זוהר, ויחי א׳Zohar, Vayechi 1

Section 1 of 86 in Vayechi — 24 segments

Segment 1א׳

וַיְחִי יַעֲקֹב בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם שְׁבַע עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה וגו'. אָמַר רִבִּי יוֹסֵי, לִבָּא חָמָא בִּנְבוּאָה, בְּמִצְרַיִם, דִּיהוֹן בְּנוֹהִי בְּכַמָּה גַּלָּוון, עַד הָכָא ועַד עִדָּנָא דְּקֵץ מְשִׁיחָא.

"And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years" (Beresheet 47:28). Rabbi Yosi said, Jacob's heart saw through prophecy in Egypt that his descendants would suffer many exiles - from then until now, until the End, and the time of the Coming of Messiah.

Segment 2ב׳

ולָא מָטָא לִנְבוּאָה דְּויְחִי אֶלָּא בְּמִצְרַיִם. וְהִיא מַעַלְיָיתָא, נְבוּאָתָא מִדְּאִתְנַבִּיאוּ (ד"א לא אתנביאו) אִתְנַבִּיאוּ דְּכַוָּותָה, וְלָא מָטָא לְהוּ שׁוּם אֵינִישׁ מִן בְּנִי נְבִיאָה, אֶלָּא הוּא וּמשֶׁה. בְּמשֶׁה כְּתִיב, (שמות ל״ג:כ׳) כִּי לא יִרְאַנִי הָאָדָם וָחָי. בְּיַעֲקֹב כְּתִיב, ויְחִי יַעֲקֹב. וַיְחִי, נְבוּאָתָה דְּנַחֲתָא מֵאַסְפַּקְלַרְיָאה (מאירתא) דְּנַהֲרָא.

Jacob arrived at the prophecy of "and...lived" only in Egypt. It was an excellent prophecy, the like of which was never prophesied before. None of the prophets was worthy of it except for him and Moses. It is written of Moses, "For no man shall see Me, and live" (Shemot 33:20). Of Jacob, it is written, "And Jacob lived", the prophecy which descends from the shining mirror.

Segment 3ג׳

בָּעֵי לְמֵימַר (חפץ ההוא הוה בעינוהי) נְבוּאָן דְּגָלוּתָא דְּעַרְעָן לִבְנוֹהִי בְּאַרְעָא דִכְנָעַן וּבְכָל אַרְעָא דְאִתּוֹתַב בָּהּ. מֵאַרְעָא דְמִצְרַיִם הֲוָה תְּבִיר לִבֵּיהּ. דִּכְתִיב, (בראשית מ״ב:א׳) כִּי יֵשׁ שֶׁבֶר בְּמִצְרַיִם.

Jacob wanted to prophesy concerning the exiles of his children in the land of Canaan and in any land wherein they dwelt which came from the land of Egypt; to wit, all exiles are included within Egypt. His heart broke, as it is written, "Now Jacob saw that there was corn (also: 'breaking') in Egypt" (Beresheet 42:1).

Segment 4ד׳

וְעַל דָּא מָטָא, וַיְחִי יַעֲקֹב בְּמִצְרַיִם, וְלָא הֲוָה חָדֵי. (סי א') כִּי בְּאַרְעָא הַהִיא סְפֵיקָן דְּעַמִין, סַפִּרִין דְּכוּרְסֵי יְקָרָא. וְלָא מָטָא לְהוֹן שׁוּם אֵינִישׁ, לָא מִן עִלָּאָה וְלָא מִן תַּתָּאָה, אֶלָּא ח"י. וְרָזָא דָא, כִּי לֹא יִרְאַנִי הָאָדָם וָחָי.

Hence, when it came to pass that "Jacob lived in Egypt," he did not rejoice, because this land was the bond of the nations; the sapphires of the Throne of Glory. Nobody came to them, neither from the upper nor from the lower, save the living. This is the secret of: "For no man shall see Me, and live."

Segment 5ה׳

כַּמָּה הוּא רָזָא עִלָּאָה בְּדָא קְרָא, וְאֲנַן חַבְרַיָיא תְּמֵיהִין עֲלַיְיהוּ, עַל וַיְחִי דְּדָכִיר עִמֵּיהּ יַעֲקֹב. הֲוָה לֵיהּ לְמֵימַר קַמֵּי יִשְׂרָאֵל. יִשְׂרָאֵל מִנַּיִן, דִּכְתִיב, (ירמיהו ב׳:ג׳) קֹדֶשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל לַה' רֵאשִׁית וְגו'. (שמות ד) בְּנִי בְּכוֹרִי יִשְׂרָאֵל. רִבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בְּרֵיהּ דְּרִבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן אָמַר, וְכִי לָא אָמַר קְרָא, (בראשית כ״ה:ל״ג) וַיִּמְכֹּר אֶת בְּכוֹרָתוֹ לְיַעֲקֹב.

There are high mysteries in this verse, and we friends wonder about them, for it says that Jacob lived instead of Yisrael, to wit 'And Israel lived.' For the name Jacob indicates smallness, and the name Israel indicates Mochin of greatness, while "and lived" alludes to the Light of Chayah, which is the Mochin of greatness. It should have said, 'And Israel lived.' How do we know that Yisrael indicates Mochin of Greatness? From the verse, "Yisrael is holy to Hashem" (Jer. 2:3), (Holy is an allusion to greatness). It also says, "Israel is My son, My firstborn" (Shemot 4:22), firstborn being an allusion to greatness. Rabbi Elazar, the son of Rabbi Shimon, said, Yet scripture says, "and he sold his birthright to Jacob" (Beresheet 25:33), for with the birthright, which is greatness, the name Jacob is mentioned.

…and 19 more segments in this section.

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Zohar — Vocalized Zohar, Israel 2013, via Sefaria

English: Sefaria Community Translation (CC0)

English: rendered from the Aramaic for this app — The Gematria's own rendering program. A rendering of the words, not a commentary; the Zohar is learned with a teacher