{ "language": "en", "title": "Ketem Paz on Zohar", "versionSource": "https://www.sefaria.org", "versionTitle": "Sefaria Community Translation", "actualLanguage": "en", "languageFamilyName": "english", "isSource": false, "direction": "ltr", "heTitle": "כתם פז על ספר הזהר", "categories": [ "Kabbalah", "Zohar" ], "text": { "Approbation": [], "Publisher's Introduction": [], "Author's Introduction": [], "": [ [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [ "", "", "", "", "", "[...] And after it introduced this, it returns to explain Scripture which says: “And HaShem descended” (Genesis 11:5), and it is asked on which side [is] the designation “descent” of Him Blessed be He and the designation “seeing”, and it says: “He descended from holiness to profane, ‘and a cape-tool’ (ורדיד פריסא), to inspect what they had built, and they had established a place to wake up in the world to a deity for them” [Zohar I.75b]. He [the Zohar] says, that from the perspective of His being clothed in the garments of profanity in the secret of the six days of work, as has been explained above, [that is] that this belongs to his providence for those below, it is said with respect to Him “descent” and “seeing”. And this is רדיד פריסא, as if He has clothed Himself with a veil צעיף – veil [is in] Targum Jerusalem [on Genesis 38:19] רדידא, and similar וכן ואת הרדידים “and the capes” [Isaiah 3:23]. And פריסא is a curtain, and thus in the language of our Sages of blessed memory, a פריסא is a tool (תשמיש), of the tool the explanation [is] a curtain that one spreads in front of the [Torah] Ark, is a tool for the Ark, and the Ark is a tool for the Torah Scroll [Babylonian Talmud, Megillah 26b]. As if to say He has stretched and flattened a curtain on Himself in the shape of a robe, [in order] to observe through it what the Generation of the Dispersion had built, and they all agreed as one to inspire awe in the world and to make a god for them. And the explanation of וירד from the word רדיד is, that intention in it is to make known that He sees and is not seen, similar to one who stands behind the curtain and sees another person but he [himself] is not seen. And you already know that all that is stated on this, is from our side, not from the side of He that is blessed, God forbid! And the Rabbi of blessed memory [Maimonides] already elaborated in the Guide of the Perplexed on the removal of all forms that in the Torah are attributed to Him that is blessed. " ], [ "“And HaShem said: “They are one people and [ther is] one language/tongue for them all, and this they have started to do, and now should it not be impossible for them…” [Genesis 11:6]. “Because all as one in unity” etc. [Zohar I.75b]. It explains that when there is association and brotherhood among the sons of man, even if they are rebelling and sinning, when there is consent between them, certainly there will be consent from above to [further] arouse their brotherhood. As what is said on this: “In Ephraim’s being associated with with idols, let him do so” [Hosea 4:17; note that the author here reads בחבור instead of חבור]. And it [the Zohar] says “that all [are] as one in unity, they all will work and they will succeed in their works, the degrees will be scattered, each to its side” etc. [Zohar I.75b]. And through the degrees above becoming separated they will be separated below, as one thing depends on the other. That is why they say: “HaShem will take care of …” etc. [probably referring to Isaiah 24:21]. “And if you say: Their language, why…” [Zohar I.75b], why was it necessary to confuse their language, since [already] without this they will be disperged because the nullification of their consent from above. ", "“but because all of them spoke in the Holy Language” [Zohar I.75b]. It [the Zohar] says that the meaning of שפה אחת “one tongue” is that they were speaking in the Holy Language [Hebrew], which therefore is called שפה אחת “one tongue”, the unique one of all the languages, and thus you will find that [the numerical value of the characters of] שפה אחת adds up as the [numerical] value of [the characters of] לשון הקדש [שפה אחת has the numerical value 794 and לשון הקדש the value 795, which is of 794 plus 1 for the whole]. And it [the Zohar] says that the Holy Language is suited to draw down the will from above, since there [above] [is] its root and essence, yet [for] the other languages, their root [is in] the lower outer degrees. ", "“and this language produces them aid” [Zohar I.75b], since it [language] is one of the binding conditions for drawing energy from above, and these [conditions] are: thought, speech and act. And already earlier, because in this way the world was created and came into actuality, since in the beginning was the upper thought in essence, and after this “and God spoke”[Genesis 1:3], and this is speech, and after this was the act, as it is said “on the day of HaShem Elohim’s making of earth and heavens” [Genesis 2:4]. And it’s [the Zohar’s] saying is “since in the work and in the speech of the mouth depend these words, to fix the intention of the heart.” [Zohar I.75b], and it starts with the act in its saying “since in the work and in the speech…”etc., since Elohim has done the other way around. And therefore it is necessary below to begin with the act and after that the speech and to attach the thought to the heart. And this preservation is the essence, and Performance of the Sacrifices [in Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah] will show [it]. ", "...“When their language was confused, they did not succeed with [their] work, because the powers above only know and understand the Holy Language.” [Zohar I.75b], as what is said in tractate Sotah [Babylonian Talmud, tractate Sotah 33a] [where] these explanations are given: “Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: A person should never ask his needs in the Aramaic language, as Rabbi Yochanan said: ‘Everyone who asks his needs in the Aramaic language, the ministering angels do not take notice of him, because the ministering angels do no not recognize the Aramaic language.'\". And in the Gemara they discussed: \"Do not the ministering angels recognize the Aramaic language? But has it not been taught [that] Yochanan the High Priest heard a voice from the room of the Holy of Holies which said: ‘The young men that went out to wage war in Antioch, have been victorious.’ And a further incident concerning Simeon the Just, who heard a voice from the room of the Holy of Holies which said: ‘Eliminated is the business (עבי\"דתא, explained as: army [see Rashi’s commentary on the Talmud passage here]) that the enemy said to inflict on the Temple. And Nisqalgas was killed and his decrees were annulled.’ And they wrote down its moment and determined it exactly, and in the Aramaic language they spoke them.\" And they replied: \"If you want, say that a heavenly voice is different because [it] is made to inform, and the explanation of Rashi: A heavenly voice is the appointed principle [I think חדה (“one”) is a misreading; my version of Ketem Paz has מידהwhich I translate here][and] therefore knowing 70 languages, because it is made to proclaim, and it is commissioned to all the languages, sometimes to this, sometimes to that [language]. And if we want, say: It was Gabriel, as a Master said: ‘Gabriel came and taught Joseph 70 languages’ [Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Sotah 36b].\" And I already wrote what I have in Chapter Bereshit on the verse: “Tell them this: The gods that dit not make heavens and earth will perish from the earth and from under these heavens.” [Jeremiah 10:11; this is a single verse in Aramaic in a further Hebrew text]; it will be considered there. And what we gain from this here is that the host from above, they only know and recognize the Holy Language, except a Heavenly Voice and Gabriel, and with the confusion of their language their power became weak and this is what it [the Zohar] says: “because the powers above only know and understand the Holy Language, and when the language was confused their powers became weak and their force was broken.” [Zohar I.75b] " ] ] }, "schema": { "heTitle": "כתם פז על ספר הזהר", "enTitle": "Ketem Paz on Zohar", "key": "Ketem Paz on Zohar", "nodes": [ { "heTitle": "הסכמה", "enTitle": "Approbation" }, { "heTitle": "הקדמת המגיה", "enTitle": "Publisher's Introduction" }, { "heTitle": "הקדמת המחבר", "enTitle": "Author's Introduction" }, { "heTitle": "", "enTitle": "" } ] } }