15. The words "And they who are wise shall shine" ALLUDE TO the letters and the vowels THAT SHINE, and "the brightness" ALLUDES TO the tune of the cantillation marks. "The firmament" ALLUDES TO the expansion of the tune, namely all those INTONATIONS that flow and expand along as the tune flows. "And they who turn many to righteousness" ALLUDES TO the music of the cantillation marks that bring the journeying to a pause and enable the meaning of the words to be heard clearly. The words "shall shine" ALLUDE TO the letters and the vowels that, along the journeys through concealed paths, shine as one. Everything expands from this. "And they who are wise (Heb. maskilim) shall shine like the brightness of the firmament" upon the pillars and sockets of that palanquin. "And they who are wise" are themselves the supernal pillars and sockets, who observe intelligently to bestow on that palanquin and its sockets all that is needed to sustain it. THE PILLARS ARE CHESED, GVURAH AND TIFERET; THE SOCKETS ARE NETZACH, HOD AND YESOD. This secret IS HIDDEN, as you say: "Blessed is he that considers (Heb. maskil) the poor" (Tehilim 41:2); MASKIL IS ZEIR ANPIN AND THE POOR IS HIS FEMALE PRINCIPLE. AND HE RECEIVES THE BRIGHTNESS FOR THE SAKE OF THE POOR WHO NEEDS IT. THE SUPERNAL SIX EXTREMITIES OF ZEIR ANPIN shall shine, for if they do not shine or illuminate, they will not be able to study the palanquin and determine what is necessary FOR ITS RESTORATION. WERE IT NOT FOR THE NEED OF ESTABLISHING THAT PALANQUIN, THEY WOULD NOT HAVE RECEIVED ANY OF THAT LIGHT OF BRIGHTNESS.

187. Because of this exile, David described THE SHECHINAH AS "hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness" (II Shmuel 17:29), because he saw the Shechinah desolate and withering and then joined in her sorrow. After he saw that the children of Yisrael repented with joy, he composed ten types of psalms. At the end of them all, he said, it is written: "A prayer of the afflicted (lit. 'poor'), when he faints..." (Tehilim 102:1). This prayer encompasses all other prayers AND ASCENDS BEFORE ALL OTHER PRAYERS. THE OTHER PRAYERS, SUNG WITH A MELODY, ARE DELAYED IN BEING PRESENTED BEFORE THE KING, AND DO NOT ENTER, UNTIL THE PRAYER OF THE POOR DOES. This is why THE PRAYER OF the poor comes before all the others.

188. HE ASKS: Which is the prayer of the poor? HE ANSWERS: It is the evening prayer, WHICH IS THE FEMALE PRINCIPLE WHEN SHE IS ON HER OWN WITHOUT HER HUSBAND. Since she is without her husband, she is poor and withered, LACKING ALL ABUNDANCE, and may be taken freely by anyone, MEANING THAT ANYONE MAY ENSLAVE HER FOR HIS OWN PURPOSES. The Righteous are withered and poor. This refers to the seed of Jacob, which is under the rule of all nations of the world; THAT IS, ALL NATIONS ENSLAVE THEM AND RULE OVER THEM. This is similar to the evening prayer, because it is the aspect of night in the exile. JUST AS THE FEMALE PRINCIPLE IN THE ASPECT OF THE EVENING PRAYER IS FREE FOR THE TAKING BY ALL, THE DESCENDANTS OF JACOB IN EXILE ARE UNDER THE RULE OF THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD.

189. The prayer of Shabbat is a charity given to the poor, as the sages of the Mishnah explained that the sun during Shabbat is charity given to the poor. Therefore, on all weekdays, a person should make himself a pauper at the gate of the King during the prayer of Amidah for the sake of the Shechinah, WHICH MEANS THAT HE SHOULD PARTICIPATE IN THE SORROW OF THE SHECHINAH, AS DID DAVID. He should cover himself with the proper vestments, NAMELY TALIT WITH TZITZIT, as a poor man stands at the gate to the temple OF THE KING, who is Adonai, because THE NUMERICAL VALUE OF 'ADONAI' adds up to that of 'temple' (Heb. heichal). This is WHY IT IS SAID, "Adonai, open my lips..." (Tehilim 51:17).