This Week in the Parsha - Discourse of the Holy Zohar - Parshat Re'eh - Discourse on Accounting of the Soul

This Week in the Parsha - Discourse of the Holy Zohar - Parshat Re'eh

Discourse on Accounting of the Soul

Behold, during the time when the Holy Temple (Beit HaMikdash) stood, the sacrifices would atone every day for the sins of Israel. But now that the Temple has been destroyed, a person must perform accounting of the soul (Chesbon Nefesh) every night before going to sleep regarding all of his actions on that day, and repent for them with complete repentance.

For a person must take care to go to sleep without sin, since sleep is one-sixtieth of death. If he did not perform accounting of the soul and repentance, that same day comes before the Holy One, Blessed be He, and bears witness against his deeds. Then, a harsh spirit enters his home to cause him harm, Heaven forbid (Chas V'Shalom).

However, if he repents, a good spirit and a special garment arrive to clothe that soul, guarding it for that entire day.

(Zohar, Volume 3, Page 178a)

One who possesses a good deed, or who is a "master of accounting"—meaning he conducts an accounting of the soul for his actions every day—we have already explained this:

Every single night, before he goes up to his bed and before he sleeps, a person must conduct an accounting of the soul for all the deeds he performed that entire day, turn back from his bad actions in repentance, and request mercy, forgiveness, and pardon for them.

And [the Zohar] asks: What is the reason one must conduct an accounting of the soul at that hour before sleep?

Since at that hour, the Tree of Death, may it not be upon you or me, rests upon the world, and all inhabitants of the world taste a taste of death. Therefore, at that hour, a person must account for his deeds and confess them in repentance—as it is written: "He who confesses and forsakes [them] shall obtain mercy" [Proverbs 28:13]. Just as it is customary for people to confess prior to their death, so too every night before sleep—which is one-sixtieth of death—one must confess, since that hour partakes of death, may it not be upon you or me, as mentioned above.

And the Holy Zohar says that such individuals are called "masters of accounting."

(Zohar, Part 1, Vayechi, Page 242b)

Rabbi Yehuda opened [his discourse] and said, to explain what is written: "Hear, you deaf; and look, you blind, that you may see" [Yishayahu 42:18].

"Hear, you deaf"—and he explains: These are the people who do not listen to the words of the Torah, and do not open their ears to hear the commandments of their Master; to them the prophet said, "Hear!"

"And [you] blind"—who do not look and reflect to know why they are alive; to them the prophet said, "Look that you may see!"

For every single day a herald goes forth and proclaims, as our Sages of blessed memory said (in the sixth chapter of Pirkei Avot): Every single day a heavenly voice (Bat Kol) goes forth from Mount Horeb, proclaiming and saying, "Woe to the creations because of the insult to the Torah!"—and there is no one who pays attention to mind this proclamation.

For we have learned that during those days in which a person is created,

on the very day he emerges into the world, all these days—which are the sparks of the garments of his soul—stand in their existence and are prepared for their rectification. For every person’s soul has a spiritual garment called the Tzelem (Divine Image), which acts as an intermediary between the soul and the body. Within this Tzelem are many sparks belonging to his soul, which a person must rectify through his good deeds, commandments, etc. Right away, these sparks stand ready and awaken for rectification, day by day, along with the specific sparks belonging to each day.

And these sparks go and hover in the world;

they descend and illuminate/warn the person on each specific day individually, for every day possesses sparks of holiness belonging uniquely to it.

And when that day—meaning that specific spark—comes and shines upon him and cautions him, so that he may rectify the spark belonging to that day, yet the person does not rectify that spark, and furthermore commits a sin before his Master on that day, that day—his spark—ascends in great shame and bears witness against the person for sinning. That spark then stands alone on the outside, unable to join the rectified sparks of the remaining days that were properly repaired.

And we have learned that after that spark stands alone on the outside, the spark waits and sits, waiting for the person to repent for what he damaged in it and return it to its place.

If he merits to repent, that day—that spark—returns to its place and is rectified.

If he does not merit to repent, that day—meaning that spark—descends below and joins with that other [harmful] spirit standing outside the house, which until now could not enter because the Mezuzah prevented it. It waited to cause harm together with the spark to the household members, and now it has the strength to enter because there are two of them.

And it shapes itself into the actual image of that person, in order to harm him, and it dwells with him in the house to do him evil and damage him.

Yet there are times when its dwelling turns around for good if he merits through repentance, and then they all turn into good angels.

And if not, its dwelling with him is for evil—to harm him and cause him damage.

