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230) “Shim’ah [Hear], O Lord… my prayer.” What is the reason that it writes Shim’ah and not Shema [the way “Hear” is usually written]? And why is it written, “Shema [Hear], O Lord… and be gracious unto me” in one place, and Shim’ah in another place? Wherever it writes Shema it is for a male, ZA; and when it writes Shim’ah it is for the female of ZA. Shim’ah, as it is written, “Hear O Lord, just,” and justice is the Nukva de ZA. Shema is as it is written, “Shema [Hear], O Lord… and be gracious unto me,” where the Lord [HaVaYaH] is ZA. And also Shema [Hear] my son,” as well as “Keep silence, and Shema [hear].” All the above refer to a male.
231) And here he says, “Hear my prayer, O Lord,” referring to the Nukva, since she is a degree that receives all the prayers in the world. Nukva makes a crown from the prayers and puts them at the head of the righteous one who lives forever, which is Yesod, as it is written, “Blessings are upon the head of the righteous.” And it is written about that, “Hear my prayer, O Lord.”
232) “Hear my prayer, O Lord” is a prayer I whisper, meaning the Eighteen Prayers, which we pray in whisper. “And give ear unto my cry” is a prayer in a loud voice, when a person raises his voice and cries out to the Lord in his adversity, as it is written, “And their cry came up unto God.” What is their cry? One raises one’s voice in prayer and raises his eyes above, as it is written, “And Shoa at the mount.” This prayer breaks gates, upon which one knocks so as to bring one’s prayer inside before the Creator, as it is written, “Keep not silence at my tears.” This is the one that enters before the King, and there is no gate that stands unopened before it. A prayer in tears never returns unanswered.
All the Dinim [judgments] and torments in the world stem from three roots: 1) Dinim that come from the dominion of the left when it is not included with the right, when its illumination is Hochma without Hassadim, which are called “male Dinim.” 2) Dinim that come from Malchut of the unmitigated quality of Din. 3) Dinim that come from the Malchut that was mitigated by the quality of Rachamim, which is Bina, upon the ascension of Malchut to the Nikvey Eynaim.
These two kinds are Dinim de [of] Nukva, and the prayers that are prayed for these three kinds are called “Prayer,” “Outcry,” and “Tear.”
A prayer for the first kind of Dinim is therefore read in a whisper, since ZA is voice, the level of Hassadim that emerges on the Masach de Hirik that determines between the two lines, right and left. And the Nukva, with respect to the GAR in her, is called “speech.” When the Hochma in her is without Hassadim, it is considered speech without voice, meaning a prayer in a whisper. And through the prayer we unite her with ZA, which is Hassadim, and is called “voice.” And then the Zivug of voice and speech occurs, and the Hochma in her clothes in Hassadim, which then shine upon the lower ones.
An outcry is on the second kind of Dinim. It was written, “And what is their cry?” meaning where do these Dinim—on which prayer is considered an outcry—come from? It is because he raised his voice in his prayer, since he raised his eyes above. It is said that one who prays should set his gaze below and his heart above, as it is written, “The eye sees and the heart covets,” for the eyes are Hochma and the heart is Hassadim. And one who prays should be careful not to extend the Hochma from above downwards. This is considered that he raises his eyes above, and this was the sin of the tree of knowledge.
And this is why the Nukva is called “the tree of knowledge of good and evil,” since there are two points in its structure, two Malchuts: 1) Malchut of the quality of Din, and 2) Malchut that is mitigated in the quality of Rachamim. If he is rewarded, good, since the point of the quality of Din is concealed in it, and only the point that is mitigated in the quality of Rachamim governs her. And then she receives the Mochin de Bina for the lower ones, which are good.
And if he is not rewarded, meaning extended the Hochma from above downwards, he is bad. This is because the point of the quality of Din in her immediately appears on him, and from it all the harsh Dinim are drawn out.
This is why one who prays must set his gaze downwards, so as to not draw the Hochma from above downwards, so the point of the quality of Din will not appear over him. It is written that in his prayer he raised his eyes up, and this is why the Dinim of the second kind were drawn upon him from Malchut of the quality of Din, which are called “Outcry.” This is so because through his prayer he was rewarded with drawing a Masach [screen] over this Malchut, and then he raises MAN to ZA, called “voice.” And from that, the Masach de Hirik is made for ZA, by which he determines between the two lines, right and left.
And then the blocked gates break, since they were blocked by the force of illumination of the left that did not wish to be included in the right. But now, with the force of the ascent of the Masach de Hirik, the left was mingled with the right and the gates were opened, meaning the blockades were removed. But they are still not worthy for reception of the prayer, meaning for imparting Mochin de GAR in voice and speech, since the Mochin appear only over the Masach of Malchut that is mitigated with the quality of Rachamim.
