Pinchas: Chapter 9

The rainbow

Synopsis

Rabbi Yehuda says the rainbow appears to remind people of God's promise never again to destroy the world, and we also hear that the rainbow appears whenever there is no righteous person to protect the world. When Rabbi Elazar talks about the green, red and white colors in the rainbow that correspond to the three patriarchs, Rabbi Aba disagrees with his assignment of each color. He ends by talking about the letter Yud in Pinchas' name, and mentions that Nadab and Abihu were reincarnated in Pinchas.

Relevance

This one passage alone is so potent that one heartfelt reading has the power to forever establish serenity in our souls and lasting peace in the world.

Sin is a constant trademark of man. And although transgressors physically outnumber the few righteous men of this world, the good deeds of these saintly souls outweigh all the sins of the wicked combined. Such is the power of Light over darkness. The righteous, we're told, protect us with their presence. And the rainbow, which appeared after the Flood as a sign of God's promise never to destroy this world, protects us when there are no righteous men among us.

The reason for this tale is crystal-clear - the Zohar is drawing upon the righteous and the rainbow to lay gently a blanket of protection over the entire world. And because this truth is emerging through the Zohar for the first time in history, the effect is unprecedented: Judgments looming over the horizon are cast off to sea forevermore as we evoke the name of Pinchas. The Earth's waters, once used to destroy mankind, are restored to their pre-Flood molecular structure. This divine substance transmutes into waters of healing that regenerate the soul and the cells of body.

The Zohar speaks of the colors green and white, which are healing colors. They shine here brightly; and they rectify us, heal us, and make us well again.

The color red - attributed to the war planet Mars, and to our Left Column trait of receiving - sparkles! Its illumination brings personal and global conflict to a peaceful end. Moreover, the seed of all conflict and strife - the brothers Isaac and Ishmael, and Jacob and Esau, combine and blend into one color, just as the colors of the rainbow unite into the color of white. This exquisite unity engenders love between the brothers, and among their posterity - the Jews, the Moslems, the Christians, and the entire family of man. Intolerance is thereby banished from the hearts of humans. Racial and religious barriers dissolve into nothingness.

The letter Yud is inserted into the spelling of our own spiritual name, into our essence, so that we experience an existence of perfection. Metaphysically, we will never again perish from this world.

The true hidden colors of the Three Columns burst forth in this breathtaking moment of meditation, marking the end of our personal and global exile. Our Lower World of Malchut joins together with the Upper World of Zeir Anpin; and in the process, the garments of black worn by Malchut are replaced "with the garments of the shining colors of the secrets of the Torah." Namely, darkness is removed, eternally, from civilization.

[Verse 36] Moses tells the Rabbis that Elijah is Pinchas so they must come up with some new interpretations. Rabbi Yehuda's opinion is that the rainbow does not shine with its proper colors, but the colors hint at the merits of the priests and Levites and Yisrael in all their beauty. Next we hear that Malchut in exile can only be dressed in black, and that the rainbow is really the angel Metatron, the eldest servant of God. God's promise to look at the rainbow and remember His Covenant refers to the shining secrets of the Torah, for light signifies all the mysteries of the Torah. Lastly we hear that every one of the names of God testifies about God who is above everything, and that all of Yisrael, as they are all the sons of Adam, must serve God.