Moshe Miller
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The
Zohar, one of the earliest and most important Jewish
mystical texts, was written by Rabbi
Shimon bar Yochai and his disciples. The following is an original
translation
G-d
said to Abram, "For your own sake [in Hebrew, 'lech lecha', the
name of this week's Torah portion], go away from your land, from your
birthplace, and from your father's house...."(Gen. 12:1)
The
words "lech lecha" translated literally mean "Go to you".
Rabbi
Elazar said: "lech lecha" means "for your own sake, go
away from here and rectify your soul, advancing your [spiritual] level."
G-d
instructed Abram to depart from his present spiritual course by engaging
in mitzvot and good deeds that he would fulfill in the Land of Israel.
It is there that he would succeed in attaining previously unreachable
spiritual heights.
"It
is not fitting for you to be here, among these wicked people."
Even
though they did not influence Abram to emulate them, G-d told him that
the evil which surrounded him taints the soul.
[
Zohar I, 77b]
An
alternative translation of the words lech lecha - "Go to your Self":
[Another
interpretation:] "Go...in order to know yourself."
G-d
was telling him, "Grasp the root of your soul, so that you can
perfect yourself through revealing the root of your soul down in this
world." Elsewhere, the Zohar explains that every righteous person
(tzadik) in This World has two souls; one soul in This World, and another
soul in the higher spiritual worlds above. These are really different
levels of the soul - the main part of the soul remains above, in the
higher worlds and a mere radiance of reflection thereof is clothed in
the physical body in This World.
And
thus we find that G-d calls many tzadiks by their name twice - "Abraham,
Abraham", "Jacob, Jacob", "Moses, Moses", "Shmuel,
Shmuel", etc. in order to draw the soul down from above into the
radiance of the soul below. At this point, Abraham was thus initiated
into the journey of revealing the root of his soul as it is above -
below in This World.
[
Zohar I, 78b]
"Go
away from your land, from your birthplace, and from your father's house."
Why the repetition?
Was
it not sufficient to say, "Go away from your land?" However,
G-d was speaking to Abraham's soul as it was above, prior to its descent
into the body.
"Go
away from your [heavenly] abode, the house of your Father [in Heaven
to the physical body below in this world], and from [the storehouse
of souls above, which is called] 'Guf' ['body']."
Alternatively,
this may be interpreted as referring to the spiritual "body"
mentioned elsewhere in the Zohar.
[
Zohar Chadash, Noach 21b]
The
phrase "From your land" refers the lower level of the Garden
of Eden.
"From
your father's house" is the upper level of the Garden of Eden.
"To
the land that I will show you" refers to this the lowly and dismal
earth.
[
Zohar Chadash, Acharei 46d]
The
Head of the Academy began his discourse by citing the verse "G-d
said to Abram, 'For your own sake, go away from your land...'",
for in this way enlightenment would irradiate him.
That
is, G-d told him to leave his land and his birthplace etc., for he was
unable to receive enlightenment there.
A
person who does not succeed in one place should pick himself up and
go to another place where he may be successful, just like one waves
a glowing log so that it will burst into flame.
The
sages of the Talmud also state that a change of place brings a change
of fortune. (Rosh HaShana 16b; Bava Metzia 75b)
From
" Zohar" selected, translated and annotated by Moshe Miller.
Published by Fiftieth Gate Publications and Seminars
Rabbi
Moshe-Leib Miller, a guest teacher at Ascent when he lived in Israel,
was born in South Africa and received his yeshivah education in Israel
and America. He was a prolific author and translator, with some twenty
books to his name on a wide variety of topics, including a new, authoritative,
annotated translation of the Zohar.
