Shavuot

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And now that the Torah has already been given, it is due to this reason that we must remain awake and occupy ourselves with the oral Torah. And it is as it is written in the holy Zohar (1:98a), "Since one must be occupied on that night with the Oral Torah, because, etc." And in another place (Introduction 14:125), it is found, "to be occupied with the Torah, from the Torah to the Prophets, from the Prophets to the Writings, from the Writings to the teachings about the verses and the secrets of wisdom, etc." And that is, that secret [raz] has the numerical value of light [ohr], as it is written in the holy Zohar (3:215a). And that which it said, "from the Torah to the Prophets, etc.," is that also in the verses in the written Torah, there is oral Torah. And it is as we said in the name of our holy rabbi from Izbiza, may the memory of the righteous be for a blessing, about that which they said (Vayikra Rabba 16:2), "Rabbi Yannai said, 'All my life I have been reading this verse, but I did not know how obvious it is until this peddler came and informed [me]'": Even though he only said the verse as it is written — the peddler nevertheless needed a correction with this, since that is why he is called a peddler [rokhel], like the usage of, One who goes talebearing [rakhil] (Proverbs 11:13). And he merited that it be clarified in this way, so he felt light and imbued the verse with a new taste [taam, which also means explanation]. And by way of R. Yannai hearing this verse from him, he also felt this light. And these are the explanations of the light of the Torah that is found in the words of Torah, which make one feel taste and sweetness. And this is the reason it is established that we read the order of Shavuot night [which also includes the reading of verses by themselves]. But the intention is not about only saying it, rather it is necessary that the light of the Torah be planted into the heart. And with us, all of the wisdom of the oral Torah — since it has already been written — is included in the wisdom of the aspect of the written Torah, whereas the essence is to feel the light from the words of the Torah in the heart. The Understanding [Binah] of the heart, that is the aspect of the oral Torah. And this is that on the night before the time of the giving of the Torah each year, a person may merit this, that the words of the Torah be planted into the heart, just like the Jewish people merited then on the night before the giving of the Torah. And because of this, we need to stay awake and be occupied with the Oral Torah. And this is [the meaning of] that which it says in the holy Zohar (Emor 35:171), " What did his mother do that night? She went into the storeroom and brought out a noble crown set with 70 precious stones, etc." And that is with the crown with which his mother crowned him (Song of Songs 3:9). And his mother is the Congregation of Israel, according to that which is said in the midrash (Shir HaShirim Rabbah 3:11:2), "He did not stop loving them until he called them My mother [imi], as it is stated, Heed Me My people, listen to Me My nation [uleumi] (Isaiah 51:4), My mother [ulimi] is written. For the congregation of Israel is called Mother. And that which is written in the Zohar, "the supernal Mother," is the supernal divine presence, Understanding. And that is as it is written, Then you will understand the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 2:5), since the fear entered the depths of the heart. And then God, may He be blessed, called the Jewish people, My Mother, with the crown with which his Mother crowned him, and that is the Congregation of Israel. And here it also said that the crown was with the number of the 70 precious stones, and that is according to the number of the Children of Israel [when they entered Egypt]. And that number is from the powers of the soul, which are 70, as the ancients wrote, and they are the precious stones. And that is according to that which they said in the holy Zohar (Emor 21:91-92), "This secret is that at first, it is, and I will be sanctified amongst the Children of Israel; and afterward, I am the Lord who sanctifies you (Leviticus 22:32)" — since afterward, He crowns the Jewish people with seventy crowns, and as it was on the night before the giving of the Torah. And this is what is written in the holy Zohar (in the Introduction 14:26), "Rabbi Shimon said, 'My sons... shall have their names recorded in the Book of Remembrance, and the Holy One, blessed be He, shall bless them with seventy blessings and adornments of crowns of the supernal world.'" As the original light that was hidden for the righteous in the future to come is in the oral Torah, as it is written in Sefer HaBahir. And so is it written (Tanchuma, Noach 3) that the Holy One, blessed be He, hid it away for those who toil with the oral Torah. It is the dew of the Ancient One, let my saying drip like dew [alluding to Deuteronomy 32:2]. And there are 70 faces to the Torah in the oral Torah, and these are the 70 blessings and the 70 crowns of the supernal world. Be exact, the dew of the Ancient One. And it said afterward in the Raiya Mehemna (Zohar Chadash 98b) [Zohar, Emor 35:172], "Afterwards she went into the house of the bride, etc. she said to them, 'I have prepared a bathhouse, etc.'" Immersing in water is hinting to Torah — there is no water besides Torah (Bava Kamma 17a). And that is the Oral Torah, the aspect of fear, and the fear of the Lord is pure, and it purifies [alluding to Psalms 19:10], that it shall last forever. And it is as it says in the holy Zohar (Kedoshim 3:11), "Since you will find purification in Torah, etc.; as it is always found in that purification, and it does not move away from it." And every year when that night before the giving of the Torah arrives, we can merit to that fear and oral Torah, to sense the light in the words of Torah. And that is why we must remain awake and be occupied with the oral Torah, so that it brings [its] light and sweetness into the heart.