Zohar Prologue 189-197: Fear of Hashem

Commentary and translation by Brother Gilbert Joseph of the Divine Presence LEB.

Fear of Hashem

Prologue: Verse 189

בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים. הֲדָא הִיא פִּקּוּדָא קַדְמָאָה דְּכֹלָּא וְאִקְרֵי פִּקּוּדָא דָא יִרְאַת ה', דְּאִקְרֵי רֵאשִׁית, דִּכְתִיב רֵאשִׁית חָכְמָה יִרְאַת ה'. יִרְאַת ה'רֵאשִׁית דַּעַת. בְּגִין דְּמִלָּה דָא רֵאשִׁית אִקְרֵי, וְדָא אִיהִי תַּרְעָא לְעָאלָא גוֹ מְהֵימְנוּתָא, וְעַל פִּקּוּדָא דָא אִתְקַיַּים כָּלעָלְמָא.

"In the beginning created Elohim" (Genesis 1:1). This is the first and foremost precept of all. And this precept is called "the fear of the Hashem," which is called the "beginning (Reshit)." As it is written, "The Fear of Hashem is the beginning of wisdom" (Psalm 111:10); "The fear of Hashem is the beginning of knowledge" (Proverbs 1:7). Because this entity is called beginning. And She is the gate through which one enters into Faith (emunah). So based on this precept is the *whole world* (*Virgin of All*).

Prologue: Verse 190

יִרְאָה אִתְפְּרַשׁ לִתְלַת סִטְרִין, תְּרֵין מִנַּיְיהוּ לֵית בְּהוּ עִקְרָא כִּדְקָא יָאוֹת, וְחַד עִקְּרָא דְּיִרְאָה: אִית ב"נ דְּדָחֵיל מֵקָדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, בְּגִין דְּיֵיחוֹן בְּנוֹהִּי וְלָא יְמוּתוּן, אוֹ דָּחֵיל מֵעוֹנְשָׁא דְּגוּפֵיהּ אוֹ דְּמָמוֹנֵיהּ, וְע"ד דָּחֵיל לֵיהּ תָּדִיר. אִשְׁתְּכַח יִרְאָה, דְּאִיהוּ דָּחֵיל לְקָדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, לָא שָׁוֵי לְעִקְּרָא. וְאִית בַּר נָשׁ דְּדָחֵיל מִן קָדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא בְּגִין דְּדָחֵיל מֵעוֹנָשָׁא דְּהַהוּא עָלְמָא, וְעוֹנָשָׁא דְּגֵיהִנֹּם. תְּרֵין אִלֵּין לָאו עִיקָּרָא דְּיִרְאָה אִינוּן וְשָׁרְשָׁא דִילֵיהּ.

Fear is divided into three branches. Two have no real roots and one is the essence of fear. There is a one who fears and respects the Holy One, blessed be He, so that his children will live and not die, or because he is afraid to be punished through his body or his wealth. This one, therefore, is always afraid of Him. But we can see that the fear he has of the Holy One, blessed be He, has no actual root or source. And there is one who fears the Holy One, blessed be He, because he is afraid of the punishment that awaits him in the other world, and the tortures of Gehinnom. These two are not the essence of fear nor its genuine source or root!

Prologue: Verse 191

יִרְאָ"ה דְּאִיהִי עִקָּרָא, לְמִדְחַל ב"נ לְמָארֵיהּ, בְּגִין דְּאִיהוּ רַב וְשַׁלִּיט עִקָּרָא וְשָׁרְשָׁא דְּכָל עָלְמִין, וְכֹלָּא קַמֵּיהּ כְּלָא חֲשִׁיבִין. כְּמָה דְּאִתְּמָר, וְכָל דָּיְירֵי אַרְעָא כְּלָא חֲשִׁיבִין. וּלְשַׁוְאָה רְעוּתֵיהּ בְּהַהוּא אֲתַר דְּאִקְרֵי יִרְאָה.

The fear or awe that is essential and real happens when one fears his Master because he is almighty and governs all; because He is the main root and essence of all worlds. And everything that exists is as nothing compared to Him. As it is written, "and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing" (Daniel 4:32) and one should concentrate his desires to that place which is called "fear! (Yirah)"

Prologue: Verse 192

בָּכָה רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן וַאֲמַר, וַוי אִי אֵימָא וַוי אִי לָא אֵימָא. אִי אֵימָא יִנְדְּעוּן חַיָּיבִין הֵיךְ יִפְלְחוּן לְמָארֵיהוֹן אִי לָא אֵימָא יֹאבְדוּן חַבְרַיָּיא מִלָּה דָא. בַּאֲתַר דְּיִרְאָה קַדִּישָׁא שָׁרֵי, מִלְּרַע אִית יִרְאָה רָעָה דְּלָקֵי וּמָחֵי וּמְקַטְרֵג, וְאִיהִי רְצוּעָה לְאַלְקָאָה חַיָּיבַיָּא.

Rabbi Shimon began to weep and said, woe if I say and woe if I do not say. If I say, then the evil people shall know how to serve their Master. And if I do not say, the Chaverim shall lose this matter. Because at the location where the sacred fear is to be found, down below, there is an evil fear that smites and scourges and then prosecutes. This is a lash used for the whipping of the wicked.

Prologue: Verse 193

וּמָאן דְּדָחִיל בְּגִין עוֹנֶשׁ דְּמַלְקְיוּתָא וְקִטְרוּגָא, כְּמָה דְאִתְּמָר, לָא שַׁרְיָא עֲלֵיהּ הַהִיא יִרְאַת ה'דְּאִקְרֵי יִרְאַת ה'לְחַיִּים. אֶלָּא מָאן שַׁרְיָא עֲלֵיהּ, הַהִיא יִרְאָה רָעָה, וְאִשְׁתְּכַח דְּשַׁרְיָא עֲלֵיהּ הַהִיא רְצוּעָה יִרְאָה רָעָה, וְלֹא יִרְאַת ה'.

So, he who fears because of the punishment of being whipped and prosecuted, as is already stated, does not have that fear of Hashem that is called "the fear of Hashem that leads to life" (Proverbs 19:23). Then what fear is such a one endowed with? It is evil fear. And so he is ruled by that whipping lash, the evil fear, and not the fear of Hashem.

Prologue: Verse 194

וּבְגִין כָּךְ, אֲתַר דְּאִקְרֵי יִרְאַת ה'רֵאשִׁית דַּעַת אִקְרֵי, וע"ד אִתְכְּלֵיל הָכָא פִּקּוּדָא דָּא, וְדָא עִקָּרָא וִיסוֹדָא לְכָל שְׁאָר פִּקּוּדִין דְּאוֹרַיְיתָא. מָאן דְּנָטֵיר יִרְאָה נָטֵיר כֹּלָּא. לָא נָטֵיר יִרְאָה לָא נָטֵיר פִּקּוּדֵי אוֹרַיְיתָא, דְּהָא דָא תַּרְעָא דְכֹלָּא.

And because of this, the place that is named "the fear of Hashem" is called "the beginning of knowledge" (Proverbs 1:7). And this precept is included here. This is the root and the main principle of all the other precepts of the Torah. Whoever observes the precept of divine awe observes all the others. One who does not observe the precept of fear does not observe any of the precepts of the Torah. Because this is the gate of All (kala)!

