When The Sun and Moon were in Mourning

Rabbi Hiya opened his discourse with the verse: "Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you that love her, rejoice for joy with her." (Isaiah 66:10) Come and see: When the Temple was destroyed and the Children of Israel were exiled from their land because of their sins, G-d's (presence) departed (from) Above.1 And He did not address the destruction of the Temple nor His exiled people. The Shechina then went into exile with them.

When He descended, He saw that His house was burnt. He looked at His people and behold, they were in exile. He asked for the Matron [the Shechina] and learned that she was exiled. Then, it is written, "And on that day did G-d, the L-rd of Hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth." (Isaiah 22:12) And regarding her [the Shechina] – also Her – what is written about Her?

"[The Shechina] laments like a virgin, girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth [Zeir Anpin]…," (Joel 1:8) because "…he is gone," for he Has left her, and they are separated.

Even heaven and earth themselves mourned, as it is written, "I clothe the heavens with blackness and I make sackcloth their covering." (Isaiah 50:3) All the supernal angels mourned for Her, as it is written, "Behold, the mighty ones shall cry outside; the angels of peace weep bitterly." (Isaiah 33:7) The sun and moon were in mourning, their lights darkened, as it is written, "the sun shall be darkened in his going forth." (Isaiah 13:10) All Above and Below wept for Her and mourned. Why? Because the Other Side reigned over Her, in that it ruled over the Holy Land.

He [Rabbi Hiya] opened a discourse with the verse: "You son of man, thus says the L-rd G-d to the land of Israel: An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land." (Ezekiel 7:2) This verse contains a deep mystery. What does "to the land of Israel: an end" mean? Does it mean an end to the land of Israel [the secret of malchut]? Surely this is true. And we have learned there is an end to the right and an end to the left. An end to the right, as it is written, "at the end of the right" (Daniel 12:13) and an end to the left [malchut of the kelipot], as it is written, "He [G-d] puts an end to darkness (i.e. the kelipot), and searches out all perfection." (Job 28:3) This is the "end of all flesh", as discussed.

The end on the right [malchut of holiness] is written of in the verse, "to the land of Israel an end;" "...the end is come" refers to the end on the left. The end on the right is the end through the Good Inclination, and the end on the left is the end through the Evil Inclination, which happened when, due to the overpowering of sin (over good deeds), it was decreed that sovereignty would be granted to the kingship of evil to rule and destroy His house and His dwelling-place, as it is written, "Thus says the L-rd G-d! An evil, a singular evil, behold, is come." (Ezekiel 7:5) It is all one [teaching].

Therefore there was mourning Above and Below, for sovereignty was given to the end of the Left [Side]. Thus, because the kingdom of holiness, the kingdom of heaven, was subjugated and the kingdom of evil prevailed, it behooves any man to mourn with it and be abased with it. Because when the Holy Kingdom arises, and the world rejoices, he shall also rejoice with her, as it is written, "rejoice for joy with it, all you that did mourn for her." (Isaiah 66:10)

BeRahamim LeHayyim:

"In its time, I will hasten it" is the prophetic prediction of the end of times. "In its time" means through travail; "I will hasten it" means through lovingkindness sped up by G-d.

Will the end come through gevura/severity, or through chesed/lovingkindness? Who knows for sure? It is in our power to pray for a sweet change, for the Mashiach to enter gently--with all of us here full of the knowledge of the Divine. It doesn't help to be caught in the web of fear, like survivalists planning for the Y2K disaster that never happened. Do good -- make this Three Week period a personal taste of your Heaven on Earth and you will have taken a significant step towards "the end of the right" mentioned by the above Zohar.