Prayer, crying aloud, tears

227. Rabbi Shimon was walking to Tiberias with Rabbi Aba. Rabbi Shimon said, Let us go, because a man is about to come to us with new words of Torah. Rabbi Aba said, I already know that, wherever my master goes, the Holy One, blessed be He, sends flying angels to give him pleasure.

228. While they were traveling, Rabbi Shimon lifted up his eyes and saw a man who was running. They sat down TO WAIT FOR HIM. When he arrived, Rabbi Shimon asks him, Who are you? He responded, I am a Jew from the city of Cappadocia and I am going to the hiding place of the son of Yochai, THAT IS, TO HEAR HIDDEN MATTERS FROM HIM. The friends determined AND EXPLAINED certain things, and sent me to him TO KNOW WHETHER HE AGREES WITH THEM. Rabbi Shimon said to him, My son, talk. He asks, You are the son of Yochai? He told him, I am the son of Yochai.

229. The friends said that when a man prays nothing may come between him and the wall, as it is written, "Then Chizkiyahu turned his face toward the wall" (Yeshayah 38:2). When a man prays, no one may come within four cubits of him on every side. They said this means four cubits on every side except in front, AS IT IS FORBIDDEN TO COME BETWEEN HIM AND THE WALL. And they said that a man should not pray behind his Rabbi. They appointed me TO HEAR WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY about these matters.

230. THE JEW opened with the verse, "Hear my prayer, Hashem, and give ear to my cry; keep not silence at my tears" (Tehilim 39:13). HE ASKS, Why is it written "hear" (Heb. shim'ah) and not "sh'ma?"AND WHY is it written in one place, "Hear (Heb. sh'ma), Hashem, and be gracious to me" (Tehilim 30:11), and in another place, "shim'ah?" The reason is that it is written now Shma refering to the male, NAMELY TO ZEIR ANPIN, and now Shim'ah refering to the female, NAMELY TO THE NUKVA OF ZEIR ANPIN. For example, shim'ah is used in "Hear the right, Hashem" (Tehilim 17:1), WHERE THE RIGHT (HEB. TZEDEK) IS THE SECRET OF THE NUKVA OF ZEIR ANPIN. Sh'ma is used in "Hear (Heb. sh'ma) Hashem, and be gracious to me," AS HASHEM IS THE NAME OF ZEIR ANPIN. The masculine is also used in "Hear, Hashem" AS HASHEM IS THE NAME OF ZEIR ANPIN, "my son, hear (Heb. sh'ma) the instructions" (Mishlei 1:8) and "Take heed, and hearken (Heb. sh'ma)" (Devarim 27:9).

231. "Hear (Heb. shim'ah) my prayer, Hashem" REFERS TO THE NUKVA, which is the grade that receives all the prayers in the world. We learned that THE NUKVA creates a diadem from the prayers and puts in on the head of the Righteous the life of the world. This is the meaning of the verse, "Blessings are upon the head of the just" (Mishlei 10:6). Hence SCRIPTURE SAYS, "Hear (Heb. shim'ah) my prayer, Hashem."

232. "Hear my prayer, Hashem" refers to the silent prayer, NAMELY THE AMIDAH, WHICH WE WHISPER. IN CONTRAST, "And give ear to my cry" is a prayer cried out loud. A man raises his voice AND CRIES TO HASHEM in his trouble, as it is written, "And their cry rose up to the Elohim" (Shemot 2:23). What is the cry MENTIONED IN THE VERSE? It is the cry heard when one raises one's voice in prayer and lifts up one's eyes above, as it is written, "And a shouting to the mountains" (Yeshayah 22:5). This prayer breaks open all gates upon which he knocks to present his prayer BEFORE HASHEM. "Keep not silence at my tears," which enter before the King and cannot be stopped by any gate or turned away in vain.

233. There are three grades of prayer. They are prayer, crying aloud, and tears, AS IT IS WRITTEN, "HEAR MY PRAYER...GIVE EAR TO MY CRY...KEEP NOT SILENCE AT MY TEARS." These correspond to three other grades mentioned at the end of the verse, "For I am a stranger with you," then "a sojourner," and then "all my fathers" (Tehilim 39:13), who were the main founders of the world. A STRANGER CORRESPONDS TO A PRAYER, A SOJOURNER TO A CRY, AND ALL MY FATHERS TO A TEAR.