The tear is for the Dinim of the third kind, which extend from the Masach on the Malchut that is mitigated in Bina, in the ascent of the bottom Hey to Nikvey Eynaim, where she induces tears. This comes from the words “tearing” and “pouring,” since Bina and Malchut were mingled by this ascension. This is so because through the tears, she raises MAN and extends a Masach over the Malchut that is mitigated with the quality of Rachamim, and becomes fit for reception of all the Mochin de Bina. And this is the reception of the prayer, as it was written that tears are never returned unanswered.
The Nukva receives all the prayers in the world, which are included in these three—prayer, outcry, and tear. She is built by them so as to be fit for mating with ZA, to receive the Mochin from him and to bestow upon the lower ones, since by acceptance of the outcry, the Masach de Hirik is built for the unification of the two lines.
And through the acceptance of the tear she becomes worthy of receiving the Mochin. Afterwards, the bottom Hey descends from the Eynaim to the Peh and the GAR appears and first receives the Mochin de Hochma without Hassadim, which is a prayer in a whisper, and thus comes into a Zivug with ZA for reception of Hassadim. Thus, the unification of voice and speech occurs and she imparts abundance upon the lower ones that caused her all that.
It is written that she receives the Mochin de Hochma, called Atara [Keter, crown], from these prayers, as it is written, “Go forth, O daughters of Zion, and gaze upon King Solomon with the crown.” And she crowns the head of the righteous one who lives forever, Yesod de ZA, with whom she mates.
This is so because in ZA are Hassadim that are covered from Hochma. Only during the Zivug with the Nukva does he receive the illumination of Hochma through her. It turns out that the Nukva crowns her husband, ZA, as it is written, “A virtuous woman is the crown of her husband.” Hence, her husband is crowned in her and she is not crowned in her husband.
233) Three degrees are written here: prayer, outcry, and tear, as it is written, “Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry; keep not silence at my tears.” And opposite those, the text concludes with three other degrees, “For I am a stranger with You,” and then he says, “a dweller.” And later he says, “As all our fathers were,” which are the majority of the world. 1) “A stranger” corresponds to prayer; 2) “A dweller” corresponds to outcry; 3) “As all my fathers were” correspond to the tear.
A prayer comes over the first kind of Dinim, Hochma without Hassadim. And since the lower ones are made primarily of Hassadim, when Hochma shines without Hassadim they are like a stranger in a strange land. Because they are built primarily of Hassadim, they feel the lack of Hassadim as being in a strange land. This is why it is said, “For I am a stranger with You,” corresponding to the degree of prayer.
An outcry comes over the Dinim of the second kind, by which the Masach de Hirik is corrected and the level of Hassadim extends. Then the state of being a stranger ceases and they feel themselves as dwellers in their own country, since they have obtained Hassadim. This is why dweller corresponds to outcry.
A tear comes over the third kind of Dinim, by which it is corrected on the discernment of Malchut that is mitigated in Rachamim. And Malchut becomes fit to receive and to bestow the Mochin de HBD upon the lower ones, from the HGT that became HBD, called “the patriarchs of the world.” This is why “As all my fathers were” corresponds to a tear.
234) Man’s prayer is while standing. There are two prayers, one while seated and one while standing. And they are one, since they correspond to two degrees—the hand Tefillin and the head Tefillin, or day and night. And they are one, corresponding to the degree of ZA, called “head Tefillin” or “day,” and corresponding the degree of Nukva, called “hand Tefillin” or “night.” And they are one in Zivug.
Here, too, the prayer while seated, meaning the Yotzer prayer [The Maker, a section in a prayer], before the Eighteen prayer [another section], is to the hand Tefillin, to the Nukva, to correct her as the bride is corrected and adorned so as to admit her into the Huppah [wedding canopy].
Similarly, the Nukva is adorned in the assemblies and camps implied in the words, “Maker of servants,” and “Whose servants stand,” and “And the wheels and the animals of holiness.” These merits are to adorn the Nukva, to extend upon her GAR from the left and to bring her into a Zivug on the Eighteen.
235) Hence, since the prayer while seated, the adorned Nukva, entered the upper king, ZA, in the Eighteen prayer, and he comes to receive her, we stand before the high king. This is so because then ZA connects with the Nukva. Thus, one should not stop between redemption and prayer, since the prayer while seated and the prayer while standing should be conjoined. A when the prayer while seated is Divinity and it is called, “wall.” When it shines in GAR of the left she freezes and becomes like a wall, for lack of Hassadim. This is why it is forbidden to stop, but to join it with the Hassadim of ZA.