Prologue: Verse 195

וּבְגִין כָּךְ כְּתִיב בְּרֵאשִׁית דְּאִיהִי יִרְאָה, בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת הָאָרֶץ. דְּמָאן דַּעֲבַר עַל דָּא עֲבַר עַל פִּקּוּדֵי דְאוֹרַיְיתָא. וְעוֹנְשָׁא דְּמָאן דַּעֲבַר עַל דָּא, הַאי רְצוּעָה רָעָה אַלְקֵי לֵיהּ. וְהַיְינוּ וְהָאָרֶץ הָיְתָה תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ, וְחשֶׁךְ עַל פְּנֵי תְהוֹם, וְרוּחַ אֱלֹהִים. הָא אִלֵּין ד'עוֹנָשִׁין לְאַעֲנָשָׁא בְּהוֹן חַיָּיבַיָּא.

Because of this, it is written, "In the Beginning," which is "fear,""created Elohim the heaven and the earth." Because, whoever transgresses this, transgresses the precepts of the Torah. And the punishment for one who transgresses, this cruel and evil lash shall whip him. Therefore "and the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and a wind (ruach) from Elohim" (Genesis 1:2) are the four punishments for the wicked.

Prologue: Verse 196

תֹּהוּ דָּא חֶנֶק, דִּכְתִיב קַו תֹּהוּ חֶבֶל מִדָּה. בֹּהוּ דָּא סְקִילָה, אַבְנִין דִּמְשׁוּקָעִין גּוֹ תְּהוֹמָא רַבָּא לְעוֹנְשָׁא דְּחַיָּיבַיָּא. וְחֹשֶׁךְ דָּא שְׂרֵיפָה, דִּכְתִיב וַיְהִי כְּשָׁמְעֲכֶם אֶת הַקּוֹל מִתּוֹךְ הַחֹשֶׁךְ וְהָהָר בּוֹעֵר בָּאֵשׁ עַד לֵב הַשָּׁמַיִם חֹשֶׁךְ כו'. וְדָא אֶשָּׁא תַּקִּיפָא דְּעַל רֵישֵׁיהוֹן דְּחַיָּיבַיָּא שָׁרֵי לְאוֹקְדָא לוֹן.

"Without form" means strangulation, as it is written, "a line of confusion" (Isaiah 34:11) that is "a measuring line" (Zechariah 2:5). "Void" means stoning and refers to the stones that are sunk in the great deep for the purpose of punishing the wicked. And "darkness" means burning. As it is written, "And it came to pass, when you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain did burn with fire" (Deuteronomy 5:20). And this fierce fire "shall fall upon the head of the wicked" (Jeremiah 23:19) to burn them.

Prologue: Verse 197

וְרוּחַ, דָּא הֶרֶג בְּסַיָּיף, רוּחַ סְעָרָה חַרְבָּא מְשַׁנְּנָא הִיא מְלַהֲטָא בֵּיהּ. כד"א וְאֶת לַהַט הַחֶרֶב הַמִּתְהַפֶּכֶת, וְאִקְרֵי רוּחַ. הַאי עוֹנָשָׁא, לְמַאן דְּיַעֲבַר עַל פִּקּוּדֵי אוֹרַיְיתָא, וּכְתִיב לְבָתַר יִרְאָה, רֵאשִׁית, דְּאִיהִי כְּלָלָא דְּכֹלָּא, מִכָּאן וָהָלְאָה, שְׁאָר פִּקּוּדִין דְּאוֹרַיְיתָא.

And "a wind" means slaughtering by the sword. Because the tempest storm is a flaming, sharp sword that burns within it. As it is written, "and the bright blade of a revolving sword" (Genesis 3:24). And it is also called a wind. So this is the punishment for whoever transgresses the precepts of the Torah. Because it appears after fear that is Beginning and includes All (kala). From here onward, come the rest of the precepts of the Torah.

Comments on 189-197 by Brother Gilbert Joseph: 

Chasidut is the Jewish understanding of Mercy (Chesed) in action and is linked to the 13 Attributes or Aspects of Mercy. It is also linked to the 10 Sefirot and the three lights within the Godhead. By meditating on the Godhead and his Attributes (Sefirot) one is graced with merciful qualities (chasidut) to use in merciful service (avodah) towards God and man. In order to attain these qualities one needs to aquire certain spiritual traits or levels of spirituality which are linked to the 10 sefirot. Rav Phinchas ben Yair lists these traits or levels as recorded in the Talmud (Avodah Zera 20b).  

Rabbi Moshe Chayim Luzzatto discusses these traits in detail in his book “Mesillat Yesharim”. In order to begin the mystical journey into the Divine Presence which is the Kingdom of the Divine Will one studies the Word of God (Torah study) which results in the fruit of Lowliness (Shiflut). Torah leads to the second trait of Watchfulness associated with the Attribute of Righteous Foundation and results in the fruit of Truth (emet). Watchfulness leads to the third trait of Zeal associated with the Attribute of Majestic Splendour which results in the fruit of sincerity (temimut). 

Zeal leads to the fourth trait of Cleanliness associated with the Attribute of Triumphant Endurance which results in the fruit of Confident Boldness (Bitachon). Cleanliness leads to fifth trait of Separation associated with the Attribute of Beautiful Compassion which results in the fruit of compassion in action (rachamim). Separation leads to the sixth trait of purity associated with the Attribute of Powerful and Discerning Judgment which results in reverential awe (yirah). Purity leads to the seventh trait of mercifulness (hasidut) associated with the Attribute of loving mercy which results in the fruit of love (ahavah).  

The thirteen middot (qualities) of chasidut (lovingkindness or mercifulness) are shiflut (lowliness), emet (truth), temimut (sincerity), bitachon (confidence/ boldness), rachamim (compassionate mercy), yirah (fear/ awe), ahavah (love), simchah (joy), Bitul (humility/ total self negation), yichud (union), taanug (pleasure), ratzon (will), emunah (faith/ trust). Through an ascent of these ethical qualities of service to the ‘other’ the Chasid serves the ‘Other’ (Avodah Hashem/ the Work of God). 

This is a process of Levinasian ‘ethical transcendence’ following the mystical path of the reshimu (trace or imprint) which leads to each Chasid (merciful one) becoming a tzaddik (righteous one) through union (devekut/ yichud) with the transcendent “Other” who is encountered immanently in the ‘other’. The lived-out manifestation of the Chasidic qualities (middot) leads to a life of ‘tikkun ha’kelali’ (universal reparation) and tikkun ha olam (repair of the world). 

This Chasidic life of merciful acts and deeds of reparation parallels the concept of the Eucharistic life mentioned by Glenn Morrison as part of his “trinitarian praxis of holiness”. This “trinitarian praxis of holiness” is part of the process of divinisation and doing the acts of everyday life while living in the Divine Will.

The two stages of yirah (reverential fear or awe) and ahavah (love) are like two wings of a bird. These two middot together, lead to compassionate mercy which is linked to the sefirah of Beauty (Tiferet). The word ahavah (love) is thirteen in gematria and ahavah is linked to the sefirah of chesed and the thirteen aspects of Divine Mercy.  

