Ushpizin David - Sefirat Malchut - Selected Excerpts from the Sources (2020)

David is Malchut

1. Rabash. Article 10 (1990) “What Does It Mean that Our Sages Said, “King David Did Not Have a Life,” in the Work?

King David is Malchut, on whom there was a Tzimtzum, and David is regarded as “the whole of Malchut,” which requires correction, that the whole of the will to receive that there is in the vessels of reception should be corrected, for this reason, he needed to be included with Kelim [vessels] in which there are vessels of bestowal. By this, the general Malchut will also be corrected.

This is called “the end of correction,” meaning that the Messiah King is called “the end of correction.” This means that the general Malchut will be corrected to work in order to bestow.

2. RABASH, Article No. 13 (1991) What “You Have Given the Strong to the Hands of the Weak” Means in the Work

It is known that David is considered Malchut, meaning the kingdom of heaven. That is, the creatures should take upon themselves the burden of the kingdom of heaven with the aim not to receive reward, but because “He is great and ruling,” and not for self-benefit.

But the whole world resists this and hates doing everything for the Creator and not for self-benefit. Therefore, Kedusha is entirely to bestow, meaning to benefit the Creator, as it is written, “You shall be holy for I the Lord am holy.” Thus, as the Creator only bestows upon the creatures, the creatures should bestow upon the Creator, for this is called “equivalence of form,” which is considered Dvekut with the Creator.

3. RABASH, Article No. 45 (1990), "What Is, “The Concealed Things Belong to the Lord Our God,” in the work?"

David is called Malchut, which is the kingdom of heaven. Malchut of Kedusha is the desire to bestow, and its opposite is the desire to receive for oneself, which is called Sitra Achra [other side]. This is the opposite of Kedusha and is the enemy of Kedusha, as it is written, “The wicked watches the righteous and seeks to put him to death.” That is, the will to receive wants to kill the desire to bestow.

David, who is the Merkava [chariot/structure] for Malchut of Kedusha, prayed that his enemy, the will to receive—who wants to kill the desire to bestow, which is Kedusha—that the Creator will hurry His salvation so that the will to receive, meaning the enemy, will not be able to govern him.

This is the meaning of “The God of my mercy will meet me,” meaning that the Creator will deal mercy with me first.

4. RABASH, Article No. 10 (1990), "What Does It Mean that Our Sages Said, “King David Did Not Have a Life,” in the Work?"

Since man is born as a will to receive for himself, in this manner there is no life. It follows that the quality of King David, which is the point in the heart, has no life. In other words, the light of life cannot shine there.

For this reason, “the association of the quality of mercy with judgment” took place, as it is written that Malchut, which is the quality of judgment, will receive life from the quality of the “right,” which is bestowal, when it is associated with the quality of King David. Hence, the quality of Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph, who are the quality of Hesed and mercy, was placed in the quality of King David, and not from Isaac, who is the quality of the “left,” which is vessels of reception.

5. RABASH, Assorted Notes. Article No. 316, "Adam HaRishon – 2"

David, whose quality is Malchut, Messiah—on which there were the Tzimtzum [restriction] and concealment—cannot receive any light on her own quality. Instead, she must receive from Zeir Anpin, her husband, which means that she was built from Malchut of Zeir Anpin, regarded as “the vacant space.” Hence, she received from them, meaning from Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph, who are above Malchut. Therefore, she received illumination from them.

6. Zohar for All, Shlach Lecha, “The Tzitzit,” Item 342

David’s violin hung above David’s bed. The violin is Malchut. It is David’s violin which plays by itself to the upper, holy King.

David walked in the ways of the Torah

7. RABASH, Article No. 30 (1990), "What It Means that “Law and Ordinance” Is the Name of the Creator in the Work"

David walked in the ways of the Torah,” meaning that through the Torah, he corrected himself and was rewarded with vessels of bestowal. In these vessels, the abundance is poured from above and a person is rewarded with The Good Who Does Good, meaning that then he attains the real name of the Creator—The Good Who Does Good—because he received the good by correcting himself through the ways of the Torah. This is the meaning of “And David made Him a name,” meaning that David was rewarded with attaining the name of the Creator, called The Good Who Does Good.

8. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 140, "How I Love Your Torah"

“O how I love Your Torah! I speak of it throughout the day.” He said that even though King David had already been awarded perfection, he still craved the Torah, because the Torah is greater and more important than any perfection in the world.

