Sexual Purity and Secrets of Torah
From the secrets of Torah found in the Zohar, we discover that the holiness of our sexual lives is the key to spiritual and material blessing, both for...
Secrets of Torah
As we shall discover, sexual purity and the secrets of Torah go hand in hand.
Our Sages have repeatedly emphasized the necessity of learning the secrets of Torah at the time of Geula (redemption.)
The holy Kabbalist, Rabbi Haim Vital, foremost student of the Arizal, emphasizes in his introduction to the “Etz HaChaim,” that the prolongation of the exile, and all of its sufferings, stem from the fact that the inner secrets of Torah have gone unlearned.”
The Gaon of Vilna writes: “This Geula will only come about through the learning of Torah, and the main factor of the Geula depends on the learning of the Kabbalah,” (Even HaShelma, 11:3.)
Throughout all of his writings, Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak HaKohen Kook stresses the necessity of learning the secrets of Torah at the time of Israel’s redemption. He writes:
“The revelation of the secrets of Torah in the last generation, in order to purify the hearts and to fill the minds with noble thoughts whose source lies in the secrets of Torah, is an absolute necessity in the last generation to insure the survival of Judaism,” (Orot HaKodesh, Part 1, Pg. 141.)
In his book, Orot, Rabbi Kook emphasizes the great importance of sexual purity as a necessary foundation for our revival in our land, for the Shechinah (Divine Presence) will not rest in an unholy place, (Orot HaTechiya, 35.) In support of his assertion, Rabbi Kook quotes verbatim two passages from the Torah:
“When thou goest out to encamp against thy enemies, then keep thee from every evil thing. If there be among you any man that is not clean by reason of an impure emission of semen at night, then he shall go abroad outside of the camp, he shall not come within the camp,” (Devarim, 23:10-11.)
“For the L-rd thy G-d walks in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thy enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy, that He see no unclean thing in thee and turn away from thee,” (Devarim, 23:15.)
Elsewhere in Orot, (Orot HaTechiya, 57,) Rabbi Kook stresses the importance of studying the Zohar, as a necessary harbinger of redemption:
“Now, the time demands a greater acquisition of the inner Torah, with holy visions that cannot begin to be heard except through the elevation of the soul and the uplifting of its valor in the light of its purest, transcendental life….
“The book of the Zohar, that breaches new paths, forging a way in the desert, a road in the wilderness, it and all of it bounty is prepared to open doors of redemption. ‘Since Israel is destined to taste from the Tree of Life, which is the book of the Zohar, they will be redeemed from the exile with mercy.’” (Zohar, Naso, 124b)
Tree of Life, by David Friedman
The Greatest Secret
One of the reasons that the Zohar is so vital to our times is because of the great light it sheds on the Brit as the spiritual channel through which Divine blessing is channeled to the nation of Yisrael.
It is sometimes thought that when the word Brit appears in the Torah and the Tanach, it is referring to a general covenant between G-d and the Jewish People. The Zohar, however, makes clear that almost every reference to the Brit means guarding the sexual purity of Am Yisrael. We see this clearly with Yosef, who is called, Yosef HaTzaddik, because he overcame the temptations of Potifar’s wife.
Thus, the Zohar teaches:
Behold, all of the Jewish People have a portion in the World to Come, because they safeguard the Brit on which the world is established, as it says, “If not for My Brit day and night, I would not uphold the ordinances of heaven and earth,” (Yirmayahu, 33:25.) Thus Israel, who have accepted the Brit and preserve it, have a portion in the World to Come.
Furthermore, because of this they are called tzaddikim. We learn from this that whoever safeguards this Brit, which upholds the world, is called tzaddik (righteous one.) We learn this from Yosef. Because he guarded the Brit of the world, he merited to be called, “Yosef the Tzaddik.” And so it is that, “Thy people are all tzaddikim; they shall inherit the land forever.” (Zohar, Bereshit 59b)
From the secrets of Torah found in the Zohar, we discover that the holiness of our sexual lives is the key to spiritual and material blessing, both for the individual, for the Nation of Israel, and for the world.
To be continued.
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(Secret of the Brit is reprinted with kind permission of JewishSexuality.com. Tzvi Fishman was awarded the Israel Ministry of Education Prize for Creativity and Jewish Culture. His books on Judaism and Jewish themes include: “Tuvia in the Promised Land,” “Days of Mashiach,” “The Kuzari For Young Readers,” and four books on the teachings of Rabbi Kook, “Torat Eretz Yisrael,” “War and Peace,” “The Art of T’shuva,” and “Lights on Orot,” co-written with Rabbi David Samson).
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