Jewish Sexuality dot Com

Among the many things which we learn in the Torah portion of “Vayetze” is the importance of guarding our sexual lives. The Zohar teaches that the ladder which Yaacov Avinu saw in his dream represented the sefirah of “Yesod” which is associated with the site of the brit milah and our sexual lives. This is what led Yaacov to exclaim, “How awesome is this place!” upon awakening from his dream. But to properly explain this crucial understanding, a short introduction is needed for people who may be unfamiliar with the language of the Kabbalah.

THE SPIRITUAL BLUEPRINT
The language of the Zohar is filled with codes that refer to the spiritual blueprint of the universe, which is always at work, behind the curtains of our material world, to bring us G-d’s blessings. It is widely known that this spiritual “tochna,” like a computer program, is comprised of “sefirot” that serve as channels of Divine illumination. In a sense, the sefirot act as filters, allowing G-d’s light and blessing to appear in the world without overwhelming it. The higher sefirot are called Keter, Chochmah, and Binah.  The lower sefirot are Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, Nezach, Hod, Yesod, and Malchut.

The Zohar rarely mentions the sefirot by name. Rather it speaks in codes. For example, Avraham Avinu is associated with the sefirah of Chesed, Yitzhak with Gevurah, and Yaacov with Tiferet. Through the teachings of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and his disciples, who were great Torah scholars in their own right, the Zohar reveals the spiritual blueprint at work behind the narratives and commandments of the Torah.

To help us understand the system, let us imagine that the lower sefirot are aligned in the form of a funnel. The main body of the funnel comprises the sefirot of Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, Nezach, and Hod. The spout of the funnel is the Yesod, the channel through which the influences of all of the sefirot must pass in order to appear in our manifest world of Malchut.

From this illustration, it follows that if the spout of the funnel, the Yesod, is blocked up because of our sins, then the Divine illumination from Above cannot pass down to us and to the world. On an individual level, this drying up of the river of blessing (shefa) brings about many personal hardships, G-d forbid, such as illness, problems with livelihood, family problems, and the like.  On the national level, the blockage can bring about destruction and exile from our Land.

Concurrently, when the channel of the Yesod is blocked up because of our transgressions, then our prayers, Torah study, and good deeds cannot ascend to the higher spiritual worlds. Not being able to enter the spout and properly rise up the funnel of the sefirot, our prayers and good deeds are cast away into the realm of the Other Side, the realm of the forces of darkness and impurity outside of the funnel. It is this diverted kedusha (holiness) that gives power to Israel’s enemies.

MICROCOSM OF THE WORLD
With this illustration in mind, we must mention another central idea vital to the understanding the Zohar. G-d created man as a microcosm of the world. Man contains the spiritual blueprint for all of existence. Accordingly, the sefirot that make up the spiritual universe find their parallel in man. The right arm parallels the sefirah of Chesed. The left arm, Gevurah. The upper body, Tiferet. The right and left legs parallel Nezach and Hod. And the place of the Brit, the sexual organ, parallels the Yesod.

Thus, referring back to our illustration of the funnel, the organ of the Brit parallels the spout. To reach our world of Malchut, the Divine illumination from all of the sefirot must pass through the channel of the Yesod, the spout of the spiritual world. For this reason, the Yesod is said to encompass and include all of the other sefirot. Thus the tikun, (rectification) of the damaged Yesod is called the Tikun HaKlalli, meaning the all-encompassing tikun.

To give an example, at the time of marital relations, all of the genetic information from every organ and limb of the body has to converge in the channel of the Brit in order to reach the proper destination in the female, who embodies the sefirah of Malchut. The codes of DNA from the brain, from the eyes, the arms, the heart, and the legs, all rush to gather in the Yesod as it unites with Malchut in order for the genetic transference to take place.

Thus, in the physical world, the organ of the Brit parallels the spiritual function of the Yesod, in its being the channel of life force through which the marital union is consummated. In the microcosm of man, the place of the Brit serves the same function as the spout of the funnel.
Due to the parallelism of man and the spiritual worlds, it follows that if a man impairs his Brit through sexual transgression, then his wrongdoing will also damage the parallel spiritual counterpart of the Yesod in the spiritual worlds that program the world’s computer.
This understanding is based on the principle that whatever man does in this world has a direct and immediate effect on the upper spiritual worlds. The beginning chapters of the book, “Nefesh HaChaim,” describe this phenomenon fully – how our thoughts, deeds, and speech all impact the upper worlds for good and for evil.

Thus by transgressing the sexual laws of the Torah, whether it be pre-marital sex, relations with non-Jews, adultery, masturbation, homosexuality, violation of Niddah laws, looking at pornography, and the like, a person damages the spiritual channel, the Yesod, that brings Divine illumination and blessing into the world. The Zohar emphasizes time and again that sexual wrongdoing brings tragedy and plagues on the individual and on the nation, in this world and in the world to come.
As mentioned, if sexual sins become rampant on a national level, this can cause a total blockage, or the drying up of the channel of the Yesod, bringing destruction and exile to Am Yisrael. This is precisely what occurred in the days of the First and Second Temples. While other sins were rampant as well, the prophets stridently warned about the declining sexual immorality of the times. When the Yesod was damaged Above through Israel’s transgressions, it was only a matter of time before the enemy succeeded in destroying its physical counterpart embodied in Zion and Jerusalem below.

From this, we can understand the great importance of Shmirat HaBrit – guarding the Covenant. By conducting one’s sexual life in holiness, the sefirah of Yesod is preserved in its pure, healthy, functioning state, insuring that Divine blessing is constantly poured down upon Am Yisrael and the individual.

This is the inner meaning of the verse, “Your sins have withheld good (tov) from you” (Yirmeyahu, 5:26). In the language of the Zohar, “tov” is the Yesod. Our sins prevent the Divine illumination that comes through the Yesod from reaching us. According to the Sages of the Kabbalah, this is the prime inner cause of all of the sufferings we face.

YAACOV’S DREAM
Now we can better understand the significance of Yaacov’s dream. In addition to its plain meaning that Yaacov had his dream on Mount Moriah, at the site of the Jerusalem Temple, the passage has esoteric understandings as well. We are told, “And he lay down in this place” (Bereshit, 28:11). The Zohar notes that the Hebrew expression for “and he lay down,” “V’yeshkav,” וישכב can also be read as “and there are כב (22)” in this place. The Kabbalist, Rabbi Leon Levi, explains that there are 22 Hebrew letters in this place, the place of the Brit. These 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, the letters which comprise the Torah, and used to create the world, are the building blocks of life. The great sanctity of this place is the reason why Avraham had his servant, Eliezer, place his hand under his thigh, because swearing by this place is like swearing by a Torah scroll. This is why sexual transgression, known as “Pagam HaBrit,” causes such terrible damage throughout the spiritual worlds and in our own lives, G-d forbid.

As we mentioned, the ladder reaching Heaven which Yaacov saw in his dream, represents the channel of the Yesod, the channel connecting Heaven and Earth, “the gateway to Heaven” (Bereshit, 28:17). This channel is our connection to the Divine influence and the holy bounty that Hashem sends to the world. Amazed by this revelation, Yaacov awakes and exclaims, “Surely the L-rd is in this place and I knew it not. How awesome is this place!” This place is the sign of the holy Covenant which must not be neglected (Zohar 149B-150B).

In other words, our attachment to G-d depends on the holiness of our sexual lives. Unfortunately, people are often negligent in safeguarding this holy connection, as the Zohar states, “But people disregard the exalted value (of the Yesod) and of being perfected through it” (there).