Chapter 15
Praying Like a Kabbalist
In This Chapter
Finding the focal point of Kabbalistic prayer
Mastering the proper inner attitudes
Checking out the essential ingredients of daily Kabbalistic prayer
One of the biggest stumbling blocks that people face regarding prayer is the question of why God, who is vast beyond all vastness and the Creator of the universe, would be interested or would even care to listen to the prayers of a single individual who’s no more than a tiny speck within creation. After all, if nobody’s listening, why bother talking? It’s tempting to abandon the whole process.
Many people pray based on habit and upbringing; they’ve seen their parents and grandparents pray, and like them, they go to houses of worship either routinely or on and off all their lives. And even during home rituals, many people recite the words of prayers because it’s something they’ve always done, not because they actually believe their prayers are effective or even heard. Some people don’t even understand the words of the prayers they recite!
But none of this is true for a Kabbalist. A Kabbalist prays in full consciousness and prays to a God who he knows is always listening and always responding. (Someone once aptly said, “God answers all of my prayers, but often the answer is ‘No.’”) When the Kabbalist prays, it’s his soul that’s praying.
This chapter offers the Kabbalistic answer to the question “Why pray?” and addresses the essential elements, both the content as well as the spiritual qualities, that people need if they want to pray as Kabbalists pray. I also explain the techniques that Kabbalists use to pray properly, with genuine understanding and feeling.
Tefillah (teh-fee-lah; prayer)
Avodah (ah-voe-dah; work or service)
It’s interesting to note that, in Kabbalistic tradition, prayer is referred to as the “avodah of the heart.”
An Overview of Prayer in the Life of a Kabbalist
If you were to ask a Kabbalist, “When do you pray?”, he’d probably give you two answers: “I try to pray three times each day,” and “I pray all the time.”
The Kabbalistic take on prayer is that the soul is constantly praying. According to Kabbalists, in its most profound depths, the soul is part of God, and the Kabbalist’s job is to raise his consciousness to the level at which he’s aware of the connection humans have with God. In order to raise one’s consciousness, prayer must happen constantly. The Kabbalist may be distracted at times, but at any moment, he can focus on the reality of his connection to the Almighty.
For some, prayer is easy and uncomplicated. A person for whom God is and may always have been a reality simply opens up and prays, offering words of gratitude and praise and making requests of God with the utmost sincerity. For Kabbalists (both those who have received this gift of the ability to offer prayers with full devotion as well as those who struggle with prayer), prayer requires preparation and intellectual understanding. The struggle that many have with prayer isn’t a stumbling block for the Kabbalist who sees that struggle as part of the process of genuine prayer.
To pray as a Kabbalist ideally prays takes time. Sometimes years of training and preparation are necessary to achieve the kind of prayer that ultimately serves one for the rest of one’s life. Children begin this process early in life, by mastering both the traditional prayer format as found in the traditional prayer book as well as the ability to maintain the kind of prolonged concentration that Kabbalistic prayer requires. The ultimate goal goes far beyond the intellectual understanding of the prayers in the prayer book or the faith that God is listening. A Kabbalist masters prayer when he or she doesn’t recite the words but actually becomes the words; the words become an expression of the person reciting them.
Following roads to effective prayer
Studying: Regular study of holy texts and their commentaries (see Chapter 14) puts God on one’s mind and in one’s heart at all times. When a student of Kabbalah works hard to understand what it is that God wants of him or her, and when the student meditates and concentrates in order to go in the direction of grasping God and finding out what it means to increase one’s knowledge of God, he or she is enveloped and filled with a consciousness of the Divine.
Many Kabbalists make studying before each formal prayer session a regular practice. Remember that for the Kabbalist, the study of traditional holy texts is a real dialogue with the Almighty. With great effort, concentration, and hard work during study, God is no longer just a word or a spiritual concept. God becomes real, and the student finds that he or she is actually standing before God.
Struggling with the prayer book: This method isn’t used before prayer but rather during prayer. The prayer book is full of words, concepts, and images that reflect a wide range of emotions and ideas. Too many people who pray try to keep up with the prayer leader and attempt to recite every word as though the prayers were some kind of magical formula. In a house of worship where Kabbalists pray, you can see that even though a prayer leader keeps up the pace and covers it all, the participants proceed at their own speed, often focusing on one word, one image, or one prayer; they struggle with it, trying to grasp it from all sides and hoping to squeeze it and drink its meaning.
One of the great stumbling blocks of prayer is that people are easily distracted while praying. Jewish tradition actually refers to prayer as a rime of battle. The battle is with a mind that frequently jumps from thought to thought. Prolonged concentration takes a lot of work and training and sometimes results in utter failure. But Kabbalists report that, through devoted attention and immense effort, one makes progress and achieves the inner ability to pierce through the words to reach a deep understanding with sustained concentration.
Meditating on God: Like studying, this method occurs before a prayer session. An ancient text familiar to Kabbalists says, “The early Hasidim would set aside an hour and then pray, so that they would turn their hearts to God.” Similar to study, this meditation is a preparation for prayer, but the activity isn’t one of focusing on a text. Rather, meditation on God is an inner contemplation and the use of one’s mind and heart in an effort to transform one’s whole being into someone who stands before God.
Although, by definition, God is beyond humans’ complete grasp, meditation on God and trying to conceive of the inconceivable (see Chapter 16 for more about knowing the unknowable God) brings the Kabbalist to the point where he or she is ready to stand before God in prayer.