9. Zohar for All, New Zohar, VaYetze, “Behold, A Ladder Was Set on the Ground,” Items 58-59

Just as the Tower of David is a strong tower, those who engage in Torah need strengthening and a strong building. The Tower of David, just as David was greater in Torah than all his contemporaries, those who engage in Torah must grow in Torah and not idle away from it. Just as David engaged in Torah day and night, one should engage in Torah day and night. And while they engage in it and grow in it, the neck is built like the Tower of David, a big and strong building.

10. Zohar for All, VaYigash [Then Judah Approached], "Sixty Breaths", No. 48

“O Lord, the God of my salvation, I have cried out by day and in the night before You.” At midnight, King David would rise and engage in Torah, in songs and praises for the joy of the King and the mistress. This is the joy of faith in the land, since this is the merit of faith, Divinity, which is seen in the land.

11. RABASH, Assorted Notes. Article No. 590, "Those Who Walk to the Land of Israel"

David said, “I awaken the dawn [also means “black” in Hebrew], and the dawn does not awaken me,” since he invokes the departure, and the departure does not awaken him to the trial.

12. RABASH, Letter No. 77

Our sages said, “Before I lose, I search” (Shabbat, 152), meaning before I lose the situation I am in, I start searching. It is as Baal HaSulam said about King David, who said, “I awaken the dawn.” Our sages said, “I awaken the dawn and the dawn does not awaken me.”

Therefore, the keeping is primarily during the ascent, and not during the descent. During the ascent we need to extend fear, lest we are pushed out, God forbid. But after all these, all we need is to cry out to the King and ask for His mercy on us once and for all.

13. RABASH, Article No. 10 (1991) "What Does “The King Stands on His Field When the Crop Is Ripe” Mean in the Work?"

Baal HaSulam said about what our sages said of David, who said, “I awaken the dawn, and the dawn does not awaken me.” That is, King David did not wait for the dawn, which is called “black,” which is darkness, meaning that the darkness awakens him. Instead, he awakens the darkness. He prays to the Creator to illuminate His face for him and thus he gains time from having the preparation for the darkness, and then it is easier to correct it.

14. RABASH, Article No. 16 (1988), "What Is the Foundation on which Kedusha [Holiness] Is Built?"

King David said that he does not accept the Shahar [dawn]—from the word Shahor [black], and darkness, which comes to him—and he awakens from the blackness. Rather, ‘I awaken the dawn,’ meaning when he feels that he is fine, he himself awakens the blackness.”

Prayer of David

15. Rabash. Assorted Notes. Article 877. “Three Prayers - 2”

First the prayer of the poor is accepted, meaning that first he must be rewarded with the kingdom of heaven, called “poor and meager.” This is the first discernment—that a person must enter in the work. Afterward comes the next degree, which is a prayer for David, meaning that his kingdom of heaven will not cease. Then comes the third degree, which is a prayer for Moses, which is the Torah.

16. RABASH, Article No. 30 (1985), "Three Prayers"

One should receive strength from above to have a second nature, which is the desire to bestow. Subsequently, he can ask for another degree, which is David, meaning the kingdom of heaven. It follows that the prayer of the poor delays all the other prayers, meaning that before the poor receive his wish, one cannot acquire higher degrees. This is why it is written, “A prayer for the poor when he is weak [also “wraps”].”

Then comes the second prayer, which is the prayer for David, being the kingdom of heaven, when he asks to have faith, to feel the Operator who operates with His guidance over the entire world. This is so because now he can already perceive the Creator as doing good, as written in the Sulam, since he already has vessels of bestowal. Thus, he can already see how He is doing good.

17. Zohar for All, Pekudei [Accounts], "At Times He Praises Himself, At Times He Lowers", No. 235

David is Malchut. At times he is poor, at times he is richer than all. This is why he would say, “I am young and despised.” And this is why, “I have not forgotten Your precepts.” Similarly, one should be despised in one’s own eyes and lower himself in everything, to be a Kli that the Creator wants.

18. Zohar for All, Pekudei [Accounts], "At Times He Praises Himself, At Times He Lowers", No. 233

King David always lowered himself before the Creator, for anyone who lowers himself before the Creator, the Creator raises him above all. This is why the Creator desired David in this world and in the next world. […] David is a king in this world, and David will be a king for the next world. This is why it was said, “The stone which the builders loathed became the cornerstone.”

19. Pri Tzadik, “The Festival of Sukkot,” Item 28

The Ushpiz [guest of honor] King David always had a great outcry in his heart because it always seemed to him like he is still standing outside.