In the meantime—if a person did not repent and thus passed away to his eternal home:

Those days (which are the holy sparks) are counted, and they are missing; they do not ascend and are not included in the count of the remaining sparks that stayed.

Woe to that person who diminished his days and sparks before the Holy King,

and left no days above with which to adorn and clothe himself in that upper world,

and with which to draw near before the Holy King.

Come and see: when those days draw near before the Holy King,

if that person is righteous, when he departs from this world, he ascends and enters Paradise while clothed in those days.

And they become garments of glory in which his soul is clothed.

And those were the days in which he merited goodness and did not sin.

Woe to that person who diminished his days Above!

For when they seek to clothe him in those days [in the World to Come],

those days that he damaged and lacked through his sins are missing from that garment, and he is dressed in a deficient garment.

How much more so if many of those days are missing, and the person will have nothing to wear in that upper world!

Then woe to him, and woe to his soul, for they judge him in Gehinnom for those missing days—day for day, full day for full day, and days two-fold—where for each day lost he loses two days' worth and receives double punishment.

For when he departs from this world at the end of his days, he will find no days to clothe himself with, and he will have no garment with which to cover himself, causing immense shame.

Fortunate are the righteous whose days are all stored away with the Holy King,

and from them, garments of glory are made for them to wear in the World to Come!

We have learned in the secret of the Mishnah:

What is the meaning of that which is written: "And they knew that they were naked" [Genesis 3:7]?  It means that Adam and Eve possessed a clear and explicit knowledge that the garment of glory—which was meant to be crafted from the holy sparks of their days—was diminished and stripped from them through their sin.

And not even a single day remained from those days created with them in which to clothe themselves, as all of those days became blemish-tainted by their sin.

This is what is written:

That Adam the First Man said to the Holy One, Blessed be He: "Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all of them were written" [Psalms 139:16]—meaning while I was still an unformed body without a soul, Your eyes beheld me, and all my future occurrences were already known to You as if recorded before You in a book.

"The days were fashioned"—meaning the days were certainly formed and created together with Adam on the day of his creation; however, after he sinned, all of his days were corrupted.

"And there was not one among them" [Psalms 139:16]—meaning that not even a single day remained for him to clothe himself with, because all the sparks of his days, which constitute the spiritual garments of his soul levels (Naran-chai), fell into the realm of Klipat Nogah (the shell/impurity of Nogah).

Until Adam exerted himself, engaged in repentance, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, accepted his repentance.

And He made for him another garment from Klipat Nogah—which refers to the "garments of skin" (Kotnot Or)—and not from his original days, since he did not fully rectify through his repentance the days that were lost to him.

This is that which is written:

"And Hashem the L-rd made for Adam and his wife garments of skin, and He clothed them" [Genesis 3:21]—that is to say, He fashioned alternative garments for them.

Come and see: Regarding Avraham who merited to engage in Torah and commandments all his days, what is written? "He came with his days" [Genesis 24:1]—meaning, because he merited that every single day of his was filled completely with the service of Hashem, May He Be Blessed.

When he departed from this world, he entered and clothed himself in those very days of his, and nothing was diminished or lacking from that glorious garment of his, as it is written: "He came with his days"—meaning he was clothed in all of his days, for he did not miss a single day from his service of the Blessed One.

Regarding Iyov, what is written?

"And he said: 'Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there'" [Iyov 1:21].

This means he believed that all his spiritual garments were lost to him, and that no garment remained for him to wear.

We have learned: Fortunate are those righteous whose days are full of merits and commandments, remaining for them to wear in the World to Come!

And when they depart from this world, all those days join together, forming glorious garments for them to wear.

And in this garment, they merit to delight in the pleasures of the World to Come.

And in this garment, they are destined to live and arise at the Resurrection of the Dead.

And all those who possess a garment will arise,

this is what is written: "They shall stand as a garment" [Iyov 38:14]—meaning that according to the garment they merited through their good deeds, they shall stand and arise at the Resurrection of the Dead.

Woe to those wicked of the world whose days are lacking because of their sins, and not a single garment remains from their days to cover their souls when they depart from this world.

We have learned: All those righteous who merited to be clothed in a garment of glory made from their days are crowned in the upper world with the crowns with which the Patriarchs are crowned—that is, receiving the spiritual abundance of Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet (which are embodied in the Patriarchs) drawn down from that river (which is Binah) flowing out to the Garden of Eden, the exquisite delight of the righteous who merit ascending to the Upper Garden of Eden in the world of Beri'ah, where Binah of Atzilut nests.