Four kinds of prayer
So Kabbalists can pray all day, either out loud or silently in their minds and hearts. Kabbalists connect with God in prayer in the following ways:
Spontaneous prayer: In spontaneous prayer, a Kabbalist, usually by himself or herself at home or in a quiet place (the forest or a quiet neighborhood road, for example) speaks from the heart conversationally, out loud, and directly to the Almighty. This kind of spontaneous prayer has been a common practice among Kabbalists for centuries.
Brachot (blessings): Every moment of the day is an opportunity to recite a blessing. Kabbalists recite specially formulated blessings for almost every divine gift that they receive, be it food or good health, and they recite blessings for many other categories of human experience as well.
“Amen” is like a baseball RBI
Kabbalistic teachings include the idea that, if someone is present when someone else grabs an opportunity to connect with the Almighty, the listener can join that opportunity and take a moment to also acknowledge the presence of the Creator and His divine gifts. This acknowledgment is made by saying “Amen” (aw-mayn) after a blessing is spoken. Saying “amen” to a blessing is like hitting a baseball and getting to first base and sending someone on second base to home plate. In baseball, it’s called an RBI (run batted in). The batter on second base scores, but he couldn’t have done it without the batter who hit the single. The sages say that the “amen” response to a blessing ensures that the blessing arrives at its destination.
One teaching says that the “amen” response to a blessing has a special quality to it that’s perhaps even deeper than the quality achieved by the blessing itself.
Custom teaches that the word “amen” is spoken at the same volume that the blessing was said (don’t shout out “amen” if someone whispers a blessing; rather, whisper the “amen,” trying to achieve equilibrium with the blessing).
As for the logistics of responding to a blessing, one should wait until a blessing is entirely finished before saying “amen.” Responding before the last words of the standard blessing are spoken muffles the blessing. Also, “amen” should be spoken at the same volume that the blessing was said to achieve equilibrium with the blessing.
Standing before the King of Kings of Kings: Three times each day (morning, afternoon, and evening), Kabbalists take an opportunity to imagine themselves standing before God in private, earnest prayer. For over 2,000 years, the recitation of the same set of prayers, collectively known as “The Prayer,” has afforded the opportunity to have three unique experiences each day during which the Kabbalist actually believes that he’s standing before the King of King of Kings and that his prayers are being heard.
A great declaration of faith: Twice a day (evening and morning), Kabbalists gather deep concentration and focus on each and every word of the Sh’ma (sheh-mah), the central prayer of all Jewish tradition (see “Proclaiming the Lord is One” later in this chapter).
How to Imagine an Unimaginable God While Praying
Kabbalists conceive of God as infinite. One of the implications of this concept is that, in relation to the infinite, everything is of the same proportion. The movement of your little finger is no less significant than the largest catastrophe. You see a difference between a little flower in your front yard and the largest redwood tree in Northern California, but God views both as the same size. This idea may be difficult to grasp, but it’s fundamental to the Kabbalist’s conception of God as infinite.
God works in every department
Individuals who wonder about the efficacy of prayer often stumble over the false notion that God has better things to do than listen to the words of one of his tiny creatures. If the CEO of a large corporation doesn’t even know the name of a clerk somewhere in his company, why would God, who is the CEO of the universe, be aware of each individual? Well, Kabbalists don’t view God as a CEO. They view God as being everywhere and as a part of everything. Basically, God is equally near to everything that exists.
To a Kabbalist, God isn’t a thing, a supreme being, a spiritual force, or a king on a throne, and God isn’t in the heavens or somewhere else. Kabbalists understand the human temptation to objectify and limit God, so one Kabbalistic technique is to constantly reject one’s limited notions and conceptions of God, lifting one’s notion of God to greater and greater heights.
Knowing before whom you stand
In many synagogues throughout the world, the Hebrew expression Dah lifnay me attah omed (dah lif-nay mee ah-tah oh-maid; Know before whom you stand) is posted in the sanctuary. In the synagogue, this phrase helps to maintain decorum. Too often, people who go into the sanctuary of a synagogue and pray are distracted by conversations about mundane matters; they’re unable to attend to the business of prayer. The expression Dah lifnay me attah omed serves as a reminder that, when in the sanctuary, the business at hand is the holy act of praying to the creator.
Kabbalists are always conscious of the meaning behind the phrase Dah lifnay me attah omed, and its significance goes beyond the sanctuary. Kabbalists stand before God not just in the sanctuary of the synagogue but rather everywhere, including in the bedroom, the kitchen, and the marketplace.
Shedding conceptions of God
Any image of God or conception of God can be described in finite terms, which is categorically forbidden for the Kabbalist. This point is codified most clearly in the Ten Commandments, where the second commandment reads: “Thou shall make no graven images.” In some ways, the life of a Kabbalist is a continual rejection of previous conceptions of the Divine and an attempt to conceive of God in increasingly abstract and infinite ways. One Kabbalistic reference to the Divine is the phrase Ein Sof (ayn sowf), which implies infinity beyond all infinities.
Avoiding images of God is particularly difficult because the Torah continually describes God in seemingly anthropomorphic terms. Kabbalists read of God’s emotions and, even more concretely, God’s anatomy, as in the image of God taking the Children of Israel out of Egypt with “an outstretched arm.” But God doesn’t have an arm, let alone an outstretched one, because conceiving of God in any physical terms whatsoever is strictly forbidden to Kabbalists. The anthropomorphic images in the Torah and the other holy writings are merely a way to communicate sublime ideas in terms that humans can understand.