Simchah (joy) is the eighth stage and one of the major qualities that outsiders notice about the Chasidim, especially the Breslov Chasidim. This joy is called omek acharit (depth of the future) which is the joy of the world-to-come and can be linked to the concept of eschatology in Morrison's “Trinitarian praxis of holiness”. This future or eschatological joy manifests in the ‘now’ as Eucharistic life and leads one to healing of wounds and hurts and their roots in the immemorial past of ethical transcendence. In a sense this is where joy and melancholy rendezvous. 

One medical study reported in 1990 19 cases of personality disorders among the Breslov Chasidim. Of the 19 cases only one was born into a Breslov family, the rest were adult converts, many who had served in the army. This study reveals little, except that wherever there is spiritual life and loving acceptance of those who are different, they will be drawn to that life and seek healing there. Lev Gillet states that the free, happy and cheerful disposition of the Chasidim remind him of Franciscan joy. The trust in Divine Providence and seeing all is for the best “good” in Chasidism, is also like the early Franciscan spirituality.

Yirah is reverential awe or fear of God and is associated with respect, discipline, discernment and Godly discrimination. Love without this balance can end up as weakness and permissiveness and handicap our spiritual growth and sanctity as well as that of those in our care and family.

Simon Jacobson writes: "Healthy love must always include an element of discipline and discernment; a degree of distance and respect for another's boundaries; an assessment of another's capacity to contain your love. Love must be tempered and directed properly. Ask a parent who, in the name of love, has spoiled a child; or someone who suffocates a spouse with love and doesn't allow them any personal space."

HASHEM, in Thy Divine Will teach me Thy discipline and discernment and give me reverential fear for Thy holiness and majesty and to teach those in my care that love includes true respect for others and their boundaries and capabilities. Through the Mashiach, the Son of Avraham, answer our prayer with Thy Chesed.

Yitzach Avinu, thou who embodiest this concept of Yirah shebeChesed, let us unite with thee in this mystical reverential awe of the Son for the Father. Let us embrace with joy the discipline sent to us from our heavenly Father and use it on behalf of all and in the name of all for the glory of the kingdom and the salvation and sanctification of souls.  

Marian Invocation: Our Lady, thou who art the Daughter of the Father, the Daughter of Avraham and Sarah, the Artificer of All, Our Loving created Sophia and Shekhinah, Queen of Mercy (Chesed) and Awesome Matronita who is like an Army set in Battle array, pray for us to receive Yirah shebeChesed. Amen. 

The second week of the Counting of the Omer is associated with the concept of Gevurah. Gevurah is associated with the Messiah as son of Isaac linked to the concept of the Akedah or Binding as the left hand or arm of the Mashiach. On a Marian level the second week of Gevurah is associated with the Mother as the Daughter of Rebecca (Rivka whose name means to bind or join) and Isaac and alludes to Our Lady as the Mother of Sorrows. Gevurah or Din and its middah (quality or trait) Yirah is associated with the colour Red of the Celestial Rainbow and Wheel of Light.

The second mansion or palace of St Teresa of Avila's Interior Castle or Mystical Diamond is the mansion of purification. In a sense, the first six mansions are stages that if we don't do them in this life, we will have to do them in Purgatory until we reach to the seventh Mansion that is the gateway or door to heaven and Divine Union or beholding God in the beatific vision of faces to faces. 

This second mansion or palace is the stage where one's dies gradually to their selfish will in order to desire to follow the Divine Will with reverential awe or Yirah. It may not feel like this mansion is a palace but more of a purgatorial abyss or void in which one, in a deeper way, is entering into the second Dark Night of the Senses. 

This mansion is a place of patient endurance, in which through littleness, one lets go of their servile fears (pachad) and embraces Yirah or the reverential fear or awe of the Divine King. Many confuse this purgatorial stage of purification of the senses, with the Dark Night of the soul or spirit in which the memory, will and intellect are purified. 

However, this second mansion is just a further stage of the Dark Night of the Senses eventhough it can be a very painful experience. This stage of the journey is necessary in order to lighten our soul of all its sensual baggage and to free us of our selfish attachments to others and material things. 

Part of our motive for the Discipline which strengthens us, is maintained by reverential awe or fear of HASHEM and his holiness. It takes discipline to have that consciousness of fear of God in all we do. We fear to displease HASHEM because of our disciplined love of Him. We often think spiritual discipline is something we achieve in our own strength but it is in fact a grace given to those who desire to live in His Divine Will. 

HASHEM, let us be disciplined so that we desire true justice and we act to achieve justice through a discipline of responding to our duties in the Divine Will. Strengthen us with thy Divine Discipline and discipline in our disciplining of all those entrusted to us. Through the Mashiach, the Son of Yitzach, answer our prayer with Thy Gevurah.

Marian Invocation: Our Lady Miriam, thou who art the Mother of the Son, the Daughter of Yitzach and Rivka, the Mother of Sorrows, Our Just created Sophia and Shekhinah, Powerful Queen and our Awesome Lady Matronita who crushes the head of the Serpent, pray for us to receive Yirah shebeGevurah. Amen.   

The Matriarchs of Israel had Yirah for HASHEM that allowed them to use their feminine beauty in the service of HASHEM and the defense of their nation. HASHEM rewarded these beauties of Israel by giving their people victory over their enemies who did not have Yirah of Heaven. Yirah is the reverential fear or awe of HASHEM whereas as pachad is servile fear or being afraid. One who has Yirah never needs to have pachad as he will hear the interior voice of HASHEM through the Holy Spirit saying : Be not afraid!

HASHEM, give us the grace of Yirah shebeTiferet, so we can truly worship Thee in the manner Thou art due, as the King of Heaven (haShamayim) and Earth (haAretz). Through the Mashiach, the Son of Yisrael, answer our prayer with Thy Tiferet.

O Holy Queen Esther, Star and Flower of Benyamin, thou who embodiest the trait of Yirah shebeTiferet, with thy reverential fear of the God of Israel, thou rose up to save thy people in a time of national danger and potential genocide. Pray for us the sons and daughters of the House of Judah, in this hour of battle and strife in the land of Israel and the rise of anti-semitism all over the diaspora (galut). 

Marian Invocation: Our Lady of Yisrael, thou who art the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, the Daughter of Yacov and Leah, the Supernal Rachel, Our all beautiful created Sophia and Shekhinah, our Beautiful Mother who is as bright as the Noon Day Sun and as Awesome as an Army set in Battle array, pray for us to receive Yirah shebeTiferet. Amen.   

Yirah shebeNetzach helps one overcome and triumph in victory over all obstacles in life. Yirah is associated especially with Elohim as the God of Justice for we worship in awe from afar. In regard to Elohim, there are three main levels of yirah. 

The first is yirat haRomemut which is the reverential awe of God in the presence and light of His vast and infinite Divine exaltedness as El Elyon the Most High. This is also connected with the concept of Truth (Emet) and the Intellect. 

The second is yirat haMalchut which is the reverential awe in the presence of Divine Kingship and Sovereignty and his Divine Order or Rule. This is also connected to the concept of beauty (Tiferet or Yofeh) and the contemplative comprehension (shasha) of the heart. 

The third is yirat haOnesh which is the reverential fear of punishment for our sins due to the holiness of God.This is connected to the concept of Goodness (Tov) and acts or good deeds and mitzvot. This last one differs from pachad haOnesh (being afraid of punishment) which is a mix of Good (one stops sinning) and Bad (one does not fully trust in the love and mercy of God and is focused on the negatives of punishment, purgatory, Judgement, hell and death).

