Bereishit - Kabbalah - Zohar

(1) *When God began to create Others “In the beginning God created.” heaven and earth— (2) the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and *a wind from Others “the spirit of.” God sweeping over the water— (3) God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. (4) God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. (5) God called the light Day and called the darkness Night. And there was evening and there was morning.*a first day Others “one day.” (6) God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the water, that it may separate water from water.” (7) God made the expanse, and it separated the water which was below the expanse from the water which was above the expanse. And it was so. (8) God called the expanse Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. (9) God said, “Let the water below the sky be gathered into one area, that the dry land may appear.” And it was so. (10) God called the dry land Earth and called the gathering of waters Seas. And God saw that this was good. (11) And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation: seed-bearing plants, fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. (12) The earth brought forth vegetation: seed-bearing plants of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that this was good. (13) And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.

(14) God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate day from night; they shall serve as signs for the set times—the days and the years; (15) and they shall serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth.” And it was so. (16) God made the two great lights, the greater light to dominate the day and the lesser light to dominate the night, and the stars. (17) And God set them in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth, (18) to dominate the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that this was good. (19) And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. (20) God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and birds that fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” (21) God created the great sea monsters, and all the living creatures of every kind that creep, which the waters brought forth in swarms, and all the winged birds of every kind. And God saw that this was good. (22) God blessed them, saying, “Be fertile and increase, fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” (23) And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. (24) God said, “Let the earth bring forth every kind of living creature: cattle, creeping things, and wild beasts of every kind.” And it was so. (25) God made wild beasts of every kind and cattle of every kind, and all kinds of creeping things of the earth. And God saw that this was good. (26) And God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness. They shall rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the cattle, the whole earth, and all the creeping things that creep on earth.”
(27) And God created humankind in the divine image,
creating it in the image of God—
creating them male and female. (28) God blessed them and God said to them, “Be fertile and increase, fill the earth and master it; and rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and all the living things that creep on earth.” (29) God said, “See, I give you every seed-bearing plant that is upon all the earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit; they shall be yours for food. (30) And to all the animals on land, to all the birds of the sky, and to everything that creeps on earth, in which there is the breath of life, [I give] all the green plants for food.” And it was so. (31) And God saw all that had been made, and found it very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

(1) The heaven and the earth were finished, and all their array. (2) On the seventh day God finished the work that had been undertaken: [God] ceased*ceased Or “rested.” on the seventh day from doing any of the work. (3) And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy—having ceased on it from all the work of creation that God had done. (4) Such is the story of heaven and earth when they were created. When God יהוה made earth and heaven— (5) when no shrub of the field*shrub of the field I.e., suitable for pasturage. was yet on earth and no grasses of the field*grasses of the field I.e., cereal grasses, suitable as crops. had yet sprouted, because God יהוה had not sent rain upon the earth and there were no human beings to till the soil, (6) but a flow would well up from the ground and water the whole surface of the earth— (7) God יהוה formed the Human*the Human I.e., the progenitor of the species and the point of origin for human society. Heb. ha-’adam; trad. “man.” In the eyes of ancient Israel, the typical initiator of a lineage was male, and so the first human being would also have been imagined as male. See further the Dictionary under ’adam. from the soil’s humus,*soil’s humus Heb. ‘afar min ha-’adamah, rendered to emulate the wordplay with Heb. ha-’adam “the Human”; more precisely, “loose dirt from the soil.” NJPS “dust of the earth.” blowing into his nostrils the breath of life: the Human became a living being.

At the head of potency the King (authority of the King), He engraved engravings (sefirot) in luster on high. A spark of impenetrable darkness flashed within the concealed of the concealed (Keter), from the head of Infinity - a cluster of vapor forming in formlessness, thrust in a ring, not white, not black, not red, not green, no color at all (sefirotic emanations). As a cord surveyed (kav), it yielded radiant colors. Deep within the spark gushed a flow,splaying colors below, concealed within the concealed of the mystery of Ein Sof. It split and did not split its aura, was not known at all, until under the impact of splitting, a single, concelaed, supernal point shone (reishit Chochmah). Beyond that point, nothing is known, so it is called Reishit, Beginning, first command of all.

With the beginning of the manifestation of the King's will, that is, when the King desired to emanate and create the world, a hard spark made an engraving upon the supernal light. This hard spark, which emanated from the most concealed of all concealed things from the secret of the Endlessness Light took a shapeless form. The spark was then inserted into the center of a circle that was neither white nor black nor red nor green, nor any color at all. When it began its measurements, it created colors that shone into the empty space and the engraving. From within the spark - This hard spark - a fountain spouted, from which the shades down below received their colors.

From the most concealed of all concealed things, from the secret of the Endlessness Light, emanated two faces: One cleaved and the other did not cleave. Its atmosphere was unknown until forceful blows split Atik, and a concealed supernal point shone. Beyond this point, nothing is knowable and, because of this, it is called by the name Beginning, which means the first of the sayings.

And they who are wise (enlightened) shall shine like the (zohar) brightness of the firmament, and they who turn many to righteousness like the stars for ever and ever" (Daniel 12:3).

Zohar, Radiance! Concelaed of concealed struck its aura, which touched and did not touch this point (Keter-Chochmah). Then the beginning expanded, building itself a palace worthy of glorious praise. There it sowed seed to give birth, availing worlds. The secret is: Her stock is seed of holiness (Isaiah 6:13)

Zohar, Radiance! Sowing seed for its glory, like the seed of fine purple silk wrapping itself within, weaving itself a palace, constituting its praise, availing all.