Kabbalists believe that every detail of the human form is actually divine revelation. But even though the Scriptures describe God most often in physical human terms, Kabbalists know that it’s not only forbidden but also counterproductive to imagine God in any form whatsoever. By conceiving of God in increasingly abstract and nonphysical terms, a clearer apprehension of reality takes place. This is a kind of built-in function of human consciousness: When you concretize God, reality becomes distorted, but when you push your mind to understand that God is beyond all possible images and descriptions, you come to know God, everything becomes more clear.
So the Kabbalist who prays to God has to deal with two seemingly contrary concepts: On the one hand, she has all the human-like description of God from the Torah; on the other hand, she has to discard those concrete images in order to truly know God. Kabbalists find that, as time goes on and as they direct their prayers to an inconceivable God, they’re able to establish and develop a relationship with God regardless of how difficult that seems. Kabbalists claim that one actually comes to the point at which one is with and conscious of God at all times.
Addressing God Directly
God is spoken to directly in Jewish liturgy (the actual words found in worship services and standard prayers). Even though a Kabbalist prays to a God that can’t be imagined, and even though no words can possibly do God justice, words still need to be used. Two of the most popular terms in Kabbalistic prayers are “You” and “ Our King.”
This section examines Kabbalistic blessings and the terms and phrases commonly found in them.
Breaking down basic blessings
Jewish liturgy, which is also the liturgy of the Kabbalist, uses human imagery and down-to-earth terms in an attempt to give expression to one’s deepest thoughts and yearnings. The standard form for dozens of blessings spoken by Kabbalists consists of three main phrases:
1. Baruch atah (bah-rukh ah-tah; Blessed are You)
By using the term “You,” which is a familiar word to all, Kabbalists attempt to make a direct connection between themselves and God. According to Kabbalistic tradition, there are no intermediaries between humans and God; prayers don’t need to be delivered by a priest, an angel, or any other vehicle.
2. Adonai Elohaynu (ah-doe-noy el-oh-hay-new; Lord our God)
The meaning behind this phrase is that the vast, inconceivable God is the same God who belongs to everyone and who makes Himself manifest in the world in which humans live. In other words, this part of a blessing reminds Kabbalists that the vast, infinite God, the inconceivable Lord of the universe, is also near to them and is involved in everything that they do.
The word pronounced Adonai is the most sacred form of God’s name; it’s spelled with the Hebrew letters yud and hey and vav and hey. Known as the Tetragrammaton, this form of God’s name, which is related to the Hebrew verb “to be,” is only vocalized in prayer or when teaching prayer. According to tradition, using this name in mundane conversation is forbidden, and speaking the name at any other time besides prayer — or the teaching of prayer — is using God’s name in vain. (For more on the Tetragrammaton, check out Chapter 16.) The use of Adonai makes it possible to vocalize what Jewish tradition refers to as the “ineffable name” of God.
3. Melech haOlam (meh-lekh hah-oh-lahm; king of the world or of the universe)
Conceiving of God as a king or a ruler certainly brings God down to human proportion, but Kabbalists still don’t pray to a human king. Rather, they pray to the King of the world.
Exploring another common phrase in Kabbalistic prayer
One of my favorite phrases also found in the liturgy used by Kabbalists is melech malchay ha-melachim (meh -lekh mahl -khay hahm-lah -kheem; the King of Kings of Kings). To get to the root of this phrase, think of an earthly king ruling over his kingdom in a world in which there are many kingdoms, each of which has a king. Now think of someone who is the head of all those kings — the King of Kings. But the Kabbalistic God is infinite — not just a king and not just a king of all kings but rather the King of the King of all Kings. This phrase is an attempt, with human language, to push the Kabbalist’s conception of God as far as possible.
An unusual expression in the liturgy known to Kabbalists for many centuries is Avienu Malkaynu (ah-vee -new mal kay -new). This phrase is a paradox: Avienu means “our Father,” and Malkaynu means “our King.” Putting the two together begs the question, “Which is it? Is God our Father or is God our King?”
After all, there’s a vast difference between one’s father and one’s king. A father is familiar; you sit on your father’s lap, you touch your father’s cheek, and you know your father every day. A king, on the other hand, is someone who’s almost never seen. If you live in an actual kingdom with a king, it’s possible to go your whole life and only glimpse the king just once for just a moment, if at all.
By addressing God as Avienu Malkaynu, Kabbalists attempt to describe something indescribable with language. Human language merely points Kabbalists in the right direction, and in this case, Avienu Malkaynu implies that God is both near and far. This idea helps the Kabbalist to maintain an intimate relationship with God while acknowledging that God is vast beyond all vastness and is beyond all conception.
Is God really listening?
Kabbalah texts are filled with the notion that God listens to prayers, and the prayers of the great personalities of Jewish tradition are recorded in the Bible, a fact that reflects their importance. Kabbalists believe that God listens to each and every prayer, but the Kabbalist who prays is caught in a paradox: If God knows everything, if God knows what is, what was, and what will be, if God knows what one need even before one asks, what is the point of asking? If God is beyond all time, if God knows the outcome of everything, isn’t there something absurd about praying for the things one needs?
