The Zohar on Isaiah 53
CLAIM: The Zohar says that Isaiah
53 is about the Messiah.[1]
There seems to be a trend in
Missionary literature to make appeals to things that are written in Kabbalistic works. The obvious reason is that there are few
people who have any idea what appears in them, and what they mean. This makes
it easy to make whatever claim the missionary wants to make. The Zohar has become an especial favorite because it’s obtuse
and allegorical language makes it easy to take a sentence or two out of
context, and make it appear to say whatever the missionary wants even if this
claim contradicts what the Zohar says explicitly in
other places.
According to Jewish
tradition the author of the Zohar was Rabbi Shimon
bar Yochai, who lived in the 2nd Century
CE.[2]
The Zohar is made up of various books. We can talk
about them as if they were only three (although there is more then that).
The First is the Holy Zohar itself. That is a
three-volume Kabbalistic Midrashic
commentary on the Torah (first 5 books of the Tenach).
It has a few sub-divisions in it, some more esoteric then others. Some appear
no different then a standard Midrash, but most of it
is esoteric in nature. The second book is called Tekunei HaZohar (the Rectifications of the Zohar).
This is VERY esoteric and involves Kabbalistic
discussions and understandings of many of the Biblical commandments. It is
based on discussions of the first word in the Torah. It has 70 chapters, or Tikkunim, of varied length, followed by a few additions in
the back. The third section is called the Zohar Chadash. It is like the Zohar,
but smaller. It also has Midrashic material on 3 of
the 5 Magillas (Ruth, Song of Songs, Lamentations)
and it’s own Tikkunim.
Within this collection of
around 1000 pages there are a few passages where verses from Isaiah 53 are
mentioned. Who is referred to at the time is not always the same. What I will
do is bring all the references that, for some obvious reasons, are NOT
mentioned by the missionaries, and then we can discuss the one that is
mentioned.
In discussion of Kabbalistic concepts we have 5 references in Isaiah:
Verse 53:10 is applied to
the soul in the Zohar Volume I page 168a.
There are numerous
individuals that the Zohar applies Isaiah 53 to:
Then we have the following
seven references to Moses:
There are two references to
There are 8 references to
the Righteous of Israel:
To summarize: Five of
the occurrences deal with Kabbalistic subjects and do
not refer to people at all. The most common subject of Isaiah 53 in the Zohar is the righteous of
The fact is that this
should be enough to end discussion on this issue. However, I wish to deal with
that passage used by missionaries, and discuss what it is really about. It
teaches us some very important theological issues, and gives us an
understanding of many things that are found in other Rabbinic works.
The passage appears in
the Zohar Volume II 212a and references the verses
Isaiah 53:4,5.[3] This passage is quoted
many times as a ‘proof’ that according to the Zohar
the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 is the Messiah. Let’s look at the English
version that is most often used:[4]
“There
is in the Garden of Eden a palace named the Palace of the Sons of
Sickness. This palace the Messiah
enters, and He summons every pain and every chastisement of
Before discussing this
passage we need to know that it is abridged, and much of the important context
is lost because of that.[5]
In order to fully understand this passage I need to explain another Rabbinic
text that is also quoted to prove that the Rabbis agree that the suffering servant
of Isaiah 53 is the Messiah. This is the musaf prayer
for Yom Kippur.[6] Here is the text as
usually quoted:
“Our
righteous anointed is departed from us: horror hath seized us, and we have none
to justify us. He hath borne the yoke of
our iniquities, and our transgression, and is wounded because of our
transgression. He beareth
our sins on his shoulder, that he may find pardon for our iniquities. We shall be healed by his wound, at the time
that the Eternal will create him (the Messiah) as a new creature. O bring him up from the circle of the
earth. Raise him up from Seir, to assemble us the second time on
In order to understand
this passage I need to give a little historical background. The author of this payyut
(religious poem) is Rabbi Eluzer HaKalir.
He was a Kabbalist, and some believe he was the son
of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, although others place him
around the 9th century CE.
This above passage is only a small part of the payyut
that is called 'Az MeLifnei
Beraishis' (Then before the world was created). It is
made up of four parts and is said in the middle of the Kedusha
for the Musuf prayer of Yom Kippur in a number of
Jewish communities.
Let me here translate
the whole section in which that above passage appears:
Then
before Creation;
The
An
exalted place of prayer from the beginning;
was
prepared before there was any people or language.
It
was strong for the Shechina to rest there;
Unintentional
sinners were shown the upright way;
The
wicked whose sins that were red;
were
washed and purified to be as they were before.