HASHEM, let us in Thy Divine Will (yehi ratzon) attain the trait of Yirah shebeNetzach, so that we may always keep before our mind Thy infinite exaltedness, Thy majestic Kingship and Holiness which will help us to persist in true dedication to pursue truth, beauty and goodness in all our thoughts, feelings and actions. Let us bow before Thee. We ask this through the Mashiach as the Suffering Servant, the Prophet like unto Moshe and the Celestial and Eucharistic Bridegroom, please answer our prayer with Thy Netzach.

Daniel haNavi, thou who embodiest the concept of Yirah shebeNetzach when told to bow before a false idol, thou refused even though it meant being thrown in to a pit of hungry lions. Give us the grace to bow with our intellect, emotions (heart) and physical actions in Yirah before Elohim's Infinite Majesty and Holiness.

Marian Invocation: Our Lady of Zion, thou who art the Celestial and Mystical Bride and the Daughter of MosheRabbeinu and our Suffering Mother of Sorrows, who with Yirah magnified HASHEM and rejoiced in Elohim with a song of reverential praise (the Magnificat), pray for us to receive Yirah shebeNetzach. Amen.  

The Divine Majesty and Regal splendour of HASHEM naturally evokes Yirah in souls who are open to Him. It is more difficult to have that Yirah when he appears under the guise of the poor and the broken and wounded. Do we like Mother Teresa of Calcutta perceive Yeshua hidden in the poor and the poorest of the poor and thus respect their human dignity and worth? 

Do we disparage the homeless and unemployed by cruel words of dismissal of our duty and responsibility to them as God's beautiful children made in the image of Elohim, by saying : They are lazy or it is their own fault? Do we mar our own majesty by ruthlessly and callously resenting paying our just taxes that go to help the sick and the needy, in a just and universal medical system for all citizens? 

Yirah leads one to Teshuva (repentance or return to HASHEM). This is one of the hidden mysteries of the first word of the Bible Bereshit when read as Yirat (fear of yod reshalef tav) and Shuv (shin and beit) which means return.  This is taught in the Zohar Tikkunim.

HASHEM, let us in Thy Divine Will (yehi ratzon) have Yirah shebeHod, so that I may have reverential awe for you in your Majesty revealed in the vastmess and exaltedness of the Cosmos, in the Beauty and Order of nature and all visible creatures and in Man made in your image and likeness in the beginning and retaining your image after the Fall. Through the Maschiach our High Priest and Intercessor, please answer my prayer with Thy Hod.

Henoch haNavi, thou who embodiest Yirah shebeHod, in the time before the Flood and awaits in the Hidden Valley and Garden before the gates of the heavenly Garden of Eden, until the period of thy end times mission to the Nations at the time of an Antichrist like a Leopard, please pray that we might always have Yirah shebeHod and not forsake the true Mashiach for the false or the true Kehilla (Church) and Apifyor (Pope) for the false.

Marian Invocation: Our Lady Ark of the Covenant, thou who art the Celestial and Mystical Bride and the Daughter of Aharon and Our Awesome Queen-Mother (G'virah) and reverent handmaid of HASHEM, pray for us to receive Yirah shebeHod as thou had at the Anunciation when St Gabriel the Fearsome Angel of HASHEM appeared to thee. Amen.

We would not be perfectly sanctified if we only demonstrated Yirah before the Divine Majesty but we also need love. In regard to our late Queen Elizabeth II, I did not just have respect and reverence for her, as the font of Justice and Law who embodied our history and heritage, but I had a filial love of her, in which I was prepared to give my life for her if necessary, not out of mere duty but out of love. 

Republicans often miss the heart dimension of the mystical love of Monarchists for the person of the Monarch, that goes beyond the academic and rational arguments for the benefits of the Monarchy. Most Australian soldiers in World War I did not go to Europe out of mere love of country but because of filial love and loyalty for the King. Thus we should have this heart dimension of love and loyalty in our relationship with HASHEM who is the Monarch of Monarchs or King of Kings. Most of us Catholics also have this royal love relationship for Our Lady who is the true Queen of Hearts and for St Joseph the Regal Viceregent of Heaven and Earth.

All our relationships with others should be secondary or tertiary to our relationship with HASHEM out of Yirah shebeYesod. Our love for HASHEM must also include Yirah or reverential awe for Him, so that he just doesn't becomes a God made in our own image, who excuses all our sins and gives us all our selfish desires. 

In our bonding with others it is foundational to include not just love but respect for the freedom and dignity of the other. We don't want to burden or smother our spouse, family or friends with emotional manipulation, which masquerades as love but is in fact based on our own needs and desire to be loved, rather than the good of the other. Our emotional bonding with others must be disciplined (which is an aspect of Yirah) or it can become disordered and perverted.

Simon Jacobson writes in his meditation on the Counting of the Omer:

"Bonding must be done with discretion and careful consideration with whom and with what you bond. Even the healthiest and closest bonding needs "time out", a respect for each individual's space. Do I overbond? Am I too dependent on the one I bond with? Is he too dependent on me? Do I bond out of desperation? Do I bond with healthy, wholesome people?"

HASHEM, let us in Thy Divine Will (yehi ratzon) receive the grace of Yirah shebeYesod, so that we can build our relationships according to Thy perfect Will in a balanced manner that is disciplined and rooted in the priority of Yirah HASHEM. Help us to always give others their true dignity and freedom in our bonding with them and that we may truly have their good and their flourishing as our priority and not our own. Through the Mashiach ben Yosef, who is the Incarnate Truth and the Truth of the Ages, please answer our prayer with Thy Yesod.

Eli and Sh'muel ha Naviim, ye who embodieth the concept of Yirah ShebeYesod, by ye laying prostrate in adoration before the Presence which manifests above the Ark of the Covenant between the Holy Kerubim. May I like Eli, direct all to listen to the voice of HASHEM, by teaching them to not be spiritually and emotionally dependent on me or others but for them to directly say to HASHEM; Here I am! Please pray that I might have Yirah shebeYesod in all my relationships.

Marian Invocation: Our Lady, Mystical Womb and Mother of the Kehilla (Church), thou who art the Immaculate Heart of the Mystical Bride and the Daughter of the Supernal Joseph, thee who always showed deep reverence and awe for HASHEM in all thy thoughts and acts, therefore please pray for us to receive Yirah shebeYesod so that we get our priorities right in our love and bonding with HASHEM and others. Amen.

A King must of course balance his compassion with justice and discipline in order to keep harmony in his Kingdom. A King must reign with authority and appropriate discipline with just laws that have appropriate consequences for their breaking, as God's anointed earthly and secular ruler. Thus one should have an earthly reverential awe or Yirah for the authority and rule of the King as God's anointed as David did for King Saul. 

This Yirah must be even deeper for the Divine King. If we have authority over others do we wield or exercise it like a Gentile Lord or as humble servant? Do we have reverential respect and obedience to those in authority over us? Do I demonstrate this Yirah shebeMalkhut in regard to my parents and elders, my employer or Boss, my parish priest or rabbi, my Bishop, the King and the Pope? When St Peter told us to honour the King he did not say only if he was a good and devout Catholic but the Emperor of his time was the pagan Emperor and the Jewish Kings during his life were the less than ideal Idumean dynasty of the Herods. We must remember that David himself would not harm King Saul who was God's anointed even though King Saul had forsaken Godliness.

