Having problems with message search?
============================
R. Simeon proceeded: 'In the same way the Torah is situated between two houses, one recondite and on high, and the other more accessible. The one on high is the "Great Voice" referred to in the verse, "a great voice which did not cease" (Deut. v, 19). This Voice is in the recesses and is not heard or revealed, and when it issues from the throat it utters the aspirate without sound and it flows on without ceasing, though it is so tenuous as to be inaudible. [1] From this issues the Torah, which is the voice of Jacob. [2] The audible voice issues from the inaudible. In due course speech is attached to it, and through the force of that speech it emerges into the open. [3] The voice of Jacob, which is the Torah, is thus attached to two females, to this inner voice which is inaudible, and to this outer voice which is heard. [4]
Strictly speaking, there are two which are inaudible and two which are heard. The two which are not heard are, first, the supernal Wisdom which is located in the Thought and is not disclosed or heard [5]; and secondly the same Wisdom when it issues and discloses itself a little in a whisper which cannot be heard, being then called the "Great Voice", which is very tenuous and issues in a whisper. [6] The two which are heard are those which issue from this source--the voice of Jacob and the articulation which accompanies it. [7] This "Great Voice" which cannot be heard is a "house" to the supernal Wisdom (the female is always called "house"), and the articulation we have mentioned is a "house" to the Voice of Jacob, which is the Torah, and therefore the Torah commences with the letter beth, which is, as it were, a "house" to it.' [8]
[Soncino Zohar, Berashith, 50b, v1, pg. 160-161.]
============================
My notes...
[1] The relevant section of Deuteronomy is as follows...
Deuteronomy 5:22-26 These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me. And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders; And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth. Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, then we shall die. For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? [King James Version.]
The "great voice" referred to here is signified by the sefirah Binah on the Tree of Life. Binah is associated with the Hebrew Mother letter Shin and elemental Fire. It is not revealed or heard until it issues from the "throat" which is identified with the sefirah Da'at.
[2] The "voice of Jacob" and the "Torah" are associated with the three combined sefirot Hesed, Geburah, and Tifaret. (Y-H-V) The Zohar explains (elsewhere) that the 'written' Torah is an expression of Hesed while the 'oral' Torah is an expression of Geburah. Jacob himself is symbolised by the sefirah Tifaret.
[3] The "speech" that is eventually "attached" to the "voice" is represented by the sefirah Malkut (from where "it emerges into the open"). Thus YHV becomes YHV-H.
[4] The "two females" are Binah ("inner voice") and Malkut ("outer voice"). The "voice of Jacob" is between them.
[5] The "supernal Wisdom" and "Thought" are references to the sefirah Hockmah.
[6] When Hockmah combines with Binah a very tenuous "whisper" is heard (i.e. from the sefirah Da'at).
[7] As described above, the "voice of Jacob" is associated with the three sefirot Hesed, Geburah, and Tifaret.
[8] The Hebrew Double letter Bayt (or 'Beth', meaning 'house') extends as a pathway between Hockmah and Binah. It (i.e. 'Bayt') effectively 'houses' the supernal Wisdom within the sefirah Binah, and finally manifests (in a 'whisper') as the sefirah Da'at (i.e. Da'at being the sefirotic expression of the Bayt archetype). Similarly, the sefirah Malkut is a 'house' to the "voice of Jacob" coming from Hesed, Geburah, and Tifaret.
Blessings,
Patrick.
Leo-Mars [3/6]
============================
Get the Yahoo! toolbar and be alerted to new email wherever you're surfing.
Offline 
Send Email