If
He was angry with an anger causing fear;
Holy
One do not bring all your anger;
Even
if we have continued to steal until this time;
Our
Rock will not bring a plague on us.
Our
righteous Moshiach has been removed from us;
We
are beaten and none is here to stand for our righteousness;
Our
sins and the yoke of our rebellion are upon him;
He
is wounded from our rebellion.
From
the earth raise him,
From
Seir rise up;
To
gather us on
again
by the hand of Yanin.
The simple meaning of
this prayer is that we had a
This payyut
is based on the teaching in the Midrash Tanchuma parshas Nasa 11, page 506 in the standard Hebrew edition. There it
says:
"
'Teach us, our Rabbi, how many things were created before the Creation of the
world?' 'Thus taught our rabbis, "Seven things were created before the
world was created. They are: (1) the throne of glory (2) the Torah (3) the
When we look at the payyut we see that each section of it mentions some of
these things. The first part: The Torah and the Throne of Glory. The second: The Patriarchs and
I would like to point
out a few things that are interesting and important in this Midrash
and also in the payyut that come up in discussions
about the beliefs of the rabbis. These relate directly to our understanding of
what the meaning of this payyut is.
1.
These
7 things were considered necessary for the world to be able to exist, and
achieve the purpose for which the world was created.
2.
Notice
that in the Midrash only the NAME of the
Messiah is preexistent not the Messiah himself (However with regards to the
patriarchs, and
3.
In
the Midrash the proof of this preexistent name is
based on the rabbinic interpretation of Psalms 72:17 which literally says: "His
name should last forever, may his name last as long as the sun", which
they interpret as meaning "His name shall forever endure, before the
sun (was made) Yanin was his name." As I
have mentioned the Rabbis many times took verses out of context to teach
spiritual lessons, this is an example of that. This in fact appears in the
passage from the payyut.
4.
Each
part of the payyut relates to part of the Kedusha prayer.
a.
The
first part that talks of how G-d's glory fills the
world and it is related to the Torah and the Throne of Glory that are examples
of G-d's presence.
b.
The
second which deals with the proclaiming of G-d's
oneness relates to the Patriarchs and
c.
The
third, which talks of how we shall be taken from exile, mentions the
d.
The
final portion proclaiming G-d's kingship is
associated with repentance, which is to accept G-d as king and follow his
commands.
5.
Repentance
appears alone in the last section of the payyut. If
you read that section you see that repentance is the most important of the
seven things.
6.
Significantly,
the third and fourth parts talk about sin, with the difference that the third
discusses sin in relation to the exile and a return to the temple, while the
fourth discusses it with regards to individual repentance. They are taken as
separate issues.
With these points in
mind let's consider one important principle that is taught in the Tenach, but is often missed. It is one that in Judaism has
an important place in both theology and in our prayers. That is 'sin'. But not
just simply sin, but the idea of communal sin. The concept of "we and our
fathers have sinned'. (Jer. 3:25) The concept of communal sin is that the
community as a whole is responsible and punishable for the sins of members of
the community, both now and in the past. This idea is seen most clearly in the
book of Joshua where the people were punished for the sin of one person, Achan. There are numerous examples of this.
One principle is clear
in the Tenach and that is: if a person sins he will be
punished unless he repents of his sins. Let’s look at Ezekiel 3:
18 When
I say unto the wicked: Thou shalt surely die; and
thou givest him not warning, nor speakest
to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man
shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thy hand.
19 Yet
if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his
wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
20
Again, when a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit
iniquity, I will lay a stumblingblock before him, he
shall die; because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin,
and his righteous deeds which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his
blood will I require at thy hand.
21 Nevertheless
if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not
sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning; and thou hast delivered thy
soul.’
Now 33:11-20:
11 Say
unto them: As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no
pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and
live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of
Israel? 12 And thou, son of man,
say unto the children of thy people: The righteousness of the righteous shall
not deliver him in the day of his transgression; and as for the wickedness of
the wicked, he shall not stumble thereby in the day that he turneth
from his wickedness; neither shall he that is righteous be able to live thereby
in the day that he sinneth.
13
When I say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his
righteousness, and commit iniquity, none of his righteous deeds shall be
remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, for it shall he die.
14 Again,
when I say unto the wicked: Thou shalt surely die; if
he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;
15
if the wicked restore the pledge, give back that which he had taken by robbery,
walk in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity; he shall surely live, he
shall not die.
16
None of his sins that he hath committed shall be remembered against him; he
hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.
17 Yet
the children of thy people say: The way of the Lord is not equal; but as for
them, their way is not equal.
18 When
the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby.
19
And when the wicked turneth from his wickedness, and
doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.
20 Yet
ye say: The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, I will judge you
every one after his ways.’
We see from these
passages that the wicked die from their sins.
It is clear that this death is the cutting off of the soul, the
spiritual death of Numbers 15:30-31.
30 But
the soul that doeth aught with a high hand, whether he be home-born or a
stranger, the same blasphemeth the LORD; and that
soul shall be cut off from among his people.
31
Because he hath despised the word of the LORD, and hath broken His commandment;
that soul shall utterly be cut off, his iniquity shall be upon him.
There is also a clear
promise of punishments in THIS world for sins. This is found in many
places in the Torah like Deut. 28:15-68. From this we see that sin has TWO
aspects. There is a spiritual punishment in the future, and a punishment of
suffering in this world. But these punishments are for different things. We
shall see exile and punishment in this world is primarily for the sins of the
people, and the punishment for the world to come is ONLY for individual
sins.
The question is: Can
someone die or suffer in this world in order to bring atonement for the sinner
so that the sinner will not suffer spiritual death, or any other Biblical
punishment for the individual? The answer is no. There is no example in the Tenach of a person sinning and another person either being
punished for this individual's sin, or being able to accept the punishment and
atoning for the person's sin. The Torah says clearly that 'a father shall
not die for the sin of the son'.
This is even more clearly stated in Ezekiel 18 where the prophet
discusses this in depth and clearly states in G-d's
name that the sins of fathers (and hence any other person) do not effect the
son.
What about
sacrifices? Are they not an example of
another (the animal) dying and the person being atoned for? The answer is not really. For the sacrifice to be valid the person had
to confess, as it says in Lev. 5:5 “and it shall be, when
he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that wherein
he hath sinned;” He must repent, and have a change of heart. If not he could not bring the
sacrifice. You could not be a ‘sinner’ and bring a sacrifice and expect it to
be accepted. That is the message of the prophet Isaiah in the first chapter:
11 To what purpose is the multitude of your
sacrifices unto Me? saith the LORD; I am full of the
burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood
of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats.
12 When ye come to appear before Me, who hath
required this at your hand, to trample My courts?
13 Bring no more vain oblations; it is an offering
of abomination unto Me; new moon and sabbath, the
holding of convocations —I cannot endure iniquity along with the solemn
assembly.
14 Your new moons and your appointed seasons My
soul hateth; they are a burden unto Me; I am weary to
bear them.
15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide
Mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands
are full of blood.
16
17
Learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless,
plead for the widow.
18
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD;
though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be
red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
19
If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land;
20
But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth
of the LORD hath spoken.
Without the repentance
of the individual the sacrifice was of no use.
And more importantly
there is absolutely no examples showing that Reuven
could sin and Shimon could bring a sacrifice and that would work for Reuven. Reuven is ALWAYS responsible for his own sin. If he
does not repent, then he suffers spiritual death and not just a physical one.
This is nothing really
new. However, the question of whether the whole Jewish people can be punished
in this world for the sins of a few is another matter. If we look at Joshua 7,
we see that a single individual, Achan, had sinned
and did not follow the command of G-d, but the whole people is blamed.
1 But
the children of Israel committed a trespass concerning the devoted thing; for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi,
the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the
devoted thing; and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of
The Jewish people went
up to war, and they did not succeed. There were a number of Jews killed. After which G-d states in verses 11-12:
11 Israel
hath sinned; yea, they have even transgressed My covenant which I commanded
them; yea, they have even taken of the devoted thing; and have also stolen, and
dissembled also, and they have even put it among their own stuff.
12 Therefore
the children of
BUT only one person had
sinned.
Here we see a clear
example of the community punished for the sins of the few. In fact this is
clearly discussed in Deuteronomy 28, where they are told that punishment and
exile will be the result for not following the commands of G-d. In the Tenach we see that the first exile to
2 Kings
Jer.
15:1 Then said the LORD
unto me: ‘Though Moses and Samuel stood before Me, yet My mind could not be
toward this people; cast them out of My sight, and let them go forth.
2 And
it shall come to pass, when they say unto thee: Whither shall we go forth? then
thou shall tell them: Thus saith the LORD: Such as
are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such
as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for captivity, to
captivity.
3 And
I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the LORD:
the sword to slay, and the dogs to drag, and the fowls of the heaven, and the
beasts of the earth, to devour and to destroy.
4 And
I will cause them to be a horror among all the kingdoms of the earth, because
of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of
The exile as a collective punishment was
caused by the sins of a few. Communal punishment CAN be caused by sins
other then those by the individuals.
No individual can die or
suffer so that another individual will have atonement, but the whole community
could suffer death and exile in this world due to the sins of individuals. That
is the effect of the sin of the individual on the Jewish people as a whole.
