The Depth of the Secret: The Connection Between the Sale of Yosef, Keeping Shabbat, and the Breaking of the Merkabah

Class No. 23 | Sunday, Parashat Pinchas, 11 Tammuz - Class in the Yeshiva.

The holy Zohar reveals that the sale of Yosef caused the breaking of the Upper Merkabah (Divine Chariot), and the observance of Shabbat was intended to serve as an atonement and tikkun (rectification) for this blemish. Through the secret of the Camp of Yehuda and rising at Chatzos (midnight) of the night, we awaken the Supernal Lion to roar, to rectify the spiritual worlds, and to cast fear upon the forces of evil.

At the revelation at Mount Sinai, it was said in a single utterance:

"Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it... I am Hashem your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."

What is this "house of bondage"? The Zohar Chadash explains that the entire essence of Shabbat was given to us because Yosef HaTzaddik (the righteous) was sold as a slave. We are required to rest one day a week, without traveling and without phones, and there are some who literally go crazy from this. Everything stems from the sale of Yosef, when they put him in shackles, bound him, and placed him in prison for twelve years.

Not everyone merits "Mochin DeGadlus" (expanded consciousness) on Shabbat. For someone who lacks this expanded consciousness, Shabbat is tantamount to torture, especially during the long summer days. We must know that all of this comes as an atonement for the sale of Yosef. Yosef was imprisoned for twelve years in the dungeon of Potiphar, and therefore we are commanded to remember and keep the Shabbat, to remember that everything revolves around the tikkun (rectification) of the sale of Yosef.

The Breaking of the Upper Merkabah

The holy Zohar (page 162a) reveals an awesome secret: Before the sale of Yosef, in the days of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, the Shechinah (Divine Presence) sat upon two Cherubim in perfect wholeness, in the mystical secret of "He who sits upon the Cherubim." The Upper Merkabah (Divine Chariot) was composed of the two angels, Metatron and Sandalphon.

But the moment the terrible tragedy of the sale of Yosef occurred and he was separated from his brothers, the entire Upper Merkabah was severed. Until that moment, the Shechinah (Divine Presence) was in the secret of the Cherubim and the Merkabah was whole. At the moment of the sale—the Merkabah was broken.

The root of the dispute between the brothers and Yosef stemmed from the fact that Yosef was imbued with the soul of the angel Metatron, whereas Binyamin was imbued with the soul of the angel Sandalphon. When they were separated, it was as if the Cherubim themselves were separated. Since that moment, our mission is to reconnect everything anew. This was the central purpose of building the Mishkan (Tabernacle)—to reconnect the Upper Merkabah that had been severed.

The Lion's Roar of the Camp of Yehuda

In order to rectify the face of the Lion in the Merkabah, the Camp of Yehuda was established in the desert (together with Yissachar and Zevulun). Yehuda merited to embody the aspect of the Lion in the Merkabah. When the Lion extends its right hand, it gathers three hundred and seventy (370) lions, and corresponding to this, he merited 370 supernal lights (Nehorin).

When the Supernal Lion roars, the verse is fulfilled:

"The lion has roared, who will not fear?"

With this roar, all the firmaments, all the heavenly hosts, and all the camps tremble. The Nehar DiNur (River of Fire) shakes itself and descends five hundred levels down into Gehennom (Purgatory), and all the wicked there tremble and blaze in the fire.

Those who rise for Chatzos (the midnight lament over the Temple), awaken the Supernal Lion to roar. When the Lion roars, an immense fear falls upon the entire world and upon all the wicked. With the second roar, the Lion extends its left hand, and three hundred and seventy thousand lions roar together. The wicked collapse and a terrible dread falls upon them, to the point that they cannot decree any evil decree upon the Jewish people. Therefore, Yehuda was blessed: "Your hand shall be on the nape of your enemies."

Every lion in the Merkabah has four wings of blazing white fire, and four faces that shine with the whiteness of the sun. The faces turned toward the east are faces that shine with immense joy—faces of being "always in joy."

Part 1 of 4 — Class No. 23

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