{"id":45772,"date":"2021-05-14T07:34:43","date_gmt":"2021-05-14T05:34:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyzohar.com\/?p=45772"},"modified":"2022-06-02T06:31:18","modified_gmt":"2022-06-02T04:31:18","slug":"shavuot-a-holiday-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.dailyzohar.com\/?p=45772","title":{"rendered":"Shavuot – A holiday guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

The ‘correction’ of Shavuot – תיקון ליל שבועות<\/strong><\/h1>\n

The Zohar teaches us that on the night of Shavuot, we do an important ‘Tikkun’. This Tikun<\/a> is an all-night study in preparation for the giving of the Torah in the coming morning. First, we read from all 24 books of the Bible, then study the Idra Rabah and, if there is time, also the Idra Zuta.
\nDownload link<\/a> of the Torah text for reading on Shavuot night.
\nThe link is from Chabad.org: Link to page<\/a> (Hebrew only):<\/p>\n

It’s good to give Tzedakah before the Holiday. According to the great Kabbalist Rabbi Chaim Palagi ZT”L, the heavens are open in the night of Shavuot and giving Tzedaka help in the correction of the sin of Adam and Eve, the sin of the Golden Calf, corruption of Yessod<\/a>, and hasten the coming of Mashiach. It supports personal wishes, draws blessings for fruitfulness and children.<\/p>\n

The word Tikkun is usually related to ‘Correction,’ but it also means improvement (תקן,תיקון), installation (התקנה) and קישוט, ‘decoration’. During the night, we connect to 24 ‘decorations of the bride’ where the bride is the aspect of the lower Shechina, Malchut<\/a> that goes up to unify with the Light.
\nThe Holy Ari tells us that if we follow the requirements of this night, which includes staying awake all night, we disconnect from the aspect of death that exists during sleep. In the morning, we receive the Torah that is life energy, and any aspect of death disrupts this connection. If we manage to stay awake, then, as the Ari promises us, we ‘will complete the year and be free from any harm’.
\nMikveh<\/a> meditation on a separate page:
\nIf there is no Mikveh<\/a> available for complete immersion, you can do alternative meditation with special handwashing.  See at the bottom of the page.<\/p>\n

Some opinions say that the end of the year is the month of Adar, which is about 8 months ahead. Some opinions say until Rosh Hashanah, that is about 4 months in the future. I read somewhere that each holiday draws specific energy for the entire year. In this case, the year is completed in the next holiday of Shavuot.
\nAnother aspect of connecting to life energy is tithing and Tzedakah. On this night, there is a higher spiritual unification between Chokmah<\/a> and Binah<\/a>, and we should avoid any sexual relationship, including the two nights before the holiday. On Shavuot, we eat only dairy food because eating meat connects us to the animal’s death that killed for us to eat it. Some avoid eating meat from the first day of the month<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Idra Rabah<\/strong> (inside Zohar Naso)
\nThe Zohar in Idra Rabah begins with Rabbi Shimon announcing “It’s time for action” quoting Psalms 119:126<\/a> “עֵת, לַעֲשׂוֹת לַיהוָה– הֵפֵרוּ, תּוֹרָתֶךָ ” “It is time to work for YHVH<\/a>; they have made void your laws (Torah).”. It is a good place to mention that the book “Gift of the Bible” by Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag starts with the article named “it’s time to work,” referring to the same verse.
\nKabbalists read the Idra Rabah on this night because it connects to the highest secrets of the spiritual system. There are 4 levels of Torah study, and it is called פרדס ‘orchard’. The Zohar is at the highest level of Secret, and it is related to the letter Yod of the YHVH<\/a> name. The Idra Rabah is considered the secrets of all secrets, ‘Razin D’Razin’, and it is represented by the upper tip of the letter Yod.
\nIn the Idra, Rabbi Shimon and his students reveal the structure of the Lights that came from the Endless to create the world. They reveal the ‘face’ of the Creator, meaning the inner aspects of the endless Light, that is, the desire and force of Creation. Inner aspects mean a revealed state that can be defined.
\nAt the end of the Idra Rabah, three of the students of Rabbi Shimon left the world. Their souls departed from their bodies as they reached the highest level possible of personal purity and completed their Tikun<\/a>.
\nIf you cannot join a community for Torah reading, you can print and read the Idra Rabah from the linked PDFs. I made one all Aramaic version and one with word-by-word transliteration. Scanning and reading the sacred words of the Zohar aloud elevates the connection to the Chokmah<\/a> and Binah<\/a>. In simple words, it’s much better for you and the world.
\nIdra Rabah – All Aramaic<\/a>
\nIdra Rabah – Word by word transliteration<\/a>
\nListen to the recording of the Idra Rabba <\/strong>
\n10 minutes reading from Idra Raba (not the entire Idra)
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