This is what is written:

"And Hashem shall guide you continually" [Isaiah 58:11]—meaning the Holy One, Blessed be He, shall guide you through the spiritual abundance continuously flowing from Binah without interruption; "and satisfy your soul in drought"—meaning He will satisfy your soul with clear, pristine lights, which are the lights of Binah.

And as for those wicked of the world who did not merit to be clothed in a garment made from their days, regarding them it is written: "For he shall be like a solitary tree in the desert, and shall not see when good comes" [Yirmiyahu 17:6]—meaning he shall not experience the Resurrection of the Dead,

"and shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness"—meaning he shall dwell in an arid desert place, signifying that he will remain devoid of the waters of spiritual abundance that revive the dead in the Time to Come.

Rabbi Yitzchak said: Fortunate is the portion of Yaakov, who possessed great trust that he would merit to be together with his ancestors, as it is written: "And I shall lie with my fathers" [Genesis 47:30]—meaning, "May I merit to rest with them and not with others."

And that I may merit through them to clothe myself in my own days and in their days.

Rabbi Yehudah said: It is written, "And he smelled the scent of his garments and blessed him" [Genesis 27:27]. Now, "his garments"? The verse should have stated "the garments of Eisav"!

For those garments were not Yaakov's, but rather belonged to Eisav,

as it is written: "And Rivka took the coveted garments of Eisav her older son" [Genesis 27:15]. Thus it is written here "the garments of Eisav," yet there it says "the scent of his garments," implying they were Yaakov's own garments. And he resolves the difficulty:

Rather, this is how we have established it: "And he smelled"—meaning he gazed far ahead through the Holy Spirit into the Upper World, and he smelled the scent of the garment of his soul in that Upper World—the garment he had rectified through his good deeds—and then he blessed him.

And concerning this, it is written:

"See, the scent of my son is as the scent of a field"—this refers to the field of holy apples, which is the secret of the Shechinah, since it draws sustenance from Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, which contain the three colors of the apple: white, red, and green.

He said: Since you have merited through your good deeds these garments of glory, therefore—

"May the L-rd give you of the dew of heaven"—which is the spiritual abundance drawn down from Zeir Anpin to Zeir Anpin.

What does this imply? It implies that because he smelled the scent of his garments like the scent of a field—which is the secret of Malchut—he therefore blessed him with the blessing of dew, which is the spiritual abundance of Tiferet.

Because in that field of holy apples, which is Malchut, dew trickles each day from that place called heaven (Zeir Anpin), for it is written: "Of the dew of heaven"—therefore, when he smelled the scent of his garments in the secret of Malchut, he blessed him with the dew of heaven, which becomes embodied in Malchut.

Rabbi Yose said to Rabbi Yehudah: You do not need to say that he blessed him only with the spiritual abundance of dew embodied in Malchut, rather, he blessed him with all blessings, as it is written:

"Of the dew of heaven"—which is the spiritual abundance of Zeir Anpin, "and of the fatness of the earth"—which is the spiritual abundance of Malchut.

What is the reason that he blessed him?

Because "he smelled the scent of his garments"—meaning his actual garments, just as we have established, meaning he smelled the scent of the garments belonging to the Upper World.

Insights and Comments

1.      It is brought in the Talmud (Bava Batra 78b): Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: What is the meaning of that which is written, "Wherefore they that speak in proverbs [ha-moshlim] say..." [Numbers 21:27]? "Ha-moshlim" refers to those who rule (moshlim) over their evil inclination. "Come into Heshbon [let us calculate]"—come, let us calculate the accounting (cheshbon) of the world: the loss incurred by fulfilling a commandment set against its reward, and the reward gained by committing a sin set against its loss. "Let it be built and established"—if you do so, you will be built in this world and established in the World to Come.

"The city of Sihon"—if a person makes himself like a city that follows pleasant conversation (sichah), what is written after it? "For a fire is gone out of Heshbon..."—a fire will go out from those who make calculations and consume those who do not make calculations. "A flame from the city of Sihon"—from the city of the righteous, who are called talkers/devout meditators (shichin). "It hath consumed Ar of Moab"—this refers to one who follows his inclination like a city that follows pleasant conversation. "The lords of the high places of Arnon"—these are the haughty of spirit, as the Master said: Anyone who possesses haughtiness of spirit falls into Gehinnom. "We have shot at them [va-nirram]"—the wicked one said, "There is no Supreme One (ein ram)." "Heshbon is perished"—the accounting (cheshbon) of the world is lost. "Even unto Dibon"—the Holy One, Blessed be He, said: Wait until the judgment (din) comes. "And we have laid them waste unto Nophah"—until a fire comes that requires no blowing (niphuach). "Which reacheth unto Medeba"—until He grieves (yatdiv) their soul; and some say, until he does whatever he pleases. Thus far the phrasing of the Talmud.

