The Importance of Restriction

In the portion of Vayera we have an unusual story. God appeared before Abraham who was sitting at the opening of his tent. Abraham did not speak to God but lifted up his eyes and noticed three people walking by him. This first verse appears incomprehensible. From the Zohar we know that when the first verse of a section of the Bible is incomprehensible, there is a great deal of Light to be revealed.

"There is a great deal of Light to be revealed."

God sent three angels to visit Abraham. The Zohar explains that every angel has one mission, and they cannot do more than one mission at a time. Angels also have the ability to conform to the form of people. The angel Raphael, the angel of healing, was sent to Abraham following his circumcision to provide him with some form of healing service. The angel Gabriel was sent to destroy the twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, where the highest level of evil (inhumanity of one to another) existed. The angel Michael, the angel of good tidings was sent to inform Abraham and Sarah that they were going to have a son, and also save Lot and his family from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Zohar asks why all of these three angels had to pass Abraham. Strangely enough, in the section of Vayera, the Zohar also has commentators who go into a lengthy discussion as to why there were three angels, and what their mission was when they came to Abraham.

There is a system. For 4000 years, it has been revealed how we can call upon angels to avoid catastrophe before the tragedy is to take place. Angels can bring good tidings or they could go the other way. But why three angels? Here we learn about the meaning and significance of “three” and that every cell in nature consists of trillions of atoms, including a table.

We have three angels to show us that the power is not in how to split, but how to take advantage of this unique energy and system, and form different combinations, so that they work more effectively, so that our immune system works more effectively. God’s gift to mankind is that we can take control of every aspect of physicality. But most people do not even dream of this possibility. This kind of phenomenon, this new discipline, which does not exist in any other spiritual discipline, stresses the Three Column System of Right, Left, and Central Columns. It stresses the importance of restriction. There are three elements that make up the atom—proton (positive or Right Column), electron (negative or Left Column), neutron (restriction or Central Column)—which is why the atom is so powerful.

"We can take control of every aspect of physicality."

We are given the opportunity, that despite the results of our past lifetimes, if things are not going right or the way that they should, we can open the positive side. Let us never forget that we are the producer of the show, and we put all these things together. Here we have the opportunity to restructure that which has gone haywire, like the water does in a flood.

This is our birthright as long as we do not do anything to disrupt the atoms of the world. It is not a question of who is right or wrong. If something of a negative nature emerges, it is not God punishing us. Suffering, pain, and uncertainty, will never bring about the unification of this world. So how then can we do it? The Zohar says studying and connecting with the portion of Vayera give us the opportunity to bring control by correcting the situation.

The Zohar reminds us that it is our power to correct things that go against nature and make them right. That which has been destroyed for whatever reason, and has been put into a state of dis-unity, can be restored. We learn here that if we want to overcome disaster, we are going to have to learn to confront and learn what is truth and what is not. If you have an opinion, say it, do it, live your life this way. No one has the right to coerce anyone else. However, the Zohar says it is crucial to restrict, no matter how right you are, because this is how the Light reveals itself in darkness.