Article No. 30, 1985
It is written in The Zohar, Balak (item 187): “Three are the ones called ‘prayer’: a prayer for Moses, a prayer for David, a prayer for the poor. Of those three, which is the most important? A prayer for the poor. This prayer precedes the prayer of Moses and precedes the prayer of David. What is the reason? It is because a poor is brokenhearted, and it is written, ‘The Lord is near to the brokenhearted.’ The poor always quarrels with the Creator, and the Creator listens and hears his words, ‘a prayer for the poor when he is weak [also: wraps].’ It should have said, ‘when he is wrapped’; what is ‘when he wraps’? It means that he creates a delay, delaying all the prayers in the world, which do not enter until his prayer enters. The Creator alone is unified with these grievances, as it is written, ‘and pours out his words before the Lord.’ All the hosts of heaven ask one another, ‘What does the Creator do? In what is He exerting?’ They are told, ‘He is becoming passionately unified with His Kelim [vessels],’ meaning with the brokenhearted. This prayer causes delay and postponement to all the prayers in the world.”
Concerning these three prayers, we should understand the difference between the prayers of Moses, David, and the poor. What is the importance of the poor, in that he has grievances against the Creator, and for which he delays all the prayers? We should also understand what it means that it delays all the prayers in the world? Is the Creator unable to answer all the prayers at once? Does He need to take up time, as though they need to stand in line one-by-one?
We will interpret this in the work, for all these prayers apply to one person. These are three consecutive states in the order of the work. We find that there are three deficiencies that one should ask the Creator to satisfy for him: 1) Torah, which is called “Moses,” 2) the kingdom of heaven, 3) a poor, who is brokenhearted, pertaining to his Kelim.
We should understand why he says, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted,” which is called “close.” We learn that “close” means equivalence of form. But how can we speak of equivalence of form with the Creator if he is brokenhearted? We should also understand what we learn, “The Lord is near to all who call upon Him in truth.” That is, what is “close”? “Truth” is called “close,” and brokenhearted is not called “close.” We should also understand the grievance that the poor has against the Creator, as though the Creator is saying that the poor is right, for we see that because of the grievances He listens to him more than to others, as said in the above words of the holy Zohar.
But it is written in The Zohar (“Introduction of the Book of Zohar,” item 174): “Rabbi Shimon started, ‘One who rejoices in holidays and does not give his share to the Creator.’” In The Zohar (item 175), he explains what is the share of the Creator: “The share of the Creator is to delight the poor as much as he can, for on holidays the Creator comes to see His broken Kelim.”
He interprets in the Sulam [Ladder commentary on The Zohar] why the Creator’s share is for the poor, pertaining to the breaking of the vessels that preceded the creation of the world. In his words: “By the breaking of the Kelim of Kedusha [holiness] and their fall into the separated BYA, sparks of Kedusha fell into the Klipot [shells/peels]. From them, all sorts of pleasures and fancies come into the domain of the Klipot, for the sparks transfer them into man’s reception and for his pleasure. By that, they cause all kinds of transgressions, such as theft, robbery, and murder.”
Accordingly, we should interpret what it means that a poor’s complaint is with a grievance. He says, “Why is it my fault that He has created me from broken vessels, because of which I have within me all the evil lusts and evil thoughts? All this came to me only because I extend from the breaking of the vessels, which was the first place where they wanted to extend the upper abundance into the vessels of reception with the intention to receive in order to receive, and not at all with the intention to bestow. Because of it, self-love has been installed in me, and for this reason I am far from anything spiritual and have no part in Kedusha, which is founded only on vessels that have the intention to bestow. It follows that all my suffering at having no access to Kedusha and seeing that I am far from You due to the disparity of form that I have as a result of self-love, which is the whole enemy that is in my heart, He is the one who causes all of my bad states. It all came because You created me this way!”
For this reason, he comes with complaints and says, “I cannot change the nature with which You created me, but I want that just as You have created me with self-love, now You will give me a second nature, as You have given me the first, meaning a desire to bestow, for I cannot fight against the nature that You have imprinted in me. Moreover, I have evidence that it is Your fault that I haven’t the strength to overcome. Our sages said (Kidushin 30), ‘Rabbi Shimon Ben Levi said, ‘Man’s inclination overpowers him each day and seeks to put him to death, as it was said, ‘The wicked watches for the righteous and seeks to put him to death.’ Were it not for the Creator’s help, he would not have overcome it, as it was said, ‘God will not leave him in his hand.’”
It follows that the grievances of the poor are justified. That is, he hasn’t the strength to overcome it if the Creator does not help him, as our sages said. Therefore, he comes with a complaint to the Creator that only He can help, and none other, as it is implied from the words of our sages that the Creator did so deliberately, so there would be a need for prayer, since “The Creator awaits the prayer of the righteous,” meaning those who pray that they want to be righteous. The reason for this was explained in the previous essays of Baal HaSulam.
