After finishing one’s prayer

After one finishes his prayer with the goodwill from his Master (that is, after one says, “May it be Your goodwill to accept it”), one needs to imagine that he is giving up his life, with perfect love – and that is called “Tachanun”, or “Supplication.”

Once he does this, he is forgiven all the mistakes he had made, and if he did things that are not befitting a Jew, and did them in public – which amounts to the profanation of the Name of God – even that is forgiven. That is why initially it was called “Falling on one’s face on the ground” – because ground and land are connected to Rulership, the lowest spiritual level, from which there is no way but up.

He thus falls into the kingdom of Evil, with the goal of finding the small particles of goodness there, to bring them up when he straightens. He then goes together with them to the level of Rulership again, but this time in the highest world of Nearness.

The source for this is the Zohar at the top of

this post. But how exactly does one imagine it? By giving up his life in four different ways, corresponding to the four methods of capital punishment as they existed when there was such thing as Jewish capital punishment, with Sanhedrin. This is explained in the second picture in this post, from the Siddur HaRashash by Rabbi Asher Anshil Braun.

Kabbalistic Diet

Rav Avira said (sometimes he said it in the name of Rabbi Ami, and sometimes in the name of Rabbi Asi – because he heard it from both): Ministering angels said to the Holy One Blessed Is He, “Master of the World! In your own Torah you have written, 'Do not show favoritism, and do not take bribe,' but you show favoritism to Israel, as you yourself say in your Torah, 'May God show favor to you and turn His face to you.'”

God answered, “What can I do? How can I not show them favor! I told them in the Torah, 'You will eat and be satisfied and bless God.' I told them to eat their fill, and only then bless God, and they are exacting with themselves, and bless Me when they eat an olive volume, and an egg's volume. The person's body is not satisfied until he eats his fill. However, these righteous understood 'and be satisfied' as 'be a little satisfied,' and interpreted My words as in regards to the soul, not the body. Do you remember how we created the world? I was for it, and you were against, and really you, the angels, were right: I should not have created the world. However, I saw the souls of the righteous, fell in love with them, and created the world against logic. How can I not show favor to them now?”

We see from here that when a person eats little, and understands a minor satisfaction as being enough, this causes the awakening of God's favor for him.

Art: Jozef Israels - The Frugal Meal

Pinchas – Jealousy

As learned earlier, the word Jealousy appears three times in the introductory verse of the Pinchas Torah portion, and there is a meditation from Baal Shem Tov, closely connected to the name of God “Jealous”. In principle, it works like this.

It is known that Evil exists only in the lower spiritual worlds, but that in the upper one, called Atzilut, or the World of Nearness, all is Good. By taking the subject of prayer and lifting oneself together with it into the World of Nearness, one comes to the state where Good and Bad are indistinguishable, because the Bad there is also Good. Then on his spiritual descent into the physical world, one finds that the necessary changes have been accomplished.

Even the meditation itself, without the use of a mikvah, is beneficial to the person, and even without accomplishing any other results. Some say, even no meditation is beneficial.

Art: Claude Oscar Monet - Meditation - Madame Monet On The Sofa

Meditation of Baal Shem Tov

Taken from Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan's "Meditation and Kabbalah" - with gratitude

Meditation for Lag B'Omer Day – Gratitude ad Infinitum

The Sefirah associated with the day Lag B'Omer (today) is Glory within Glory or gratitude inside gratitude. When a man is grateful to God, he should add that he is grateful for the possibility of standing in front of God and being grateful. He thus completes and perfects his gratitude with the help of gratitude itself.

However, he does not have to stop there. He can now be grateful for his capacity of being able to be grateful for being grateful. This chain has no end. It is reminiscent of God's desire to create the world, which had to be preceded with a desire to have a desire, and so on, also ad infinitum.

Compare this to Littlewood's idea of gratitude with potential infinity.

“The following idea, or coda to the series, was invented too late (I do not remember by whom), but what should have happened is as follows. I wrote a paper for the Comptes Rendus, which Prof. M. Riesz translated into French for me. In the end, there were 3 footnotes. The first read (in French), 'I am greatly indebted to Prof. Riesz for translating the present paper.' The second read, 'I am indebted to Prof. Riesz for translating the preceding footnote.' The third read, 'I am indebted to Prof. Riesz for translating the preceding footnote,' suggesting reflexiveness. Actually, I stop legitimately at number 3: however little French I know I am capable of copying a French sentence.” (Littlewood, Mathematical Miscellany).

Why does Littlewood stop at 3 while we continue ad infinitum? Obviously, because he is grateful not for the quality of being grateful, but for translating his gratitude. Our gratefulness is for gratefulness that we get into the infinite loop – which is better at stretching the mind than the finite.

