And G‑d said to Moses, "Speak to Aaron, your brother, that he should not come at all times into the holy place…." (Lev. 16:2)

Rabbi Aba, explaining this verse, prefaced with the comment that there are particular times which are favorable moments to come before the Holy One, blessed be He. These times are favorable to draw down blessings and to make requests.

The source of blessings is in the sefirot of chesed and chochma. There are particular times when these sefirot are more accessible than others.

There are also times of each day that are favorable, in which the world is sweetened from harshness [from midnight to sunrise and again from midday to sunset] and there are times of each day when judgments are pending and are present [from sunset to midnight and again from sunrise to midday].

There are times of each month when judgmental forces abound….

Come and see. There are times which are favorable toward mercy.

These are the months of Adar, Nissan, Iyar and Sivan - equivalent to March, April, May and June.

There are other times in the year when judgmental forces are prevalent.

These are the months of Tammuz, Av, Tevet and Shevat - the latter half of June, July, the majority of August and half of January and February.

There are other times when judgment is pending.

These are Elul, Tishrei, Cheshvan and Kislev - the latter part of August, September, October and November and the first part of December.

There are also times of each lunar month which are favorable.

These are the first half of the lunar month when the moon is increasing its strength each day.

There are times of each month when judgmental forces abound and dominate over all.

These are the latter half of the lunar month, when the moon is weakening in strength.

There are times in the week which are favorable [being receptive to responding to prayers with chesed].

These are Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, which respectively correspond to the sefirot of chesed, tiferet, netzach and yesod.

There are other times of the week when the power of judgments are prevalent and awaken in the world.

These are Monday and Thursday, which correspond to the sefirot of gevura and hod.

Seek G‑d while He may be found….

There are also times of each day that are favorable, in which the world is sweetened from harshness [from midnight to midday], and there are times of each day when judgments are pending and are present [from midday to midnight].

The same is true even in any particular hour [part tending to chesed and part tending to judgment]. This is the inner meaning of the verse: "To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under the heavens." (Ecclesiastes 3:1) It is to these times which applies the verse: "O Lord let my prayer to you be in an acceptable time…" (Psalms 69:14)

Thus it is also written, "Seek G‑d while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near." (Isaiah 55:6)

From this we see that there is a particular time, like the month of Elul, which is receptive to repentance and returning to one's spiritual roots.

It is further written, "Why do You stand so far away, O G‑d? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?" (Psalms 10:1)

This is referring to those times that are not "favorable", as explained above.

It is also written, "G‑d has appeared to me from far away" (Jeremiah 31:2), while at other times He is near, as it is written, "G‑d is near to all those who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth". (Psalms 145:18)

All this explains why Aaron is told not to come at every time into the precinct of the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle.


Zohar, parashat Achrei Mot, p. 58b; translation and commentary by Simcha-Shmuel Treister

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