ספר בראשית

Genesis 38,28. “while she was in labor, one of them put ‎out his hand, etc.;” “when he subsequently withdrew his hand, ‎etc.,” “afterwards his brother emerged (completely); he called him ‎Peretz, and he called his brother Zerach.” The name ‎זרח‎, ‎reflects what we are told in Niddah 30 that as long as an ‎embryo is still within the womb of its mother, a light keeps ‎shining above its head. This light enables the embryo to see from ‎one end of the earth to the other. The Talmud uses this parable ‎to describe that as long as the embryo is as innocent of sin as was ‎Adam before he sinned when he could see all parts of the globe, ‎the embryo is in a similarly sublime condition. When it enters our ‎world upon leaving its mother’s womb, an angel slaps his face so ‎that the infant promptly forgets all it had known thus far, and ‎experiences a new awakening which includes its ability to ‎dedicate itself exclusively to the service of its Creator. It is G’d’s ‎will that man’s spiritual maturity will be attained not as a gift ‎sent from heaven, but after he has undergone trials, so that the ‎accomplishment, when it is attained, is the result of his own ‎efforts though aided by G’d once man has initiated it.‎ This is what the Zohar 1,77 alludes to as ‎אתערותא ‏דלעילה‎, quoting Isaiah 62,6 and psalms 83,2 “do not keep silent,” ‎or “you who make mention of Hashem take no rest,” so ‎that there will always be an awakening from below, as a result of ‎which an awakening from above is aroused. At the same time, so ‎that man does not think that everything in our “lower” world is ‎by definition, irreparably evil, and that all the pleasurable ‎experiences on earth are not only transient, but contribute to our ‎becoming victims of the evil urge, G’d maintains a “window of ‎opportunity,” that is open to a higher world by means of which it ‎is possible to sublimate experiences on earth, hallow them and ‎thus make them instruments of our service of the Lord and our ‎coming ever closer to Him. In other words, man has not been ‎placed on earth in order to negate earth, but in order to be G’d’s ‎tool that elevates the material universe to serve the ‎aggrandizement of His name universally. In kabbalistic parlance, ‎the tool G’d holds out to us humans is called “white light,” as ‎opposed to the physical light that we make use of everyday that ‎is perceived by contrast as “black light.” [I have rephrased ‎some of our author’s words in order to make them easier to ‎follow. Ed.]‎The author proceeds to explain the description of the twins ‎Peretz and Zerach in terms of the concepts we have just ‎explained. The word ‎פרץ‎, breaking forth, bursting out of one’s ‎mould, describes that on doing this the infant suddenly sees ‎brilliant light, ‎זרח‎. A “dark” womb has suddenly been opened with ‎a vista to overpowering light. In light of that experience the ‎newly born is likely to opt for a denial of all that reminds him of ‎his previous dark, opaque existence. When the infant extends his ‎hand into this brilliant world, G’d extended to this newly born ‎‎(not quite) a glimpse of overpowering light as encouragement, ‎before the soul had a chance to taste all that is wrong and evil on ‎earth. On the other hand, immediately thereafter, in order not to ‎hand man his salvation on a platter so that he cannot claim a ‎share in having personally achieved spiritual maturity, this ‎‎“hand” was withdrawn and replaced by the “twin” brother, ‎symbolizing that life on earth is a “two edged sword.” The author ‎informs us that the Jewish people, though one people, are on ‎occasion referred to as ‎אחים‎, brothers, as in psalms 122,9 ‎למען אחי ‏ורעי‎, “for the sake of my brothers and companions,” so that his ‎allegorical exegesis of why the Torah describes the birth of these ‎twins in such detail appears amply justified.‎