Bowing and standing upright

304. And those who have stature are marked with these THREE CHARIOTS during prayer. Where would that be? HE ANSWERS, When one bows, one should bow at 'Blessed' (the first word of each blessing), and when returning to the upright position, one should do so at the mention of the Name. THERE ARE four occasions when one has to bow and four when one has to stand upright. ONE HAS TO BOW AND THEN STAND UPRIGHT AT THE BEGINNING AND END OF THE FIRST BLESSING (OF THE AMIDAH), AND ALSO AT THE BEGINNING AND END OF 'MODIM' (LIT. 'WE GIVE THANKS'). By so bowing and standing upright, one suggests going to and bringing to Him, to whom the four directions belong, and ascending and descending for Him to whom the heaven and the earth belong, THE SAME AS WITH THE LULAV. These are the six directions: towards heaven and towards the earth and to the four directions of the world, which parallel the first three blessings, WHICH ARE CHESED, GVURAH, AND TIFERET, and the last three blessings, WHICH ARE NETZACH, HOD AND YESOD, MAKING A TOTAL OF EIGHT BOWS AND AGAIN STANDINGS UPRIGHT. And there are four in 'May He who makes peace in His high places make peace for us and for all Yisrael,' namely: bowing and again standing upright to the left and bowing and again standing upright to the right, and this is LIKE ONE WHO STANDS OPPOSITE HIS MASTER. HIS RIGHT WILL AT BE HIS MASTER'S LEFT, AND HIS LEFT WILL BE HIS MASTER'S RIGHT. He THUS offers peace to his left and his right, WHERE HIS RIGHT IS OPPOSITE his Master's left AND HIS LEFT IS OPPOSITE his Master's right.

305. This makes a total of twelve bows and standings upright, NAMELY FOUR BOWS AND STANDINGS UPRIGHT AT THE BEGINNING AND END OF 'AVOT,' 'MODIM,' AND MAY HE WHO MAKES PEACE" respectively. And they contain 72 eyes, FOR THEY ARE THE SIX DIRECTIONS, NAMELY TO HIM TO WHOM THE FOUR DIRECTIONS BELONG, TOGETHER WITH THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH, AS ABOVE, AND SIX TIMES TWELVE IS 72. AND BECAUSE THEY DRAW DOWN CHOCHMAH BY MEANS OF STANDINGS UPRIGHT, THEY ARE, THEREFORE, CALLED 'EYES.' The six bows contain eighteen movements, three in each bow, for one has to bend the head, the back, and the tail, LOOSENING the eighteen vertebrae IN THE SPINE, THUS ALLUDING TO YESOD, WHICH IS CALLED 'LIVING' (HEB. CHAI = 18), AND THE IMPLICATION IS THAT ONE HAS TO INCLUDE YESOD IN THESE SIX BOWS. AND THE TWELVE BOWS AND STANDING UPRIGHT amount to 72 AS ABOVE. And these 72 eyes of the Holy One, blessed be He, THAT ARE BESTOWED TO MALCHUT, illuminated the 72 wings of the Shechinah that rises up over them and is called 'standing,' WHICH IS THE SECRET OF THE AMIDAH (LIT. 'STANDING') PRAYER. For, initially, MALCHUT was a state of prostration, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF BOWING, and has to be raised up through the Name of Yud Hei Vav Hei, AND HAS TO BE SET UPRIGHT THROUGH THE DIVINE NAME, through eighteen worlds THROUGH YESOD, THAT IS CALLED 'LIVING,' and through the four standings upright in six blessings, which is Tiferet, that includes the first three blessings and the last three blessings.

