Kabbalah Library

1. Rabbi Shimon fled to the desert of Lod and hid in a cave, he and his son Rabbi Elazar. A miracle happened to them, and a carob [tree] emerged, and a fountain of water. They ate from that carob and drank from that water, and Elijah would come to them twice daily and teach them, and no one knew of them.

2. One day, the friends at the seminary were asking. They said, “The curses in Leviticus correspond to the First Temple. The curses in Deuteronomy correspond to the Second Temple and the last exile.

In the curses in Leviticus, there are promises and the love of the Creator for Israel, as it is written, “And I will remember My covenant with Jacob,” and it is written, “Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away,” while the there are no promises in curses in Deuteronomy, and no comfort whatsoever, as in the first curses, and they did not know how to reconcile this.

3. Rabbi Yehuda arose and said, “Woe for the absence of Rabbi Shimon, who is missing from among us and there is no one who knows of him. And if they did know, there is no permission to disclose.”

4. Rabbi Yosi son of Yehuda arose one day in the morning, saw all those birds flying, and a dove was walking behind them. He arose to his feet and said, “Faithful dove, from the days of the flood, the shape of the holy nation, for Israel are called ‘dove,’ to you it is good, to you it is becoming, go and do a mission for me to Rabbi Shimon in the place where he is.”

5. The dove turned and arose before him. He wrote a letter and said what he said. The dove arose and took the letter in her mouth, went to Rabbi Shimon, and put the letter in her mouth.

Rabbi Shimon looked at that letter and he and Rabbi Elazar his son wept. He said, “I am weeping because I have been separated from the friends, and I am weeping for those things that are not revealed to them. What will the last generations do if they look at this?”

6. In the meantime, Elijah came and saw him crying. He said, “I was ready for a different mission, but the Creator sent me to soothe your tears. Aha Rabbi, these things should not have been revealed now to the righteous.”

7. But this is what the Creator said, “There are thirty-two verses in the first curses, and all of them correspond to the paths of Torah, the thirty-two paths of wisdom. There are fifty-three curses in the last curses corresponding to the fifty-three portions and ways in the Torah.

8. “In the first exile, of the First Temple, Israel transgressed against those hidden paths that are in concealment, and their iniquity was not so great. For this reason, their iniquity was revealed, and their end was revealed, as well as their consolation and their promise. In the last exile, of the Second Temple, Israel transgressed against fifty-three portions, which are the revealed ways, and their iniquity is great. This is why He blocked their iniquity and blocked their end, and no promises or comforts are written in them.”

9. In the meantime, one wind passed by and separated between them, and Elijah went up in a wheel of fire. Rabbi Shimon stayed, wept, and slept at the opening of the cave.

In the meantime, Elijah came and said, “Rise up, Rabbi Shimon, wake up from your sleep. Happy are you, for the Creator wants your glory. All the promises and comforts of Israel are written in these curses.

10. “Go out and see, a king who loved his son, although he cursed and hit him, he loved him deeply. When he shows fierce anger, at that time, his mercy is upon him. So is the Creator: Although He cursed, His words are with love. They appear as curses, but they are great gifts, since those curses were with love, which was not so in the first curses, which were all in harsh judgment.

11. “In these curses in Deuteronomy, there is judgment and love, like a father who loves his son and holds the leash in his hand to whip, and he roars a great roar and great curses, and the whips are incorporated in mercy.

12. “And the harshest of all those curses is as it is written, ‘Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in this Book of the Law [Torah], the Lord will bring upon you until you are destroyed.’ Here, the promises of the father to his son are with great love. It is not written ‘mount’ but rather ‘disappear’ [only in Hebrew], meaning that He will conquer them and cover them in a hole in their place so they do not go outside, and they will be conquered and covered in their hole.

13. “‘Until you are destroyed.’ This will not be forever and ever, since the Creator swore that He will not obliterate Israel forever and ever, and their memory will stand forever, as it is written, ‘So shall your descendants and your name remain,’ and it is written, ‘Thus said the Lord, ‘If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the descendants of Israel.’’

14. “And since it is in an oath that Israel will not be consumed, therefore, the blows and all the illnesses are destined to be concealed and covered, that they will not come out to harm them until the time when they are obliterated from the world, which cannot be forever and ever.

15. “The end of all the curses and their conclusion is as it is written, ‘And the Lord will take you back to Egypt in ships, by the way of which I said to you, ‘You shall never see it again.’ And there you shall be offered for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.’

“They saw promises and comforts that the Creator was destined to do for Israel in the latter days, as it is written, ‘And the Lord will take you back to Egypt in ships,’ which is a promise to do miracles and signs again, which the Creator had done in Egypt in the early days, as it is written, ‘As in the days when you went out from Egypt, I will show him wonders.’

16. “‘And the Lord will take you back to Egypt in ships.’ ‘In ships’ means in poverty, since the [letter] Aleph is swapped for an Ayin, meaning that there will not be a penny in the pocket. But all the people in the world are destined to come up against Israel through the ships of the sea. They will plot to obliterate Israel from the world, and everyone will drown in the sea, as He had done in the early days.

17. “There will be great joy there, for here, it is written ‘in ships,’ and there it is written ‘in the ships of their singing.’ As it is singing there, so it is signing in the ships here.

18. “Since the day when the world was created, the Creator did not reveal His might, to make it seen in the world, or a time of good will, except on the way to Egypt, as it is written, ‘For as you saw Egypt,’ in the same way and in the same manner, it will be done to you.

19. “After all the other sides from the nations of the world assemble against Israel, Israel will think that at that time, they will be destroyed. They will be sold to their enemies, as it is written, ‘And there you shall be offered for sale.’ It is not written ‘you shall be sold,’ but rather ‘offered for sale,’ meaning that you will think that you have been sold, but it will not be so, for it is written, ‘but no one will buy you,’ meaning that there is no one who can control you.

20. “All this will be in the latter days, and everything depends on repentance, and everything is concealed, as it is written, ‘so you may succeed in all that you do.’ One who has a heart, will look and know how to return to his master.”

21. Rabbi Shimon said to him, “In which place was Israel’s redemption revealed in these curses?” Elijah told him, “Look and see in the worst place of all the curses, there is the revelation of the time of redemption.”

22. He looked and observed and found that it is written, “Your life shall hang in doubt before you; you shall fear day and night, and you will have no assurance of life.” This means that although the friends know the time of the end, this life, meaning redemption, is hanging there. Nevertheless, he is in doubt, as it is written, “and you will have no assurance of life.” But what the friends know is the most important, and the words are true.

23. In the evening, he wrote a letter and put it in the dove’s mouth, and she went to Rabbi Yosi, who was still in his place with his eyes waiting. When he saw her, he said, “Dove, how loyal you are, more than all the birds of the sky.” He called her, and the dove came to him in the evening, and behold, a freshly plucked olive leaf was in her mouth.

24. He took the letter from the dove and came to the friends and showed them. He told them the story. They were bewildered. Rabbi Yehuda cried and said, “Woe, although we do not know him, a place where the tree falls, there he is.” That is, the place where Rabbi Shimon is there, the friends are with him, they are awakened by him, and learn from him.

25. Happy is the soul of Rabbi Shimon, for whom the Creator worked miracles, and he sentences and the Creator does. He is destined to be the head of the righteous who dwell in the Garden of Eden, and he will welcome the face of the Shechina [Divinity] and see the Creator, and delight with the righteous, and tell them, “Let us bow and kneel; let us bless before the Lord, our Maker.”