[Rabbi Shimon] opened [his discourse] by quoting, "Hear my prayer, G‑d, and give ear to my cry; keep not silence at my tears". (Psalms 39:13) Why is it written, "shim'ah" ["hear" in feminine gender] and not 'shema' [in masculine gender]? In one place it is written: "Hear (shema), G‑d, and be gracious to me" (Psalms 30:11) and in another place, 'shim'ah'? When it is written shema, it refers to the male [Zeir Anpin] , and Shim'ah refers to the female [malchut]. For example, shim'ah is used in "Hear the righteousness, G‑d" (Psalms 17:1) [for malchut, which is female, hints to righteousness]. Shema is used in "Hear [shema] G‑d, and be gracious to me," The masculine is also used in "Hear, G‑d" [G‑d], "my son [as Zeir Anpin is considered a son to chochma], hear (shema) the instructions" (Proverbs 1:8) and "Take heed, and hearken [shema, spoken to Israel, who is Zeir Anpin]". (Deut. 27:9)

"Hear (shim'ah, directed to the Shechinah, which is feminine) my prayer, G‑d". [David prayed through Her, as She receives all the prayers in the world. The reason that one prays opposite a wall is because the Shechinah is also called "wall".] We learned that this [i.e. malchut] fashions a crown from the prayers and puts it on the head of the righteous [yesod], the life of the world. This is the meaning of the verse: "Blessings are upon the head of the just". (Proverbs 10:6) Hence "Hear (shim'ah, feminine) my prayer, G‑d."

"Hear my prayer, G‑d" refers to the silent prayer; "And give ear to my cry" is a prayer cried out loud. A man raises his voice in his trouble, as it is written: "And their cry rose up to G‑d". (Ex. 2:23) What is the cry? It is the cry heard when one raises one's voice in prayer and lifts up one's eyes above, as it is written: "And a shouting to the mountains". (Isaiah 22:5) This prayer breaks open all gates upon which he knocks to present his prayer. "Keep not silence at my tears" which enter before the King and cannot be stopped by any gate or turned away in vain.

There are three levels of prayer. They are: prayer [at the level of malchut], cry [at the level of yesod of Zeir Anpin], and tears [at the level of chesed, gevura, and tiferet of Zeir Anpin]. These correspond to three other levels mentioned at the end of the verse: "For I am a stranger with you" [malchut, who is in the place of the wanderer, the stranger, the exiled Shechinah] then "a sojourner" [this is the level of yesod, for the voice is raised], and then "like all my fathers", (Psalms 39:13) who were the main founders of the world [the forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who correspond to chesed, gevura, and tiferet].

Come and see! A man's prayer [the Amidah] is said standing up, for a man can pray in two ways, sitting down [like the blessings before the Shema said sitting and relating to malchut] or standing up [like the Amidah and relating to Zeir Anpin] and these two are one and correspond to the two levels of prayers, the hand Tefilin [which relates to malchut] and the head Tefilin [which relates to Zeir Anpin], also known as day and night. A prayer said sitting down is for the sake of the hand Tefilin, to fix her as one prepares a bride [malchut] and adorns her for the wedding canopy. Thus, she is decorated in the secret of the Chariots and the troops: "Who formed ministering messengers, ministers who all do stand aloft" and "the Ofanim (angelic 'wheels') and the holy living creatures" [the angels of malchut who decorate her].

After the prayer said sitting down, the presence of the Supreme King enters [the blessings before the Shema elevate the malchut of Beriya and bring her to the Amida which is in Atzilut] and he comes to receive her [as she elevates from Beriya]. We stand during the Amidah before the Supernal King [in the world of Atzilut and when we say "Kel Elyon" for the honor of the light of yesod of Abba, who then illuminates malchut] . For this reason, we must not stop between [the blessing of "redemption", which is yesod] and the prayer [which is malchut] ; the prayer sitting down and the prayer standing up should be joined.

When a man stands before the Supernal King [in Atzilut where the Shechinah dwells] , he needs four cubits for his prayer. [The 4 cubits stand for the 4 letters of the Name of G‑d, which represent His stature in Atzilut.] This is the height of "He Who forms all." In all that pertains to the side of the male, it behooves a man to stand up [before Zeir Anpin]. In the same way, whoever bends, bends when pronouncing 'blessed' [and draws blessing from Zeir Anpin to malchut]. Whoever stands up [and elevates malchut from Beriya to Above in Atzilut] does so and says the Name of G‑d to shows an advantage of the male over the female [since Atzilut is related to the male].

BeRahamim LeHayyim: Why did the Ari and Chida include the above and what are they trying to teach us?

Prayer is completely interactive and interdependent. All we do and all we say has tremendous significance. This Zohar is amazing in its revelation of the sacred energies that evolve out of our words and deeds. And there is a flow between giver and receiver, between that which is spiritually masculine and that which is spiritually feminine. For all that is below is also Above. Alternating or oscillating consciousness from right to left and right to left. G‑d desires our heart, our desire, and we need to try to tune in to our self as well as to what the moment requires. The sacred dance is special, and must be taken with utmost intention.

What does the above mean to you, and why are you reading it now?

Bracketed annotations from Metok Midevash and Sulam commentaries
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