וַתֹּ֙אמֶר֙ בִּ֣י אֲדֹנִ֔י חֵ֥י נַפְשְׁךָ֖ אֲדֹנִ֑י אֲנִ֣י הָאִשָּׁ֗ה הַנִּצֶּ֤בֶת עִמְּכָה֙ בָּזֶ֔ה לְהִתְפַּלֵּ֖ל אֶל־יְהוָֽה׃
Y ella dijo: ¡Oh, señor mío! <span class="x" onmousemove="Show('perush','El Rambam explica esta parte del versículo en el <b>2º Capítulo</b> de Las Leyes de los Fundamentos de la Torá.',event);" onmouseout="Close();">vive tu alma</span>, señor mío, yo soy aquella mujer que estuvo aquí junto á ti orando á SEÑOR.
Olat Reiyah
“I am the woman who stood by you here…” (Shmuel I 1:26) R’ Yehoshua ben Levi said ‘from here we learn that it is forbidden to sit within four cubits of one praying.’ [Berachot 31b]
From the side of the foundation of prayer in the emotions of the heart, it is fit that on seeing one’s fellow moved by the feeling of the beauty (See Tehillim 90:17) of G–d, every upright person be moved as well. Even though one’s intellect does not act upon their fellow unless they themselves set their heart to understand, feeling is a natural force that effects anyone whose heart is right with G–d. It is proper that feeling act upon all who are near and see the Divine service of their friend. And since it is fit that this feeling act upon those close at hand, it is also correct that one not sit when within four cubits of prayer – because to do so is as if to show that the feeling of their friend’s Divine service does not act upon them, a stance not befitting to a heart faithful to G–d. Regarding the benefit which comes to prayer through strengthening the good emotion, this occurs because feelings are closer to actions and thus work more readily upon them than the intellect.91Most people are familiar with the intimate relationship between physical and emotional being. We have all chopped wood or gone for a walk to ‘blow off steam,’ and many people are familiar with somatic practices that allow healthy access to emotion through physical pathways. There is a path in the work of Torah which sees the embodied soul of the nefesh as the seat for the emotive soul of the ruach, which in turn can serve as a resting place for the intellect soul of the neshama. Ask we bring each level into right alignment, the next comes to rest upon it in a fashion which is more whole and clear. There are disciplines which understand the entire structure of the prayer book, and in particular of the morning service, as a gradual process of awakening and preparing each layer of the soul to receive that which lies above it. The physical work of the offerings, serves as preparation for awakening the heart through the songs of praise. The engaged body and awake heart then allow for an intellectual consciousness which can declare the unity of G–d with clarity. Properly prepared, the Amidah offers access to Chaya, that portion of the soul which is receiving the boundless life-force that pours in from source and enlivens our individuality. And when we fall on our faces in supplication after the silent Amidah, it is in hopes of touching the place of unification, yechida, our point of contact with source of existence itself. Therefore, a standing posture is appropriate - a stance ready for action.
From the side of the foundation of prayer in the emotions of the heart, it is fit that on seeing one’s fellow moved by the feeling of the beauty (See Tehillim 90:17) of G–d, every upright person be moved as well. Even though one’s intellect does not act upon their fellow unless they themselves set their heart to understand, feeling is a natural force that effects anyone whose heart is right with G–d. It is proper that feeling act upon all who are near and see the Divine service of their friend. And since it is fit that this feeling act upon those close at hand, it is also correct that one not sit when within four cubits of prayer – because to do so is as if to show that the feeling of their friend’s Divine service does not act upon them, a stance not befitting to a heart faithful to G–d. Regarding the benefit which comes to prayer through strengthening the good emotion, this occurs because feelings are closer to actions and thus work more readily upon them than the intellect.91Most people are familiar with the intimate relationship between physical and emotional being. We have all chopped wood or gone for a walk to ‘blow off steam,’ and many people are familiar with somatic practices that allow healthy access to emotion through physical pathways. There is a path in the work of Torah which sees the embodied soul of the nefesh as the seat for the emotive soul of the ruach, which in turn can serve as a resting place for the intellect soul of the neshama. Ask we bring each level into right alignment, the next comes to rest upon it in a fashion which is more whole and clear. There are disciplines which understand the entire structure of the prayer book, and in particular of the morning service, as a gradual process of awakening and preparing each layer of the soul to receive that which lies above it. The physical work of the offerings, serves as preparation for awakening the heart through the songs of praise. The engaged body and awake heart then allow for an intellectual consciousness which can declare the unity of G–d with clarity. Properly prepared, the Amidah offers access to Chaya, that portion of the soul which is receiving the boundless life-force that pours in from source and enlivens our individuality. And when we fall on our faces in supplication after the silent Amidah, it is in hopes of touching the place of unification, yechida, our point of contact with source of existence itself. Therefore, a standing posture is appropriate - a stance ready for action.
Eight Chapters
It is manifest that God is identical with His attributes and His attributes with Him, so that it may be said that He is the knowledge, the knower, and the known, and that He is the life, the living, and the source of His own life, the same being true of His other attributes. This conception is very hard to grasp, and thou shouldst not hope to thoroughly understand it by two or three lines in this treatise. There can only be imparted to thee a vague idea of it.58For an exhaustive discussion of the theories which M. merely mentions here, see Moreh, I, 50-51, on the attributes of God. See Munk, Guide, I, 50, p. 179 ff., passim; Kaufmann, ibid., p. 418 ff.; Cohen, Charakteristik, etc. in Moses ben Maimon, I, pp. 89-90. Now, in consequence of this important axiom, the Hebrew language does not allow the expression Ḥe Adonai (the life of God) as it does Ḥe Fara'oh59Gen. XLII, 15. (the life of Pharaoh), where the word ḥe (in the construct state) is related to the following noun, for the thing possessed and the possessor (in this case) are two different things. Such a construction cannot be used in regard to the relation of a thing to itself. Since the life of God is His essence, and His essence is His life, not being separate and distinct from each other, the word "life", therefore, cannot be put in the construct state, but the expression Ḥai Adonai60Ruth, III, 13. (the living God) is used, the purpose of which is to denote that God and His life are one. 61Cf. Yesode ha-Torah, II, 10, and Moreh, I, 58 (beg.). See Munk, Guide, I, p. 302, n. 3. The expressions חֵי אלהים (II Sam. II, 27), חֵי אל (Job XXVII, 2), and especially חֵי יהוה וחֵי נפשך (I Sam. XX, 3; XXV, 26, and II K. II, 2), and Jer. XXXVIII, 16 substantiate this novel linguistic argument of M. Amos VIII, 14 חֵי אלהיך דן is used in reference to the gods of idolators.