Art: Gustave Courbet - Eternity

The Kabbalah of Sefirah

There are fifty days from going out of Egypt till receiving the Torah on Sinai, and one counts them as he counts the days to his birthday, for on that day the world was created, at least according to one view.

There are two reasons for this counting (sefirah): to arouse in oneself the love for Torah, and to purify and prepare oneself for the receiving of the Torah. In each of these days one can reach a completely new spiritual level, since each of these days has the power of eight. Thus they are are a blueprint for the year. Everyone may encounter in these days difficulties corresponding to his spiritual nature.

The key to each day is in the Sefirot that it represents. For example, today is the fifth day of the counting, Hod in Chesed, or Praise in Love. On it one should concentrate on praising God, making up for others who do not do so, and this will bring him to love God. Thus he is correcting Love through Praise.

Art: Louis Charles Moeller - The Appraiser

Supernal Mother - Understanding - Becomes King

After one says the first four words of a blessing, and the Kindness, Strength, and Beauty return to their source, the Supernal Mother, then she is called King. That happens because her children are now with her, and they are blessed to an extent where they can in turn bless the lower worlds.

For this is the quality of Kingship - it is manifest when the king is accompanied by nobles who are endowed with riches, when they have everything that they need, without anything lacking.

Since another name of the Supernal Mother is Understanding, then it is by Kindness, Strength, and Beauty being endowed with Understanding that they become rich with the Brains of the Supernal Mother, and can in turn perfect the lower spheres.

All that is the result of a properly pronounced blessing on food and other pleasures.

Art: Allan Ramsey - Queen Charlotte with her Two Children

The Secret Meaning of Blessings, the Result of Saying the First Four Words

After the first four words of the blessing have been said, Kindness, Strength, and Beauty are blessed. They take that blessing as a source of strength, unite themselves together, and return to their source, the Foundation of the Supernal Mother.

Without the blessing, they lack the strength to go back. However, with the blessing, they become cleansed of the external influences and receive additional blessings, true blessings, three blessings, since now the three of them are united. They then take these blessings back to the lower spheres. This is hinted to in the verse “You will not see My Face empty-handed.”

Art: Jozef Israels - Three Women Knitting By The Sea

The Secret Meaning of Blessings, fourth word, אלהינו

This word, אלהינו, represents the Strength, or strict judgment. However, when we say the blessing, the strictness of this word becomes mixed with יהוה, Mercy, and Mercy, in turn, is intertwined with Strictness, until they become one.

The influence of the blessing that we pronounce reaches down up to Mercy, Strictness, and Beauty of the Cosmic Man. Once it has reached here, the lower Sefirot – Victory, Splendor, and Righteousness, are blessed with them, and receive the flow of blessings that is due to them.

Art: Rembrandt Van Rijn - Jacob Blessing the Children of Joseph

The Secret Meaning of Blessings, third word, יהוה

The word יהוה represents synthesis, harmony, and beauty. Its source is kindness. It also implies all aspects of faith, since the essence of the belief of the Jewish people is in the name of God, יהוה.

Thus, when pronouncing this word, one should concentrate on the meaning above, and on all the additional names of God that are derived from יהוה.

Art: Odilon Redon - Meditation

The Secret Meaning of Blessings, second word, אתה

The major intention of this word is Kindness. After the blessing starts to come down into the world from the Foundation of the Supernal Mother, it begins to be revealed. The Foundation of the Supernal Father, called “baruch,” is closed and hidden. That is why it is expressed in the form of “baruch” - blessed, and not “titbarach” - may He be blessed. The source of this blessing is always hidden, never revealed, and is constantly flowing.

The second word, “atah” - you – is the beginning of revelation and connection with the outside world. Accordingly, the world “atah” is connected to Kindness and expresses Openness. And who is this “You?” - This is the secret of Kindness, and it is called “Kohen.” The hint to this is in the phrase “You are a Kohen (priest) forever”, which has been said about Abraham. It is connected to the right hand of the Cosmic Man (Zeir Anpin), where Kindness begins to be revealed into the world.

Art: Vincent Van Gogh - Two Hands

The Secret Meaning of Blessings, first word, ברוך

By “secret meaning” the Faithful Shepherd, or Moses, means the intentions that one needs to have in mind when pronouncing them, to arouse the source of blessings above, and to make it pour below. It applies when enjoying something in this world, or when performing a mitzvah.

Thus, ברוך, Blessed, represents the highest source of all blessings, the Foundation of the Supernal Father, called, “The Way,” through which the blessing directs itself into the Foundation of the Supernal Mother, the flow that never stops. It lights all the lights of the Cosmic Man, and through him – that of the Cosmic Woman.

Art: Kings Fairy Tale - Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis