A little diversion … as the final essay for a class I took on Kabbalah, I had to write a pastiche/tikkun (repair) – someting in the style of the Zoharic literature, but fixing something I really didn’t like about it. This is in response to a passage in which Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the hero of the Zohar, is talking about sleep and how the souls of the righteous get it on with the Shekhinah. I thought this might amuse you. Enjoy!
Rabbi Dina opened and said: You have heard me speak of the Tree, the River of Light that mirrors the Divine into our hearts. The Tree is the essence of being human, as it is said (Deuteronomy, 20:19), the Human is the Tree of the Field. The Field is the world of abundance that we are gifted every day, and this Tree channels our gratitude back to the Divine in the same way.
Every aspect of this Tree is multi-faceted, multi-gendered, multi-coloured. The radiant colours of the ten glorious gems that grow on this Tree stretch out in all directions, in all dimensions. The mystery of the aleph-bet connects them all, pulsating with power, for the world was created with these 22 letters.
Come and see: This Tree has its roots in the Earth and its top beyond the Heavens, and yet its ending is connected to its beginning, and its beginning is connected to its end. The snake bites its tail, and the supernal Crown above is one with the One who is crowned, the One who nurtures all life below is one with every aspect of Eternity. Only the wise can understand this mystery, where there is No End and No Beginning.
Every rung on the Tree has many names and many genders, for each comprises all the others, and none is truly higher than any other. Each one is a Child and a Parent, a Spouse, a Channel, ringing with the eternal Music of the Spheres and the hum of the Cosmic Radiance. They each glow with every colour of the rainbow, as well as colours we cannot see but other living creatures can. The Divine Light flows through each one, nourishing and nurturing the world below as it does the World Above. Every emotion and quality flows through the Tree – rage and love, justice and mercy, strength and kindness, life and death. As above, so below, for every soul mirrors the Divine, as it is said (Genesis 1:26), “Let Us make humankind in Our image, after Our likeness.” The Supernal Mother, the Hall of Mirrors, focuses the Light of the Primordial Torah and shares it, in love, with all that lives.
Are you ready to talk about dreams? Gather around me, beloveds, and I will tell you a tale of the Glorious Presence of the Being of All.
Every night the souls of the righteous are gathered into the Body where they originated, as it is said (Yevamot 62a), Ben David will not come until the souls in the Body are completed/finished. They experience the joys of the Garden, where they will be welcomed when their earthly revolution is completed. But they cannot stay there, for the Faithful One must return them to their bodies until their time comes. How does the Eternal One experience time? Why do some souls return again and again, and others find peace in the Garden? This is the Great Mystery that Elijah and Miriam will explicate for us at the End of Days. For now, let us give thanks for the dreams that give us a taste of the World to Come, and for the Grace that allows us to open our eyes each day and greet the sun.
She opened and said. But what of the Evil Ones, you ask? Those who come from the Other Side, whose delight it is to frighten us and tempt us off the path of righteousness? They, too, come from the Creator of All – for there is nothing that is not part of the One. As Our Teacher Moses declared (Deuteronomy 6:4), Being is One. Where else could the Dark Ones come from? They too, are part of Creation.
Do not listen to those who would tell you that Good and Evil are opposed to one another, even though it would appear that way to those who have not learned wisdom. For each Aspect of the Divine contains every other Aspect, and they are all intertwined with each other. So too, the dark Shells that would appear to block the Light are part of Creation. As it is said (Isaiah 45:7), “I form light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil”.
The disciples asked Rabbi Dina: Should we then despair of finding good in the world? If the Divine creates evil, who are we to do otherwise?
She replied: Never despair, beloveds. As Rabbi Akiva said (Avot 3:15), Everything is foreseen yet freedom of choice is granted, and the world is judged with goodness. We are given the power to repair a damaged world, to bring light in the darkness and hope to the oppressed. But we must never Other those who oppose us – for we are all Children of the same Parents, as Jacob and Esau were born of the same womb, and as the different Aspects of the Divine all contain each other. Remember that the Divine Presence is with all of us – even with those who are filled with fear and rage, and wish to destroy all who are unlike them.
They rose to leave, and the disciples asked: how can we ever finish this task of repairing the world? Surely the Shells are powerful, and we can never do this in our lifetimes. How can we know that our work of repair will not be in vain?
She replied: I have two answers for you. First, remember that it is said (Avot 2:16), It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it. We who carry the Light of the Torah, we wish to “break the power of the wicked and evil man, so that when You look for his wickedness, You will find it no more” (Psalms 10:15). Surely that will require many lifetimes. But remember also “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou found strength (Ps. 8:3)”. As the Midrash says (Midrash Tanchuma Vayigash 2), our children will be our guarantors.
At this, the disciples all wept and embraced each other. They cried out: Blessed are we who are privileged to carry on this holy task of repairing that which is broken, bringing Light to the dark places. Thank you, Rabbi Dina, for showing us the way.
She replied, thank my teacher, for all this I learned in the school of Nissan the Lesser. May his love of Torah continue to enlighten many generations of students.
Note: Rabbi Dina, who is inexplicably missing from the original, is, of course, the sister of Rabbi Shimon. She also gave her name to Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, who brings light to the darkness every week.
