32. The Creator made Jerusalem above opposite Jerusalem below, and swore that He would not come there until Israel come into Jerusalem below, as it is written, \u201cThe Holy One in your midst, and I will not enter the city.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
33. Seven sects of ministering angels guard them around, and over each door, sects of ministering angels. These are the doors called \u201cgates of justice,\u201d and these are the doors where the souls of the righteous are intended to enter. King David longed for them, as it is written, \u201cOpen for me the gates of justice; I will come through them; I will praise the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord, through which the righteous shall enter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
34. Above them, the ministering angels guard the walls of the city, as it is written, \u201cOn your walls, Jerusalem.\u201d This is Jerusalem of above. \u201cI have appointed guards\u201d are the ministering angels. The souls of the righteous have seven doors through which to enter up to the place of their merit, and at each door, there are guards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
35. The first door: The soul enters the Cave of Machpelah, which is near the Garden of Eden, and Adam HaRishon guards it. If she merits, he declares and says, \u201cMake way! Come in peace,\u201d and she exits the first door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
36a. The second door in the gates of the Garden of Eden finds the Cherubim, and the blaze of the swirling sword. If she merits, she enters in peace. If not, there she receives her punishment and burns in the blaze of the Cherubim. Corresponding to them were the Cherubim in the Temple. When the priest entered on Yom Kippur [Day of Atonement], if he merits, he enters in peace. If he does not merit, a flame emerges from between the two Cherubim and he is burned inside and dies. They were aimed corresponding to those at the gate to the Garden of Eden, to purify the souls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
36b. If the soul merits, she is given a writing, a sign so as to enter, and she enters the Garden of Eden in the earth, and a pillar of cloud and glow are mixed with one another. The cloud is illumination of Hassadim, and the glow is illumination of Hochma, and the middle pillar unites them with one another and mixes them together. And there is smoke and glow around it, around the pillar. Smoke is the judgments of the left that guard the illumination of Hochma so the external ones do not suckle from it, as it is written, \u201cThen the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and a glow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is pinned from below upward to the gates of heaven, meaning it does not shine from above downward. If the soul merits rising, she rises in that pillar. If she does not merit more, she remains there and becomes refined by the good that is above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Garden of Eden corresponds to the veil of the terrible ice that is above, which is as it is written, \u201cThe firmament like the terrible ice, stretched over their heads from above,\u201d and she enjoys the brightness of the Shechina, but she is not nourished by it. \u201cEnjoys\u201d means from below upward, as one enjoys a scent. \u201cNourished\u201d means from above downward, like eating and drinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
37. If she merits rising, she rises in that pillar until she reaches the third door, which corresponds to the firmament called Zvul, and she reaches up to Jerusalem that is there. And there, there are the guards. If she merits, the doors are opened to her and she enters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
38. If she does not merit, the gates are locked, and she is repelled outside, and her writing is taken away from her, and the soul says, \u201cThe guards who went about the city found me.\u201d These are the ministering angels who guard the Temple and Jerusalem of above. \u201cTook my veil away from me\u200e\u201d is the writing, her sign. The guards of the walls are as it is written, \u201cOn your walls, Jerusalem, I have appointed guards.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
39. If she merits rising, she enters there through those gates, and she praises the Creator in the Temple of above, and Michael, the great minister, offers her as a sacrifice. That sacrifice is like a person who offers a gift to the king.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
40. And Michael walks with her up to the fourth door, and the fifth and the sixth. He says to the Creator, \u201cLord of the world, happy are Your children, the children of the ones who love You\u2014Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Happy are the good righteous who are rewarded with this.\u201d When they reach the seventh gate, Aravot, there are treasures of good life there, and all the souls of the righteous are there, and they become ministering angels and praise the Creator. They are nourished by the brightness of the Shechina, the shining mirror, and there, there are the resting place and the inheritance, and the quiet of the life of the next world, for it is written, \u201cThe eye has not seen a God besides You.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
32. The Creator made Jerusalem above opposite Jerusalem below, and swore that He would not come there until Israel come […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":12826,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"topic":[28],"class_list":["post-16887","book","type-book","status-publish","hentry","topic-zohar"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n