HASHEM, let me in Thy Divine Will (yehi ratzon) receive the trait or gift of Yirah shebeMalkhut, so that I may honour and have reverential fear for our anointed and crowned King Charles III and for our lawfully elected Pope Francis and the Bishops in union with him. May I also listen with yirah to the teachings of the great Fathers and Doctors of the Church and the the wisdom of the Sages and Rabbis of Israel. Though the King Mashiach  the Tzemach Tzaddik riding humble on a donkey into Jerusalem as Mashiach ben Yosef and as the Divine King Mashiach ben David coming in the glory of His Kingdom a second time, please answer my prayer with Thy Malkhut.

O St Peter, Rock and Chief Shepherd of the Messianic Community, thou who embodiest Yirah shebeMalkhut, when thou taught in thy letter in the Brit haChadashah, to fear God, to honour the King and to love the brotherhood, please pray that we receive Yirah shebeMalkhut so that we may embrace these Kingdom teachings and pray for our Pope thy successor and our anointed Sovereign Lord, Charles III.

Marian Invocation: Our Lady, Heavenly Ark of the Covenant and Queen of the Kingdom of the Divine Will, thou who art both Mother and Queen and the Queen-Mother of Israel and Judah and of Heaven and Earth, the wife of the Reverential Tzaddik Joseph, thou who wast anointed by the Holy Spirit as the Davidic Queen-Mother of the coming Messiah, pray for us to receive Yirah shebeMalkhut, so that we may have reverential awe for the Divine King and those he puts over us with his authority and will. Amen.

The manifestations of the Shekhinah in the Old Testament times were awe inspiring events and Moses (Exodus 3:6),Elijah (1 Kings 19:13) and even the Seraphim (Isaiah 6:2) cover their faces in His Divine Presence. In the New Covenant the Shekhinah takes on flesh, and at the Last Supper He humbles himself and hides both His humanity and Divinity under the form of bread and wine. In the Eucharistic Presence one can gaze on the Divinity with unveiled face and approach Jesus without fear of death or disaster.

The 6th level of ascending the Sefirotic array is associated with God’s Attribute of Din (Judgement) also called Gevurah (power), Justice, Fear, Severity, Strength, Awe and Discernment. This is the constricted consciousness area of concentration. Concentration is also called kevanah (heart devotion). It is the level of ‘purity and perfection of the heart’. It is associated with spiritual prudence or withholding.

The 9th level is associated with Chokhmah (Wisdom) and is the level of Divinization (Divinicise). It is a high level of Fear and Awe of Divine Majesty and Fear of sin which together are Divine Wisdom. This is Beginning (Reshit). This is the level of the 4th glorious mystery of Our Lady Miriam’s assumption body and soul into Heaven. It is the level of nothingness or self- nullification and selflessness. 

Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan states that this 72 fold name was known in ancient times and it is discussed in the Zohar and the Bahir, in Rashi and the Midrash. In Hebrew each of the three verses in Exodus 14:19-21 has 72 letters. Thus in fact the concept is Triadic or Trinitarian. For the Catholic Jew the first verses represents the Father (Abba) who sent the "Angel of God" as a Redeemer, the second verse the Son (Ben or Zer Anpin ) who is the visible manifestation and light of God and the Redeemer himself, and the third the Holy Spirit (Ruach ha Kodesh) as the active wind (ruach) who opens the way for the redemption. 

The 42 letter name of God is known as the Name of Creation whereas the 72 fold name is the name of Redemption. Thus a meditation on this name is Trinitarian and a meditation on Redemption. This meditation reveals the Redeemer. The three verses become as one in this meditation when the first letter of verse 19 is combined with the last letter of verse 20 and the first letter of verse 21 to create a new three letter word or root (vav heh vav VHV). 

The second letter of verse 19 with the second last letter of verse 20 and the second letter of verse 21 (yod lamed yod YLY) and so on until there are 72 three letter words. To these consonants the vowels are added in order to use them as a breathing exercise in order to enter into the meditative state. The vowel used is the natural vowel that the letter has for example Vav's natural vowel is `a' so we say for the first of these words Va He Va. 

Rabbi Abraham Abulafia describes this method in "Chayay Olam HaBah" (Life of the World to Come). Of course as Catholic Jews we know that the Life of the world to come is Jesus in the Eucharist who is the Bread of Life. This is also an entering unto the "Heart of Heaven" as described in Deuteronomy (Devarim) 4:11-13.

Deuteronomy 4:11-13
And you came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire until the heart of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. And the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; you only heard a voice. And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tablets of stone."

Rabbi Abulafia says in "Chay Olam HaBah" - 

"Prepare to meet your God...unify your heart...choose a special place...meditate alone...at this time when you prepare to speak to your Creator ...be careful to cleanse your thoughts of wordly folly...Wrap yourself in your Tallit. If the time is proper, also place your tefillin on your head and arm. This will increase your awe and trembling before the Divine Presence which will visit you at this time...clear your mind completely. Then with complete concentration and will a pleasant sweet melody, pronounce the name of 72. Using the natural vowels of each letter begin by pronouncing/breathing the six triplets.
VaHeVa YoLaYo SaYoTe
EaLaMe MeHeShi LaLaHe
These six triplets of the Holy name pronounce with 18 breaths."

Mercifulness leads to the eighth trait of Humbleness associated with the Attribute of Understanding which results in joy (simchah). Humbleness leads to the ninth trait of Fear of Sin associated with the Attribute of Wisdom which results in total self-abnegation (bitul). Fear of Sin leads to the tenth trait of Holiness associated with the Attribute of the Crown of Divine Will which results in the fruit of holy union (yichud). Holiness leads one to the experience of the Holy Spirit associated with the inner light of the Divine Will called Desire (Taanug) which results in the fruit of hopeful desire (taanug/tikvah) to create. 

The experience of the Holy Spirit leads to the spiritual Revival of the Dead associated with the inner light of Divine Will, called Will (ratzon), which results in the Will to create love. Revival or Resurrection of the Dead leads to continuous Living in the Divine Will, associated with the inner light of Divine Will called Faith (emunah), which manifests as the fruit of faithful trust.

The Catholic mystic Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich states that Joseph and his wife Asenath were associated by the Egyptians with Osiris and Isis. She also saw that the Egyptian religion was a confused distortion of the teachings of Joseph and Asenath and the patriarchal religion. 

The Zoharic Kabbalah associates the Sefirah of Yesod with Joseph. The Egyptian Benben stone is associated with the phallus of Osiris which can be connected with the Stone of Jacob or Jacob's Pillow on which he saw the ladder or channel to the heavenly realm in Genesis 28. The Yesod is seen in Kabbalah as a channel linking the Shekhinah to the higher Sefirot. Here is the gate to heaven. 

