"And I will put enmity between you and the woman"
This troublesome phrase, uttered by The Creator in the Garden of Eden, refers to the gulf between the godly and the godless of this world, which will never be bridged as long as the Serpent of Death retains his power. We also learn how seven of the Sfirot create and sustain the days of man. In spite of all the misery they cause, the wicked are ultimately erased, as if they never existed, while the righteous enjoy eternal life.
Without the Light of the Zohar, the inner meaning of the Torah remains obscured by confusion and misunderstanding. The work of deciphering the language of the Torah is itself a step toward spiritual growth. By endeavoring to comprehend the Torah's mysteries, we earn spiritual Light and fulfillment. In particular, the Zohar clarifies the significance of women in Torah, whose meaning is always spiritual and never merely literal. Thus, the term man refers to the upper spiritual realm and the Desire to Share, while woman denotes our physical realm and the Desire to Receive. Spiritual Light arising from the upper world can only illuminate our lower world when our Evil Inclination - termed 'the Serpent of Death' - is conquered and our character transformed. Man's evil tendencies are the lifeblood of the serpent. As long as our negative aspects remain within us, the Angel of Death will prevail over our physical existence. We must learn to loathe our Evil Inclination; to have enmity for our own Desire to Receive for the Self Alone. In this passage we acquire the strength to stimulate a deep aversion within us toward these negative traits.