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Yitro: The Book of Remembrance

It is a tradition in Judaism to traverse each week through the Torah portion corresponding to that weeks section that is to be read in the synagogue.  This practice ends and begins the Torah reading on Simchas Torah in effect always connecting the end with the beginning.  It is a cycle of Remembrance and also a call for applying the principles of Kabbalah during each weekly reading.  In this way all five books of Torah are read in a cycle from year to year.

 
Collectively these five books are called Torah,  The Zohar too speaks of a book of Remembrance alluding to Torah which is the book below.
 
Zohar 2:70b "And we learned a secret: (Zeh Sefer) This is the book.  There is a book and then there is a book! A book above, a book below.  The book below is called Book of Remembrance--book of that remembrance, namely a certain Righteous One, called zeh, this. And in order not to separate them, since they constantly as one, in a single union, it is written zeh sefer, this is the book--two rungs in one, totality of male and female.  This is one entirety, for all those souls and spirits flying into inhabitants of the world-totality of all generations are these the generations of adam, surely!  For from that Righteous One that we mentioned, those souls fly forth in one desire.  This is watering of the garden, watered by that river issuing from Eden, as is written: A river issues from Eden to water the garden (Genesis 2:10).  This is the mystery of adam as is written, the generations of adam.'
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Torah is the Book of Remembrance called 'this book.'  It is so designated here to bring out the relationship between 'this book' below and the one above which is not described.  The book above however refers to the book of the Image of Reflection.  
 
Zohar Yitro (ibid) After it was revealed from the first supernal mystery of the verse,  He created the lower man as it is written: "In the day that Elohim created man, in the likeness of Elohim He made him." "In the likeness," Adam was like a mirror with figures that appear in it; the figures do not stay fixed in the mirror for very long, but fade away from it. It is also , "in the likeness of Elohim."

The essence of thought is what animates man.  Thoughts move and fade or rather becoming part of something else that is continuously evolving.  The garden represents the totality of experience.  All of those souls that are brought into being turn out to be like a prism that reflects many images albeit with different colors coming from the various aspects of the angles of perception.
 
What the Zohar suggests here are the various levels of reality that come to be.  Like the images in a film camera have to be resolved before they come into view so too do those souls that come into existence via the various levels of reality have to resolve their holy objectives before determining the meanings of holiness that they were sent forth with.
 
The destination in sight that issued from that 'Righteous One' is the watering of the garden which is the promotion of holiness within by our continuing attention and unwavering holy focus. B"H.
 

, LA Kabbalah Examiner

Mark Siet has studied Kabbalah for more than twenty-five years. His writings are passionate, insightful, and uplifting. He has authored Thought Into Form, 360 Degrees of Good, and the forthcoming, The Enlightened Bahir. Email: mark@marksiet.com.

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