20. RABASH, Article No. 20 (1988), "What Is the Reward in the Work of Bestowal?"

It is written (Psalms 121), “I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come? My help is from the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth.” We should understand David’s question, “From where shall my help come?” and afterward his finding that “My help is from the Lord.” But every believing Jew says that a person has no other place to receive help but the Creator.

21. Baal HaSulam, Ohr HaBahir, “The Four Senses”

Know that the Creator does not accept one’s half hearted prayer, since there is no “some” in spirituality. Rather, as soon as one completes all of one’s prayers, the Creator answers him. This is the meaning of “The prayers of David the son of Yishai are ended,” meaning that the Creator has already answered all his wishes and he has nothing more to ask or pray for. This is the meaning of “For You hear the prayer of every mouth,” meaning that only after the mouth has revealed to Him all his prayers, the Creator hears at once.

22. RABASH, Article No. 15 (1985), "And Hezekiah Turned His Face to the Wall"

King David said (Psalms, 115), “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory, for Your mercy, for Your truth. Why should the nations say, ‘Where is their God?’ and our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.”

According to the above, we should interpret that we ask of the Creator to help us come out of exile. This is the meaning of saying, “Not to us,” meaning to our will to receive. That is, we want our thoughts and desires and deeds not to be for our will to receive, which is regarded as the importance being only for the nations of the world.

Rather, “To Your name give glory,” so that the Shechina will not be in exile and regarded as dust, but that the glory of heaven will be revealed.

23. RABASH, Article No. 45 (1991) “What Does It Mean that a Judge Must Judge Absolutely Truthfully, in the Work?”

It is written (Psalms 78), “He chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds, from the care of the sheep with suckling lambs He brought him up to shepherd Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance.” We should interpret why He chose David His servant; what merits did he have over others? He says about this, “and took him from the sheepfolds.” We should interpret “sheepfolds” as food. That is, what was his food? He says, sheep. Sheep, explained Baal HaSulam, means “exits.”

That is, when a person feels that he has emerged from the work of the Creator, that he is in descent, he should not be alarmed by this. On the contrary, this gives him room to pray to the Creator to deliver him from the control of the bad and bring him closer to Him. For this reason, each exit that he had gave him fuel and what to pray for. Conversely, when a person is always in ascent, he has no need to advance. This is the meaning of the words “and took him from the sheepfolds.”

King David is the collective soul of the whole of Israel

24. Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 19

King David is the collective soul of the whole of Israel. Hence, he always longed, yearned, and craved true Dvekut [adhesion] with Him.

25. Baal HaSulam, "600,000 Souls"

Anyone who cleanses and purifies his soul to be worthy of extending the revelation of Malchut in the world will truly be called King David. This is the meaning of “David, King of Israel, is indeed alive” (Rosh Hashanah 25), for he has not died at all. His Kli is within each and every soul from Israel.

26. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 102, "And You Shall Take You the Fruit of a Citrus Tree"

David said, “I am peace,” meaning I attain everyone and I love everyone, “But when I speak, they are for war.”

27. RABASH, Article No. 19 (1991), "What Is, “Rise Up, O Lord, and Let Your Enemies Be Scattered,” in the Work?"

Is written (Psalms 34), “I sought the Lord and He answered me.” The RADAK interpreted “I sought,” since while in their hands, he sought the Creator in his heart and begged before Him in his heart to save him from them.

In the work, we should interpret that David saw that when he was in their hands, under the rule of thoughts and desires of the will to receive, his heart sought the Creator. That is, although he saw that they controlled him, his heart demanded of the Creator to save him from them. In other words, even though on the outside they governed him, within the heart he protested their governance and begged the Creator to save him from them. In his heart, he demanded and begged the Creator to save him from them and did not give up because they controlled him on the outside. This is as our sages said (Berachot 10), “Even if a sharp sword is placed on his neck, he should not deny himself mercy.” Thus, the descents, too, cause the filling of the lack.

28. Zohar for All, Shemot [Exodus], "Moses Was Pasturing"

“A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” “The Lord is my shepherd,” my shepherd. As the shepherd leads the flock to a good grazing site, a lush grazing site in a place of springs, and straightens their walk with righteousness and justice, so does the Creator, as it is written, “He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters, He restores my soul.”