Now, regarding what the Talmud said—that Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: "Ha-moshlim" are those who rule over their inclination, "Come into Heshbon" means come and let us calculate the accounting of the world: the loss of a mitzvah against its reward, and the reward of a sin against its loss—this requires explanation: What is the connection between this homiletical interpretation (derash) and the literal meaning (peshat) of the verse? Is it merely because the words "rulers" (moshlim) and "calculation" (heshbon) are written that this homily must be expounded?

This matter can be understood according to what is brought in the Midrash: The King of Moab was sitting in the royal city at a feast with friends, when messengers came and informed him that the Amorites had arrived to conquer the city of Heshbon, which was located at the edge of the border. The king, not wanting to ruin the joy of the feast, said, "Heshbon? Let them take Heshbon—one less city!" And so the enemy conquered Heshbon. Later, they waited for another opportunity and conquered another city, and another city, until they had conquered the entire kingdom. This is what is meant by the verse "For a fire is gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon," and ultimately "It hath consumed Ar of Moab"—the royal city itself.

This is also the tactic of the Evil Inclination: initially, it begins by enticing a person with small matters, and ultimately progresses to major matters. For instance, when a person is on a trip, it tells him: "Just once, eat food with dubious kosher certification; just once, look at something forbidden; just once, skip your Torah class." In this way, it continuously drags the person down from bad to worse until it removes him from the world. However, a person must outsmart the Evil Inclination and employ clever tactics to conquer it, just as King David, peace be upon him, used to do. When he arose in the morning, he would say to the Evil Inclination, "I am going to the orchard, to the bathhouse," etc., but then he would walk to the Study Hall. This is the meaning of the verse: "I considered my ways, and turned my feet unto Your testimonies" [Psalms 119:59].

2. Now, to understand these words of the Holy Zohar, it is necessary to preface an introduction from the teachings of our master, the Ari, of blessed memory (Etz Chaim, Gate 26, Chapter 1, "Gate of the Tzelem"). I will briefly present the core of these matters, accompanied by a slight commentary to elucidate his holy words: We must know that the human soul is divided into five levels, which are Nefesh, Ruach, Neshamah, Chayah, and Yechidah, as brought in Bereshit Rabbah (Section 14). Likewise, the physical body consists of five corresponding levels, which are the brain, bones, sinews, flesh, and skin.

Behold, the Holy One, Blessed be He, sent the soul with its five parts to dwell and reside with a physical human being made of material matter. However, it is impossible for the soul to directly clothe itself in physical matter, as they are completely opposite entities. Therefore, an intermediary medium is required through which the soul can clothe itself. For this reason, the Holy One, Blessed be He, created the Tzelem (spiritual image/mould), in accordance with the secret of the verse: "Surely a man walks in an image [tzelem]" [Psalms 39:7]. There are five types of Tzelem, for each level of the soul requires a distinct Tzelem—one for Yechidah, one for Neshamah, and likewise for Ruach, etc.—according to the measure of the person's merit and spiritual stature. The soul clothes itself within the Tzelem, and the Tzelem clothes itself within the human body, with a portion of it hovering over the body from the outside to protect it. Within this Tzelem lies the dynamic of the Good Inclination (Yetzer Tov) and the Evil Inclination (Yetzer Hara); for there is a Tzelem stemming from the side of holiness, and conversely, a negative one. Bound to this are the 613 commandments (positive and negative prohibitions), as well as their opposites—the 613 transgressions incurred when one violates a negative commandment or fails to perform a positive commandment.

Furthermore, every soul is divided into numerous holy sparks. In every reincarnation (gilgul) that a person undergoes, a specific allotment of holy sparks is dispatched with him to be rectified. Corresponding to the number of sparks assigned to that portion of the soul that descended to dwell within the person, so is the number of his days granted to him to live. This is the secret of the verse: "Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths" [Psalms 39:6]. Corresponding to this precise number, there are sparks contained within the Tzelem. Indeed, the ultimate purpose of the soul's descent into this world is not for its own sake, but solely to rectify these days—which constitutes the ultimate perfection attainable for the Nefesh, Ruach, and Neshamah.