234. Come and behold, A man's prayer is done standing up, for a man can pray in two ways, sitting down or standing up, which two are one, corresponding to the two grades of prayers, the hand Tfilin and the head Tfilin, also known as day and night. THEY CORRESPOND TO THE GRADE OF ZEIR ANPIN, CALLED HEAD TFILIN OR DAY, AND TO THE GRADE OF THE NUKVA, CALLED THE HAND TFILIN OR NIGHT, AND THEY ARE ONE IN THEIR UNION. A prayer said sitting down, NAMELY THE PRAYERS OF "WHO HAS FORMED THE LIGHT" BEFORE THE AMIDAH, is for the sake of the hand Tfilin, NAMELY, FOR THE NUKVA, to fix her as one prepares a bride and adorns her for the Chupah (marriage canopy). Thus, THE NUKVA is decorated in the secret of the Chariots and the troops ALLUDED TO IN THE WORDS, "Who formed ministering messengers, ministers who all do stand aloft" and "the Ofanim (wheels) and the holy living creatures." THESE ARE FOR THE ADORNMENT OF THE NUKVA.

235. After the prayer said sitting down, WHICH IS THE DECORATED NUKVA, enters the presence of the Supreme King, ZEIR ANPIN, NAMELY, DURING THE AMIDAH PRAYER, and he comes to receive her, we stand before the Supernal King, BECAUSE THEN ZEIR ANPIN IS UNITED WITH THE NUKVA. For this reason, it behooves us not to stop between "redemption" and the prayer, as the prayer sitting down and the prayer standing up should be joined.

236. When a man stands before the Supernal King, he needs four cubits for his prayer. This is the length of a rope in "who forms all." In all that pertains to the side of the male, it behooves a man to stand up. In the same way, whoever kneels, kneels when pronouncing 'blessed,' WHICH IS THE SECRET OF THE NUKVA. Whoever stands up does so WHEN PRONOUNCING THE WORD 'Name,' WHICH IS THE SECRET OF THE MALE, to show the superiority of the male over the female.

237. Come and behold, A man must not pray behind his Rabbi's back, as it is written, "You shall fear Hashem your Elohim" (Devarim 6:13). The particle Et before "Hashem" indicates that he should fear his Rabbi as much as he fears the Shechinah, and the disciple fears his Rabbi. But at the time of prayer, he should place before himself only the fear of the Holy One, blessed be He, and not any other fear.

238. Come and behold, Isaac composed the afternoon prayer, as Abraham composed the morning prayer in relation to the grade to which he cleaved, NAMELY THE GRADE OF CHESED AND THE RIGHT COLUMN. So Isaac composed the afternoon prayer in relation to the grade to which he cleaved, THE GRADE OF GVURAH AND THE LEFT COLUMN. Therefore, THE TIME OF the afternoon prayer service is when the sun sets down with its grades to the west; NAMELY, IMMEDIATELY AFTER MIDDAY.

239. As long as the sun does not set toward the west, it is day - that is, from morning till noon - as it is written, "The kindness of El endures for all time (lit. 'all the day')" (Tehilim 52:3). You may say that it is considered day until dark. But come and study the verse, "Woe to us, for the day declines, for the shadows of the evening are lengthened" (Yirmeyah 6:4). "For the day declines" refers to the morning service, as it is written, "The kindness (Lit. 'Chesed') of El endures for all the day," for then the sun is to the east. Once the sun sets and declines toward the west, it is time for the afternoon prayer, because "the day declines, for the shadows of the evening are lengthened," and harsh Judgment is upon the world.

240. "The day declines" refers to the grade of Chesed, while "the shadows of the evening are lengthened" refers to the grades of the harsh Judgment. Then the Temple was destroyed and the Holy of Holies burned. Therefore, it behooves a man to be careful to attend the afternoon prayer service, because it is the time when harsh Judgment hovers about the world.