236) And because a person stands before the high king, he takes four cubits for his prayer, the length of the rope of “The Maker of Everything.” A rope, as in, “He shall not tie a thread of wool with one of linen.” ZA is called “The maker of everything,” since it is considered Yetzira de Atzilut. And the length of his rope, its size, is four cubits, implying the four Mochin HB TM. And a man who prays the Eighteen prayer needs to have an assembly for the “Maker of everything” and to draw four cubits HB TM, and to bestow upon Divinity. And because one stands opposite the high kind, for he became a vehicle to him, he takes four cubits, the four Mochin HB TM for his prayer, which is the Nukva, called “prayer.”
These four Mochin, HB TM, are included in one another and there is HB TM in each of them. Yet, they are not sixteen Mochin but only twelve Mochin, three on each side except on the front, for lack of the Malchut de Malchut, which is the essence of Malchut. This is why the four Mochin before him are absent. And we could say that accordingly, the four Mochin behind him should have been missing, for they are considered Malchut, since there is inverse relation between lights and vessels.
With everything that comes from the male, man should stand tall. In that regard, they said that anyone who kneels, kneels in the “Bless” [a section in the prayer], which is the Nukva, and anyone who straightens up, straightens up in the “Name” [the word after “Bless” in that section], which is the male, to show the advantage of the male over the female.
Being upright indicates GAR, which shine from above downwards. But this is only in the male, which is covered Hassadim. But in the Nukva, which is revealed Hassadim, her Hochma shines from below upwards, which is VAK de GAR. Hence, she is not considered upright, but kneeling. It is written that this is why one should kneel in the “Bless” and straighten up in the “Name,” to show the merit of the male over the female, that the male Mochin shine from above downward.
237) One should not pray behind his Rav. It is written, “You shall fear the Lord thy God.” Et [“of the,” this word exists only in the Hebrew] means including and incorporating, that one should fear one’s Rav as he fears Divinity, and the fear of the disciple is his Rav. Hence, during prayer, one should not place that fear before him but only the fear of the Creator, and not the fear of something else.
Malchut is called “the fear of heaven,” The kingdom [Malchut] of the Creator, called “heaven,” the Malchut that is mitigated in the quality of Bina, Rachamim. And if one fears anything besides the Creator, he awakens upon himself the Malchut of the quality of Din that is not mitigated in Bina. This is why it is forbidden for one to pray behind his Rav, since the fear of his Rav is as the fear of heaven, and he will not be able to stand guard and keep only the fear of heaven. And there is fear that the Malchut of the quality of Din will awaken upon him and will separate him from the wall. And the wall, Malchut, will not be suitable for reception of the Mochin.
238) Isaac established the afternoon prayer—as Abraham established the morning prayer—in relation to the degree to which he was adhered, Hesed and right line. Similarly, Isaac established the afternoon prayer in relation to the degree to which he was adhered, the degree of Gevura and left line. Hence, the time of the afternoon prayer is when the sun leans toward descending in her degrees toward the west, soon after the middle of the day.
239) As long as the sun does not lean toward the west, it is day—from morning to noon. It is written about it, “The mercy… endures all day long.” And should you say that it is called day until it is dark, come and see that it is written, “Woe unto us, for the day turns and the shadows of the evening are stretched out!” “For the day turns” corresponds to the morning prayer, about which it is written, “The mercy of God endures all day long.” This is so because then the sun is already toward the east. When the sun leans and declines toward the west, it is the time of the afternoon prayer, “For the day declines and the shadows of the evening are stretched out,” and harsh Din awakens in the world.
240) “And the day turns” is the degree of Hesed. “And the shadows of the evening are stretched out” are the degrees of the harsh Din. And then the Temple was ruined and the palace was burned. Hence, a man should be watchful with the afternoon prayer, for it is the time when harsh Din is present in the world.
241) Jacob established the evening prayer because he corrects her, the Nukva, and nourishes her with all that she needs. This is because the Vav de HaVaYaH, which is Tifferet and Jacob, corrects the Hey de HaVaYaH, which is the Nukva, and the Hey is fed by the Vav, since the Nukva has nothing of her own but receives everything from Tifferet, which is Vav from HaVaYaH, and is called “Jacob.”
Jacob is the middle line, extending the level of Hassadim over the Masach de Hirik and deciding and uniting the two lines—right and left, which are Abraham and Isaac—with one another. And after the harsh Din that comes by the illumination of the left, meaning Isaac, Jacob comes and corrects the Masach de Hirik, and this correction is the evening prayer. The first correction is the Masach on the Malchut before she is mitigated in Rachamim, in prayer, which is called “outcry.” This is the correction of the evening prayer. Afterwards comes the second correction in a tear, which is the Masach on the Malchut that is mitigated in the quality of Rachamim, and it is midnight.
