Hearken to Me, You Hard-Hearted


Based on the above, we can understand the Zohar passage 38 that begins by explaining the verse, Hearken to Me, you hard-hearted who are far from righteousness. 39 What does this verse have to do with the topic of Lech Lecha, which is G-d's command to the Patriarch Abraham to leave his home and go to the Land of Israel?


To understand this, we must begin with this introduction. The Wisdom of Truth teaches that yesod is called tzedakah, and malchut is tzedek. This verse discusses the evil ones who are "far from tzedakah," or, as R. Chizkiyah is quoted in this passage as saying, they distance themselves from G-d, and He then distances Himself from them. They are then distanced from peace and wholeness as well, as is written, There is no peace, said G-d. 40


The Zohar then continues:

"Come and see how Abraham wished to come close to G-d, and G-d brought him close, as is written, 41 You love justice and hate evil, meaning: Because Abraham loved tzedek, which is malchut, and hated evil, he was brought close to tzedakah, righteousness. And why was Abraham called 42 Abraham, My beloved? Because You love justice."


And the saintly Ohr HaChamah explained:

"R. Chizkiyah explains that tzedakah refers to the Divine Presence: they don't want to come close to G-d, which is tiferet, and therefore the malchut, as well, distances itself from them. This is why they are far from tzedek, because the malchut does not separate itself from tiferet.

"But he was faced with this difficulty: Why did the verse not say 'far from tzedek' [instead of 'far from tzedakah']? He therefore explained that the word tzedakah was used because it is malchut, given that it is united with yesod. That is, when it accepts the male, it is called tzedakah, but when it does not, it is called tzedek. The word tzedakah was therefore used, in order to hint that they are far from peace. Why? Because they are 'far from tzedakah' because tzedakah refers also to peace, but they are not far from tzedek (strict judgment and vengeance) [as in the verse, You loved tzedek and hated evil' (Psalms 45,8)], which is close to tzedakah."


Open your eyes! See that the main reason why Avraham is called "G-d's beloved" is because Avraham loved to bring tzedek close to tzedakah! Such a thing never was and never will be outside the Land of Israel, and it cannot be understood until one merits to be pure with Hashem. And all those who are negligent and remain outside the Land, they are close to tzedek - but not to tzedakah.  Neither can they connect tzedek (malchut) to tzedakah (yesod), leading to the all-encompassing peace.  And because we are far from tzedakah, the Zohar states, we are far from peace, and this is the underlying reason for all the suffering that Israel was made to undergo throughout the years of Exile. The punishment fits the crime: Just as they distanced the Divine Presence from yesod, which is peace, so too the peace gets further away from them. 


This concept is written outright in the Prophets (Isaiah 62,1):  For the sake of Zion I will not be still, and for the sake of Jerusalem I will not be silent, which is interpreted as follows: For the sake of Zion (yesod) I will not be still, and for the sake of Jerusalem (malchut), I will not be silent.  For as long as nothing links yesod and malchut, there is no quiet or calm in the world, neither in the upper nor lower worlds – and it is all dependent upon us, upon whether we come to the Land of Israel or not, for only in the Land can there be such a link.  And whatever we do in the lower worlds, the same is caused above.



And the Shaarei Orah writes on the verse in Song of Songs:

רחצתי את רגלי איככה אטנפם

I have washed my feet; how shall I now dirty them?


The inner meaning of this verse is that G-d is saying: ‘I washed the Divine Presence - called the Throne of My Feet – from the filth of the lands of the Gentiles, when I took Israel out of the Exile, and so how can you now cause Me to walk with them in the lands of the Gentiles and thus sully the Divine Presence in your impurity?' 


  1. 38.Lech Lecha, page 76b

  2. 39.Yeshayahu 46, 12

  3. 40.Yeshayahu 48, 22

  4. 41.Tehillim 45, 8

  5. 42.Isaiah 41,8



FOOTNOTES

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