After finishing [the Amidah prayer], he stands on his feet to confess his sins so there will be no pretext for the Other Side to accuse him and so it [the Other Side] is subjugated before him. Now he stands firm, blessed from the King's house [to receive the flow that descends from the 13 attributes of Mercy which are opened by mentioning them].

Fortunate is the portion of whoever is sanctified in this manner by his prayer, as we said, who ties knots and makes unifications with proper meditation, not deviating right or left. His prayer will not return empty-handed; G‑d decrees, yet He annuls it. Of him it is written, "Let your father and your mother be glad, and let she who bore you rejoice" (Proverbs 23:25) [for] he has a portion in this world and in the World to Come.

It is written [about malchut], "She rises while it is yet night and gives food to her household, and a portion to her maidens"; (Proverbs 31:15) [for] from those manifold blessings, sanctification, and additional sanctification which she received [from yesod] as it is said, "and at night he shall divide the spoil", (Gen. 49:27) She [malchut, Who rules at night] distributes a portion of it to everyone, and even to the Other Side she gives a portion [from the dregs, to give it also existence].

This [the Other Side's portion] is a mystery for those who have faith: the portion of the impure Other Side is all these sins and transgressions of the one who tied bonds of unification, that he regretted and confessed them. They all dwell upon the impure Other Side, to be its part and portion. If he did not confess them, then the accuser comes and prevails.

If he confessed his sins in that prayer by connecting bonds of unification, the upper and lower are blessed. And it is of the portion of the Other Side, that all the sins and transgressions he confessed, he takes as his own portion. This is the secret of the [sacrificial] goat [that is sent to Azazel], as it is written, "and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel...and the goat shall bear upon it". (Lev. 16:21-22) This is his part, portion and property. And if man reverts to corrupt ways, woe to him, for he takes back the transgressions from that side against the will of that side, and because he takes them from that Other Side against its will, therefore it harms him and becomes his accuser to speak ill of him. But when he confesses them, that Other Side takes them to be its allotted part.

This is also a secret of the offering: one has to confess over it all his sins and iniquities, in order to give a portion to him who needs it.

BeRahamim LeHayyim: Above [Vayakhel, Day 5] we talked about Ketoret's root Kuf Teit Resh, that means to tie, like the Hebrew root Kuf Shin Resh, Kesher/knot. The Ketoret (similar to Abraham's 2nd wife Keturah, who re-connected with him after the death of our Mother Sarah) "connects bonds above and below, so everything becomes one." And we read above that by confession we too "connect the bonds of unison and the upper and lower are blessed."

The power of unity to return one to the balanced place of equipoise cannot be overstressed by the Zohar. For when King David said, "Shiviti Havaya LeNegdi Tamid/I place G‑d before me always,", according to the Holy Ba'al Shem Tov, he alluded to the principle of Hishtavut/balance. "I balance myself before G‑d always." That is the path of teshuva, that is the path of Sheimut/wholeness, that is the path of healing.

What does the above mean to you, and why is it revealed?


[Bracketed annotations from Metok Midevash and Sulam commentaries]