זוהר, וירא י״גZohar, Vayera 13

Section 13 of 36 in Vayera — 6 segments

Segment 1א׳

וְאַבְרָהָם הָיוֹ יִהְיֶה לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל וְעָצוּם. מַאי טַעְמָא בְּרָכָה דָא הָכָא. אֶלָא בְּגִין לְאוֹדָעָא דְּאָפִילּוּ בְּשַׁעֲתָא דְּקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא יָתִיב בְּדִינָא עַל עָלְמָא לָא אִשְׁתַּנִּי. דְּהָא יָתִיב בְּדִינָא עַל דָּא (ד"א ל"ג ויתיב) וּבְרַחֲמֵי עַל דָּא וְכֹלָּא בְּרִגְעָא חָדָא וּבְשַׁעֲתָא חָדָא.

SEEING THAT ABRAHAM WILL SURELY BECOME A GREAT AND MIGHTY NATION. How comes this blessing to be inserted here? It is to teach us that the Holy One, even when He sits in judgement on the world, does not change His nature, since whilst sitting in judgement on one He is displaying mercy to others, and all at one and the same moment.

Segment 2ב׳

אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוּדָה וְהָא כְּתִיב, (תהילים ס״ט:י״ד) וַאֲנִי תְפִלָּתִי לְךָ יְיָ עֵת רָצוֹן. זִמְנִין דְּאִיהוּ עֵת רָצוֹן וְזִמְנִין דְּלָאו אִיהוּ עֵת רָצוֹן. זִמְנִין דְּשָׁמַע וְזִמְנִין דְּלָא שָׁמַע. זִמְנִין דְּאִשְׁתְּכַח וְזִמְנִין דְּלָא אִשְׁתְּכַח דִּכְתִיב, (ישעיהו נ״ה:ו׳) דִּרְשׁוּ יְיָ בְּהִמָּצְאוֹ קְרָאוּהוּ בִּהְיוֹתוֹ קָרוֹב.

R. Judah objected that it is written: “But as for me, let my prayer be to thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time” (Ps. 69, 14), which would seem to show that there are with God acceptable moments and unacceptable, that at one time He grants audience, at another time He does not, that the Almighty is now accessible, now inaccessible; and this is corroborated by the verse: “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near” (Is. 55, 6).

Segment 3ג׳

אָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר כָּאן לְיָחִיד כָּאן לְצִבּוּר. כָּאן לְאֲתַר חָד וְכָאן לְכוּלֵי עָלְמָא. בְּגִינִי כָךְ בָּרִיךְ לֵיהּ לְאַבְרָהָם דְּאִיהוּ שָׁקִיל כְּכָל עָלְמָא דִּכְתִיב, (בראשית ב׳:ד׳) אֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדוֹת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְהָאָרֶץ בְּהִבָּרְאָם (וכתיב) וְתָנִינָן בְּאַבְרָהָם.

In reply to this, R. Eleazar said that the verses cited apply to the prayers of an individual, whilst the lesson of our text applies to communal prayer; the former to a single locality, the latter to the world as a whole. Hence God here blessed Abraham because he was on a par with the whole world, as it is written: “These are the generations of the heaven and the earth when they were created” (Gen. 2, 4), where the term behibaream (when they were created), by a transposition of letters, appears as beabraham (in Abraham).

Segment 4ד׳

יִהְיֶה בְּגִימַטְרִיָּא שְׁלשִׁים. הָכִי תָּנִינָן תְּלָתִין צַדִּיקִים אַזְמִין קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא בְּכָל דָּרָא וְדָרָא לְעָלְמָא. כְּמָה דְּאַזְמִין לְאַבְרָהָם.

The numerical value of the letters of yihyah (will become) is thirty, which points to the traditional dictum that the Holy One provides for the world thirty righteous men in each generation in the same manner as He did for the generation of Abraham.

Segment 5ה׳

פָּתַח וְאָמַר, (שמואל ב כ״ג:כ״ג) מִן הַשְּׁלשִׁים הֲכִי נִכְבָּד וְאֶל הַשְּׁלשָׁה לֹא בָא וְגו'. מִן הַשְּׁלשִׁים הֲכִי נִכְבָּד, אִלֵּין אִנּוּן תְּלָתִין צַדִּיקִים דְּאַזְמִין קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא לְעָלְמָא וְלָא יְבַטֵּל לוֹן מִנֵּיהּ. וּבְנָיָהוּ בֶּן יְהוֹיָדָע כְּתִיב בֵּיהּ מִן הַשְּׁלשִׁים הֲכִי נִכְבָּד אִיהוּ חַד מִנַּיְיהוּ. וְאֶל הַשְּׁלשָׁה לא בָא. דְּלָא שָׁקִיל לִתְלָתָא אָחֳרָנִין דְּעָלְמָא קָאִים עֲלַיְיהוּ.

R. Eleazar supported this from the verse: “He was more honourable than the thirty, but he attained not to the three” (II Sam. 23, 23). ‘The thirty’, he said, ‘refers to the thirty righteous whom the Holy One has provided for the world without intermission; and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada of whom it is written “He was the most honourable of the thirty” was one of them.

…and 1 more segment in this section.

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Zohar — Vocalized Zohar, Israel 2013, via Sefaria

English: The Zohar — Soncino Press, London 1933 (public domain)