306. And one has to bow at the 18 worlds, NAMELY AT THE ATTRIBUTE OF YESOD WHICH IS CALLED 'LIVING' (HEB. CHAI = 18). And this is Vav Vav and Vav, for when one bows, one should bow at 'Blessed,' WHICH IS YESOD THAT IS CALLED 'BLESSED,' and when returning to the upright position, one should do so at the mention of the name Yud Hei Vav Hei, which is the Central Column, THAT IS TIFERET, WHICH IS CALLED YUD HEI VAV HEI, and the Righteous THAT IS CALLED 'BLESSED.' And they are Vav Vav and Vav, FOR TIFERET IS THE SECRET OF THE LETTER VAV FULLY SPELLED WITH VAV VAV, WHILE YESOD IS THE SECRET OF THE LETTER VAV WRITTEN AS A SINGLE VAV. And these THREE VAVS are alluded to in THE INITIAL LETTERS OF THE THREE VERSES: "And the angel of Elohim, who went before the camp of Yisrael, removed (Heb. vayisa)... and it came (Heb. vayavo)... And Moses stretched out (Heb. vayet)" (Shemot 14:19-21). AND THEY ARE THE SECRET OF THE THREE COLUMNS OF THE NAME OF 72. The upper Vav Vav, WHICH IS TIFERET, is connected with standing upright and with bowing down, AND HAS THEREFORE TWO VAV'S. BUT YESOD, WHICH IS CONNECTED WITH BOWING ONLY, HAS JUST ONE VAV. And all of them, ALL THE THREE VAVS, add up to EIGHTEEN, CORRESPONDING TO THE eighteen blessings of the Amidah prayer.

307. There are four bows at Adonai, and four standings upright at Yud Hei Vav Hei, which are the Central Column CALLED YUD HEI VAV HEI, and the Shechinah THAT IS CALLED 'ADONAI.' The living one of the worlds, WHICH IS YESOD, unites them, NAMELY YUD HEI VAV HEI AND ADONAI, ONE WITH THE OTHER, making: Yud-Aleph-Hei-Dalet-Vav-Nun-Hei-Yud, WHICH IS THE LETTERS OF YUD HEI VAV HEI AND ADONAI INTERWOVEN. THE NUMERICAL VALUE OF THESE IS Amen, 91. AT THE CONCLUSION OF each of the eighteen blessings OF THE PRAYER, WHERE IS YUD HEI VAV HEI, there are eighteen times THE FOUR LETTERS OF Yud Hei Vav Hei, AND EIGHTEEN TIMES FOUR AMOUNTS TO 72, WHICH ARE the 72 eyes that illuminate in the 72 wings, which are eighteen times THE FOUR LETTERS OF Adonai.

308. And the secret of the matter is in the verse: "As for their rims, they were so high that they were dreadful, and their rims" (Yechezkel 1:18) THAT REFERS TO THE LIVING CREATURES. "As for their rims" REFERS TO the wings, WHICH IS MALCHUT; "they were so high" REFERS TO faces, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN; "and their rims," which are over them IN THE ASPECT OF BINAH, are "full of eyes round about them four," for all of them are surrounded on the four sides BY THE FOUR LETTERS. AND THERE WOULD SEEM TO BE A CONTRADICTION HERE, FOR HE HAS SAID THAT THE 72 EYES ARE IN ZEIR ANPIN. HE THUS ADDS: And everything is true, THAT IS TO SAY, ALL THREE ASPECTS, PINIONS, COUNTENANCES AND EYES, ARE ALL INCLUDED IN ZEIR ANPIN, WHICH IS CALLED 'TRUTH.' AND THE PROOF OF THIS IS TO BE FOUND IN THE SAYING 'There are Ayin (lit. 'eye' = seventy) faces to the Torah.' THUS THE TORAH, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, HAS EYES AND FACES, BUT IN THE PARTICULAR ASPECT, the wings are considered Adonai, WHICH IS MALCHUT; the faces are Yud Hei Vav Hei, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, and the eyes are Eheyeh, WHICH IS BINAH. The sum total OF THE THREE NAMES ADONAI, YUD HEI VAV HEI AND EHEYEH is Yud Bet Kof (= 112), AND THESE THREE LETTERS ARE THE INITIAL LETTERS OF THE WORDS YICHUD (ENG. 'UNIFICATION'), BERACHAH (ENG. 'BLESSING') AND KEDUSHAH (ENG. 'SANCTIFICATION'). THE NAME 'Adonai' ALLUDES TO THE ASPECT OF action, Yud Hei Vav Hei to THE ASPECT OF speech, and Eheyeh to THE ASPECT OF thought.