‘Taking one of the stones to be found at that place, he made it his pillow and lay down where he was. Jacob had a dream: a ladder was there, standing on the ground with its top reaching to heaven: and there were angels of God going up it and coming down ... Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Truly the LORD was in this place and I never knew it!’ He was afraid and said, ‘How awe-inspiring this place is! This is nothing less than a house of God: this is the gate of heaven!’ Rising early in the morning Jacob took the stone he had used for his pillow, and set it up as a monument, pouring oil over the top of it. He named the place Bethel ... ‘this stone I have set up as a monument shall be a house of God, and I will surely pay you a tenth part of all you give me’.” (Genesis 28)

In the Sefer Zohar is found the following story which reveals Jesus as the Messiah and the Eucharistic Lord. 

“ ... His mother came and said to them, ‘Masters, please look on my son with a good eye.’ They said to her, ‘Happy are you, worthy woman! Singled out from among all women! The Blessed Holy One has selected your portion, raised your banner above all women of the world.’ The Child said, ‘I am not afraid of the evil eye, for I am the son of a great and precious fish, and fish do not fear the evil eye, as it is written, ‘They shall multiply like fish in the midst of the earth’ (Genesis 48:16).

This blessing includes protection from the evil eye, for we have learned: ‘Just as fish of the sea are covered by water and are immune to the evil eye etc [so the descendants of Joseph are immune to the evil eye].’ ‘In the midst of the earth,’ indeed ‘among human beings on earth’. They said, ‘Son, Angel of YHVH! There is no evil eye in us, we do not come from the side of the evil eye. The Blessed Holy One is covering you with His wings.’

They kissed him as before and said: ‘Come, let us bless,’ He said, ‘I will bless, because everything you’ve heard until now was from me, I will fulfill the verse: One whose eye is generous will be blessed. Read it: ‘will bless’. Why? ‘Because he gave of his own bread to the needy’ (Prov. 22:9). From the bread and food of my Torah you have eaten.’

Rabbi Judah said: ‘Son, Beloved of the Blessed Holy One! We have learned: ‘the master of the house breaks bread, and the guest blesses.’ He said to them, ‘I am not master of the house, and you are not guests! But I have found a verse and I will fulfill it, for I am truly generous. Without your asking, I have spoken until now and you have eaten my bread and my food.”

He took the cup of blessing and began to bless. His hands could not hold the cup; they were trembling. When he reached ‘for the land and the food’ he said ‘I raise the cup of salvation and invoke the name, Y~.’ (Psalm 116:13). The cup stood firm and settled in his right hand and he continued blessing.

At the end he said, ‘May it be the Will that life be extended to one of these from the Tree of Life on which all depends! May the Blessed Holy One be surety for him. May he find surety below to share his surety with the Holy King.’

Having finished blessing he closed his eyes for a moment. Then he opened them and said, ‘Comrades, Shalom to you from the good Lord who possesses all Shalom! They were amazed, and cried, and blessed him. They stayed the night. In the morning they rose early and left.

When they reached Rabbi Shim’on, they told him what had happened. Rabbi Shim’on was amazed. He said, He is the son of an invincible rock! He deserves this and more than any human can imagine. He is the son of Rav Hammina Sava.”

One way of reading im (אם) as alef mem would see the alef as representing Abba (אבא) and the mem as Imma (ַאמא) and thus Psalm 27:3 could be read as meaning “Abba and Imma bend down over me as an encampment, my Heart has no fear, Abba and Imma will rise over me as Warriors (in Battle array), in this I trust.” The ‘me’ could represent the Davidic Messiah, or Israel as the Son or any believer who trusts in God. Rebbe Nachman in 101:2 calls such a believer an Adam. Idolaters are not considered to be Adams but three other words for non-Israelite men are used ish, gever and enash. 

In Breslov teaching an Adam (אדם) is one that is a son of Adam (alef), son of David (dalet) and a son of the Messiah (mem). This is the Divine Man or Adam Kadmon that is the figure of the Sefirot. Rebbe Nachman in Likutey Moharan 101:2 refers to these Sefirot as a shining countenance that is the pavement or brickwork of Sapphire in Exodus 24:10. The word Sefirot coming from mispar (to number) and connected to Sapir (Sapphire), Sippur (to tell) and Sefer (a book or scroll).

Zohar 1:62b discusses Gehinnom, Sheol and Avadon (avaddon). The Gemara gives Gehinnom seven names which some consider to be seven levels of Hell or Purgatory. The Zohar states that Sheol is the lowest part of Purgatory and from there souls can still rise to Gan Eden (the Garden of Eden) but Avadon (Abadon) is the bottom and from there souls are lost and cannot rise.

Sheol, Avadon, Beer Shachas (Well of Corruption), Bor Sheon (the Horrible Pit), Tit ha'Yaven (the Miry Clay), Tzalmaves (Shadow of Death) and Eretz ha'Tachtit (Netherworld) - are the seven names of Gehinnom. In tractate Erubin 19a Rabbi Joshua ben Levi refers to these seven names. The Midrash on Psalms refers to these seven realms of the underworld as Sheol, Avadon, Tzalmavet, Eretz haTakhtit, Eretz ha Neshiyah (land of Forgetfulness), Gehinnom and Dumah (Silence).

Zohar Korach states:- 

"A person should not say, 'When I get to that world, then I will ask the King for mercy and I will repent in His presence,' because "for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom" after the person departs from this world.

However, if a person desires the Holy King to illuminate him in this world and grant him a part in the World to Come, he should toil in this world to gather his activities to the right. All his deeds should be for the sake of the Holy One, blessed be He, for after departing this world to be judged in harsh Judgment and to be punished in Gehinnom, there is no recourse to counsel, wisdom or understanding to be saved from that sentence.

Another explanation of: "for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol." There are levels upon levels in Gehinnom, and the lowest level is "Sheol." An even lower level is "Avadon," and one is near the other. Whoever descends to Sheol will be put on trial. From there he can rise in a whistle, as it is written: "He brings down to Sheol, and brings up" (1 Samuel 2:6). Whoever is lowered to "Avadon" never rises."

 
And from Zohar Vayelech:-

"We learned that the wicked in Gehinnom all go up through certain compartments and that there are many openings to Gehinnom. All the openings correspond to the openings in the Garden of Eden. When the wicked are taken out after receiving their punishments, they open the gates and put them outside. All the gates bear names corresponding to those in the Garden of Eden, and each and every gate is called by a name corresponding to the gate in Gehinnom. The gates in the Garden of Eden are known, gate for gate.

The last compartment in Gehinnom is the lowest. That compartment is an compartment over an compartment, and is called, "A land of gloom (Heb. efatah)"(Job 10:22). What is gloom? It is as in, "Foursquare it shall be" (Exodus 28:16), which is 'if' in Aramaic. Here too, efatah means double. That COMPARTMENT is called the bottom of Sheol. Sheol is one compartment and the bottom is the lower compartment. Therefore it is called the lower land of gloom, and ALSO called Avadon. Hence it is written, "Sheol and Avadon" (Proverbs 27:20). Not all compartments are double, and not all are gloomy, except for this one.

And we learned that whoever descends to Avadon, that is called bottom, never rises. That MAN is called a man who was destroyed and lost to all worlds. And we learned that to that place are lowered those men who despised saying Amen. Such a man is punished in Gehinnom for the many Amen's that were lost to him, that he did not consider, and he is lowered to the lowest compartment, which has no opening, and he is lost and never rises from there.

