This particular passage, from Zohar" target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="source-link">Tikkunei_Zohar" target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="source-link">Tikkunei Zohar 89, delves into the evening prayer, or Ma'ariv. It says, "In the prayer of the evening service, She ascends with the Name that is called YQV”Q." Now, who is "She"? In Kabbalah, "She" often refers to the Shekhinah, the divine feminine presence. The Shekhinah, in this context, ascends with the sacred Name – here represented by YQV”Q, a variation on the unpronounceable Name of God, YHVH (often read as Adonai). Think of it as the divine feminine rising up, carried on the wings of our prayers infused with the holy Name. Pretty powerful, right?

The text continues, quoting Psalm 50:1: "EL ELQYM Y”Y spoke, and He called the earth." This verse emphasizes the divine voice, the call that echoes through creation. But what's its connection to our evening prayer?

The Tikkunei Zohar then brings in a teaching from the "Masters of the Mishnah." They state that a person should pause "one hour before praying, and one hour after he prays" (BT Berakhot 32b). Why? What’s the point of this intentional pause?

This is where it gets really interesting. The text says the mystery of this pause lies in the verse from Genesis 24:21: "And the man was astonished (mishta-eh) at her, silently..." This refers to Abraham's servant, Eliezer, observing Rebecca at the well. He's struck by her kindness and virtue. The Hebrew word for "astonished," mishta-eh, is key here. The Tikkunei Zohar connects it to the idea of pausing, of being still and receptive.

But wait, there’s more! The text then throws in another verse, Exodus 15:3: "Y”Y is a man (iysh) of war..." How does a "man of war" connect to silent astonishment?

The link, as I understand it, is about preparation and integration. The hour before prayer is a time to quiet the inner battlefield, to still the mind, to become "astonished" by the possibility of connection. The hour after is for absorbing the experience, letting the energy of prayer settle and integrate into our being. The "man of war" needs his moments of stillness to strategize and recover. So too, our souls need these pauses to engage with the divine.

So, what does this all mean for us? Perhaps it's an invitation to be more mindful of our prayer, to create space around it, to approach it with a sense of awe and anticipation. Maybe it's a reminder that prayer isn't just about the words we say, but about the space we create within ourselves to truly listen. What if we took that hour before, that hour after, to just… be? To be astonished by the world, by the possibility of connection, by the sheer wonder of existence?