241. Jacob composed the evening service, because he fixes THE NUKVA and nourishes her with whatever she needs. For the Vav OF YUD HEI VAV HEI, WHICH REPRESENTS TIFERET, corrects the Hei OF YUD HEI VAV HEI, WHICH IS THE NUKVA, and the Hei is nourished by the Vav, as THE NUKVA has nothing of herself. SHE RECEIVES EVERYTHING FROM TIFERET, WHICH IS THE VAV OF YUD HEV VAV HEI CALLED JACOB.

242. The evening service is optional for this reason, for only as a continuation of the afternoon service does it shine. But now, AT NIGHT, there is no time for that. As we have explained, daylight does not shine upon THE NUKVA, and she rules in the dark until midnight, when the Holy One, blessed be He, enjoys Himself with the righteous in the Garden of Eden. Then it is time for man to study Torah.

243. Come and behold, David came and said, There are three times for services, as it is written, "Evening, and morning, and at noon, I PRAY, AND CRY ALOUD, AND HE HEARS MY VOICE" (Tehilim 55:18). There are three times in all, but David prayed at only two of them, as is written, "I pray, and cry aloud" and no more. One is the morning service and the other the afternoon service. Therefore he said, "I pray and cry aloud" because "I pray" suffices for the morning itself, the time of Chesed, but there is need for crying aloud during the afternoon, AS IT IS A TIME OF HARSH JUDGMENT. Therefore he added, "And cry aloud." BUT HE DID NOT PRAY AT THE EVENING SERVICE. At midnight, he would rise and sing chants and praises, as it is written, "And in the night His song shall be with me" (Tehilim 42:9). This has already been explained.

244. Rabbi Shimon rose and they traveled with that man until Tiberias. While they were walking, Rabbi Shimon said, Come and behold that prayers correspond to the daily offerings. This was established by the sages of the Great Assembly. There are two DAILY OFFERINGS, as it is written, "The one lamb shall you offer in the morning, and the other lamb shall you offer at evening" (Bemidbar 28:4), and they are offered at the same times each day, the times of prayer. THEY ESTABLISHED TWO ESSENTIAL PRAYERS, THE MORNING SERVICE AND THE AFTERNOON SERVICE. THE EVENING SERVICE IS OPTIONAL.

245. The man said, But the patriarchs composed these prayers before THE MEN OF THE GREAT ASSEMBLY DID, AND THEY DID NOT ADJUST THEM TO CORRESPOND TO THE DAILY OFFERINGS. Why is what Abraham and Isaac established more important? And why is that which Jacob, who is chosen among the patriarchs, composed considered optional and not as essential as those?

246. Rabbi Shimon responded, this has already been explained, yet come and behold, the times for the morning and afternoon services are designed to unite Jacob, WHO IS ZEIR ANPIN, with his fate, THE NUKVA. Once they are united, we do not have to do anything else. AS THE NUKVA is put between the two arms - ABRAHAM AND ISAAC, WHICH CORRESPOND TO THE RIGHT AND LEFT COLUMNS - she is joined to the body, AS THE TORSO IS BUT THE INCLUSION OF THE TWO ARMS, and there is no more need to amend anything else. Thus, we should encourage the union of the two arms BY OBSERVING MORNING AND AFTERNOON PARYER SERVICES, because THE NUKVA was put between them. ONE NEEDS TO DRAW ILLUMINATION INTO THE NUKVA. After she is put between them, then the body, THE CENTRAL COLUMN CALLED JACOB, and the Nukva whisper, so as not to mention THE ASPECT OF JUDGMENT IN HER.

247. For that reason, THE WORDS ARE WHISPERED AND HER VOICE IS NOT HEARD, and Jacob serves up high. We learned the meaning of "up high" is as written in the verse, "And you, Hashem, are most high for evermore" (Tehilim 92:9). All this is a secret known to those who understand Judgment NAMELY FOR THOSE VERSED IN THE MYSTERIES OF THE TORAH. Rabbi Aba and the Jew came and kissed the hands of Rabbi Shimon. Rabbi Aba said, Until this day, I did not understand this matter. Only now do I comprehend its meaning. Blessed is my fate, that I deserved to hear it.