ZOHAR EXCERPTS ON ROSH HASHANA

Now the beginning of any manifestation is brought about with strain, and involves a doom of death before it can become established. When the Shekinah was about to assume her rightful place and to take over the house, the doom fell upon Rachel. Similarly, when the kingdom was about to be made manifest on earth, it commenced with a judgement, and the kingdom was not established in its place until a doom had fallen upon Saul, in accordance with his deserts; and only then was it established. It is a general rule that beginnings are rough, whereas the subsequent course is smooth. Thus, on New Year's day (Rosh-hashana) the year opens with severity, as the whole world passes under judgement, each individual according to his deeds, but soon after comes relief and forgiveness and atonement. The reason is that the beginning is from the left side, and so it brings harsh judgements, until the right side is aroused and ease follows. In time to come God will first treat the idolatrous nations gently and indulgently, but afterwards with severity and stern judgement. So Scripture says: “The Lord will go forth as a mighty one, he will stir up jealousy as a warrior; he will cry, yea, he will shout aloud, he will prove himself mighty against his enemies” (Is. XLII, 13); which interpreted means that first He will manifest Himself as TETRAGRAMMATON (the Lord), in His attribute of mercy, then as a mighty one, but not in His full might, then as a warrior, but not in His full war panoply, and finally, His whole might will become manifest against them in order to exterminate them, so that “he will cry, yea, he will shout aloud, he will prove himself mighty against his enemies.” Again, it is written: “Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fighteth in the day of battle” (Zech. XIV, 3).

The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that take refuge in him (Nahum I, 7). ‘Happy’, he said, ‘is the man who finds his strength in the Holy One, blessed be He, since His strength is invincible. The Lord is indeed “good to all” (Ps. CXLV, 9), “a stronghold”, wherein is salvation, as we read: “He is a stronghold of salvation” (Ibid. XXVIII, 8); “in the day of trouble”, to wit, in the day of Israel's oppression at the hand of other nations. Now of him who relaxes his hold of the Holy One, blessed be He, it is written: “If thou art faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is straitened” (Prov. XXIV, 10), and the only way of holding firmly to God is to hold firmly to the Torah; for whosoever holds firmly to the Torah holds firmly to the tree of life, and, as it were, adds strength to the community of Israel. But if he relaxes his hold of the Torah, then, as it were, he presses hard the Shekinah, which is the strength of the world. Again, when a man relaxes his hold of the Torah and walks in the wrong path, ever so many enemies are ready at hand to act as his accusers in the day of trouble, nay, even his own soul, which is his power and strength, turns against him, and becomes his enemy, so that it may be said of him “thy strength becomes an enemy”.

Hence, if a man walks in the way of truth and the evil prompter becomes his servant, according to the words, “Better is he that is lightly esteemed, and hath a servant” (Prov. XII, 9).

The words: “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble” apply to Jacob when Esau came forward to accuse him, and the words: “and he knoweth them that put their trust in him” were exemplified when the trouble of Dinah befell him. Observe that the accuser attacks a man only in time of danger; and so it was on account of Jacob having delayed to fulfill his vows which he had made to God that the accuser came forward against him.

‘Woe to the wicked who will not repent of their sins before the Almighty while they are still in this world. For when a man repents of his sins and feels remorse for them, the Holy One, blessed be He, forgives them. But those who cling to their sins and refuse to repent of them will in the end descend to Gehinnom and never come up again. Thus because the generation of Noah were stubborn of heart and flaunted their sins openly and defiantly, the Holy One, blessed be He, punished them as here described.’ Said R. Isaac: ‘When a man sins in secret, if he repents, the Holy One, blessed be He, being merciful, relents and forgives him; but if not, He then publishes his sins before the world. We learn this from the treatment of the faithless wife (Sotah).[Tr. note: v. Numbers v.] Similarly here, the wicked were exterminated in sight of all. The manner of their death was as follows: scalding water spurted up from the abyss, and as it reached them it first burnt the skin from the flesh, and then the flesh from the bones; the bones then came asunder, no two remaining together, and thus they were completely blotted out.’ R. Isaac said: ‘The words “they were blotted out from the earth” is analogous to the expression “let them be blotted out of the book of the living” (Ps. LXIX, 29), thus indicating that they will not participate in the resurrection and will not rise in the Day of Judgement.’