The Merciful One will raise for us the fallen hut of David

29. RABASH, Article No. 19 (1991), "What Is, “Rise Up, O Lord, and Let Your Enemies Be Scattered,” in the Work?"

“Rise up, O Lord, and let Your enemies be scattered.” We pray that the Creator will “rise up,” the way we pray and say, “The Merciful One will raise for us the fallen hut of David,” where the “hut of David” is Malchut, which is the Shechina in the dust. We ask the Creator to raise her from her falling and that she will rise, meaning upright.

30. RABASH, Article No. 19 (1988), "What Are Silver, Gold, Israel, Rest of Nations, in the Work?"

We should understand why the Shechina is in sorrow and the Creator does not raise her from the dust. Instead, we must ask the Creator to raise her, and without our prayer He will not raise her, as it is written (in the Blessing for the Food), “The Merciful One will establish for us the fallen tabernacle of David.” That is, He needs us to ask.

31. RABASH, Assorted Notes. Article No. 397, "Take from Among You a Contribution to the Lord"

It is written, “The Merciful one will raise for us the fallen hut of David.” This is called “raising the Shechina from the dust.” Concerning a fall in corporeality, we see that sometimes it becomes known that the gold fell in the world, meaning lost its value and it is not as valuable as it should be.

It is likewise with spirituality. If spirituality does not have the value it is supposed to have, we do not pay for it the required payment. And since one is demanded to work with devotion, if a person does not have the real value, to make it worthwhile to pay the price of devotion, this is considered that the Shechina is in the dust.

It is about this that we pray, “The Merciful one will raise for us the fallen hut of David,” meaning that the Creator will give us the feeling of the exaltedness of the holy work.

Selected Psalms

32. Psalm 1:1-6
Blessed is the man

who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

but his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree

planted by streams of water

that yields its fruit in its season,

and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers.

The wicked are not so,

but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish.

33. Psalm 121:1-8
I lift up my eyes to the hills.

From where does my help come?

My help comes from the Lord,

who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved;

he who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, he who keeps Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper;

the Lord is your shade on your right hand.

The sun shall not strike you by day,

nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all evil;

he will keep your life.

The Lord will keep

your going out and your coming in

from this time forth and forevermore.

34. Psalm 23:1-6
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness

for his name's sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord

forever.

35. Psalm 27, 1-14
The Lord is my light and my salvation;

whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life;

of whom shall I be afraid?

When evildoers assail me

to eat up my flesh,

my adversaries and foes,

it is they who stumble and fall.

Though an army encamp against me,

my heart shall not fear;

though war arise against me,

yet I will be confident.

One thing have I asked of the Lord,

that will I seek after:

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord

all the days of my life,

to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord

and to inquire in his temple.

For he will hide me in his shelter

in the day of trouble;

he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;

he will lift me high upon a rock.

And now my head shall be lifted up

above my enemies all around me,

and I will offer in his tent

sacrifices with shouts of joy;

I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;

be gracious to me and answer me!

You have said, “Seek my face.”

My heart says to you,

“Your face, Lord, do I seek.”

Hide not your face from me.

Turn not your servant away in anger,

O you who have been my help.

Cast me not off; forsake me not,

O God of my salvation!

For my father and my mother have forsaken me,

but the Lord will take me in.

Teach me your way, O Lord,

and lead me on a level path

because of my enemies.

Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;

for false witnesses have risen against me,

and they breathe out violence.

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord

in the land of the living!

Wait for the Lord;

be strong, and let your heart take courage;

wait for the Lord!

36. Psalm 139:1-24
O Lord, you have searched me and known me!

You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

you discern my thoughts from afar.

You search out my path and my lying down

and are acquainted with all my ways.

Even before a word is on my tongue,

behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.

You hem me in, behind and before,

and lay your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

it is high; I cannot attain it.

Where shall I go from your Spirit?

Or where shall I flee from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, you are there!

If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

If I take the wings of the morning

and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

even there your hand shall lead me,

and your right hand shall hold me.

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,

and the light about me be night,”

even the darkness is not dark to you;

the night is bright as the day,

for darkness is as light with you.

For you formed my inward parts;

you knitted me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.

My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your book were written, every one of them,

the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there was none of them.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

If I would count them, they are more than the sand.

I awake, and I am still with you.

Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!

O men of blood, depart from me!

They speak against you with malicious intent;

your enemies take your name in vain.

Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?

And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?

I hate them with complete hatred;

I count them my enemies.

Search me, O God, and know my heart!

Try me and know my thoughts!

And see if there be any grievous way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting!

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