The Seal and the Shadow:

The Secret of Hoshanna Rabah

 

By Rabbi Edward Levi Nydle/Levi bar Ido

B’nai Avraham

 

This new teaching is entitled “The Seal and the Shadow” .The topic of the teaching is Hashanah Rabah, the seventh day of the Feast of Sukkot. According to the Torah Sukkot, or the Feast of Tabernacles (Booths), or the Season of our joy is a seven day festival.

 

• ³³And יהוה spake unto Moses, saying, ³⁴Speak unto the b’nai Yisrael, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto יהוה. ³⁵On the first day shall be a holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. ³⁶Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto יהוה: on the eighth day shall be a holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto יהוה: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein. Vayiqra 23:33-36

 

  Sukkot is not an eight day festival, it is a seven day festival with the eighth day, Shemini Atzeret added to it as a separate feast.  The eighth day is a Sabbath.  Many people think Sukkot is an eight day feast but it is seven days. Then we have Simhat Torah (in the land of Yisrael it is celebrated the same day as Shemini Atzeret but outside in the Diaspora it is celebrated as a ninth day). Simhat Torah is the day we begin to read the Torah from the Beginning again. It is a new beginning or a continuance. It begins a new feast cycle.  I want you to understand that Shemini Atzeret is not really considered a part of the Sukkot celebration.

  We are going to look in the Brit Chadasha when Yahshua is celebrating Hashanah Rabah in the Beit HaMikdash. This incident took place on Hashanah Rabah. The Last Great Day of Sukkot is Hashanah Rabah.  To understand the context you have to understand that this was took place during the water drawing ceremony in the Temple.  They would have been pouring out water from the pool of Siloam or the pool of sent and the people would have been waving the Lulav (the four species).

 

• (37) On Hashanah Rabah, the last great day of the moed, Yahshua stood and cried.  , Yahshua cried out with a loud voice and he said.  “If any man thirst, let him come to Me, and drink.  (38) He that believes on Me, as the Ketuvim have said, out of His belly, shall flow rivers of living water or mayim Chayim. “(39) and this He spoke of the Ruach, which they that believe on Him would receive:  for the Set-Apart Ruach was not yet given; because Yahshua was not yet esteemed.  Yochanan 7:37-39

 

    In the Greek text this word is ammigal which corresponds to the Hebrew word Rabah.  This is how we know it is taking place on Hashanah Rabah.  It was the last day of Sukkot  when a Kohen went with a golden pitcher of water from the pool of  Siloam  was poured  into the basin at the foot of the altar and it was symbolic of the prayer for rain which we recite on Shemini Atzeret. Rain in scripture is usually symbolic of Chesed, or mercy.  Yisrael would begin to pray for rain on the eighth day.  The water drawing ceremony is connected with the verse in Yeshayahu 12:3 that we recite every Shabbat.  It says:  “With joy you should draw waters from the wells of Salvation”. It is interesting that today in Morocco the Yehudim pour water on each other as part of the Sukkot celebration.  Concerning the loudness of the celebration that took place at that time it is said:  You have not seen joy unless you have experienced the joy of the water drawing ceremony. 

  During Sukkot they would sing the Hallel which is Tehillim 1:13 through 118 and they would say:  Hosanna The same thing they said when Yahshua came into Yerushalayim and they were waving the palms leaves, the Lulav, and it says they were stretching their garments we spread out before Him.  Everybody pictures them throwing down their garments and the donkeys walking on the garments.  I do not believe that is what was taking place; I think they were spreading their garments over Him as a chuppah as He came into Yerushalayim.   They were waving the Lulav because they knew He was the Messiah, the King of Yisrael. 

They believe that it was the beginning of the Messianic reign.  They would not have taken their four cornered garments and let a donkey tread upon it. They would cry:  “YHWH, please save us.  YHWH, please prosper us.

 Baruch Haba B’shem YHWH, Blessed is He who comes in the Name of YHWH; we have blessed you out of the House of YHWH.   Elohim is YHWH and has given us Light”. (Tehillim 118:25-27).

 Yahshua referenced this verse in Mattityahu 23 as He was looking over Yerushalayim.

 

• ³⁷Yerushalayim, Yerushalayim, the ones that kill the Nevi'im and stone those having been sent to you!  How often have I wanted to gather your yeladim, as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you were not willing! ³⁸ Hinei! Look!  KI LECHARBAHYIH' YEH HABEIT HAZEH (`for this House will become a ruin` (i.e. churban), YIRMEYAH 22:5). ³⁹For I say to you, by no means will you see me (Moshiach) from now until you say, BARUCH HABA B'SHEM YHWH (`Blessed is the One who comes in the Name of YHWH).