AND THEY BORE UP THE ARK, AND IT WAS LIFTED ABOVE THE EARTH. For forty days they suffered punishment, as it is written, AND THE FLOOD WAS FORTY DAYS UPON THE EARTH, and for the rest of the time they were gradually being exterminated, as it is written, AND THEY WERE BLOTTED OUT FROM THE EARTH. Woe to those sinners, since they will not rise from the dead on the day of the last judgement. This is indicated by the expression “and they were blotted out”, which contains the same idea as the verse “Thou hast blotted out their name for ever and ever” (Ps. IX, 6).’

Woe to those that sleep with eyes fast closed and do not know or consider how they will arise in the Day of Judgement; for reckoning is exacted when the body is defiled, and the soul flits over the face of the transparent ether, now up and now down, and if the gates are not opened it is tossed about like a stone from the sling. Woe to them! Who shall plead for them? For they shall not be admitted to this joyaunce, among the delightful habitations of the righteous their places shall be missing, they shall be delivered into the hands of Duma, they shall descend and not ascend. Of them it is written, “As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away, so he that goeth down to Sheol shall come up no more” (Job VII, 9). At that moment a certain flash springs forth from the side of the North and strikes the four quarters of the world and comes down and alights between the wings of the cock, which is thereby awakened and begins to crow. But none are stirred save those truly pious ones who rise and remain awake and study the Torah, and then the Holy One, blessed be He, and all the righteous in the Garden of Eden listen to their voices, as it is written, “Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken for thy voice, cause me to hear it” (S. S. VIII, 13)

‘Happy are the righteous who learn the ways of the Holy One, blessed be He, to walk in them and to go in fear of that Day of Judgement when man will be called to account before God.’ To illustrate this, R. Eleazar expounded the text: “By his hand every man sealeth, that all men may acknowledge their works” (Job. XXXVII, 7). He said: ’On the day when man's time arrives to depart from the world, when the body is broken and the soul seeks to leave it, on that day man is privileged to see things that he was not permitted to see before, when the body was in full vigour. Three messengers stand over him and take an account of his life and of all that he has done in this world, and he admits all with his mouth and signs the account with his hand as it is written, “every man sealeth with his hand”: the whole account is signed with his hand so that he should be judged in the next world for all his actions, former and later, old and new, not one of them is forgotten (as it is written, “that every man should acknowledge his works”); and for all the deeds which he committed with his body and his spirit in this world he gives an account with his body and spirit before he leaves the world. For just as sinners are stiff-necked in this world, so they are stiff-necked even at the moment when they are on the point of departing from the world. Happy, therefore, is the man who learns in this world the ways of God to walk in them. But sinners, even though they observe the righteous, are too stiffnecked to learn from them.

Woe to the men who know not nor reflect on the ways of the Torah. Woe to them when God will call them to account for their actions and will raise the body and the soul to pay the penalty for all their deeds committed before the soul was separated from the body. That will be the Day of Judgement, on which the books are open and the prosecutors standing by. At that time the serpent will be on the alert to bite the man, quivering in all his limbs to leap upon him. The soul will then become separated from the body and will depart and be carried off to it knows not where. Alas for that day, a day of wrath and indignation! Hence it behoves man to contend daily with his evil prompter and to picture to himself the day when he will stand before the King to be judged, when they will lower him into the ground to rot there, whilst the soul will become separated from him. We have been taught that it behoves man always to rouse the good prompter against the evil prompter; if the latter departs, well and good, but if not, the man should study the Torah, as there is nothing so well calculated to crush the evil prompter as the Torah;

Observe that the good prompter requires the joy of the Torah and the evil prompter the joy of wine and lewdness and arrogance. Hence a man should constantly be in fear of that great day, the Day of Judgement, the day of reckoning, when there will be none to defend him.

 

 

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