Bahir 165-166-167

The following three verses explain the concepts of right thought and right action compared with the results of being ensnared by chaos.

Verse 165. What is the significance of the seventy date palms? They had accepted upon themselves the commandments, as it is written (Exodus 15:26), "If you listen to the voice of the Lord your God." Immediately after this we find (Exodus 15:27) "And they came to Elim (Elimah) [where there were twelve wells of water and seventy date palms]." What is the meaning of Elimah? It is Eli Mah ­ "to me is what." "Where there were twelve wells of water." At first God gave it to them as wells, and in the end, he gave it back to them as stones. It is thus written [regarding the stones set up near the Jordan] (Joshua 4:9), "twelve stones." What it the reason? It is because the Torah was originally likened to water in the world. Only later was it put in a permanent place. Water, however, is here one day and elsewhere the next.

Commentary: Thought as we know is fleeting. It is here and we have the understanding and then it is gone and we are struggling to grasp out previous state of mind. It is our own identification with our own thoughts that solves the mystery of what to do. Elimah, 'to me is what.' It is to the Lord your God that you direct your thoughts continuously. In way what is fleeting then becomes solid like the stones set up at the river Jordan. Consistent direction is the admonition here so that we are always 'facing God.'

Verse 166. What are the seventy date palms? This teaches us that the Blessed Holy One has seventy Structures. These draw from the twelve Simple Ones. Just like water is simple, so are these simple. How do we know that the date palm is a Structure? Because it is written (Song of Songs 7:8) , "Your structure is like a date palm." Besides that, there are seventy kinds of date palms. It is therefore written that there were seventy date palms. One was not like the other, their functions were all different, and the taste of one was not like the taste of the other.

Commentary: The Seventy Date Palms draw from the twelve simple ones. The growth of consciousness is like having the purety of the water being reflected in the pureness of the Dates Palms grown in all their magnificent differentiations. All of our thoughts when directed towards good or towards the holiness represented by the Lord our God produce everlasting fruit. There are pathways within formed by our contemplation of holiness, of good of the dimensions of the creator blessed be thy name. The outward symbolism of the date palms and water wells allude to this. Think about the taste of thought and the taste of holiness. It is an inner dimension that we are talking about here. The imagery is centered around the oasis of holiness that is built by our attention to holiness.


167. You said that the seventy date palms represent the seventy Structures. But have you not said that there are 72? There are 71. Israel makes 72, but it is not included. But did you not say that there were seventy? One is the Officer of the Satan. What is this like? A king had sons and bought slaves for them. The king then told his sons, "I am giving you all equally." One of them replied, "I do not want to be with you, for I have the power to steal everything from you." The king then said, "Because of this, you will not have a portion among them at all." [The rebellious son] did what he could. He went out and lay in wait for [the slaves], showing them much gold, jewels and troops. He said, "Come over to me." What did the king do? He amassed his armies together with the armies of all his sons. He showed them to the slaves and said, "Do not let him trick you into thinking that his armies are stronger than mine. Behold the troops of that son. He is deceitful and wants to rob you. Therefore, do not listen to him, for at first he will speak smoothly in order to entice you into his trap, but in the end he will laugh at you. You are my slaves, and I will do for you everything good if you turn away from him and do not listen to him." He is the Prince of Chaos. It is thus written (1 Samuel 12:21), "Do not turn aside, for you will follow Chaos. It will not help or save, for it is Chaos." [It cannot help or save,] but it can do harm. The advice that I give you is that you should (Exodus 15:26), "Listen to the voice of the Lord your God, do what is right in His eyes, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His decrees." When you keep all His decrees, then, "All the sickness that I brought upon the Egyptians, I will not bring upon you." Why did He say all this? In order to close all doors, so that he should not find you soft at times and hard at times. When you keep all His decrees, then "all the sickness that I brought upon the Egyptians" ­ through My hand ­ "I will not bring upon you." What is the meaning of "for I am God who heals you"? This means that even when he comes and strikes, I am God who will heal you.

Commentary: There are many ways we go astray by not following the dictates of the truth of the inspirations we daily receive. Many times we have used the term 'heart's desire' and described its meanings in several ways. It does not mean to follow the desire of your heart. What it does mean is focused intention brought about from on high. It is this focused attention that become intention simultaneously becoming the connection between our voice and that which is beaming in to us from on high. What we are trying to do is to fuse the connection in unity becoming in effect the one voice. What prevents us is the voice of the 'officer Satan' called the yetzer hara or the evil inclination which we've talked about before. Suppose you have your vision set on working hard to make some money to buy a new car. The problem is that you have trouble saving because first one thing and then anothe catches your eye and you end up spending your savings all along the way. This thing that catches your eye is the yetzer hara in terms of achieving your stated goal of purchasing your new car. Another example. Suppose you decide that you are going to help someone or do something nice for someone and despite your best intentions you find that you are getting side tracked constantly as things come up forcing your good intentions to take a back seat to this or that. Then at the end of the year you find that you really never followed through at all. You lost your focus. The remedy for this is to (Exodus 15:26), "Listen to the voice of the Lord your God, do what is right in His eyes, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His decrees." The Lord your God is at the center of your heart's desire or your focused intention. It is what rings true within you encouraging you to go for that which you have set your intention upon. When you stray remember that every step that leads you away from your intention is one that you will have to retrace in order to return to where you are right in the moment before you have chanced to take another path. What you accomplish by doing what is right in His eyes is to change your aspect to holiness. You say you want to go to the Promised Land and then you stop and build a Golden Calf or get angry because you lose faith or even strike a rock to produce your water when all along you know deep down that you will always be taken care of. God cannot live within you unless you give over your service unto his name. This means you obey the will of God. This turns out to be following the purpose that your intention seeks to fulfill and that is the demonstration of what your inspiration tells you that you may receive. When you accept God you receive all.

Don't become sidetracked. Hold what is most high in front of you, hold the Lord your God as your highest thought and point of connection. Then every good thing that you ask for will be added unto you because you are unified with everything good. Watch for this theme to continue as we go through the rest of the verses of the Bahir.