Trumah: Chapter 15

'Bless the blessed Hashem'

Synopsis

Blessings from the source of life, the Creator, flow to Malchut, filling and watering her forever and ever. Therefore it is incumbent upon the entire nation to make the blessing at the commencement of the Shabbat, for when they begin to bless, a voice goes through all the firmaments that become sanctified with the holiness of the commencement of the Shabbat. We learn that as the blessing and sanctification takes place below, it also takes place above in many supernal camps. So the children of Israel become adorned with the crowns of the holy souls. That night is the time for the Sages to perform marital duties, for adorned with these holy souls, they will produce holy children. We read how the souls of the righteous and other holy spirits move back and forth between the Garden of Eden and the upper Garden. The scripture speaks of the adornment of souls, whereby the courageous forefathers return in spirit to fill the living with their souls. At midnight on Shabbat Eve, when the Sages awake to perform marital duties, there is a supernal spirit with which they became adorned when the day was sanctified. While they are sleeping, other souls wish to ascend and see the glory of the King, the supernal spirit that descended at the commencement of the Shabbat takes that soul, and so they ascend. The other souls bathe in the spices that are in the Garden of Eden, and see there whatever they see. We read that Rabbi Hamnuna Saba (the elder) was filled with joy at the commencement of Shabbat, to see the supernal angels and the ascending and descending souls.

Relevance

Here the beauty of the commencement of the Shabbat is profoundly stirred within our souls. It connects us richly to the weekly expression of energy, while igniting the cosmic Sabbath in the world. The joy of Rabbi Hamnuna Saba is kindled in our hearts, and our visual embrace of this passage draws down righteous souls into this world.

Kabbalah holds that the highest of souls and finest grade of Light cascade from higher to lower, to our earthly sphere, after midnight on Shabbat when a man and woman join together in love. Thus, by virtue of this mystical knowledge, intimate relations between husband and wife are imbued with divinity, bringing holiness to the entire world. The accumulative Light resulting from the marital duties of the righteous souls all through the ages shines now, in full radiance.