Hence it is written, "As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he who goes down to Sheol shall come up no more" (Job 7:9). HE ASKS, but no; it is written, "out of the belly of Sheol I cried and You did hear..." (Jonah 2:3). It is also written, "He brings down to Sheol and brings up" (1 Samuel 2:6). AND HE ANSWERS, but this is Sheol FROM WHICH ONE ASCENDS, and there is the bottom FROM WHERE ONE DOES NOT RISE. We explained that this refers to one who repented BY DOING PENANCE, and there to one who did not.

Rabbi Yosi said, as for the words, "For My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me the fountain of living waters, and have hewn them out cisterns..." (Jeremiah 2:13), "they have forsaken Me the fountain of living waters" is by not wanting to sanctify the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He, with Amen.

What is his punishment? It is as is written, "and have hewn them out cisterns, broken cisterns," by going to Gehinnom one level after another until they reach Avadon that is called bottom. If he sanctifies the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He, by meditating properly on Amen, he rises, level after level, to have delight in the World to Come, that ever flows and does not cease. This is the meaning of, "for Hashem preserves the faithful, and plentifully repays him who acts haughtily" (Psalm 31:24)."

" Rabbi Aba said that in Gehinnom, there are compartments upon compartments, seconds, thirds, and so on until seven--our friends have already explained this issue. Happy are the righteous who guard themselves from the sins of the wicked and do not follow in their paths nor defile themselves. For when a person who has become impure dies, he passes onto the World of Truth and goes down into Gehinnom. There he descends, until he reaches the lowest compartment.

And there are two compartments close to each other that are called Sheol and Avadon. Whoever reaches Sheol is judged and punished there and is then raised to a different, but higher, compartment. This continues until he is released from there. But those who go down and reach Avadon are never raised from there again. That is why it is called Avadon (lost), because they are lost there forever."

In Zohar Pekudei it links these seven realms of Gehenna or Gehinnom with the seven chambers of the Evil Realm of Satan.

" Rabbi Shimon opened the discussion with the verse: "But they, like Adam have transgressed the covenant" (Hosea 6:7). Who will remove dust from your eyes, Adam, if the Holy One, blessed be He gave you one precept and you could not keep it, for you were enticed by the wicked things with which the evil serpent seduced you, as is written, "the serpent was craftier" (Genesis 3:1). Hence you were seduced by it, and brought death to you and all your offspring. Come and see: Whoever is seduced by it, and goes down to it, he will be lost in an instant...

There are several aspects and grades to the Evil Inclination, which are the Satan, the Angel of Death, and the Evil Inclination. And we explained that though it is called by those names, it has seven names: the Satan, unholy, foe, a stone of stumbling, uncircumcised, evil, northern.

These seven names correspond to the seven grades of its chambers, all of them on the side of defilement, as we said, and to the seven names given to Gehinnom, where the wicked are condemned. These are: pit (Bor), grave (Shakhat), Dumah, gruesome mud (Tit haYaven), Sheol, shadow of death (Tzalmavet), a nether land (Eretz takhtit). These are the seven departments of Gehinnom corresponding to the seven names of the Evil Inclination.

Here we explained that as there are grades and chambers on the side of holiness, so there are on the side of defilement, all of which abide in and rule the world on the side of unholiness. Seven chambers, corresponding to the seven names of Gehinnom. All of them stand ready to condemn and defile the wicked of the world who clove to them, and did not keep away from them, while in this world...

These seven chambers, the seven departments of Gehinnom, are called 'twelve months'. As there are twelve months of holy grades on the side of the Faith, so the Other Side has twelve months, to which the wicked are condemned, and their souls are sentenced to. Happy is the portion of the righteous who keep their feet in this world away from their gates, to be saved from them in that world."

Today many Jewish authorities try to down play the traditional Jewish understanding of Purgatory and Hell. However it is clear from the sources that while Gehenna or Gehinnom includes the concept of purgatory - it also contains a realm of eternal loss in fire called Avadon which equates with the Catholic understanding of Hell.

Judaism also speaks of the 36 lights of the Chanukiot (chanukah menorah) as alluding to the light of the 36 hours that Adam and Eve lived in Divine Will in the Garden of Eden. Rabbi Michael Ozair writes:  

"...Spiritually, the eight nights of Chanukah are a cumulative and progressive process through which the light of the menorah grows to reveal the inherent light of Creation. The total number of Chanukah lights over the eight days is 36 (1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8). As Rabbi Eliezer writes, these 36 lights arouse that very same Primordial Light which illuminated Adam and Eve on the dawn of their creation, the first 36 hours of their existence. The Talmud teaches: "36 hours the Light served . . . and Adam HaRishon saw with it from one end of this world into the Other". (Yerushalmi, Brochot 8:5

"Rabbi Shimeon opened and said (Song of Songs 7): "I am my Beloved's, and His desire will arise." All the days that I was perfumed in this world, I was perfumed with One perfume, namely the Holy One, blessed be He, and therefore, now "His desire will arise." For He Himself and His whole holy company come, so that with joy they may hear the secret words, and the praise of Him, the Most Holy Ancient One. Mystery of all mysteries. Separate and set apart from all, and NOT separate.

For everything is joined in YH, And He (Hu) is joined within all, He is all, The Ancient One of all Ancient Ones, Mystery of all mysteries, Conformed and NOT conformed. He is formed in all that endures, and NOT conformed in all that is NOT manifest. When He is conformed, He produces nine lights, which shine forth from Him, from His conformations, and those lights shine from Him and are lit from Him and they proceed and are spread out in all directions. As a lamp from which Light is spread out in all directions. And as those rays which spread out, when they are approached to know them, are NOT found, except for the lamp alone; so is He, the Holy Ancient One, the highest lamp, mystery of all mysteries.

And He is NOT found, except for those rays that are extended, those that are revealed, and those that are revealed and hidden. And they are called the Holy Name, and therefore are all things One (Echad). And what our companions said in the former books, that these are degrees that had been created and the Holy Ancient One was revealed in every single one of them, because these are the confirmations of the Holy Ancient One..."

 


This part of the Sefer Zohar goes on to discuss the three lights which are the three Heads and their connection with the 13 aspects of Mercy. 

"...Because this Holy Ancient One is within One form! Everything is in joy, and He does not change His mercy forever, in thirteen measures of mercy is He found. And He, the Ancient One, includes them and rules over all..."[Zohar Haazinu]. 

The Chanukiot also represents these 13 aspects with the nine lamps and the four branches of the chanukiot whereas the seven lamp Menorah represents the ten Sefirot- with the lower seven represented by the seven lamps and the upper three by the three branches of the Menorah. These three top of the skull shaped branches also represent the Three Heads of the Divine Will.  

"...This Ancient One is elder of elders.The highest Crown of above with which are adorned in YH all adornments and crowns. And from Him are all the lights illuminated, and they shine; but He, He is the Supreme Light, which is hidden and known as NOT (Ayin).(And all other lights are kindled by Him and shine.) This Ancient One is found in three heads and they are included in one Head. And He Himself is the supreme Head, highest of the highest. And because the Holy Ancient One is formed in three, so also, all the other lights that shine from Him are formed into three..." [Zohar Haazinu]

This whole section of the Zohar is revealing great mysteries of the Divine Will (ratzon) and its three heads and the three inner lights of the Godhead. 

