Kabbalah sa Eclesiastes 2:5: Sha'arei Orah

It therefore is necessary for a person to prepare himself for prayer and properly direct his thoughts, in a manner that his prayer will not be obstructed and his request will not return emptyhanded. About this our sages, of blessed memory stated,¹⁶Talmud Bavli, Berachot 30b “A person should always take stock of himself. If he is able to focus his heart, he should pray, but if not, he should not pray,” meaning, if in his prayer he is able to focus on HaShem’s-יהו"ה title that pertains to his prayer, he should pray, but if not, he should not pray.

Now, because Solomon knew the ways by which the bestowal of beneficence is drawn from Jerusalem to all places, he therefore stated,¹⁰⁷Ecclesiastes 2:5 “I made for myself gardens and orchards and planted every kind of fruit tree in them.” Now, is it indeed possible that every kind of tree in the world grew in a single place? However, Solomon knew which vein was drawn to Cush¹⁰⁸Ethiopia and therefore planted peppers there, and the same is true of every direction and side.¹⁰⁹See Rashi citing Tanchumah to Ecclesiastes 2:5 – “Shlomo with his wisdom recognized the veins of the earth, which vein goes to Cush, and there he planted peppers [which normally do not grow in the land of Israel]; which one goes to a land of carobs, and there he planted carob trees. For, all the veins of the earth come to Zion, from where the world was founded, as it states (Ps. 50:2), ‘Out of Zion, the consummate beauty.’ Therefore, it is stated, ‘every kind of fruit tree.’ This is found in Midrash Tanchumah.” About this the verse states,¹¹⁰Psalms 50:2 “Out of Zion, the consummate beauty, God appeared.” That is, Zion-ציון refers to the foundation of the world.¹¹¹That is, Zion-Tziyon-ציון-156 has the same numerical value as Yosef-יוסף-156 and refers to the quality of foundation-Yesod-יסוד, as will be explained in the next gate. We thus find that the Shechinah, the Indwelling Presence of HaShem-יהו״ה, sends forth the blessing-Brachah-ברכה from the Holy Temple (Beit HaMikdash-בית המקדש) in the appropriate measure according to each land.