 

 Yahshua as Elohim stood over Yerushalayim and said: Many times have I wished to gather you under my Tallit under and bring you under my Sukkah but you were not willing to do so, see your house is left to you desolate.   Yahshua quotes from Jeremiah 22:5.

 

• ⁵But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith יהוה, that this house shall become a desolation.

 

  In Yochanan 7, there is a connection between having of the Ruach HaKodesh and some type of ecstasy or religious joy, of which the water drawing ceremony is a symbol. This is nothing new, if you watch the Chasidim celebrate the Feasts.  The Encyclopedia Judaica speaks of the dancing, the singing, music that went on during the water drawing ceremony. It states:  “This was also considered a ceremony in which the participants, as it were, drew inspiration from the Ruach HaKodesh itself which can only be possessed by those who’s heart are full of religious joy”. 

 

• ³⁷ Now on the last day of the festival, Hoshana Rabbah, Yahshua stood and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him keep coming to me and drinking! ³⁸ Whoever puts his trust in Me, as the Scripture says, rivers of living water will flow from his inmost being!” ³⁹ (Now he said this about the Spirit, whom those who trusted in Him were to receive later—the Spirit had not yet been given, because Yahshua had not yet been glorified.)Yochanan 7:37-39

 

  One important thing we learn from Yochanan 7 is this: Those who oppose the oral traditions of the Yehudim are wrong in their opposition to all tradition.Yahshua and his talmidim observed at least portions of the Oral Torah and did not reject it as the traditions of men, as many returning Ephraimite are doing.  If our Master did not reject the Oral Torah, and if our Master did not say that all traditions are of man and an addition to the Torah, then we cannot reject them all. The water drawing ceremony can never be found in the Torah.  I challenge you to find it any where in the Torah.  It’s not there, but it is in the Mishneh. We know then that Yahshua observed at least some of the oral traditions and did not dismiss them all.  Do not be so quick to say, “I just want to do the Torah.” Do not be so quick to dismiss tradition because if our Master, whom you claim to follow and were commanded in 1st Yochanan to walk as he walked, talk as he talked, do the Torah walk,  then you too have to embrace some of the oral traditions.

   That was Pashat, or the simple things we understand directly from the text. The seventh day of Sukkot is called Hashanah Rabah.  It is the only day within Sukkot, the season of our joy, in which there is a small portion of penitent prayers that we would have uttered on Yom HaKippurim.  You say, “I thought Yom HaKippurim was over, and this is and asking for our sins to be forgiven.  I will explain why, later in this teaching. I will explain the importance of Hashanah Rabah and how on this day it will determine what will happen to you in the next year.  Each one of the days of Sukkot one of the seven siferot becomes manifest in our souls.

  On Hashanah Rabah the final sefirot of Malkut, or the world of action, receives its influx from above.  Corresponding to this, they perform a circling of seven times around the bimah, which in the orthodox synagogues is in the center of the room.  These seven circuits are symbolic of the seven Sefirot.   On the six other days of Sukkot, they go around the bimah once, but on Hashanah Rabah they go around the bimah seven times.

 

The Seal

 

 Hashanah Rabah is also called the seal, like you put a seal on the letter, or as you seal a bottle. This is why Hashanah Rabah is so important.  It’s called the seal because it is on this day that the heavenly edicts that were signed on Rosh Hashanah and sealed on Yom HaKippurim are delivered into the hands of the angelic forces for their execution.  Be it the decree for life or death, blessings or curses for the next year, those edicts are being handed this day to the Malakim for execution.  That is the reason we are saying the penitential prayers.

  Let us go to the Book of Revelation because this is what Revelation is talking about.  As the seven seals are taken from the scroll, judgments are given unto the Malakim to bring about the judgments upon the earth. Do you think it is a coincidence in the book of Revelation that there are 7 seals on the scroll in Revelation? Each seal is symbolic of the lower seven sefirot until it reaches the seventh seal, or Malkut.

 

• Revelation 5:1.  .  1) And I saw in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne a scroll written within and on the back side, sealed with seven seals.  2) And I saw a strong heavenly messenger, a Malach proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the scroll, and to loose the seals of it?  3)  And no man in shamayim, or in the olam, neither under the olam, was able to open the scroll, neither to look at it.  4)  And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the scroll, neither to look at it.  5) And one of the zachanim, the elder said to me, weeps not:  see, the Lion of the tribe of Yehudah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll, and to loose its seven seals.  6) And I looked, and in the midst of the throne and of the four beast, and in the midst of the zachanim, stood a Lamb as it had been slain,  having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Ruachim or spirits of YHWH sent forth into all the olam.  7)  And He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. … 7:3 Saying, hurt not the olam, neither the sea, nor the trees, until we have sealed the avadim, the servants of our Elohim in their foreheads.  4)  And I heard the number of those who were sealed. 

