Kabbalah zu Rut 1:23

Y-the base H-of wisdom V-and the essence H-of Kabbalah A-is the faith in H-Hashem Y-of Blessing H-the faithful, A-if D-the way N-properly Y-they walk, your thoughts, "then you will go your way safely and not injure your feet" (Proverbs 3:23). The first name of the holy names is the name called Ad-nay. King Solomon, peace be upon him, said: "guard your feet when you go to the House of E-lohim" (Proverbs 4:17). We are informed by this verse that a person needs to check oneself and be very careful when s/he wants to pray in front of Y"Y Blessed Be, and see and understand if s/he has accusers and obstructors for one's prayer to be received, and s/he needs to clear the stones of the pathway and to remove the stumbling block from one's way. This is similar to a person who goes to the receiving hall of the king to put forth a question, and the person needs to be alert and know if there is a chance of attack or danger. And specifically, that person needs to meditate regarding how many gates the palace of the king has, one inside the other, and acknowledge those who are the appointed guards that protect each gate, and be loved by all, and know if one has an enemy among them, and make peace with him. And besides that, it is proper that one knows and meditates on the clothes one is wearing, and if one is fitting to enter with them in the receiving hall of the king, as it is written "for one can not enter the palace gate wearing sackcloth" (Esther 4:2), and besides that it is fitting for one to check oneself if one is worthy to speak in front of the king and the princes and the officers that exist before the king, and if there is one among them who would support the person's request, and so too whether s/he is invited to remain in the receiving hall of the king an hour or two, [and] if s/he's able to withstand it. And our rabbis of blessed memory were required to awaken us and said a general rule: *the kingdom of the earth is like the kingdom of firmament* (Otzar Midrashim, Midrash on Ruth 1:29 and Zohar 1:197a) and if with the kingdom of flesh and blood one needs to be careful with all the things we mentioned, all the more so when a person enters to be received by the face of the King of Kings of Kings, the Holy One of Blessing, Blessed Be and Blessed Be. A person needs to understand and to comprehend that from the earth to the firmament there is no empty place, rather, all is filled with battalions and multitudes of them are pure, purveyors of Love (Hesed) and Compassion (Rahamim) and below them there are impure creations, destroyers and accusers and all stand and blossom in the air. And there is no empty place from the earth until the firmament, rather, all is filled with multitudes; some of them for peace, some of them for war, some of them for good, some of them for evil, some of them for life, some of them for death. And on that is based the song of the injured: "One who sits in the hidden place of the High" (Psalms 91); "because He will save you", "with His pinions", "do not be afraid of", "the plague that stalks in the darkness", "because of His angels". And all those are the camps between earth and heaven. It is similar to [lit. this is exemplified by] a person who is walking through a dangerous place, so too a person's prayer passes through those groupings and rises to the firmament; if the person has merit the robbers won't harm her prayer, and if not, there are many injuries and the destroyers injure on the way! And because of this way, David the King, peace be upon him, established/fixed the songs, so as to clear the way of the prayers to pass through, because all the groupings are like a cloud preventing the rise of the prayer, and on this it is written "You have screened Yourself off with a cloud, that no prayer may pass through" (Lamentations 3:44 see also Berakhot 32b). And when David, may peace be upon him, came and fixed the songs [zemirot], when a person comes and recites in order those songs, then all those destroyers, damagers and hinderers separate and go. They are called zemirot from the expression mezamer, sings, "He will cut the despisers with songs" (Isaiah 18:5, very different translation) and regarding this Scripture says "Your laws are a source of songs [zemirot] to me wherever I was terrified" (Psalms 119:54), that is to say, in those places that I was afraid because of them, on the way, and I felt fear and terror, I scattered and cut them with those songs. And regarding that way it is written: "with gladness the morning stars were together (and all the b'nei elohim shouted)"(Job 38:7). And the matter of gladness is the zemirot that are said in the morning, and all the carriers of harsh judgments, who are called b'nei elohim, were dispersed and broken. And the expression shouted [יריעו] comes from the expression "the earth is [רועה ] breaking, breaking" (Isaiah 24:19). And therefore a person needs to direct one's essence in the hour of prayer, and direct one's thoughts as appropriate, in the matter that one's prayer should not be prevented and one's request should not come back empty. And regarding this they said "One must always evaluate oneself before one prays, if one is able ... one should pray, but if one is not ... one should not pray." (Berakhot 30b:5)

Let us return to the first subject of this passage, where it is written, "The watchmen that go about the city found me..." (Shir Hashirim 5:7). have guards stationed upon them. As it is written, "I have set watchmen upon your walls, Jerusalem..." (Yeshayah 62:6). And Michael, the High Priest, is the highest of the gate watchmen.

Let us return to the first subject of this passage, where it is written, "The watchmen that go about the city found me..." (Shir Hashirim 5:7). have guards stationed upon them. As it is written, "I have set watchmen upon your walls, Jerusalem..." (Yeshayah 62:6). And Michael, the High Priest, is the highest of the gate watchmen.

So when the soul leaves this world, it (first) enters the cave of Machpelah, where the opening leading to the Garden of Eden is located. Then it meets Adam and the Patriarchs who are there. If the soul is meritorious, they rejoice with it and open all the openings so the soul can enter them. If not, it is pushed outside. If it has merit it enters the Garden and sits there, it clothes itself with a garment in the image of this world and enjoys itself. 4. Not translated.