I
place HaShem
before me, always.
(Psalm 16:8)
This is a
great rule
of the Torah!
(Shulkhan Arukh)
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The
Written Works of
Rabbi Ariel Bar Tzadok
Copyright © 1997 - 2003
by Ariel Bar Tzadok.
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reserved.
The
L'Shem Yihud
The Union of
the Holy One, Blessed Be He,
and His Shekhina.
By
Ariel Bar Tzadok
Copyright © 1996 by Ariel Bar Tzadok. All rights reserved.
The relationship between Z.A. and Nok is the essential focal point of all the Kabbalah. G-d is only revealed to His universe through the Partzuf of Z.A. of Atzilut. Nok d’Z.A. is the Shekhina, the holy spark of the Divine that gives life to all. She is the source of the Adamic soul (Neshama).
At present the human race is disconnected from the human soul (Neshama) as a result of our exile from Eden. Thus the Shekhina is not in a state of proper union with Z.A. This state of affairs needs to be rectified. The entire purpose of the Torah is “for the sake of the unity of the Holy One, Blessed Be He (Z.A.), and His Shekhina (Nok).
Prior to the performance of every commandment of the Torah, the Kabbalists instituted a formula to be read as a proclamation and preparation so the one performing the commandment or mitzvah simply does not perform the deed aimlessly, but rather focused, directed to the greater purpose of the universe.
The L’Shem
Yihud Prayer / Meditation
The formula states:
“For the sake of the unity of the Holy One, Blessed Be He, and His
Shekhina, in love and awe, and in awe and love to unite the letters Yod
Hey with Vav Hey in a perfect union, in the name of all Yisrael, behold
I have come to perform this mitzvah”.
The union of the
Holy One and His Shekhina is understood, but why do we then say “in awe
and love”, and then repeat saying, “in love and awe”?
This is a meditation to merge together the Mohin of Abba - Hokhma (awe)
with the Mohin of Imma - Binah (love), and then to reverse the order to
unite the Mohin of Imma with those of Abba.
We then recite “to unite the letters Yod Hey with Vav Hey”. Yod (Abba)
and Hey (Imma) are the Mohin that need now to descend into Z.A. (Vav,
and Nok is Hey) in order for Him to be complete.
This descent of the Mohin of Abba and Imma into Z.A. (and from Him to
Nok) creates the “perfect union”.
This in turn is done “in the name of all Yisrael”, meaning that the
commandment and mitzvah that we perform we do not do for the sake of our
own individual reward and merit, but rather for the sake of the
collective good, i.e. “all Yisrael.”