 

  This is a picture of what is taking place on Hashanah Rabah.  Notice that they are waving the Lulav, standing before the throne of Elohim in white robes.  This takes place on Hashanah Rabah. Do you realize this is not some future event, but it is what happens on Hashanah Rabah? On that day there is a sealing upon your forehead for protection for the next year.  This is not a future event.  The book of Revelations is not future.

  Hashanah Rabah is also referred to as the second or outer seal. Hashanah Rabah is called the second seal of Malkut, or of this world.  Hashanah Rabah is the date that Heaven ordains the edicts that were ordained on Yom HaKippurim.  You ask, “Why does it happen then?”  If it has already happened on Yom HaKippurim at the closing of the gates why wait until Hashanah Rabah in order to execute the judgments?

  What is the connection with this second seal and its relationship to this world? Throughout Sukkot there has been great rejoicing and it is a time that we are receiving divine mercy from above.  During Sukkot the mercies from above that have been concealed are being channeled or flowing from above to the Malkut. And each day there is a different channeling or flow from one of the lower seven sefirot. The things that are in heaven are flowing down into this world during Sukkot.  It is on Hashanah Rabah, that Chesed is descending into Malkut.  And on this day it is manifesting in this world.  Even though mercy is flowing down like oil or rain, it is also a day that the edicts issued on Yom HaKippurim are given to the Malakim for execution.  So, mercy is falling but it is also a day of judgment. 

  Everybody remembers the Neilah prayer of Yom HaKippurim. The Shekinah, which is the source of our soul, or the divine manifestation of YHWH, is female. The Shekinah, the manifestation of the divine, is known as Our Mother Rachel the Foundation of the home.  So another name for the Shekinah would be Rachel.  On Yom HaKippurim, during Neilah or the closing prayer, our souls are ascending into spiritual realms to receive atonement.

  It is on Yom HaKippurim we are declared pure.  In the TaNaK is where they get this information on Rachel in Ruth 4: 11:

 

• All the people that were in the gate, and the zachanim or the elders, said, We are witnesses.  YHWH makes the woman that is come into your house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build beit Yisrael. 

 

 These two mothers, Rachel and Leah, are they who build beit Yisrael.  This word, to build, is banah; it not only means to build but also to rebuild.  It is the Shekinah which is called Rachel, the foundation of the beit, which is rebuilding the House of Yisrael.  In fact, Brown Driver and Briggs define this Hebrew word as: the establishment of the restored exiled.  Yisrael is defines by Strong’s as “He who rules as Elohim”.  It is the Shekinah, the source of our souls, which is female, that is called Rachel the foundation of the house, and it is the Shekinah that is rebuilding, reestablishing the exile of the Yisrael who are destined, purposed, chosen, and called to rule as Elohim.

   But why if we have gone through Yom HaKippurim and our souls are lofty and pure, then why is it the Day of Judgment? 

 We have something in this world called Klipot or forces of evil. Klipot in Hebrew means husk.  A husk conceals something within it. These forces of evil or forces of darkness, called Klipot, do not know that our souls have reached this lofty state during Yom HaKippurim and their purpose is to conceal the light.  What the klipot do notice is that our souls, since they have reached this lofty height during Yom HaKippurim, are full of spiritual energy.

 The Klipot feed off that energy because they need it. They are like spiritual vampires. They sense it, they need it, you have it, and they want it.  It is their means of their continued existence.They are parasites that feed off spiritual energy.  That is where they get their strength and power over you.

  This may help you in Luke (which means light) 15:16, in the Aggadah or the parable that Yahshua is telling of the prodigal son. The son had squandered his inheritance, and he joined himself to someone in a far country. The man sent him into the fields to feed his pigs. The boy was longing to fill his belly with the husks, or the pods that the swine were eating.  Could it be that Yahshua is saying when this young man went into the world and began his downward descent, that the husks are symbolic of these Klipot The Klipot was attaching themselves to this young man.

  These Klipot seek to steal from us, any way they can, this spiritual energy.  The minute that the gates close on Yom HaKippurim, the Klipot are searching the world for spiritual energy to feed upon and to cause you to descend. They go all over the world to find that spiritual energy that they, as spiritual vampires, can suck out of you so that they can be strong.  If they cause us to fall or to sin, that energy within us diminishes and descends with us.

