u2019s \u201cbody\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cSimple folk only look at that garment, which is the stories in the Torah, and are oblivious to everything else. They don\u2019t consider what\u2019s beneath it\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose who know a thing or two\u201d on the other hand, \u201cdon\u2019t (just) look at the garment — they look at the body beneath\u201d, which is far more splendid.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the wise — those who are servants of the great King and who stood at Mount Sinai (when the Torah was given, and thus know what they\u2019re looking at) look at the (Torah\u2019s) soul \u2026\u201d to be sure, which is stupendous. But it\u2019s not the ultimate.<\/p>\n

For \u201cin times to come, (these same people) will actually be able to look at the soul<\/em> of the Torah\u2019s soul\u201d, which is to say, at its inner essence.<\/p>\n

And so we learn that the Torah is alive, that it wears splendid clothes that are rich in texture, and that somewhere deep within the seams and pockets, along the edges, and along its contours the Torah itself calls out to us!<\/p>\n

\u201cWoe to the wrongful who say that the Torah is just (a collection of) stories!\u201d says Rabbi Shimon in the end. \u201dFor they only look at the garment and no further\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cPraised are the righteous,\u201d on the other hand, \u201cwho see the Torah as it should be seen\u201d.<\/p>\n

May we ourselves be counted among the righteous!<\/p>\n

(c) 2010 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman<\/p>\n

Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org<\/a>
\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 Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the sage behind most of the teachings of the Zohar, once offered a remarkable statement there about the Torah \u2026 and about the holy … 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-59","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-X","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/zohar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59","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=59"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/zohar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/zohar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/zohar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rabbiyaakovfeldman.aishdas.org\/zohar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}