242) For this reason, the evening prayer is optional, since it is included in the prayer of the day so it will shine, for at that time the Zivug on this Masach is performed, which educes the level of Hassadim, which is day. And now, at night, is not the time for it. The light of day, Hassadim, did not appear now, to shine to the Nukva, and she rules in the dark until midnight, when the Creator entertains Himself with the righteous in the Garden of Eden. And this is the time for man to entertain in the Torah.
243) David said, “These are the three days of prayer, as it is written, “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I speak and moan, and He will hear my voice,” thus they are three. But he prayed only two of them, as it is written, “I speak and moan,” and not more, one for the morning prayer and one for the afternoon prayer. This is why he said, “I speak and moan,” since specifically in the morning, which is the time of mercy, speaking—which is Hesed—is sufficient. And in the afternoon prayer, which is a time of harsh Din, moaning is required. This is why he said, “And [I will] moan.” But he did not pray the evening prayer.
And after the middle of the night, he would rise and say songs and praises, as it is written, “And in the night His song shall be with me.” This is because David is the Malchut and midnight, after Malchut has been mitigated in Bina, at which time she is a tear, for then Malchut has become a receptacle for all the upper lights. This is why at that time he rises with song and praises.
Thus, the morning prayer corresponds to prayer, to correction of the right line in Nukva, and the afternoon prayer is opposite a prayer, as well, but for the correction of the left line in it, which is called “wall.” At that time, one needs to extend the wholeness of the wall so there will not be a partition and a flaw between them. And the evening prayer is the outcry; this is why it is optional.
And midnight is tear, the corrections of the mitigated Malchut, making her a receptacle for the upper lights. For this correction to be complete, one should not pray behind one’s Rav, so as to not reawaken the unmitigated Malchut and corrupt the midnight correction.
244) Our sages, members of the great assembly, set up prayers opposite offerings. And because they found two offerings, as it is written, “The one lamb,” and they draw near in those two times during the day, which are the times of prayer, they established two primary prayers—the morning prayer and the afternoon prayer. But the evening prayer is optional.
245) The patriarchs established these prayers before the members of the great assembly, but they did not correct them opposite two offerings. But why is what Abraham and Isaac corrected essential, and what Jacob corrected—the senior among the patriarchs—is optional and not essential as those?
246) Those two times of the two prayers, morning and evening, are only to connect Jacob, ZA, to his lot, the Nukva. Since they were conjoined, we are no longer in need, since because the Nukva was placed between two arms, Abraham and Isaac, right line and left line, she has been connected to a body, since the body contains the two arms and there is no need for more correction. This is why we need to awaken the correction of the two arms through the two prayers, morning and evening, since the Nukva was placed between them. This means that we need to extend their illumination into the Nukva, and after she has been placed between them, the body, which is the middle line, called “Jacob,” and the Nukva, speak in whispering to avoid mentioning the quality of Din in her.
Even though Jacob is the senior patriarch—since the most important is the middle line that unites the two lines to one another, and had it not been for the sentencing of the middle line they would not be able to shine—there is still no additional light in the middle line over the two lines. This is because the roots of the two lines are MI ELEH in Bina, which include all the Mochin in her. But since the middle line rises and subdues the two lines in Bina and complements them, he, too, is rewarded with them, as it is written, “Three come out of one, one is rewarded with all three.”
Thus, all the Mochin de Bina are in the two lines—right and left—which are Abraham and Isaac, and Jacob complements them because he is the middle line. For this reason, he, too, is rewarded with the two lines and imparts them to the Nukva, since they are the sum of all their Mochin. And these additional corrections that belong to the Zivug of the middle line with the Nukva should be in a whisper, as it is written, “But her voice could not be heard.”
As a whole, there are two voices: 1) the voice of Bina, from the Malchut that is mitigated in Bina; and 2) the voice of Malchut herself, which is not mitigated in Bina. There is no Zivug of ZON except in the voice of Bina, and the voice of Malchut herself is unheard. Had it been heard from the unmitigated quality of Din, it would have been unfit to mate with ZA and to receive the upper Mochin.
247) And because their words are in a whisper and her voice is not heard, Jacob serves above, as it is written, “But You, O Lord, are on high forever,” meaning Bina. And Malchut that is mitigated in Bina is called “on high,” as well. And since Jacob serves on high, in the mitigated Malchut, her voice must not be heard for then the Zivug will part. And it is all a secret for those who know judgment and law, meaning to those who know the secrets of the Torah.
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