As discussed in previous posts I believe that the Jewish mystical book of the Zohar is Jewish Christian in its origins and when read at its deeper levels reveals a text that is a Eucharistic, Marian, Messianic and Josephine penetration of the Biblical text of the Torah. Even the name of the book Zohar alludes to the concept of Miriam who is Our Lady in Eternity as the Dark Waters and Light who is the Mother of Sorrows as the weeping Shekhinah and the feminine Mystical Rose. Many Jews believe that after the Bible and Talmud the Zohar comes next in authority in Judaism.
Song of Songs 2:2 refers to Our Lady and her Immaculate Conception and the following verse to her Son the Beloved (dodi) who is the Messiah. The Zohar asks “Who is Shoshanah (Roza)?” The answer is Kneset Israel or the Woman of Israel. “For there is a rose and then there is Rosa Mystica.” Daniel Matt states: “A rose blossom can have thirteen petals in its second tier.” The Zohar states : “Just as a rose has thirteen petals, so Kneset Yisrael (Our Lady) has thirteen qualities of mercy surrounding Her on every side.” It is this Celestial Mother that fully understands the concept of God as ‘Elohim’ (God). She does this through her spousal relationship with the Holy Spirit of Understanding (Binah). This Holy Spirit is called ‘Ruach Elohim’ in Genesis 1. Between the first and second mentions of ‘Elohim’ in Genesis 1, there are thirteen Hebrew words symbolising the 13 qualities of Mercy. These 13 qualities are in a deep way connected with the Spirit of God and his spouse the Celestial Mother. These 13 qualities of Mercy are linked to the 13 rivers of balsam that await the righteous (Tzadikim) in the World to Come.
Daniel Matt states: “The leaves of rose plants grow in clusters of five, nine and thirteen leaves.” Also between the second and third mentions of 'Elohim' are five words that are connected in the Zohar with the five gates of Salvation (yeshuot). This Salvation (yeshuot) is directly connected to the raising of the cup of Salvation also called the cup of Blessing. This in veiled terms is directing us to a meditation on the five wounds of the crucified Messiah made present in the Eucharist in the raising of the Eucharistic Cup of Blessing and Salvation which is Yeshuah (Jesus) himself. Thus this opening section of the Sefer Zohar is in veiled form revealing the mysteries of the Immaculate Conception of Mary and then moves on to the Virginal Incarnation of Jesus (Yeshuah).
“From the second ‘Elohim’ till the third, five words appear. From here on the creative Light, that is concealed and contained in the covenant, enters the Rosa Mystica and emits seed into her.” The Zohar then associates this process with the number 42 which is a veiled reference to the word ‘imma’ (alef mem alef) and 'My heart' (lamed bet yod). Imma means Mummy or Mother in Aramaic and Hebrew. This is connected to Genesis 3:15 where the Woman (isha) is the mother (imma) of the Divine Seed (the future Mashiach). The mysteries of the Spirit and of the Mother are closely connected at the level of Understanding (Binah). The 42 are connected to the first 42 letters of the Torah from the first ‘beit’ in ‘Bereshit’ to the ‘beit’ in ‘bohu’. The 42 is also the 22 letters or paths and the ten Sefirot plus the ten creative Sefirot mirrored in the heavenly Mother or Woman.
It is interesting that “The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” author Douglas Adams says that the answer to Life, the Universe and everything is 42 in his novel. In a sense the Sefer Zohar says the same thing. The Zohar calls it “the 42 letters of the act of Creation”. The Universe is made in the image of this Imma (Mother). The number 42 is also the gematria for ‘My Heart’. This alludes to both the Sacred Heart of Yeshua ha Mashiach and the Immaculate Heart of Miriam ha Kedosha as well as the Pure Fatherly Hidden Heart of Yosef ha Tzadik (which is hidden or eclipsed in the heart of his wife) as three hearts that beat as one.