תְּ֭פִלָּה לְעָנִ֣י כִֽי־יַעֲטֹ֑ף וְלִפְנֵ֥י יְ֝הוָ֗ה יִשְׁפֹּ֥ךְ שִׂיחֽוֹ׃
Kol HaTor
The prayer “Yosef is still alive” (which begins: “Have mercy, our Father in Heaven, on the remnant of Yosef, ” etc.), the prayer of Amidah “On the throne of David your servant, ” in the blessing “Build Jerusalem, ” the prayer, “The descendant of David, we hoped for your help all day, who causes the horn of help to sprout.”“A prayer of the afflicted, when he faints” (Ps. 102:1), and there also, “Have mercy on Zion, for it is the time to favor her, etc., for your servants have cherished her stones etc., so nations will fear the name of the lord, ” etc. “I love [Him] for the Lord hears” (Ps. 116:1). There, too, “I was brought low, and He saved me.”“From the straits” (Ps. 118), and also there, “I will not die, for I will live” etc. “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof” (Ps 24), and also there, “Who will ascend the mountain of the Lord” [Ps. 24:3] etc. “Wait at my right hand” (Ps. 110), “The Lord will answer you in the day of trouble” (Ps. 20:1). “For the waters have penetrated unto the soul” (Ps. 69:2), and also there, “Save me, O God, for the waters have penetrated unto the soul.” Also there, “”For God will give salvation to Zion and build the cities of Judah; they shall dwell there and shall take possession of it once more.”“The wilderness and the parched land shall be glad, ” etc. (Isa. 35: 1). Also there, “Then the ransomed of the Lord will return, and come to Zion with glad song” (Isa 35:10) etc. “I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy” (Zach. 8:2); and also there, “For as the seed of peace,” (Zach. 8:12) etc. “Even mount Zion, the uttermost parts of the north” (Ps. 48:3). “Lord, in Thy strength” (Ps. 21:2), and also there, “He asked life of you; you gave it to him. You gave him length of days” (Ps. 21:5). Also according to the Holy Ari regarding the Mashiach ben Yosef in the prayer: “The throne of David” and according to the Gaon in ! Tikunei Zohar Chadash. “When God returns, etc., we will be like dreamers” (Ps. 126:1). “O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger” (Ps. 6:2). “Stir up jubilation to God of our strength” (Ps. 81:2) “He placed it as testimony in Yosef” (Ps. 87:6), “In distress you called out, and I rescued you” (Ps. 81:8). “His tabernacle in Shalem” (Ps. 76:3), also there: “He broke the flames of the bow” (Ps. 87:4), etc. “In you, O Lord, have I put my trust” (Ps. 31:2). “Because of all my oppressors, I have become a disgrace” (Ps: 31: 12). “I will exalt You, O Lord, for You have drawn me up from the depths” (Ps. 30:2). “Those redeemed by the Lord will say it” (Ps. 107:2). “That He might send them His word and heal them” (Ps. 107:20). “The Lord is my light and my salvation” (Ps. 27:1). “Though a camp should encamp round about me (Ps. 27:3) etc., to look upon the goodness of the Lord” (Ps. 27:13), etc.
Olat Reiyah
“A tanna teaches like R. Yosi bar R. Chanina – Avraham established the morning prayer, as it says ‘Avraham rose early in the morning to the place where he had stood before G–d…’ (Bereshit 19:27) and there is no standing (amidah) other than prayer, as it says ‘ Pinchas stood up and prayed.’ (Tehillim 106:30) Yitzchak established the afternoon prayer, as it says ‘Yitzchak went out to converse (lasuach) in the field at evening time…’ (Bereshit 24:63) and there is no conversation (siach) other than prayer, as it says ‘A prayer of the afflicted, when he faints and pours out his complaint (sicho) before G–d.’ (Tehillim 102:1) Yaakov established the nighttime prayer, as it says ‘He encountered (va’yifgah) the place, and stayed the night there…’ (Bereshit 28:11) and there is no encounter other than prayer, as it says ‘Therefore pray you not for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, nor make intercession (tifgah) to me…’ (Yermiyahu 7:16)” [Berachot 26b]
These three expressions – standing, conversing and encounter, are aligned with three principle benefits that prayer brings to the service of G–d. The first act of prayer is to root firmly in the heart all the holy concepts and lofty images, the foundations of awe and morality which one has acquired in their soul, so that they will not falter under the storm winds which devastate morality and Divine service through desires of the heart and the passions of the time. The primary time for this rooting is the morning. That before one turn to the business of life and the inevitable feelings of bodily desire, they prepare a strong and well-founded moral posture for themselves which will standup under the oppositional trials of the waves of the times; therefore, the prayer which is oriented toward this activity is known as amidah, standing. To this end our father Avraham, first of the faithful, who withstood ten wondrous trials, and against all the multitude that opposed the path which rises in the light of G–d, who stormed in order to scatter and push him aside, was most fit; he fought to find a well-founded and enduring place to stand.