What about the opposite
case? Can the death of a single person have an effect on the community and
bring atonement for the communal sin? The answer is clearly no. There are no examples in the Tenach of the opposite. No righteous person dies and that
causes the community to be forgiven of their sins.
In fact in one instance
in the Torah we see that someone tried and that G-d said it could not happen.
When
30 And
it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people: ‘Ye have sinned
a great sin; and now I will go up unto the LORD, peradventure I shall make
atonement for your sin.’
31
And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said: ‘Oh, this people have sinned a
great sin, and have made them a god of gold.
32 Yet
now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of
Thy book which Thou hast written.’
33 And
the LORD said unto Moses: ‘Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot
out of My book.
Those who sinned will be
punished; an individual cannot make atonement for them!!!
There is however a value
in the death or suffering of the righteous that DOES effect the
community. There are times G-d will take
away the righteous from the world in order that the people left over will
repent of their evil deeds. This is clearly stated in the prophet Isaiah 57:1,
where we see that the righteous are taken from the world and the prophet
complains that G-d has done this and no one has understood the message. They act as if they were themselves
righteous, which they weren’t, and they should have repented.
1 The
righteous perisheth, and no man layeth
it to heart, and godly men are taken away, none considering that the righteous
is taken away from the evil to come.
2 He
entereth into peace, they rest in their beds, each
one that walketh in his uprightness.
It is clear in Rabbinic
literature that the reason why the righteous suffer even when they have not
sinned is so that those who see their suffering should repent of their sins.
This is the message of Isaiah 57. This is similar to the reason why a sacrifice
is brought for an unintentional sin. He should look at the innocent animal and
say that I should be that sacrifice and repent of his sins. This is clearly
stated in the Zohar (III 57b):
"All
those who are pained by the suffering of the righteous their sins are removed
from the world... all those that are
pained from those righteous who have died, or who sheds tears for them, G-d
proclaims over him, 'Your sins are remove, your iniquities removed.' Not just
that, but his children will not die in his days as it says, 'He will see seed,
and lengthen his days.' (Is 53:10)"
The suffering is to
effect repentance and hence atonement of sin. Suffering does not atone. The
repentance that one does because of the death or suffering of the righteous
atones.
This repentance is not
related to the sins of one person alone but to the sins of the community as the
Zohar states (III 118b):
"If
the sins multiply in the world, then all the righteous suffer in order to cure
(bring to repentance) the generation. But when they are not so much, then one
righteous person suffers and the rest are left in peace because the world does
not need their sufferings. If the people are cured (they repent) then the
righteous are cured. There are times that righteous men suffer their whole
lives to protect the generation. When
the sins get very great, the righteous die, and that causes them to be cured,
and they are forgiven"
Here we see three ideas
with regards to the suffering of the righteous.
1.
Their
suffering makes it so that the rest of the generation need not suffer for communal
sins.
2.
The
suffering comes so that the generation will see and get cured from their sins
by repentance.
3.
The
number of righteous who must suffer depends on the sinfulness of the
generation.
We have almost all the
pieces to understand the payyut, except the
relationship to the Messiah. What kind of suffering can someone who has never
come to this world have? There is in
fact a source that is the basis for this payyut, but
to understand it we need to look at a famous passage in the Talmud Sanhedrin 98a.
Here we see that Rabbi Yehoshua ben
Levi has a number of meetings with Elijah the prophet. (None of which appear to
be in this world, but deal with either visitations through visions or the like,
as he is described as meeting him at the gates of Gan
Eden [heaven] and similar spots):
“Rabbi
Yehoshua ben Levi asked
Elijah, " 'When will the Messiah come?'
He
(Elijah) answered 'Go ask him'.
Rabbi
Yehoshua ben Levi asked
'Where does he sit?'
'By
the gates of
'How
will I recognize him?'
'He
sits with the poor who suffer sicknesses. They take off all their bandages at
once, while he takes off one at a time so that should it be time for him to
come he will not be held back'
Rabbi
Yehoshua ben Levi went to
him and said 'Peace to you my master and teacher'
The
Messiah responded 'Peace to you, son of Levi'
'When
will the master come?'
'Today.'
Rabbi
Yehoshua ben Levi went back
to Elijah.
Elijah
asked him, 'What did he say?'
'Peace
to you, son of Levi'.
'That
means that he has assured both you and your father that you will have a place
in the world to come'
'He
lied to me. He said he would come today and he did not!'