Actually, no. Although God does, in fact, know what the Kabbalist needs, prayer is a means helping the person who prays to figure out what he or she needs. For example, if you were asked to give a speech, you would likely prepare for it. You wouldn’t be nearly as prepared and likely wouldn’t say all the things you wanted to say if you just stood up and gave a speech off the top of your head rather than writing down your thoughts and practicing the speech beforehand. The very act of putting thoughts into words forms a mirror that allows the person to see himself or herself more clearly than before.
Speaking Most Public Prayer in the Plural
The prayers that Kabbalists have recited for centuries, particularly those spoken in the synagogue, are most often spoken in the first person plural (meaning, “we,” “us,” and “our.”). Pluralized prayer reflects the notion that the Children of Israel conceive of themselves as one unit. Many holy books convey the notion that all members of the House of Israel are responsible for each other.
Synagogue prayers are central to the Kabbalist’s prayer life and are said in community, but private and personal prayer shouldn’t be forgotten. Personal prayers are not only permissible but recommended because each person needs to establish his or her own personal relationship with “the Lord our God.”
The English word for prayer comes from a root that means “to beg,” while the Hebrew verb for “to pray” is l’hitpalel (leh hit-pah-lail; to judge oneself).
Inner Attitude Is What Counts
Praying with kavanah
In many houses of prayer that I’ve attended throughout the United States, I often see people zipping through their prayers at full speed. It hardly seems possible that these people are reading every word at such a fast speed, but even if they are, it’s highly unlikely that they’re actually thinking about what they’re saying.
In addition, in many synagogues, all the prayers are spoken, recited, or sung in the original Hebrew. Most of the people in the congregation don’t understand a word of what they’re saying, but they believe that they’re fulfilling their prayer responsibilities just by saying or singing the words in Hebrew.
Inner intention is not only important, it’s the law
The great Kabbalistic Rabbi Joseph Karo, who lived in the 16th century, indicates in his authoritative code of Jewish law, the Shulchan Aruch, that kavanah is not only important spiritually but also is a requirement of Jewish law.
He writes, “The worshiper must inwardly intend the words uttered by his lips, and imagine himself to be in the Divine Presence. He should remove any disturbing thoughts until his mind and heart are pure and prepared for prayer. He should think that were he standing before a king of flesh and blood, he would prepare his words carefully, and address them well in order not to fail in his attempt, all the more so when he is standing before the King of Kings, Blessed is He, who searches our innermost thoughts.”
Nothing could be further from the truth. Prayer is complete only if the person praying both understands and feels the power and message of the prayer and prays with kavanah. Simply saying the words — whether it’s too fast to contemplate them or saying them without understanding them — just doesn’t cut it.
When one prays spontaneously, either walking down a road or sitting at home or strolling through the woods, the prayers are usually heartfelt because they’re made up of the person’s own words and feelings. But a person who prays using a prayer book and recites the words provided must do so with kavanah and with attention to the contents of the prayer in order to make the prayer complete.
Movin’ on up: Levels of kavanah
Kavanah applies throughout the life of a Kabbalist. Every action, from daily chores to the celebration of holy days and the raising of one’s children, requires concentration and refined inner intention. But when it comes to prayer, the entire activity of prayer requires kavanah at every moment.
Achieving kavanah is tough, and Kabbalists have identified various levels of intensity of kavanah over the centuries. Achieving kavanah is essentially a process of working through levels.
Level 1: Simple understanding
The great sages insist that a person who’s praying from a prayer book needs to be able to grasp the words that he or she is saying. Of course, various degrees of intensity are possible even with a simple understanding of prayers. The amount of time that a person puts into prayer as well as his or her concentration affect intensity. Reciting a prayer rapidly without much, if any, consciousness or understanding simply can’t provide the same inner intention and concentration of thought as reciting the same prayer when taking one’s time and putting in greater effort. Quality kavanah is an essential part of prayer. Praying without kavanah would be like making love with your spouse while thinking of what you’re going to watch on TV later — the lovemaking happens, but it just isn’t the same as it would be with total consciousness.
Level 2: Identification with the prayers
On a higher level of kavanah than simply understanding the words is personally identifying with the contents of the prayer. With experience, the Kabbalist who prays notices that the prayers no longer feel external but rather help her express her inner emotions. Often, the Kabbalist finds that, over time, the prayer book is simply filled with ways in which she can express herself throughout the vast range of human emotions.
Over time, Kabbalists also find that they almost completely, if not completely, memorize the contents of the prayer book. Sound impossible? Just think of all the lyrics to popular music that you can recite from memory. I can easily type out dozens, if not hundreds, of song lyrics from my favorite artists, particularly Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and Paul Simon.
Knowing these artists’ song lyrics as well as I do, I daresay that I could probably relate a favorite song to almost any experience that I have. And so it is with Kabbalists who pray seriously and the prayer book: After mastering the contents of the prayer book, including its liturgical poems from the Middle Ages, psalms from King David, and standard prayers as developed by the great sages, the Kabbalist begins to see the prayer book as a personal expression of her inner feelings; the prayers in the prayer book are no longer just words to recite but rather become a way to give expression to the self.
Level 3: Mystical levels
Kabbalists are taught that, with great amounts of concentration, time, and effort, one can reach higher levels of consciousness. These higher mystical levels actually put the soul on a more sublime plane of existence.
Some prayer books even introduce what are known as kavanot (kah-vah-note ). These “how to” directions help the one who is praying direct his or her concentration in the most effective of ways. You can find some of these kavanot in the popular prayer books of today. The most popular Jewish prayer book available today, Classic Artscroll Siddur (Mesorah Publications), includes frequent kavanot and excellent commentary on just about every prayer (including key phrases and verses).
