He [Rebbe Shimon] opened [his discourse] with [the verse]: "See life with the wife whom you love". (Ecclesiastes 9:9) Come and see: This verse contains a supernal secret that we have explained elsewhere. "See life" alludes to life in the world to come, and happy is he who is fitting to merit it. [“Life” is a code for chochma, or the partzuf of Zeir Anpin, and “the World to come” is a code for bina-consciousness where a person is in a state of letting the world come to him instead of feeling that he has to chase after it.]

The phrase, "with the wife whom you love," refers to Knesset Yisrael/malchut [and not to one's personal wife]. She is referred to with the word "love" as in, "I have loved you with an everlasting love" (Jeremiah 31:3) [for G‑d says to Israel, "I love you as I love malchut, which is called everlasting"]. When is that love for Israel manifested? At the time the right side [i.e. the sefira of chesed] takes hold of it [malchut, in the secret of "My right hand embraces you"], as it is written: "Therefore with chesed have I drawn you".

[We now understand the verse to mean that one should seek to unify higher consciousness down through the lower sefirot to elevate and unify reality/malchut.] The verse continues with "all the days of the life of your vanity" [The “days” are the sefirot of Zeir Anpin and “life” is the higher, spiritual consciousness that is lacking below in the life of emptiness and “vanity” since the Temple was destroyed and the linking of the spiritual and physical worlds was broken.] This is because when she/malchut is connected to life [through the Torah and mitzvahs that people do]; the world of life infuses her. For at present, this world is without life, being beneath the sun [another name for Zeir Anpin]. But the rays of that sun do not reach this world [i.e. the light of consciousness from Zeir Anpin does not reach malchut in the world of Beriya]; they have been gone from this world since the day the Temple was destroyed, as it is written, "the sun shall be darkened in his going forth" (Isaiah 13:10). Its light has gone up and does not shine below, as it is written: "The righteous perishes...". (Ibid. 57:1) [The righteous, yesod, perishes and does not give proper flow to malchut, which is under the sun, during exile.]

The verse concludes: "for that is your portion in life", (Ecclesiastes 9:9) namely the sun [Zeir Anpin] connecting with the moon [malchut. This is the work you need to do in this life – causing union in the spiritual and physical worlds]. The moon should come into the sun [i.e. we need to elevate the light of malchut called Levana, the secret of Feminine Waters, into Zeir Anpin called Sun] and the sun into the moon [to bring the light of Zeir Anpin, the secret of Masculine Waters, down into malchut], and they must not be separated [through our sins]. This is a person's portion in this world that enables him to merit a portion in the world to come [for doing good deeds and fulfilling commandments causes the elevation of Feminine Waters and the work performed in causing this union provides a person with spiritual merit that continues after his physical body dies].

The verse is followed by the words, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your strength, for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, where you are going". (Ibid. 9:10) We have to study the verse, which reads: "Whatever your hand finds to do." Is there no longer any fear of punishment? Can a man do whatever he wishes and is able to do? It is written: "Do it with your strength." Your strength is man's soul, which gives him strength to merit this world and the world to come.

Another explanation is that "your strength" is the wife we mentioned [malchut] who is a source of strength in this world and the world to come. A man should merit this world by means of that strength, so he will be able to draw strength from it in the world to come.

Why? Because after a man leaves this world, he cannot say, from now on I will perform good deeds. He has no more power to do anything. Certainly this is true "for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave" and if a man does not acquire merit in this world he will not do so in the world to come. It has been explained that "he who has not laid up provisions for the journey from this world will have nothing to eat in the other world." There are some good deeds a man does in this world whose fruit he may enjoy here in this world, but the main reward is sustenance in the world to come.

Come and see: Joseph merited this world and merited the world to come, because he wished to be united with a G‑d-fearing wife [i.e. the Shechinah], as it is written, [when he rebutted the advances of Potifer's wife, he asked her how could he sleep with her]"and sin against G‑d"? (Gen. 39:9) He, therefore, deserved to be ruler over this world and to cause Israel to acquire merit.

It is written: "And Joseph gathered all the money". (Ibid. 47:14) So it should be, for the river which flows continuously [yesod, which Joseph guarded], gathers everything [all the sefirot above it] and comprises all kinds of riches. This is the secret of the verse: "And G‑d [bina] set them [the Sun, Moon and Stars which were chesed, gevura andd tiferet] in the firmament of heaven [yesod, to illuminate malchut, called earth]". (Ibid. 1:17) All is as it should be, for surely Joseph [who is yesod] should rule over the kingdom [malchut, providing sustenance to it].

Come and see: the verse: "And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had." What is the second chariot? G‑d made the righteous govern because the world [malchut] is and should be sustained by him. G‑d has an upper Chariot and a lower chariot. The lower Chariot is called the second chariot, and Joseph who is called righteous [i.e. the archetype of the sefira of yesod], is worthy of riding the second chariot of G‑d as does his likeness in the world above [for all that is Below in the physical world is a likeness of that Above in the spiritual realms].

BeRahamim LeHayyim: Now that was a long Zohar! Much information was passed on. The focus here is on the question: What kind of vehicle are you for G‑d down yonder? Are you fuel-efficient? Are you fast? Do you handle well? Can you stop, and then change directions when you need to? Are you a clean machine? Smelly? Do your lights work well? Bypassing the car metaphors, the above exercise stimulated by the Zohar is very important for a daily tune-up.

We want to be Cadillacs, even if we can only afford Fords.
We want to be precision instruments, even if we are only given simple engines.
We want to drive the straight path, and avoid swerving, crossing lanes, and hazardous conditions.

The analogy works well. May we all be Chariots of Fire, and take our driving directions from the Master.

Why does the above mean to you, and why is it revealed to you now?

Bracketed annotations from Metok Midevash and Sulam commentaries
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