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Monday, July 26, 2010

Rav Shmueli: Learning Zohar Can Cancel Decrees

In his latest Shiur (between the 23:30 and 30:30 marks), Rav Shmueli says that Am Yisrael has so many Tzarot - from within and from without - both physical and spiritual.
There is only one way to annul the decrees against us.
We start our Torah portion והיה עקב תשמעון - if you want והיה (the letters of Hashem's name that signifies mercy) in עקב (meaning עקבתא דמשיחא - the footsteps of Mashiah, which is the period we're in now), you need תשמעון (which can be read as a Notrikon of "תורת שמעון", meaning the Torah of Ribbi Shimon Bar Yohai, i.e. the Zohar Hakadosh).

This can be stated in conjunction with the oft-repeated quote of Rav Shmueli from the Zohar which I mentioned previously and he repeats again in this shiur:
ובגין דעתידין ישראל למטעם מאילנא דחיי דאיהו האי ספר הזהר יפקון ביה מן גלותא ברחמי

He further noted that the Hafetz Hayim told his non-married students to learn the Zohar on the Torah portion of that week each week. This seems to prove that you don't need to be married or 40 years old to learn Zohar. Rav Shmueli says that learning Zohar is not learning Kabbala. Zohar is "Avi Avot Hakabbala" (the grandfather of Kabbala), he says.

May the Zechut of learning the Zohar bring the Ge'ula ever closer.

3 Comments:

At Mon Jul 26, 07:50:00 PM 2010, Blogger shimonmatisyahu said...

As my first name is Shimon, this Dvar Torah is music to my ears. It's a wonder how it is known that the Chofetz Chaim told his students to learn Zohar, because this is not something that you will find in Litvishe sources, where learning Gemara & Halacha in particular is stressed. There is a difference between learning Zohar/Kabbalah as Torah L'Shma, learning for its own sake, as for example, as part of the daily Torah learning as presented in Chok L'Yisrael, and learning it to Chas V'Shalom use it for kabbalistic magic for one's personal use. And this would not be complete without mentioning that the Roshei Taivos of Rav Shmueli's full name Rabbi Benayahu Yissachar Shmueli, one of the main students of the senior Mekubal Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri ZT"L, when rearranged is spelled RaShBY, the same as for Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai! And check out my latest post (#76) at www.gematriot.blogspot.com where I mention Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai (in connection to Tu B'Av).

 
At Mon Aug 02, 05:17:00 PM 2010, Anonymous Habib said...

Our generation is not at the level of learning Zohar. We must first concentrate on doing basic Mitzvot such as putting on tefillin, praying 3 times a day, observing the Shabbat, eating Kosher, and learning the basic Halachot. Did you know that the Jewish intermarriage rate has risen to 52% in the US? So lets also add marrying a Jew to our list. One must learn to walk before one can run.

 
At Mon Aug 02, 05:23:00 PM 2010, Blogger yaak said...

Habib, you're right, but this message is directed toward those who can already walk.

 

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