Kavanah: Easier said than done
Inner intention is essential in prayer, but it’s difficult to achieve. Kabbalists throughout history have offered plenty of advice to help the person who prays to achieve the deepest kavanah possible. This section shares some of that advice and direction on achieving kavanah in prayer.
No conversations
The custom among Kabbalists when preparing to pray is to abandon all mundane activity, especially conversation.
Unfortunately, some people view prayer gatherings as social gatherings and opportunities to carry on conversations with each other. Sadly, I’ve sat in too many synagogues where people behind me were chatting about the news of the day or discussing real estate prices instead of praying and focusing their hearts and minds on the prayers they were saying or were about to say.
The Brooklyn synagogue where I prayed regularly for ten years was a house of prayer filled with people whose lives were bound up with Kabbalistic tradition. In this synagogue, you’d never hear a conversation in the sanctuary; it simply wasn’t done. Not even in a whisper.
No young children in the sanctuary
One of my ancestors, Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz (see Chapter 18), taught emphatically that young children who don’t have the ability to maintain self-control shouldn’t be in the sanctuary during prayer. As a Kabbalist, Rabbi Horowitz knew the requirements for utmost concentration, and the presence of children without self-control and the ability to pray on their own can be a major distraction.
Similarly, the house of prayer isn’t a place where a family comes and sits together as a family unit. In traditional synagogues, men and women sit in separate sections; boys who can participate in prayer often sit with their fathers, and girls often sit with their mothers. For the traditional Kabbalist, prayer isn’t a chance for families to bond and sing together. On the contrary, being with one’s family during prayer often offers additional distraction and prevents kavanah.
Inner effort
The crux of achieving kavanah, particularly after external distractions are eliminated (see the two preceding sections), is giving it intense inner effort. Just as you can’t go on a diet without actually eating foods with less calories and fat, the person who prays can’t really achieve successful prayer without actually trying.
Use effective melodies
Kabbalists have known for centuries that chanting or singing prayers helps to focus one’s attention on their content. With that in mind, certain melodies are paired with certain prayers. Melodies also help one to memorize the prayers and to internalize them.
Let your troubles go
A Kabbalist faces a paradox when it comes to prayer and personal troubles. On the one hand, tradition recommends that he bring his troubles to prayer and express them during his prayer time. Yet the great Kabbalists recommend that, when praying, the Kabbalist leave his troubles out of it by offering them to God in prayer. It’s a tricky process because, on the one hand, part of the point of prayer is to ask God for help with your troubles. But your troubles shouldn’t impede your ability to express your faith and trust in God.
Prayer requires a great degree of trust and faith in God. It’s as though the person praying is saying, “God, please listen to my troubles and help me with them so that they don’t burden me and weigh me down.” Ultimately, trusting that one can give God one’s troubles and burdens is a major part of the essence of Kabbalistic prayer.
Avoid visual distractions
Throughout the centuries, Kabbalists didn’t decorate their synagogues or put illustrations of any kind in their prayer books. Many synagogues used by Kabbalists didn’t even have windows! People are often startled by the houses of prayer used by Kabbalists today because they look so drab and simple. This visual effect is a deliberate effort to aid concentration.
Most men who are Kabbalists pray with a prayer shawl called a tallis (tah -lis) over their heads. Traditionally, a tallis is made of 100 percent wool, although this isn’t essential. What is essential are the items attached to each of the four corners of the tallis: The tziztit (tzih -tzeet) are ritual strings knotted in a very particular way to remind the person who prays of the 613 commandments found in the Five Books of Moses. The custom of wearing a tallis with tziztit is based on a biblical verse (Numbers 15:38). In traditional circles, a tallis is usually worn by a married man, but I’ve seen them used by women and unmarried men as well. Covering one’s head with a soft prayer shawl creates a sort of cocoon that blocks out visual distractions and fosters additional concentration.
Upon entering a house of prayer, Kabbalists also try to situate themselves in places where they aren’t forced to look at any distracting objects. It’s not unusual to find a Kabbalist praying while facing a bare wall. At the Western Wall in Jerusalem, people pray with their faces almost touching the wall, blocking out all distractions so that they can pray with the deepest concentration.
Pray with the right people
Kabbalists shouldn’t pray among people who are unfriendly. When people come to pray together, they need to support each other spiritually and help each other pray.
The Kabbalist’s Prayer Book
A Kabbalist’s prayer book is known as a siddur (see-door ). The word comes from the same root as the Hebrew word seder (say -der), which is the festive meal on the first day of the holiday of Passover. In both cases, the root word refers to an ordering of things.
During Passover, the experience around the dinner table is called the seder because rituals and discussions are conducted in a certain order.
The siddur offers the order of prayers to the one who wants to pray.
At its core, the siddur contains the major and central prayers of the Kabbalistic prayer service. But so many additional readings, meditations, and poems have been added to the prayer book over the centuries that it’s almost impossible during one prayer session to say everything provided with proper intention.
The ordering of prayer: From formless to form
When Kabbalists look back on history, they note that, in the Torah, their earliest ancestors didn’t pray in a fixed format. Prayer was either spontaneous or varied from person to person. It wasn’t until after the Torah was received at Mount Sinai that a tradition of a fixed format, or at least a fixed core of prayers, was established.