'This
is what he said, "Today if you will listen to My (G-d) voice (Psalms
95:7)"' "
To understand this we
must remember one point from Jewish theology. That is that the souls have an
independent existence that precedes that of the person, this includes the soul
of the Messiah that exists even before his body does. The Talmud even states
that the Messiah will not come until all those souls have entered this world.
We see this concept very
clearly laid out in a famous teaching in the work of Rabbi Chaim
ben Attar, the Holy Or HaChaim. In Deuteronomy 15:7, the verse says, “If
there will be with you a poor man from among your brothers…” he explains it
as a Remez for some concepts dealing with the
Messiah. Here is what he says:
“And
in the method of Remez, it is to be a remez to us, in order to inspire us greatly with regards to
one person, that special person among the people for whom we are anxiously
waiting for the time when he will come. This is The King of
And
it says, ‘with you’. This means because of you. Our sins have caused the
lengthening of the time until the ‘end’. Also the word ‘with you’ is a remez that the poor man is with us. He strongly desires for
the time to come when he can redeem us from exile. You should go and learn this
from what our Rabbis have taught with regards to the story of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi. When the King Moshiach saw him he asked him how the Jewish people were
doing in the world. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi answered him that they were sitting and waiting
for him to come. When he heard this the pious one started to cry greatly
because of his great desire to come and redeem them from exile.”
From these two sources,
one based on the Talmud and the other Kabbalah, we see
that the soul of Messiah suffers because he wants to come into this world and
he is waiting to enter the world. This relates to the end of the exile, which
comes when all will repent bringing an end to the Messiah's suffering.
Now we can look at the
passage that is used by the missionaries and relaters to the payyut that deals with the Messiah. It is in the Zohar (II 212a), where it says:
"After
that they (i.e. these souls) journey and look upon those who are pained and
sick and who have suffered for the Unity of their Master. They then return and
tell this to the Messiah. When they tell to the Messiah about the suffering of
“In
Gan Eden (heaven) there is one hall; it is called the
'hall of the sick' (ill). When the
Messiah goes into this hall, he calls all the sicknesses, all the pains, and
all the sufferings of
From here we see a few
points:
1.
There
are holy people in this world who suffer for G-d’s
sake.
2.
There
is nothing there about a servant dying as Christian theology would demand.
3.
The
sufferings from the Messiah are to remove two types of sufferings:
a.
Those
for the communal sins, while the individual sins do not disappear but wait for
their punishment when he dies.
b.
The
suffering of the Holy ones in this world, who suffer for G-d’s
sake without sin.
4.
It
is associated with the sacrifices (just as in the payyut).
5.
There
is no difference between the suffering of the Messiah's soul waiting to enter
this world and any other righteous person. Both fulfill the same function with
this respect.
So the Zohar is teaching us the purpose of the suffering of the
righteous, including the Messiah’s soul awaiting his entry to this world. The payyut is to said to remind the people, on this holiest of
days, that the exile and the loss of the temple is only because they have not
done the proper repentance for their sins and the sins of their fathers. But should they do it on this day, the
Messiah will come, and the
4 For
the children of
5 afterward
shall the children of
[1] For a little background on the nature of
Rabbinic texts like the Zohar, please look at my article: “What
is Midrash”. There I have discussed the
Midrashic method and that it is not understood to be literal. That applies to
the Zohar also.
[2] Secular scholars contend that it dates from the middle ages, around the 13th century.
[3] It should be noted that in the passage I am quoting, one of the Isaiah verses does not appear. When I make a full translation later we shall see that verse within the context of the Zohar.
[4] Translation
from Frydland, Rachmiel, in “What the
Rabbis Know About the Messiah”, page 56, note 27. He cites as the source Driver
and Neubauer “Isaiah 53 according to the Rabbinic Commentators”, pp. 14-15 from
section "va-yiqqahel".
[5] This is not necessarily done to distort the facts. For example in the work ‘Messiah Texts’, Patai brings this passage and part of it is missing, which he indicates with three dots. That missing passage contains important contextual information, but because it is not what the subject of his book is about, he has left it out. We will quote from that material because it helps us understand what the Zohar is trying to tell us.
[6] This
particular passage is included because it alludes to verses in Isaiah 53 even
though it does not claim to quote from them, claim they mean anything or to
explain them. Being poetic it would be difficult to claim support from it for
any doctrine of what the Rabbis say Isaiah 53 is about.
[7] Philips, A. Th. Machzor Leyom Kippur / Prayer Book for the Day of Atonement with English Translation; Revised and Enlarged Edition (New York: Hebrew Publishing Company, 1931), p. 239. The passage can also be found in, e.g., the 1937 edition. Also, Driver and Neubauer, p. 399.
[8] Another name for the