"...The forehead which is uncovered in the Holy Ancient One, is called "Ratzon" (Will)." For that Supernal Head, concealed in the higher which is known as NOT (ayin), An ornamented, comely, perfumed prince which is contained in the forehead. And because the Will of all Wills is perfected in the forehead and revealed in that direction, this forehead is called "Will (ratzon)" And this Will is revealed. The Will of Wills is found in all worlds, and all the prayers of the inferiors are accepted, and the countenance of Small Face (ZeirAnpin/the Son) is illuminated. And everything is found to be mercy and all judgments are concealed, and upset on the Sabbath at the time of the afternoon prayers, which is the time when all judgments are awakened. And this forehead is revealed, and all judgments are upset and mercy is manifested in all the worlds. And because of this the Sabbath exists without heavenly or earthly judgments, and even the fire of Gehinnom is stilled in its place, and the guilty have repose. And to this is added a soul of joy on the Sabbath, and men should rejoice in the three Sabbath meals for all faith and the sum of faith is therein manifested..."

I purchased a copy of "Hebrew Gospel of Matthew" by George Howard. He presents the Hebrew text and English translation of a Hebrew version of Matthew preserved in the Jewish community and copied into "Evan Bohan" by Rabbi Shem Tob Ibn Shaprut in the 14th century. While I believe the four gospels were written originally in Hebrew (see Claude Tresmontant and Carmignac) we must be careful in accepting that this version of Matthew is the complete original primitive Hebrew text. Of course Howard does not claim this for the text- it is others who are claiming such authority for this Hebrew text. In fact Howard has done a very good job of presenting the 'Shem Tob' Matthew to a wider audience and correcting certain incorrect assumptions of past scholarship on this issue.

This version I believe is certainly based on the original text of the Hebrew Matthew but it has obviously been edited by a Jewish Christian sect in the early centuries to remove any universal elements positive towards a Gentile mission and also it seems to have a rather elevated view of John the Baptist. We also know that there were groups of Jewish Christians that did reject the other gospels and the Gentile mission and had their own version of Matthew. Obviously remnants of these Jewish Christians re-assimilated back into Judaism and brought their edited Hebrew Matthew with them.

The other two versions of the Hebrew Matthew preserved in the Jewish community of Rome are known as the Munster and Du Tillet versions. The obvious puns and word connections that are made clear when the gospels are translated back into Hebrew demonstrate that Hebrew and Aramaic were the first languages the Gospels were written in and then translated into a Septuagint type Greek.

The original text was written in Hebrew and then translated into Aramaic soon after. It is probably from the Aramaic text that the Greek was based on. A possible evidence for this is the famous passage about Peter and the Rock. In the Aramaic text the rock is Kepha (כאפא kaf alef feh alef) but in the Shem Tob Hebrew text it is Eben. The Du Tillet Hebrew text also uses Kepha or kifah (כיפה kaf yod fehheh). In the Aramaic text the play on words is with the word kepha "You are Kepha and upon this kepha" whereas the play on words in the Shem Tob Hebrew version is with eben or even (rock/stone) and evneh or ebneh ( I will build). The Shem Tob Hebrew version makes it clearer that it is on Peter that he will build his Church. That you are a Stone (she'Atah Even) and I will build upon you (v'ani evneh alayik) my House of Prayer (beit tefilati). However caution is urged as we don't know if Jesus spoke the original phrase in Hebrew or Aramaic or which version of the Hebrew. 

The du Tillet Hebrew version reads: You are Kifah (atah kifah) and on this kifa (ve'alhakifah hazot) I will build my community (evnehet m'kehili). The Hebrew term kifah or kipah also has the meaning of dome or covering and is the name of the dome-like head covering of the Jewish male. Perhaps Simon Peter was wearing a dome-like head covering (kipah) when Jesus spoke to him before the shrine of the demonic God Pan. Until today the successors of Peter also wear the kipah. The Aramaic reads "d'anat hu kepha veal hadei kepha evneyhl'edati". 

The Shem Tob and du Tillet Hebrew versions also differ on the phrase gates of hell. The Shem Tob says Gates of Gehinnom (purgatory/Hell) whereas the du Tillet says takhatiot (underworlds) and the Aramaic Sheol (Hades in Greek). As I have not seen this verse in the Munster Hebrew version I would appreciate any one who has if they could share that reading with me. 

One could wonder why the great  modern day angelic sage known as the Yanuka, Rav Shlomo Yehudah Beeri, stresses the importance of washing the hands with the Modeh Ani prayer before getting up from one's bed. Why does he seem so strict on that? This is because this is what Catholics in the Divine Will movement call the Prevenient Act in which one places their whole day in the Divine Will. Thus the Yanuka is stressing the importance of placing oneself in the Divine Will as the first act of a Jew's day. As one Jewish commentary on the performing of Modeh Ani states:

Modeh ani lefaneicha melech chai v'kayam shehechezarta bi nishmati bechemlah - rabbah emunatecha

I gratefully thank you, O living and eternal King, for You have returned my soul within me with compassion - abundant is Your faithfulness!

A Jew's day begins by the recitation, immediately upon awakening, of the Modeh Ani prayer: "I thank to You, living and eternal King...." This prayer, as well as the general obligation that immediately upon awakening a Jew be "fierce as a leopard... in his desire to fulfill the will of his Father in Heaven," binds a Jew to G-d throughout the day, causing him to be continuously aware that he is in G-d's presence.

Consequently, even if a person were to perform a particular mitzvah without intent later in the day, the general intention to serve G-d which he had at the start of the day suffices, inasmuch as it applies to all the good deeds the person will do during that day.

The opposite, however, applies to transgressions: As long as a person does not specifically intend to transgress, he is not considered to have transgressed. For the person's intent at the beginning of the day to serve G-d nullifies any incorrect action performed without sinful intent.

This concept is partly based on the statement of Judah b. Tema (Avot 5:20): 

"Be as fierce as a leopard (namer), light as an eagle (nesher), fleet as a deer (tzvi), and brave as a lion (ari) to perform the will of thy Father who is in heaven. He used to say: the arrogant is headed for Gehinnom and the blushing for the garden of Eden. May it be the will, O Lord our God, that your city be rebuilt speedily in our days and set our portion in the studying of your Torah."

[יְהוּדָה בֶן תֵּימָא אוֹמֵר, הֱוֵי עַז כַּנָּמֵר, וְקַל כַּנֶּשֶׁר, וְרָץ כַּצְּבִי, וְגִבּוֹר כָּאֲרִי, לַעֲשׂוֹת רְצוֹן אָבִיךָ שֶׁבַּשָּׁמָיִם. הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, עַז פָּנִים לְגֵיהִנֹּם, וּבֹשֶׁת פָּנִים לְגַן עֵדֶן. יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶיךָ יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ שֶׁתִּבְנֶה עִירְךָ בִּמְהֵרָה בְיָמֵינוּ וְתֵן חֶלְקֵנוּ בְתוֹרָתֶךָ:]

Those of us who desire to live in the Divine Will can adapt Rabbi Judah ben Tema's prayer to: "May it be the Divine Will from Your Eucharistic Face (Yehi ratzonmil'fanecha), O Lord Our God, that your kingdom of the Divine Will may be established speedily in our days and set our portion in the study of your teachings through the prism of the 36 Volumes of the Book of Heaven."