Prayer is called sichah54See gemara Avodah Zarah 7b where siach is the language associated with personal prayer (conversation), sharing a name with the plants and trees which are called sichim55See Bereshit 2:5 which in this light could be read as “before there was any conversation.” This fits the nature of the second story of creation, which in its opening verse (Bereshit 2:4) uses the form of the word creation הבראם (in their being created) in contrast to the form ברא (created) in the first verse of the Torah. In general one can explore these two story as the first representing a subject/object relationship between G–d and creation and the second a subject/subject relationship. Hence the appearance of conversation at the outset of the second story. See footnote 2., due to the blossoming of the soul with new powers, which branch out naturally through the excitation of the soul in the service of the heart. This is most fit to the time of the evening offering, (see Tehillim 141:2) when one is close to casting off their troubles. Then their soul can elevate her nature, and the natural holy emotions stored up in her, to join to the living G–d and overflow with His pure love and awe, increasing fertile fruit and sending out shoots and branches, taking the likeness of a mighty tree56It is this aspect of prayer which ties the disparate pieces of creation together into a whole, a conversation. Note that the in the first story of creation there are individual plants (see Bereshit 1:11-12) but there is no field. It will take the type of prayer conversation which emerges in the second story, the siach hasadeh (see Rashi on Bereshit 2:5), to bind the blades of grass, the pieces of creation, into a whole that could be named a field. See Orach Chaim 61:3 and the Rama’s statement about how the gematria of two names of G–d, that which represents essence and that which represents expression, combine to equal 91, which is also the gematria of ilan, tree. The Maharal Be’er HaGolah, be’er chamishi says – know, that this world is similar to a single tree (ilan) which stretches from the root to the end of the tree, and it has many branches, drawn one after the other. So too it is with the world which is drawn from the First Cause that is the root, which is what we mean when we call heresy ‘to deny the root principle.’Its parts descend one after another until the final descent of the pieces of existence. - one of the sichim.57One of the pieces of creation, or ‘in the conversation.’ This natural blossoming from within the rightness of the soul is the root of the judgment which is passed upon the one who turns aside from the straight path of life. The attribute of judgment, in so far that it has a natural law, is exacting with one who changes its ways and strays from its path; and this is the attribute of Yitzchak, as it is written “Were it not that the G–d of my father, the G–d of Avraham and the Fear of Yitzchak, had been with me…” (Bereshit 31:42), as our Sages taught with thorough explanation.
However, there is another great advantage to prayer, that she find her essential purpose in those of the highest level and value, the highest holy ones who draw near to G–d, who rise up in prayer and lift themselves to the level of prophecy, or near to it, as is written in Tur/Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 98; they encounter states well beyond the ways of nature, because they are lifted up far beyond the natural condition and cleave to the living G–d in purity of heart and soul. And the night is best suited for this, in its respite and solitude, as the chasid explained in The Duties of the Heart58R Bachya ibn Pakudah wrote Duties of the Heart in Arabic in 1040 under the title "Al Hidayah ila Faraid al-Ḳulub" (Guide to the Duties of the Heart), it was translated into Hebrew by Judah ibn Tibbon under the title "Ḥobot ha-Lebabot. R’ Bachya was a court judge and philosopher in Saragossa Spain. This work is the first systematic presentation of Jewish ethics and drew heavily from contemporary Arab thinkers. It presents ethics and philosophical understandings as the duties of ‘the heart’ in opposition to those of ‘the limbs’ which are the outward observance of the Law (Gate of Love of G–d, ch. 6) on the advantage of nighttime prayer, which also facilitates visitation of sacred lofty visions and awesome intellectual fruits, that cannot be apprehended in the company of the physical senses. Things grasped from beyond the conceptual processes embedded in nature come not according to the natural gradual order of simple to profound, or through individual analytic pathways gathered together into a framework. Rather the great light of the sweetness of G–d is revealed suddenly, happy is the one who merits to it! Prayer is called encounter (pgiya), as when one happens upon something, as a result not only of the nature of the path which the traveler takes but also of the immanent nearness of the one encountered. And so it was for our father Yaakov, peace be upon him, for it is a certainty that his prayer prepared him for the lofty prophetic vision of the ladder and all its particulars (see Bereshit 28:10-17) , and that is why the name encounter is associated with his prayer, “and he encountered the place.” This is befitting the nighttime prayer.