From the words of the Holy Zohar cited above, you can observe that there are lower days and higher days, for each day represents a great and awesome matter. If, Heaven forbid, a day is lost to vanities, idle neglect of Torah, and lack of performance of commandments, then a spark—which is an integral portion of the soul—is lost and cast away, Heaven forbid. For all these sparks serve as the "wings" of the soul, and all of them require garments; each spark is clothed through the commandments performed on that specific day. Upon a person's death, the soul clothes itself in those higher days that he rectified, and they become its spiritual garments in Paradise (Gan Eden). If he defaulted on any days, he lacks from those garments. According to the number of days a person lives, exactly that number of garments does the soul require in the Upper World.

By way of analogy: just as the physical body requires a specific garment for the head, a specific garment for the torso, and specific garments for the feet and heels, so too does the soul require a multiplicity of garments according to its spiritual structure. For instance, if a person lacks a hat (the head garment) or shoes (the foot garment), he experiences great embarrassment. So too—to a degree immeasurably and incomparably greater—is the shame experienced by a soul that lacks a spiritual garment.

Therefore, against its will, the soul must return—so that it does not go back in shame and disgrace, needing to undergo another reincarnation (gilgul) to become perfected through these garments. Furthermore, it is brought in the Holy Zohar (ibid.) that concerning those days which one does not rectify, they unfortunately depart from holiness and join with impurity, Heaven forbid. They then come to the doorway of the person's home, where a damaging force (mazik) stands. This damaging force has no permission to enter due to the holiness of the mezuzah; however, if the unrectified combination of that day joins it, both of them—the damaging force and that day—enter against his will, causing harm (may we be spared) to one's body, soul, and property. May Hashem protect us. (See the Holy Zohar and commentaries there).

This constituted the entire devotional work of the righteous: to rectify these days. For this reason, our holy ancestors were praised in this manner, such as: "And Avraham was old, coming into days" [Genesis 24:1], and likewise: "And King David was old, coming into days" [1 Kings 1:1]—meaning they rectified all of their days in complete perfection, without any lacking.

Therefore, if a day passes for a person without being rectified and that spark is lacking, that day is diminished above among the higher days, and a garment is missing from the soul, as well as from the Tzelem. Regarding this, it may be said: "Woe to us, for the day has turned," because the day passed in utter futility. How much more so, Heaven forbid, if not only did he fail to produce holy garments for the soul, but actually committed sins on that day; instead of holy garments, he formed and rectified evil garments for the Evil Inclination to clothe itself in. Its power then grows stronger to pursue and demean all parts of holiness.

If so, what can a person do when days and years have passed over him without rectification—and even on a day he believes he did rectify, who knows if his Torah and performance of commandments were accepted so as to fully rectify that day? Would that even a few days of our whole lives be found properly rectified! What shall the poor and destitute such as ourselves do, and what recourse do we have? Is there no longer any hope, Heaven forbid? Behold, the Holy One, Blessed be He, is called merciful, gracious, and abundant in kindness and compassion! However, the holy author of the Or HaChaim (Parshat Vayechi) revealed to us that these holy sparks of the days that depart from a person do not leave the soul completely; rather, they remain attached and intertwined with the soul through Divine kindness. A proof to his holy words comes from the Holy Zohar quoted above: that these days wait for the person, hoping he will return to Hashem in complete repentance, so that these days may return to their rectified state and once again rest upon the soul. This is a double and redoubled goodness and great kindness from our Creator, blessed be He and blessed be His Name. And if one merits to rectify through proper repentance, then these days shine through the secret of intentional sins being transformed into merits. But know, my dear brother, that the rectification of these days depends on whether it is done early or late. That is to say, the longer a person delays returning to Hashem and rectifying these days, the darker and more fouled these days become through sins of filth, impurity, and abomination. It is like fine, pure gold buried deep in the earth—and especially in filthy mire and clay—the longer it stays there, the more rust and cloudiness it absorbs, making it far more difficult to clean, polish, beautify, and restore to the original shine and hue of gold, let alone to shine as before. So too with the soul: the longer one delays returning to our Master, the darker and more fouled these days become, and the evil garments of the Evil Inclination grow stronger. Therefore, our Sages of blessed memory expounded [Avodah Zarah 19a] on "Praiseworthy is the man who fears Hashem" [Psalms 112:1]: Praiseworthy is he who repents while he is still a "man"—that is, in his youth. (Taharat HaKodesh, Treatise Mari DeCheshbona, Chapter 1).