Kabbalah Library

74) “Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourselves a little while until the wrath has passed.” Oh, how the Creator loves Israel. And because of this love that He loves them more than all the idol worshipping nations, He warned them and wished to keep them in all that they do.

75) Three times a day is there judgment in the world. When that time comes, one should be careful and beware so that that judgment will not hurt him. And they come at known times.

76) When the morning came, Abraham had awoken in the world and gripped unto the judgment to tie it with him. In the first three hours, the judgment went from its place to awaken in Jacob, until the time of midday prayer. At that time, the judgment returns to its place, and the judgment from below awakens to connect to the judgment from above. And since then judgment connects to judgment, one must be vigilant.

ZA is called, “day.” The three times are the three lines in ZA, each containing its unique judgment. And these three discernments of judgment in the three lines of ZA are extended from the three sowings, Holam, Shuruk, Hirik, which are the roots of the three lines of ZA:

1) During the ascent of Malchut to Bina, the three letters ELEH [Aleph, Lamed, Hey] of Elokim fall off her and she remains with MI [Mem, Yod] of Elokim, VAK without GAR. This is considered the judgment in the point of Holam on the right line of ZA, called
“Abraham.”

2) During Gadlut, Malchut comes out of Bina, and the three letters, ELEH, return to Bina. At that time, she returns to Rosh of AA and obtains GAR from Hochma without Hassadim. At that time, even the Hochma does not shine and she is blocked. This is the discernment of judgment in the point of Shuruk and in the left line of ZA, called Isaac. And it is called, “the upper judgment.”

3) The ascent of ZON there through the screen of Hirik, which determines between the two lines, is VAK, whose root comes from the lock. Afterwards, he is established with the key and becomes as a screen at the point of Holam. This is considered the judgment at the point of Hirik, and in the middle line of ZA, called “Jacob.” It is also called “the lower judgment.”

When the morning rises, the right line of ZA—called “Abraham”—governs. It grips the judgment of the point of Holam, which is screen of VAK without the Rosh, due to the incorporation of Malchut in Bina. This is so because through the disclosure of this judgment of the point of Holam, all the Mochin of ZON come out. In the beginning of the first three hours, this is the time of coupling. And Jacob, who is the middle line, rises and sentences between the two lines, Abraham and Isaac, through the screen of Hirik in him, the judgment journeys from its place to awaken in Jacob.

After the two lines, right and left, were included in one another, the judgment descends from the point of Holam, which is Abraham, since he reacquired the GAR through his incorporation in the left. And the judgment that was in him descends and comes in Jacob, the middle line, through the screen of Hirik in him, which is the point of VAK.

In the morning coupling, Isaac’s judgment was canceled, meaning the governance of the left line, which is the blockage at the point of Shuruk, because of Jacob’s sentencing by the force of the screen of Hirik. And now that Isaac’s dominance returned and he is not included in Abraham, the judgment at the point of Shuruk returned to its place, as well, since the lights in it were blocked once more due to the lack of Hassadim.

The judgment of below awakens to connect to the judgment of above. The lower judgment, VAK without Rosh at the screen of Hirik, which is the middle line, has now been cancelled because it has been connected with the upper judgment at the point of Shuruk, and the GAR returned to the middle line by the force of the domination of the left. For this reason, its sentence was revoked and the judgment governs the world due to the blockage of the lights. This is why one should be watchful at that time.

77) Moreover, when the judgment awakens in the world and death is in the city, one should not walk alone in the market. Instead, one should confine oneself within and not come out, like Noah, who confined himself in the ark so he would not be in front of the destroyer.

With the first three judgments, which are the three lines of ZA, one should beware of drawing illumination of the left from above downwards. If one is watchful in that, he is already saved from them. However, with the fourth judgment, when there is death in the city, it is the judgment of the awakening Nukva, as in the matter of, “If he is not rewarded—it is bad.” This is so because they are the judgments in the screen of the first restriction, from which death comes.

In this case, vigilance and care do not help because once that judgment has been revealed, it controls the form of from below upwards, too, and the only counsel is to close himself in, so he will not be seen by the destroyer. He should not touch any Mochin, except in the form of VAK, which is light of Hassadim, in which the Sitra Achra has no hold whatsoever. Thus it occurs that he is not seen by the destroyer since he has no hold of him.

This is considered hiding and confining himself to his room so as to not be seen. Noah, too, hid himself in the discernment of VAK from below upwards, there, in the light of Hassadim. And then he was saved, since there is no hold for the Sitra Achra in the light of Hassadim.

78) “Go, my people, enter your rooms,” close yourself in your rooms “and shut your doors behind you,” so you will not be seen by the destroyer, so he will draw only light of VAK of Hassadim, in which the destroyer has no hold. This is so because after the judgment has passed, the destroyer no longer has the authority to harm him.

79) The Creator’s love for Israel, and His pulling them near Him, caused the rest of the nations, who idol worship, to hate Israel, since they are remote from the Creator, while Israel are near.

80) “And Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons.” Because of the love that Jacob loved Joseph more than his brothers, although they were all brothers, “they plotted against him to put him to death.” It is all the more so with idol worshipping nations and Israel: they, too, hate Israel for the Creator loves them more than all the idol worshipping nations. The love that Jacob loved Joseph more than his brothers caused the disclosure of the fourth judgment, death, for which no vigilance and watchfulness help.

81) That love, which he loved him more than all his brothers, caused Joseph to be exiled from his father, and his father was exiled with him and inflicted exile upon the tribes, which caused the Shechina to be exiled among them. And although the sentence was given in the covenant of the pieces, the reason for it was the love that he loved him more than all his brothers. This is so because all the above-mentioned happened because of the multicolored tunic he had made for him more than for his brothers, as it is written, “His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers so they hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms.”