According to Jewish tradition, Moses received two Torahs from God at Mount Sinai: One was the written Torah, and the other was the Oral Tradition, which was forbidden to be written down but rather had to be carefully transmitted from one generation to the next. These wise and saintly people developed and taught a more formal system of prayer. Many generations later, this Oral Tradition was written down.
The keepers of the Oral Tradition were a gathering of holy individuals between the fifth and third centuries BCE known by the collective term Knesset HaGadol (ken-es-et hah-gah-dole; the Men of the Great Assembly).
The Oral Tradition was never supposed to be recorded formally in writing. However, the first Holy Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, and in the year 90 CE, the rebuilt Temple was destroyed by the Romans. The great sages, including Kabbalists such as Rabbi Akiva, proceeded to gather the great teachings from past generations and record them because the hostile environment in which the Jewish people lived made it increasingly possible that these traditions would be lost if they weren’t recorded.
A great compromise was undertaken whereby the tradition was recorded in a book that came to be known as the Mishnah (mish-nah). The Mishnah was supplemented by other great teachings and commentary on the fundamentals of the Oral Tradition and became known as the Gemarah (ge-mah-rah). The Mishnah and the Gemarah together form the Talmud (tahl-mood); within the pages of the 63 volumes of the Talmud, Kabbalists find the basis for the prayer book that they use today.
One of the things developed by the Knesset HaGadol and then ultimately recorded in the Talmud is the accepted order of prayers. From Talmudic times until today, the set order of prayers as detailed in the Talmud has been the basis of prayer for generations of Kabbalists.
Those who pray using the Kabbalistic prayer book tend to find that, in addition to the most essential prayers, the siddur provides many different readings and prayers for any and every occasion. Throughout the centuries, the siddur has been the first book that children and families devoted to Kabbalistic tradition ever encounter. At the earliest age, parents devoted to Kabbalistic tradition make sure that their children know how to use a prayer book, how to identify its contents, and how to establish it as a companion throughout one’s life.
Generally speaking, a Kabbalist uses the same prayer book in every prayer session until it’s well-worn. People who pray regularly come to be very intimate with their prayer books and are able to locate familiar words quickly when needed.
Most Kabbalists today use a siddur known as the nusach Sfard (new -sakh seh-fard; the Sephardic [Spanish] rite). The contents of this prayer book are quite similar to the order of prayers as recited by the greatest Kabbalist who ever lived, Rabbi Isaac Luria (the Ari). The nusach Sfard is essentially a traditional Jewish prayer book with the additions, changes, and improvements made by Rabbi Luria.
Superficially, one may notice that some of the prayers in the nusach Sfard are in a slightly different order than in other prayer books, but a more important difference is the meditations directly relating to Kabbalistic tradition that appear in the nusach Sfard. For example, the most popular prayer book among Kabbalists today is one that opens with the following introductory prayer:
Elijah opened his discourse and said: Master of the worlds, You are One but not in the numerical sense. You are exalted above all the exalted ones, hidden from all the hidden ones; no thought can grasp You at all. You are He who brought forth ten “garments,” and we call them ten sefirot, through which to direct hidden worlds which are not revealed and revealed worlds: and through them You conceal Yourself from man. You are He who binds them together and unites them; and in as much as You are within them, whoever separates one from another of these ten sefirot, it is considered as if he had effected a separation in You. These ten sefirot proceed according to their order: one long, one short, and one intermediate. You are He who directs them, but there is no one who directs You — neither above, nor below, nor from any side. You have made garments for them, from which souls issue forth to man. You have made for them a number of bodies which are called “bodies,” in comparison with the garments which cover them; and they are described [anthropomorphically] in the following manner: chesed (kindness) — the right arm; gevurah (severity, power) — the left arm; tiferet(beauty) — the torso; netzach (eternity, victory) and hod (splendor) — the two thighs; yesod (foundation) — the end of the torso, the sign of the Holy Covenant; malchut (kingship) — the mouth, which we call the Oral Torah; chochmah (wisdom) — the brain, that is, the thought within; binah (understanding) — the heart, by means of which the heart understands; and concerning the latter two [sefirot] it is written, “The secrets belong to the Lord our God”; supernal keter (crown) is the crown of kingship, concerning which it is said, “He declares the end from the beginning . . .”
A Kabbalist’s Daily Prayer Routine
The first words on a Kabbalist’s lips each morning are a prayer, the Modeh ani (moe -deh ah -nee). It’s a simple, one-sentence prayer that’s an expression of gratitude to God for providing a new day. Flip to Chapter 9 for the prayer and its Hebrew pronunciation.
The Modeh ani is just the start of the Kabbalist’s daily prayer routine, which consists of three prayer sessions and the recitation of various blessings as appropriate throughout the day. In this section, I explain the three daily prayer sessions and break down the activities that Kabbalists do during these sessions, and I also explain the additional blessings that Kabbalists recite over the course of a day and tell you when they’re appropriate.
Conducting three prayer sessions a day
Kabbalists pray at least three times a day. Because one can recite prayers at any moment and in just about any place, technically it’s possible to pray all day long, almost without stopping. But the three prayer sessions established many centuries ago constitute the basic structure and rhythm of the daily prayer life of a Kabbalist. These three prayer sessions are
The morning service Schararit (shah-kah-reet)
The afternoon service Mincha (min-khah)
The evening service Ma’ariv (mah-ah-reeve)
Kabbalistic tradition maintains that the patriarch Abraham introduced the morning prayers, Isaac introduced the afternoon prayers, and Jacob introduced the evening prayers.