309. Each and every eye is the size of a thumb, and this is the middling Vav, NAMELY THE ASPECT OF THE CENTRAL COLUMN, OF ONLY TWO JOINTS, THE UPPER JOINT IN IT MISSING. For the thumb has but two joints which are the secret of Yud Yud. In respect to the nose, THE THUMB IS CALLED 'Vav,' NAMELY MIDDLE VAV. And in respect to the two nostrils that are in the nose, WHICH ARE RIGHT AND LEFT AND NOT AS ONE, THEY ARE CALLED 'Yud Yud.' THE NUMERICAL VALUE OF THE VAV, TOGETHER WITH THE TWO LETTERS YUD is Yud-Vav-Dalet, Hei Aleph, NAMELY 26. And this is as in "vayyitzer (Eng. 'formed')" (Beresheet 2:7), WHICH IS SPELLED AT THE BEGINNING WITH VAV AND TWO YUD'S, WHICH TEACHES ABOUT THE SIZE OF THE THUMB. IT IS the size of each measure of Yud-Vav-Dalet, Hei-Aleph, WHICH IS THE FIRST THREE SFIROT, whenever THE FIRST THREE SFIROT have control in each and every part of the body. THAT IS TO SAY, IN EVERY LIMB THERE IS A HEAD AND A BODY, AND THE MEASURE OF THUMB CONTROLS THE MEASURE OF THE HEAD OF THE LIMB. Every limb HERE MEANS EVERY WHOLE LIMB, such as in "spreads abroad her wings, takes them, bears them on her pinions (also: 'limbs')" (Devarim 32:11). THERE ARE WINGS, WHICH ARE THE LOWER ASPECT OF THE LIMB, WHICH IS THE ASPECT OF A THREE-JOINTED FINGER, AND THERE IS THE LIMB, AND THERE IS THE ASPECT OF A THUMB OF TWO JOINTS, BECAUSE IT IS THE UPPER ASPECT WHICH IS THE SECRET OF YUD HEI THAT IS IN IT.

310. And there is no limb in the whole of his Chariot that does not have the form of a COMPLETE limb, in his image NAMELY, THE ASPECT OF HEAD AND OF BODY, AS ABOVE, IN THE PRECEDING PARAGRAPH, and in every place you will find "Thus were their faces: and their wings were divided upwards" (Yechezkel 1:11), NAMELY IN THE ASPECT OF THE FIRST THREE SFIROT OF THE LIMB, WHERE A THUMB'S MEASURE IS IN CONTROL AS THE RIGHT AND THE LEFT OF THE CENTRAL COLUMN ARE SEPARATED, AS ABOVE. And this corresponds to the open sections (namely the Biblical text leaves the line open and continues on the subsequent line) in the Tefilin, WHICH PARALLELS THE ASPECT OF THE FIRST THREE SFIROT, WHICH ARE SEPARATED, before the Torah, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN, AS IT IS THE FIRST THREE SFIROT, NAMELY THE EYES AND THE FACES, AS ABOVE. And when they are below, IN THE ASPECT OF THE SIX ENDS, THERE IS THEN A UNION BETWEEN RIGHT AND LEFT OF THE CENTRAL COLUMN, AS WELL AS BETWEEN ZEIR ANPIN AND MALCHUT, WHICH ARE RIGHT AND LEFT. And THEN the sections OF THE TEFILIN are closed (namely the next verse in the Biblical text continues on the same line), paralleling Yud- Aleph-Hei-Dalet-Vav-Nun-Hei-Yud that are on them, with their faces and their wings, WHICH ARE ZEIR ANPIN and MALCHUT, WHO ARE HERE UNITED IN EACH OTHER, AND THUS THE SECTIONS ARE CLOSED. AND HERE THEIR FACES AND THEIR WINGS ARE NOT SEPARATED, BECAUSE IT IS FROM BELOW, WHICH IS THE SIX EXTREMITIES.