It therefore follows that his grievances with the Creator for creating him in such lowliness is justified, meaning that the Creator Himself made it so that he cannot expect anything to help him but the Creator. This is why the prayer of the poor is called “brokenhearted,” meaning it comes from the breaking of the vessels. It follows that the argument of the brokenhearted is a true argument, and truth is called “close” because it is in equivalence of form with the Creator. This is why this prayer is answered first, since here begins the order of the work.
By this we will understand what we asked, that here he says that “close” means brokenhearted, and there we learned that “near” is true, as it is written, “The Lord is near to all who call upon Him in truth.” The answer is that the argument of the brokenhearted is a true argument. It follows that the two are the same, meaning that we must know that when we come to pray to the Creator we must speak to him words of truth.
This is what we explained in the previous article [29, Tav-Shin-Mem-Hey], that when he comes to pray to the Creator he needs to ask the Creator to help him: “Since I am truly in the worst state in the world, for although there might be lower people than I, both in Torah and in work, they do not feel the truth as I see my situation. Therefore, they still do not have the deficiency that I have, and therefore do not need Your help so much. But I do see my true state—that I am completely disconnected from spirituality after all the work that I have done both in time and in effort. And yet, now I see that ‘the former days were better than these,’ and as much as I may try to go forward, I feel that I am going backwards.” This is called “a true argument,” and to this it is possible to attribute equivalence of form with the Creator in that he is making a true argument.
By this we will understand the question, “Why does the prayer of the poor delay all the prayers? Is the Creator unable to answer all the prayers at once?” We need to learn all three prayers in one body. This means that it is impossible to answer everything a person asks, except by order of the degree that a person can receive. That is, if he receives this, it will be to his best. But if he receives some satisfaction that he wants it will be to his detriment, and his wish will certainly not be granted because the Creator wants to benefit him and not harm him.
Therefore, the lower one must receive from above according to what the lower one really needs. This is why he must pray for his poverty, that he has grievances that He created him with a will to receive, which he feels is causing all the evil in him and causing all his troubles. Afterwards he can ask to be given the kingdom of heaven, for he has already been given vessels of bestowal and can already receive faith, called the “kingdom of heaven.”
That is, one cannot attain the burden of the kingdom of heaven, called “faith,” before he has vessels of bestowal, as he says in the Sulam (“Introduction of the Book of Zohar,” p 138): “It is a law that the creature cannot receive apparent harm from Him, for it is a flaw in His glory that the creature should perceive Him as doing harm, for it is inappropriate for the perfect Operator. Hence, when one feels bad, to that extent there is denial of His guidance upon him and the Operator is hidden from him.”
Therefore, first 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 receives 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.
It follows that it is impossible to obtain faith, which is the kingdom of heaven, before one has acquired the correction of the qualities—to always be ready to bestow and not receive in order to receive. Otherwise from above he is not permitted to obtain faith. This is regarded as the prayer of the poor delaying all the prayers. That is, before a person reveals his deficiency—that he is immersed in self-love, and wants to emerge from it—it is pointless to ask for other things.
Afterwards comes the time for the prayer for Moses, which is regarded as the Torah. This is so because it is impossible to be rewarded with the Torah before he obtains faith, for “It is forbidden to teach idol-worshippers the Torah,” as it was said, “This is the law [Torah] that Moses set before the children of Israel.” And it is written in The Zohar: “It is forbidden to teach idol-worshippers the Torah,” and “One who circumcised himself but does not keep the commandments of the Torah is as though he was not circumcised, as it is written (Jethro), ‘If you make an altar of stone for Me, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your sword on it, you will profane it.’ Although you wielded your sword on it, meaning he circumcised himself, he profanes it, which means that he profaned the circumcision.”
This means that even one who is circumcised and has Jewish parents is still not regarded as “Israel” with respect to the Torah, meaning that it is permitted to learn with him Torah, if he is not keeping the commandments of the Torah. This is what is implied from the above words of The Zohar.
It is written in The Zohar (Pinhas, item 68): “‘And wine makes man’s heart glad.’ This is the wine of Torah, for wine is the same number as Sod [secret]. As the wine must be concealed and sealed so it is not poured into idol-worship, so is the Torah: it must be concealed and sealed, and all her secrets are poured out only to those who fear Him.”
Thus, the prayer for Moses, which is the Torah, is a degree that comes after the kingdom of heaven, called fear. This is the meaning of the Torah being given specifically to those who fear Him. This is also the meaning of what our sages said, “The hand Tefillin precedes the head Tefillin,” since it is written, “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals between your eyes.”
The holy Zohar interprets that the hand Tefillin is Malchut, and the head Tefillin is ZA. The hand Tefillin should be covered because it is written, “And it shall be as a sign to you on your hand,” and they explained “To you as a sign, and not to others as a sign.” Baal HaSulam said that Malchut is called “faith.” For this reason, it must be concealed, which means that because Malchut is faith above reason, it is called “concealment.” Therefore, once he acquires faith, which is called “kingdom of heaven,” he can be rewarded with the Torah, called ZA, which implies the head Tefillin, where there is already disclosure of Torah. This is why our sages said about the verse, “And all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will be afraid of you,” that these are the head Tefillin, where there is seeing.