Each of the three prayer sessions contains the same core, which is basically the recitation of a prayer called “The Prayer,” which contains 19 blessings, and each session consists of 25 blessings total. I cover these elements as well as the other activities that make up each prayer session in this section.
Saying 100 blessings each day (Yes, you read that right)
The great sages taught that Kabbalists should recite 100 blessings a day. Essentially, blessings are expressions of gratitude.
The word “blessing” in Hebrew is brachah (brah-khah ), its plural is brachot (brah-khowt ), and the Talmud has an entire section called Brachot that deals, among other things, with the standard formula used in every blessing.
Reciting 100 blessings a day isn’t a difficult task for the traditional Kabbalist. Each of the three traditional prayer sessions contains over 25 blessings, which immediately brings the number to 75. The traditional Bircat HaMazon (beer-cot hah-mah-zone; grace after meals) consists of four blessings, so reciting it three times daily adds another 12 blessings, bringing the total to 87. (See Chapter 9 for more on the grace after meals.) The morning service contains an additional dozen or so blessings, which brings the total number of daily blessings to 100 or more. In addition, as I explain in the section “Saying a blessing for (practically) everything” later in this chapter, there are random opportunities for the Kabbalist to recite more blessings throughout the day.
The daily morning blessings
The liturgy that Kabbalists follow includes a series of blessings that are said only in the morning. The blessings cover a wide range of aspects of life. As you can see, some of the blessings are more complex than others (I provide the exact blessings in Chapter 9):
Thanking God for the Torah. Kabbalists recite a few blessings early every day to express gratitude to God for commanding them to involve themselves with the words of Torah, for teaching them the wisdom of the Torah, and, in general, for giving the Torah.
Thanking God for an understanding heart. Kabbalists believe that God gives people three aspects of consciousness: Chochmah (wisdom), Binah (understanding), and Da’at (knowledge). (Refer to Chapter 4 for full coverage of these forces.) Wisdom, which is intuitive, and understanding, which is analytic, combine in a blessing called sechel (say-kill), which refers to both common sense and a profound grasp. Sechel implies that deep understanding is found in the heart. Specifically, the blessing thanking God for giving the Kabbalist an understanding heart also refers to the divine gift that allows human beings to distinguish between and among things.
The blessing expresses gratitude for giving Kabbalists the ability to distinguish between day and night, which, as every Kabbalist knows, also implies light and darkness, and good and evil. So one of the first blessings recited each day by Kabbalists reminds them to examine life closely in order to increase the light and decrease the darkness.
Thanking God for a relationship with God. Every morning, Kabbalists recite a prayer expressing thanks for not being among those who don’t have a covenantal relationship with God based on the 613 commandments of the Torah. Every morning Kabbalists express thanks for being born into or having discovered a tradition that acknowledges and enhances one’s relationship to God.
Thanking God that you aren’t a slave. This blessing helps the Kabbalist wake up in the morning and configure his or her day in a proper way. Serving the right goals with one’s activities each day is very important.
In this traditional blessing, the Kabbalist thanks God for not making the Kabbalist an aved (ah-ved; servant or slave). A slave, in the sense meant in the blessing, is someone who answers to an earthly master. This blessing contains what seems like a contradiction: On the one hand, the Kabbalist feels the great urge to acknowledge that he isn’t a slave to anyone or to anything. On the other hand, a Kabbalist like the patriarch Abraham desires nothing more than to be a “servant of God.”
Thanking God for giving sight to the blind
Thanking God for clothing the naked
Thanking God for releasing those who are bound
Thanking God for straightening what is bent
Thanking God for spreading out the earth upon the waters
Thanking God for making a man’s foot steps firm
Thanking God for providing for everyone’s every need
Thanking God for giving the Children of Israel strength
Thanking God for crowning the Children of Israel with splendor
Thanking God for giving strength to the weary
Reflecting on the Binding of Isaac
In the prayer book used by Kabbalists, the morning service includes the entire text of a story found in the Bible’s book of Genesis. That story, known as the Akedah (ah-kay -dah; the Binding of Isaac), is essentially the story of Abraham taking his son Isaac up a mountain, as commanded by God, in order to offer him as a sacrifice. (Of course, if you were to read Genesis 22:1–19, you’d find that the literal sacrifice never took place and that, at the last moment, an animal was exchanged for Isaac.)
This chronicle of the most challenging test that God gave to Abraham is filled with symbolism and spiritual challenges of all kinds. Kabbalistic tradition, including the text of the Zohar as well as the teachings of Rabbi Isaac Luria, have established that reading and reflecting on the story on a daily basis is of profound importance. Rabbi Isaac Luria even went so far as to say that reciting the Akedah each day brings complete atonement to someone who expresses sincere regret for his or her errors.
Singing songs of praise
As part of the morning prayer session, Kabbalists spend time singing songs of praise to God. The traditional Kabbalistic prayer book contains many songs of praise, each of which follows the theme of heartfelt expression of praise for the Master of the universe, for its creation, and for the bounty that’s offered to the world daily.
Proclaiming the Lord is One
During both the morning and the evening prayer sessions, Kabbalists recite what’s considered the central prayer of all Jewish tradition, the Sh’ma (sheh-mah ). The Sh’ma is a public proclamation of God’s oneness. Kabbalists recite the first line of the Sh’ma, Sh’ma Yisrael, Adonai Ehlohaynu, Adonai Ehchad (sheh-mah yis-rah-ehl ah-doh-noy eh-loh-hay -noo ah-doh-noy eh -chahd; Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One), with particular intensity every morning and every evening.
