The Folded Cave

The Torah portion attributed to this week is the special "Chayeh Sarah", the life of Sarah. The words delineate her life as comprised of 100 year, 20 year, and seven years- totalling 127. The Zohar tells us that these numbers encompass all the 10 depths or directions of the created world from above to below. Anyone familiar with the sacred mysteries of the Earth wisdom traditions will recognize that these three-year periods - 100, 20 and 7 encompass the three sacred stages of womanhood, the maiden(7), mother(20) and wise elder woman(100). Sarah is the embodiment of the planetary Earth neshamah/soul, the Shekinah who holds the last letter of the name of HaShem, the final Heh. The years written as they are actually show us that she also embodies both letter Hehs in the Name of HaShem, the joining of the "upper" and "lower" worlds which is why her name Sarai was changed at the giving of the covenant of Abraham, to Sarah, which includes the last letter Heh. The number 127 is found again in the scroll of Ester, where these are the number of the provinces of the kingdom that she governs as Queen which helps secure the freedom of the entire people.
It is the burial of Sarah that prompts Abraham to secure the cave and field called Machpelah which we are told actually means folded cave, involving again the upper and lower realms wrapped together. There is an interesting difference in two of the popular translations of the Sepher HaZohar, about this portion of the cave of Machpelah. The original aramaic tells us that when Abraham enters the cave and sees Adam, Adam tells him he has been hidden here as "cegeylda deqeyrta". One translation renders this as a "fish in a ditch" and the other translation as a "corn seed in the ground". We could render these words as a "seed grain in it's skin". For those familiar with a major theme of this blog, they will recognize the hint at the crystal seed that is like a grain or pomegranet seed and the shamir stone which is described as the size of a barleycorn. The nature of crystalline matrices are like the term "folded" upon itself and relates to the secrets of the holy sparks and the celestial beings that interface within the crystalline crust of the Earth. These are the mysteries of the Kedoshim, the sacred vessels given to the people of Israel and intricately involved with the work of tikkun Olam, the healing of the world. The securing of the cave by the parents of the holy people sets the stage for the global healing and awakening, called Techiyas Hametim, the enlivening of the dead which the Zohar speaks subseqently about in length in this portion. We have entered the 40 year period in history where we are all coming to awaken to how we are connected to the temple wisdom tradition. Next week we will discuss the the final date for the global awakening to the fifth continuum, which the Zohar gives us in the Midrash Hanelam, found along with the portion on the Toldot, the generations. May we all take an active part in this awakening.