311. And the Holy One, blessed be He, makes marks on Yisrael in respect thereof, NAMELY IN RESPECT TO THE FACES AND WINGS OF THE LIVING CREATURES in the prayer, in order that Yisrael should be friends WITH THE LIVING CREATURES, namely by bowing with the whole body in the eighteen blessings of the prayer, so that He should, in each and every one of their limbs, make Amen king over them, which is the secret of Yud-Aleph-Hei Dalet-Vav-Nun-Hei-Yud, WHICH HAS THE SAME NUMERICAL VALUE AS AMEN. FOR, BY BOWING ONE DRAWS DOWN 'ADONAI' AND BY STANDING UPRIGHT ONE DRAWS DOWN YUD HEI VAV HEI, AND LATER, BY LIFE OF THE WORLDS, THE TWO OF THEM UNITE AND INTERWEAVE TOGETHER IN THE SECRET OF YUD-ALEPH-HEI-DALET VAV-NUN-HEI-YUD. And the Holy One, blessed be He, said TO THE ANGELS, WHO ARE THE FOUR LIVING CREATURES: 'Whoever is not marked before you as bowing at 'Blessed' and standing up erect at the Yud Hei Vav Hei to the full stature of his body, his prayer will not enter into My palace, which is Adonai, and you should not accept his speeches on your wings and your faces.' For everyone who prays with Adonai and combines it with Yud Hei Vav Hei, which is the faces of the angels, NAMELY OF THE FOUR LIVING CREATURES, IT IS THEN SAID ABOUT THE LIVING CREATURES, "Thus were their faces: and their wings were divided upwards" (Yechezkel 1:11), IN THE ASPECT OF THEIR FIRST THREE SFIROT IN ORDER to welcome AFTERWARDS THE UNITY OF Yud-Aleph-Hei-Dalet-Vav-Nun-Hei-Yud, IN THEIR SIX EXTREMITIES, with the words of the prayer that issues forth from the mouth of man.

312. And the one who answers 'Amen' is greater than the one who says the blessing, for, regarding Adonai combined with Yud Hei Vav Hei said in ANY MAN'S prayer, IT IS SAID "Thus were their faces: and their wings were divided," for 'faces' parallels Yud Hei Vav Hei and 'their wings' PARALLELS Adonai. AND THIS IS THE SECRET OF "And make one cherub at the one end" (Shemot 25:19), WHICH IS YUD HEI VAV HEI, "and one cherub at the other end" (Ibid.), WHICH IS ADONAI; AND THE TWO ARE SEPARATED, FOR THE UNIFICATION OF YUD HEI VAV HEI AND ADONAI IN COMBINATION IS NOT ACHIEVED IN THE BLESSINGS OF THE PRAYERS, BUT ONLY IN THE AMIDAH PRAYER. But when the cantor of the service repeats the prayer, and one responds 'Amen,' WHICH UNITES AND COMBINES YUD HEI VAV HEI WITH ADONAI, THE NUMERICAL VALUE OF 'AMEN' BEING THE SAME AS THAT OF THE TWO NAMES COMBINED, HE IS THUS GREATER THAN THE ONE WHO SAYS THE BLESSING. For he is in the second coupling, NAMELY IN THE LOWER JOINING OF THE SIX EXTREMITIES, for it is in the second coupling that the two names YUD HEI VAV HEI AND ADONAI join together. At the beginning, NAMELY AT THE FIRST JOINING, WHICH PARALLELS THE FIRST THREE SFIROT, "the loops held one curtain to another" (Shemot 36:12) on the boards, which are the connection of the fingers AS THE WORD KERASHIM (ENG. 'BOARD') IS COMPOSED OF THE SAME LETTERS OF KESHARIM (ENG. 'CONNECTIONS'). FOR THEN, THE TABERNACLE IS NOT ONE ACCORDING TO THE SECRET OF YUD-ALEPH-HEI-DALET-VAV-NUN-HEI-YUD. But at THE REPETITION BY THE CANTOR OF THE PRAYERS, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF THE AMIDAH, HE ANSWERS Amen, WHICH IS THE UNIFICATION OF YUD-ALEPH-HEI- DALET-VAV-NUN-HEI-YUD, WHOSE TOTAL NUMERICAL VALUE IS AS THAT OF THE LETTERS OF THE WORD 'Amen,' THEN: "the tabernacle may be one" (Shemot 26:6), for in it they are "coupled one to another" (Ibid. 3), ALLUDING TO YUD HEI VAV HEI ADONAI. THUS, GREATER IS THE ONE WHO RESPONDS WITH AMEN AT THE AMIDAH PRAYER, MORE SO THAN THE ONE WHO BLESSES DURING THE OTHER BLESSINGS OF THE PRAYER.