Vayechi: Chapter 72

"Set me as a seal upon your heart"

Synopsis

While sheltering themselves from the bright sun in a cave, Rabbi Aba and Rabbi Elazar discuss, "Set me as a seal upon your heart.". Rabbi Elazar tells of Rabbi Shimon's interpretation of this verse, explaining that only the souls of the righteous can raise the Female Waters of the Female Principle. After the male and female were joined, the Female Principle quoted, "Set me as a seal upon your heart", desiring to retain a likeness even in separation. Similarly, Yisrael desired to remain with the Shechinah in some way, even in exile. Yisrael's love of God is so strong that any separation from Him is as difficult to bear as the day when the spirit leaves the body.

The discussion then turns to the verse, "Jealousy is cruel as Sheol." We learn that jealousy is a sign of true love. Therefore, a man should be jealous of his wife so that he will be attached to her in complete love and will not look at other women. Another explanation is that when the wicked are brought down to Sheol, their sins are announced and the jealous demand reckoning for these sins. We then learn that the "flame of Yah" is the burning flame that comes out of the Shofar, the burning of the flame of Yisrael's love of God. This love burns so strongly that rather than extinguishing it, the "many waters" of Chesed add to it. Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Yehuda, and Rabbi Yitzchak then join Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Aba to conclude the discussion.

Relevance

Deep love for The Creator burns within us as Light and love emanate from these poetic words. This energy also helps to remove envy and jealousy of others from our hearts, while stirring a positive form of jealousy (is there an alternative to the word "jealousy" that we could use for the positive connotation? Here and in the rest of the section, positive jealousy is hard to visualize.), passion, and appreciation for our spouses.