  As our energy descends upward with us, but because of our sin, it is brought into the realms of the Klipot, where they can feed off of it.  Notice this young man went into a far country and joined himself to someone from the nations, so he spiritually descended.  That is what happens when we sin, the spiritual energy that we achieve on Yom HaKippurim diminishes and falls into the lower realm where the Klipot can feed off of it, and become stronger.  That is why it is so important to watch our thoughts, speech, and actions because the klipot are just waiting for you to fall. The minute you do transgress the Torah, your spiritual energy diminishes a little and they can pounce upon that spiritual energy and feed off of it.  The klipot are thieves and robbers.  They are just waiting around for you to trip and fall, to make a mistake and the spiritual energy to decrease a little bit so they can feed off you.

  Then it sounds hopeless after Yom HaKippurim.No that is not true. You think YHWH is aware that this may happen, and in His mercy has built a safety net for you.  He has devised a way to protect us from this onslaught of the klipot after Yom HaKippurim.  In order to protect this spiritual energy within us, after Yom HaKippurim, He places a seal around you.  What is a seal?  A seal is something that seals something in order to stop it from escaping.  If you vacuum seal something nothing can get in or out. This seal is so powerful, that the Klipot cannot get in. They approach you, and if that seal is there, they cannot penetrate it.  It is like a force field. This seal that YHWH places around this spiritual energy is placed up on the foundation or yesod. Yesod serves as a mediator or a filter between this world and the other worlds.  It is your foundation.  This seal that YHWH places around you, comes from binah, or understanding.  The foundation or the yesod is one of the Sefirot that is the life force energy or creativity.

  Metaphorically, in the human body, it is your reproduction organs, because that is where the creativity of your life-force comes.  Inside of you that is where this seal is put.  Binah or understanding is female. It corresponds to the left part of your brain that functions as rational, logical thinking.  This is the source of the seal.  It represents to us the ability to think clearly, with discernment, logic, and reasoning.  The seal that is placed around the yesod from binah is a clear, lucid thinking that enables us to understand how the Klipot work.   Our souls have this great spiritual energy from Yom HaKippurim, and it places a seal around yesod, your foundation and all of a sudden we have great discernment around us.  We can understand the workings of the Klipot or the evil forces.

  Reading from the Zohar, Book 1, 33A, speaks about this seal.  The Zohar is a commentary on the deeper levels of PRDS.

 

• “Let the earth put forth grass, herb yielding seed, and fruit tree bearing fruit after its kind“.  By fruit tree, it is meant the tree of knowledge of good and evil which puts forth blossoms and fruit.  Bearing fruit is the Tzadik, the basis of the world.  After its kind means that all human beings that have in them the spirit of holiness, which is the blossom of that tree are stamped as being of its kind.  This stamp is the covenant of holiness, the covenant of peace, and the faithful enter into that kind and do not part from it.  The Tzadik or the righteous one generates and the tree conceives and brings forth fruit after its kind.  I.e. after the kind of it’s producer, so as to be like him.  Blessed he that resembles this mother and his father.  The holy seal is therefore set  upon him on the eighth day that he may resemble his mother who is the eighth grade and the flesh is turned back to show the holy seal in order that he may resemble the father.  By fruit tree, we understand, the mother, by producing the father, by fruit, the holy covenant, and by its kind, the resemblance of the father.  On the eighth day when a child receives circumcision, it says, he not only resembles his mother but then the flesh is peeled back to reveal the crown on the male member and he resembles his father.

 

  There is some deeper truth in that section concerning Shemini Atzeret. Because we have been given this seal over yesod, we have this ability during these days of Sukkot to recognize how these forces of evil might want us to misdirect our creative or sexual ability and pervert them to their own ends.

 During these days of Sukkot, after Yom HaKippurim, we have been immunized from their attack- if we choose to embrace it.  From Yom HaKippurim until Hashanah Rabah, this seal is firmly in place, yet, just as the seal is providing to you  great spiritual discernment and insight into the workings of the Klipot for protection, if you choose to accept it.  It can also withhold and block the spiritual protection for those who reject it, for example; those who did not do true Teshuvah on Yom HaKippurim.  This is the nature of that seal.

  What does the seal do? Let us review for a moment. A seal stops things from coming in or going out.  On Yom HaKippurim this seal is placed upon yesod, your foundation.  We all know that yesod; your foundation is not a part of the Malkut or of this world.  It is above it, the next sefirot up. 

Even though this seal is not in the Malkut, it is still a part of the spiritual world, it has not yet physically manifested on the earth.  You are experiencing this protection unconsciously or in the spiritual realm but not consciously.  You are just not aware of it being there for you.  Those that understand some of the deeper spiritual realize that it takes time for things to manifest from the spiritual world to this world. Spiritual thing take time to manifest physically.