With the beginning, the unknown concealed one created the palace. This palace is called Elohim - God. The secret is Bereishit bara Elohim, With beginning created God (Genesis 1:1)

"And they who are wise" alludes to the souls of the righteous, "the brightness of the firmament" to the illumination of the upper three Sefirot, which are revealed when combined with the attribute of mercy. The atmosphere of the brightness that is most concealed of all concealed things merged with this point and shone into it. Then this Beginning which is Arich Anpin expanded into a head and body, and made a chamber for its honor and glory. There, inside the chamber, Arich Anpin planted a holy seed to bring forth souls for the benefit of the world. This is the secret of, "So the holy seed is its immovable stump".

The brightness that it sowed for its honor is similar to the purple seed of the silkworm, for the worm encases itself within its own silk. And from that seed, is prepares for itself a chamber for its own glory and for the benefit of all. With this Beginning, the concealed unknown One created the chamber, and this chamber is called by the name 'Elohim.' This is the secret of the words: "In the beginning Elohim created".

This chamber is the brightness from which all ten sayings were created, according to the secret meaning of the expansion of the point from that hidden brightness. Thus, if the word "created" applies to it, no wonder it is written, "And Elohim created man in his

own image"

Radiance - From here all commands were created through the mysterious expansion of this point of concealed radiance. (Chochmah - Reshit) If created²³ is written here, no wonder it is written: "God created (the same verb - bara is used) the human being in His image". (G1:27)

The brightness, which is Arich Anpin, is the secret of the Beginning, because its name is the first of all. The Holy Name Eheyeh is engraved upon the sides of Arich Anpin. The name Elohim is engraved on the crown. And this is the secret of Asher, which is a concealed chamber, and is the beginning of the revelation of the secret of the Beginning. The word Asher consists of the same letters as Rosh (Eng. 'head') but in reverse order, as the letter Resh which is the first letter in Rosh is the last letter in Asher. This shows that it is the Rosh that came out of resheet (Eng. 'beginning'), which is Arich Anpin. Therefore, it emerged from the aspect of the head and was formed as a headless body.

Zohar - Radiance! Mystery! (be-reshit), In the beginning, first of all, (Ehyeh), I will be (Exodus 3:14), a sacred name engraved in its sides²⁴, Elohim, God engraved in the crown, Asher²⁶, Who, a hidden treasured palace, beginning of the mystery of reshit. Asher, rosh, head, emerging from reshit (Binah). When afterward point and palace were arrayed as one, then Be-reshit comprised supernal reshit in wisdom (Chochmah). Afterward the color of the palace was transformed and it was called bayit, house, while the supernal point was called rosh, merging in one another in mystery of Be-reshit when all was as one in one entirety, before the house was inhabited. Once it was sown, arraying habitation, it was called Elohim - hidden concealed. (seed from Chochmah into Binah)

What is this seed? Those engraved letters, mystery of Torah, emerging from that point. Within that palace the point sowed the seed of three points, cholem, shuruq, hireq (vowels), merging together, becoming a single mystery: a voice emerging in unison(Tiferet). As it emerged its consort emerged with it, comprising all letters, as is written - et hashamayim, the heavens voice and consort³⁵ (Tiferet and Shchinah). This voice, heaven is the final Ehyeh - I will be. (Eyeh Ahser Eyeh - I will be who I will be. Keter, Binah, Tiferet)

Zohar, Radiance! Comprising all colors in this way, till here. YHVH Eloheinu YHVH, Hashem our God Hashem (D6:4) three rungs, corresponding to the supernal mystery³⁷. Bereishit bara Elohim, In the beginning God created. Be-reshit, primordial mystery. (Primordial point of Chochmah). Bara concealed mystery, from which all expands. Elohim - mystery sustaining all below. (birth to the middos). Et hashamayim, the heavens - so as not to separate them, male and female as one. Et - coneying all those letters, entirety of them all: beginning and end. Afterward heh' was added, so all those letters would be combined with heh' , and it was called (Et +heh) Atah, You. So, ve-atah, And You enliven them all (Nehemiah 9:6). Et - mystery of Adonai, Lord, and so it is called. (Shechinah, pronounced as it is written as opposed to YHVH also Adonai, but pronounced as Shem Hashem). Ha shamayim - YHVH supernal mystery (Tiferet). v-et - array of male and female (vav=Tiferet associated with the Middos = 6) and YHVH all is one. Ha-aretz, The earth - Elohim, as above, generating fruit and verdure. The name is embraced on three sides, branching from there variously.

Until here on, mystery of secret of secrets, which, He engraved, fashioned, vivified in hidden ways, through the mystery of a single verse, from here on, Bereshit - 'bara-shit', He created six,, from one end of heaven to the other (D4:32), six direction extending from the supernal mystery⁵¹ through the expansion that He created from the primordial point. 'Bara'

- created - expansion of a single point on high. Here is engraved the mystery of the name of forty two letters. (First - forty two, Ana Bakoach)

[After the] point... After the [point] and the chamber were established as one, Beresheet which is Arich Anpin includes a lofty beginning to the light of Chochmah. Later, the appearance of the chamber changed and it was called a house and the supernal point was called the head. They were included in each other through the secret of the Beginning, because combining the words Bayit and Rosh forms the term Beresheet. This was so as long as Bayit and Rosh were as one, as long as there was no manner of habitation in the house; as long as Chochmah was not clothed with Chassadim, which reveals the four colors of the house. But it was sown for the purpose of habitation and, once it was inhabited, it was called by the name 'Elohim' hidden and concealed.