Kabbalah Library

33) “These are the generations of Isaac son of Abraham. Abraham begot Isaac.” In the future, the Creator will revive the dead and shake their dust off of them, so they will not be built from dust, as they were in the beginning, that they were actually created from dust, something that does not persist, as it is written, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground.”

34) At that time, they will shake off the dust, that structure, and will stand in a structure that persists, so they will persist, as it is written, “Shake off the dust, arise, sit Jerusalem.” They will persist in persistence and will rise from under the earth and receive their soul in the land of Israel. At that time, the Creator will float up on them all kinds of scents in the Garden of Eden, as it is written, “The Dudaim [mandrakes] give forth fragrance.”

35) Do not pronounce Dudaim, but Dodim [lovers]. These are the body and the soul, which are lovers and friends of each other. They are truly Dudaim. As the Dudaim engender love in the world, so they engender love in the world. And what is “give forth fragrance”? The skill of their actions to know and recognize their Creator.

36) “At our door is every delicacy, new as well as old, that I have treasured up for you, my beloved.” “At our door” are the doors of heaven, which are open to bring down souls to carcasses. “Every delicacy” are the souls. “New as well as old” are those whose soul has exited several years since today, and those whose soul has exited only a few days ago, and they were rewarded, through the merit of their actions, with entering the next world. All are destined to come down at once and enter the bodies that are ready for them.

37) A voice comes out and says, “New as well as old, that I have treasured up for you, my beloved.” Treasured them, in those worlds. “For you,” for you are a holy and clean body.

The Dudaim are the angels of peace. “Give forth fragrance” means the souls, who are the fragrance of the world. “Giving” is as it is written, “But Sihon would not let Israel pass.”

38) Three sects of ministering angels walk each month and each Sabbath to accompany the soul up to the place of her merit. “At our door is every delicacy” are the bodies, which stand at the doors of graveyards to receive their souls. Dumah gives the notebook of the account, and declares and says, “Master of the world, new as well as old, those who were buried many days ago, and those who were buried a short time ago, I have treasured them all for you, to bring them out according to the account.”

39) At that time, the Creator is destined to rejoice with the righteous, to instill His Shechina with them, and everyone will rejoice in that joy, as it is written, “The Lord will rejoice in His actions.” At that time, the righteous are destined to create worlds and revive the dead.

It is written, “There is nothing new under the sun.” However, while the wicked in the world proliferate, the whole world does not exist. And when the righteous are in the world, the world exists, and they are destined to revive the dead, as it is written, “Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with his staff in his hand because of old age.”

40) At that time, the righteous will obtain complete knowledge. On that day when the Lord rejoices with His deeds, the righteous are destined to attain the Creator in their hearts. Then, wisdom will increase in their hearts as though they were seeing it with their eyes.

41) The Creator is destined to make a festive meal for the righteous in the future, as it is written, “They saw God, and ate and drank.” This is “nourished,” and this is “enjoying.” The righteous who were not rewarded with such, enjoy that brightness that they will not attain so much, but the righteous who were rewarded are nourished until they attain complete attainment, and there is not eating and drinking but this, and this is the meal and the eating.

It is written about Moses, “And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water.” “Neither ate bread nor drank water,” since he was nourished by another meal, that brightness of above, as well as the meal of the righteous in the future.

42) The festive meal of the righteous in the future, to rejoice in His joy, as it is written, “The humble will hear and rejoice.” From here, “But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy.” There are both in the future.

Wine that is preserved in its grapes from the six days of creation, these are ancient matters that were revealed to no one since the day when the world was created. They are destined to be revealed to the righteous in the future, and this is the drinking and the eating.

43) What then are the whale and the ox, as it is written, “For the mountains will yield food for him where all the wild beasts play”? It is written, “On that day, the Lord with his hard and great and strong sword will punish the whale-the boa serpent, the whale-the twisting serpent, and will slay the crocodile that is in the sea.” There are three here, but it is an intimation to the kinships.

44) The meal of the righteous in the future will consist of a whale and the wild ox. Is this so? After all, it was said that the meal of the righteous in the future is as it is written, “They saw God, and ate and drank.”

45) This faith, which the sages said to the majority of the world that they are invited to this meal of the whale and that wild ox, to drink the good wine, preserved from the time of the creation of the world, they have found a verse and interpreted, as it is written, “And you shall eat your bread to the full.” The Creator seduced Israel with all kinds of seductions in order to reform them, and with this one more than with all of them, when He told them, “And you shall eat your bread to the full.” And also with curses, “And you shall eat and not be satisfied,” which was the hardest for them.

It is written, “And the people of Israel said to them, ‘Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full.’” This teaches that because of the eating, they gave their souls up to die at their hands. When the Creator saw their lust, He said to them, “If you obey the commandments, you will eat to the full,” to appease them.

Also, our sages saw that the exile was continuing. They relied on verses from the Torah and said, “destined to eat and rejoice in a great festive meal that the Creator is destined to hold for them.” For this reason, the majority of the world suffers in exile because of that meal.

46) We must not reject the faith, but observe it. That is, the meal is eating and drinking, since the Torah testifies to it in the words, “And you will eat your bread to the full.” We already know what is the faith of the righteous and their yearning, for it is written, “We will rejoice and delight in You,” and not in eating. Also, “we will remember your love more than wine,” meaning the wine of Torah.

That meal, for which the majority of the world is destined, which is eating and drinking, we, too, will have a part in enjoying it, and this is part of the joy and the laughter. “These are the generations of Isaac,” that the righteous will laugh in the future. “Abraham begot Isaac,” the refinement of the soul engenders these laughter and joy in the world.