Tefillah (תפלה) — Prayer

Core definition

Tefillah is the avodah of the heart — contemplation and dveikus: "the general matter of tefillah is the contemplation," "the matter of tefillah is the intent of the heart — which is the contemplation"; "tefillah is dveikus and bond of his soul in Elokim-ness" — this being the main thing in tefillah [58837/maamar_020 :: עמוד קע]. The word itself means joining: "tefillah is also the language of joining — from the language of 'ha'tofel,' a clay vessel" [58837/maamar_020 :: עמוד קסט].

How the Rebbeim develop it

The maamar on "Naftali is a hind let loose" gathers the four readings of "naftulei Elokim niftalti im achosi" — Targum (tefillah), Menachem (joining), Rashi (stubbornness, "much tefillah"), Midrash (Torah) — and argues they are one intent: tefillah is joining, and Torah is joining too, with tefillah's joining running from below to Above ("tefillah l'El chayyai"), drawing the Ohr Ein Sof into the ne'etzalim and nivra'im through yesod of Ze'ir Anpin, through netzach and hod — the "advising kidneys" that adjust the shefa so the receiver can receive it [58837/maamar_020 :: עמוד קסט]. Tefillah is the drawing of added light into the kav from the supernal makifim, "the great circle before the kav," so that revelation shines below too [58837/maamar_020 :: עמוד קע].

Tefillah draws a new light — a new will: "the tefillah is 'to Him and not to His middos'": not to His middos, which are garments, but to Him, drawing a new light and a new will ("Yehi ratzon") from the Ohr Ein Sof above the root and source of the kav [58837/maamar_020 :: עמוד קעב]. The kav's own root is "the concealment of revelation," and only the etzem above it reveals the Ohr Ein Sof below [58837/maamar_020 :: עמוד קעא]. Malchus itself is tefillah — "va'ani tefillah" — because it is a shem without erch to the etzmos; hence Malchus importunes Ze'ir Anpin, its ascent "in etzmos Ohr Ein Sof," to draw added light into the kav [58837/maamar_020 :: עמוד קעא].

In the soul's anatomy, tefillah is the da'as level: "the tefillah's eighteen brachos against the spine's eighteen joints" — the spine's joints are not in the 248 limbs' count, yet are the main of all the limbs' standing; so tefillah is not in the mitzvos' count — it is the mitzvos' kavanah, "the main of all the mitzvos' existence and standing," through which the Ohr Ein Sof's revelation is drawn in the mitzvos. Tefillah is "the spine's thread drawn from the da'as's brain" — da'as being light without a keli, the level above the keilim [15966/maamar_025 :: Summary].

Key distinctions

• Tefillah vs. Torah. Both are joining, but Torah's joining runs from Above to below, while tefillah's runs from below to Above [58837/maamar_020 :: עמוד קסט].
• To Him, not to His middos. Tefillah does not address the middos (garments) but the Essence, drawing a new light and new will from above the kav's root [58837/maamar_020 :: עמוד קעב].
• Tefillah vs. the mitzvos. The mitzvos are the 248 limbs (keilim); tefillah is the spine — outside the count, yet the main of their standing, the kavanah that draws the light above the keilim into them [15966/maamar_025 :: Summary].
• Contemplation as tefillah. The intent of the heart — da'as that recognizes and binds the soul in dveikus "like a strong peg" — so that "as water, face to face" Elokim-ness joins the world [58837/maamar_020 :: עמוד קע].
• Malchus as tefillah. Malchus itself is prayer — "va'ani tefillah" — the shem that ascends to importune for added light [58837/maamar_020 :: עמוד קעא].

Related concepts

Dveikus, kavanah, da'as, the kav and makifim, Malchus, netzach and hod, the Amidah's eighteen brachos, Torah.

Sources

• [58837/maamar_020 :: עמוד קסט] — Tefillah as joining (hatofel); from below to Above; drawing the Ohr Ein Sof through yesod of Ze'ir Anpin.
• [58837/maamar_020 :: עמוד קע] — Tefillah as contemplation, intent of the heart, dveikus and bond of the soul.
• [58837/maamar_020 :: עמוד קעא] — Added light into the kav from the supernal makifim; Malchus as tefillah.
• [58837/maamar_020 :: עמוד קעב] — "To Him and not to His middos"; new light and new will from above the kav's root.
• [15966/maamar_025 :: Summary] — Tefillah as the spine's eighteen joints from da'as's brain; the mitzvos' kavanah; da'as as light without a keli.