Saying “The Prayer”
All three of the Kabbalist’s daily prayer sessions — the morning, afternoon, and evening sessions — contain a core prayer firmly established by the great sages dozens of centuries ago. In the Talmud, the great sages simply refer to this prayer as Tefillah (teh-fee -lah), which means “The Prayer,” due to its paramount importance.
Kabbalists also know “The Prayer” by two other names. One name is the Amidah (ah-mee -dah; standing), which comes from the fact that Kabbalists say Tefillah in a standing position. The inner intention while standing is to imagine that one is in the inner chambers of the palace of the King and has a private audience with the King himself. One stands before God in earnestness while reciting what are essentially 18 blessings (one more was added several centuries ago). The other name for “The Prayer” is Shmoneh Esrai (sheh-moe -nah es -ray; 18 blessings).
The following is a list of blessings that make up the current format of the Tefillah, the central prayer within every traditional Kabbalistic prayer service. Essentially, this prayer is a series of blessings giving
Gratitude to God for his kindness and for everything that He creates, while recalling the great patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who are either genealogical or spiritual ancestors of all Kabbalists
Acknowledgment of God’s might
Acknowledgment of God’s holiness
Gratitude for the wisdom, insight, and knowledge that God has given the Kabbalist
Gratitude for the gift of teshuva (see Chapter 8), which is the opportunity and capacity to change and to perfect oneself
Gratitude to God for the forgiveness He offers
Gratitude to God for His promise of complete redemption
A heartfelt request to God to cure and heal Kabbalists of their afflictions and illnesses
A heartfelt request for prosperity
Gratitude to God for His promise to gather the shattered Jewish family together once more
Gratitude to God for the principle of Justice
A heartfelt request for protection from slanderers
Gratitude to God for providing Kabbalists with righteous people among them
A heartfelt request to God to rebuild the holy city of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple
Gratitude to God for the future redemption and the assistance that King David and his descendents will give in the future for this redemption
A heartfelt request that God accept Kabbalists’ prayers
Gratitude to God for receiving Kabbalists’ prayers
A heartfelt blessing of thanksgiving
A heartfelt request for peace, goodness, and blessing in Kabbalists’ lives
Saying a blessing for (practically) everything
In addition to the fixed order of blessings contained in the morning service, the traditional Kabbalistic siddur provides many blessings for all kinds of occasions.
The great Kabbalists teach the importance of expressing gratitude to God for everything. The wide variety of blessings provided in the Talmud and recorded in the prayer book serve the Kabbalist well in many different circumstances. According to Kabbalistic tradition, one can never express too much thanks to the Creator.
The prayer book that Kabbalists use contains blessings to be recited when Kabbalists
See lightning
Hear thunder
See a rainbow
Experience an earthquake
See a comet
See extraordinarily large mountains
See exceptionally large rivers
See the ocean
See beautiful people
See beautiful trees
See beautiful fields
See exceptionally strange-looking people
See exceptionally strange-looking animals
See the first fruits of the season
Encounter an outstanding scholar of Torah wisdom
Encounter an outstanding scholar of secular wisdom
See over 600,000 people in one place
See a friend who has recovered from a life-threatening illness
See a synagogue that has been destroyed
See a synagogue that was destroyed but has been restored
Visit a place where a known miracle has occurred
Hear good news
Hear bad news
Put on new clothing for the first time
In addition to the blessings that cover the circumstances listed, Kabbalists can say a general blessing at any time. They often use this blessing to express their gratitude and deepest feelings of appreciation to the Almighty. The blessing is as follows:
Baruch atah Adonai Elohaynu melech Ha-olam, she’he’che’yanu v’kee’manu, v’hee’gee’anu la’zman ha’zeh.
bah-rukh ah-tah ah-doe-noy eh-low-hay-nu meh-lekh hah-oh-lahm sheh-heh-khee-yah-noo vah-key-ee-mahn-noo veh-hig-ee-yah-noo laz-mahn hah-zeh
Blessed are you Lord, our God King of the universe, Who keeps us alive, sustains us, and has permitted us to reach this moment.
Devotional poetry through the ages
A new era of Jewish history began at the end of the Talmudic period, particularly in the area of prayer. What unfolded was the beginning of a long tradition of writing beautiful songs and poems fit for inclusion in the liturgy.
The devotional poetry written by the great liturgical poets produced piyutim (pee-you-teem; devotional prayers). (The singular form is piyut [pee-yoot].) Piyutim refers to the whole body of religious poetry written throughout the ages to aid in public prayer. Piyutim have been added to the standard Kabbalistic prayer sessions and serve as interludes between the core text established by the men of the Great Assembly so many centuries ago and followed diligently by Kabbalists throughout the ages.
Although not part of the essential text, piyutim often become a Kabbalist’s favorite part of prayer, and Kabbalists find that they’re drawn to one piyut or another with great intensity. A single piyut may have a deep personal meaning that the Kabbalist can connect to and participate in wholeheartedly with the community in public prayer.
Piyutim continue to be written today, and from time to time, communities adopt new prayers as part of their standard prayer services. If I had a say, I’d add two modern liturgical songs to the standard prayer book: Leonard Cohen’s “Halleluyah” and “If It Be Your Will.” Check ’em out, and I think you’ll agree.