These three expressions – standing, conversing and encounter, are aligned with three principle benefits that prayer brings to the service of G–d. The first act of prayer is to root firmly in the heart all the holy concepts and lofty images, the foundations of awe and morality which one has acquired in their soul, so that they will not falter under the storm winds which devastate morality and Divine service through desires of the heart and the passions of the time. The primary time for this rooting is the morning. That before one turn to the business of life and the inevitable feelings of bodily desire, they prepare a strong and well-founded moral posture for themselves which will standup under the oppositional trials of the waves of the times; therefore, the prayer which is oriented toward this activity is known as amidah, standing. To this end our father Avraham, first of the faithful, who withstood ten wondrous trials, and against all the multitude that opposed the path which rises in the light of G–d, who stormed in order to scatter and push him aside, was most fit; he fought to find a well-founded and enduring place to stand.
Prayer is called sichah54See gemara Avodah Zarah 7b where siach is the language associated with personal prayer (conversation), sharing a name with the plants and trees which are called sichim55See Bereshit 2:5 which in this light could be read as “before there was any conversation.” This fits the nature of the second story of creation, which in its opening verse (Bereshit 2:4) uses the form of the word creation הבראם (in their being created) in contrast to the form ברא (created) in the first verse of the Torah. In general one can explore these two story as the first representing a subject/object relationship between G–d and creation and the second a subject/subject relationship. Hence the appearance of conversation at the outset of the second story. See footnote 2., due to the blossoming of the soul with new powers, which branch out naturally through the excitation of the soul in the service of the heart. This is most fit to the time of the evening offering, (see Tehillim 141:2) when one is close to casting off their troubles. Then their soul can elevate her nature, and the natural holy emotions stored up in her, to join to the living G–d and overflow with His pure love and awe, increasing fertile fruit and sending out shoots and branches, taking the likeness of a mighty tree56It is this aspect of prayer which ties the disparate pieces of creation together into a whole, a conversation. Note that the in the first story of creation there are individual plants (see Bereshit 1:11-12) but there is no field. It will take the type of prayer conversation which emerges in the second story, the siach hasadeh (see Rashi on Bereshit 2:5), to bind the blades of grass, the pieces of creation, into a whole that could be named a field. See Orach Chaim 61:3 and the Rama’s statement about how the gematria of two names of G–d, that which represents essence and that which represents expression, combine to equal 91, which is also the gematria of ilan, tree. The Maharal Be’er HaGolah, be’er chamishi says – know, that this world is similar to a single tree (ilan) which stretches from the root to the end of the tree, and it has many branches, drawn one after the other. So too it is with the world which is drawn from the First Cause that is the root, which is what we mean when we call heresy ‘to deny the root principle.’Its parts descend one after another until the final descent of the pieces of existence. - one of the sichim.57One of the pieces of creation, or ‘in the conversation.’ This natural blossoming from within the rightness of the soul is the root of the judgment which is passed upon the one who turns aside from the straight path of life. The attribute of judgment, in so far that it has a natural law, is exacting with one who changes its ways and strays from its path; and this is the attribute of Yitzchak, as it is written “Were it not that the G–d of my father, the G–d of Avraham and the Fear of Yitzchak, had been with me…” (Bereshit 31:42), as our Sages taught with thorough explanation.
However, there is another great advantage to prayer, that she find her essential purpose in those of the highest level and value, the highest holy ones who draw near to G–d, who rise up in prayer and lift themselves to the level of prophecy, or near to it, as is written in Tur/Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 98; they encounter states well beyond the ways of nature, because they are lifted up far beyond the natural condition and cleave to the living G–d in purity of heart and soul. And the night is best suited for this, in its respite and solitude, as the chasid explained in The Duties of the Heart58R Bachya ibn Pakudah wrote Duties of the Heart in Arabic in 1040 under the title "Al Hidayah ila Faraid al-Ḳulub" (Guide to the Duties of the Heart), it was translated into Hebrew by Judah ibn Tibbon under the title "Ḥobot ha-Lebabot. R’ Bachya was a court judge and philosopher in Saragossa Spain. This work is the first systematic presentation of Jewish ethics and drew heavily from contemporary Arab thinkers. It presents ethics and philosophical understandings as the duties of ‘the heart’ in opposition to those of ‘the limbs’ which are the outward observance of the Law (Gate of Love of G–d, ch. 6) on the advantage of nighttime prayer, which also facilitates visitation of sacred lofty visions and awesome intellectual fruits, that cannot be apprehended in the company of the physical senses. Things grasped from beyond the conceptual processes embedded in nature come not according to the natural gradual order of simple to profound, or through individual analytic pathways gathered together into a framework. Rather the great light of the sweetness of G–d is revealed suddenly, happy is the one who merits to it! Prayer is called encounter (pgiya), as when one happens upon something, as a result not only of the nature of the path which the traveler takes but also of the immanent nearness of the one encountered. And so it was for our father Yaakov, peace be upon him, for it is a certainty that his prayer prepared him for the lofty prophetic vision of the ladder and all its particulars (see Bereshit 28:10-17) , and that is why the name encounter is associated with his prayer, “and he encountered the place.” This is befitting the nighttime prayer.