Siddur Tehillat Hashem, Weiss Edition —

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pp. 264-265

Minchah for Friday

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God made ten attributes with which He controls the world

Hebrew

פָּתַח1 אֵלִיָּהוּ וְאָמַר: רִבּוֹן
עָלְמִין, דְּאַנְתְּ הוּא חַד
וְלָא בְחֻשְׁבָּן, אַנְתְּ הוּא עִלָּאָה
עַל כָּל עִלָּאִין, סְתִימָא עַל כָּל
סְתִימִין, לֵית מַחֲשָׁבָה תְּפִיסָא
בָּךְ כְּלָל:2 אַנְתְּ הוּא דְּאַפִּיקַת
עֶשֶׂר תִּקּוּנִין,3 וְקָרֵינָן לְהוֹן עֶשֶׂר
סְפִירָן, לְאַנְהָגָא בְּהוֹן עָלְמִין
סְתִימִין דְּלָא אִתְגַּלְיָן, וְעָלְמִין
דְּאִתְגַּלְיָן, וּבְהוֹן אִתְכַּסִיאַת
מִבְּנֵי נָשָׁא, וְאַנְתְּ הוּא דְּקָשִׁיר
לוֹן וּמְיַחֵד לוֹן, וּבְגִין דְּאַנְתְּ
מַלְגָו, כָּל מַאן דְּאַפְרִישׁ חַד
מֵחַבְרֵיהּ מֵאִלֵּין עֶשֶׂר סְפִירָן,
אִתְחַשֵּׁב לֵיהּ כְּאִלּוּ אַפְרִישׁ בָּךְ:
וְאִלֵּין עֶשֶׂר סְפִירָן אִנּוּן אָזְלִין
כְּסִדְרָן, חַד אָרִיךְ וְחַד קָצִיר
וְחַד בֵּינוֹנִי: וְאַנְתְּ הוּא דְּאַנְהִיג
לוֹן, וְלֵית מַאן דְּאַנְהִיג לָךְ, לָא
לְעֵלָא וְלָא לְתַתָּא וְלָא מִכָּל

Sephardi

Patach1 Eliyahu ve-amar: Ribbon
almin, de-ant hu chad
ve-la ve-chushban, ant hu illa'ah
al kol illa'in, setima al kol
setimin, leit machshavah tefisah
bach kelal:2 ant hu de-apikat
eser tikkunin,3 ve-karinan lehon eser
sefiran, le-anhagah behon almin
setimin de-la itgalyan, ve-almin
de-itgalyan, u-vehon itkassiyat
mibnei nasha, ve-ant hu de-kashir
lon u-meyached lon, u-vegin de-ant
malgav, kol man de-afrish chad
me-chavreih me-illein eser sefiran,
itchashev leih ke'ilu afrish bach:
ve-illein eser sefiran innun azlin
ke-sidran, chad arikh ve-chad katzir
ve-chad beinoni: ve-ant hu de-anhig
lon, ve-leit man de-anhig lach, la
le-ela ve-la le-tatta ve-la mikol

English

Elijah the Prophet began1 his teaching and said: God, Master of the worlds, You are One—not that You are counted first; rather You are the one thing that truly exists. You are higher than all of the highest spiritual powers; You are hidden from all hidden things. No thought can grasp and understand You at all.2 You are the One Who created and brought forth ten tools. We call these tools the “ten attributes.”3 You created them to direct and control both the hidden worlds, which are spiritual and are not revealed to us, and the worlds that are revealed. With these attributes, You hide Yourself from human beings. Although there are many attributes and they seem to be different, You connect them and unite them with each other, because they all come from You, and You are One. And because You are inside these attributes, anyone who separates any of these ten attributes from each other—anyone who thinks that the attributes are separate things—is considered as if he has made a separation within You, God. These ten attributes follow a pattern: One long attribute, which brings God’s goodness to everyone, without calculating whether they deserve it or not; one short attribute, which brings God’s goodness only to those deserving of it, and one middle attribute, which calculates who is deserving and who isn’t, yet mercifully gives to everyone. You, God, are the one Who directs them, and nobody directs You; not anyone above, not anyone below, and not anyone from any side. You also made layers

Hebrew

סִטְרָא: לְבוּשִׁין תְּקִינַת
לוֹן, דְּמִנַּיְהוּ פָּרְחִין
נִשְׁמָתִין לִבְנֵי נָשָׁא: וְכַמָּה
גוּפִין תְּקִינַת לוֹן,
דְּאִתְקְרִיאוּ גוּפִין לְגַבֵּי
לְבוּשִׁין דִּמְכַסְיָן עֲלֵיהוֹן,
וְאִתְקְרִיאוּ בְּתִקּוּנָא דָא:
חֶסֶד דְּרוֹעָא יְמִינָא:
גְּבוּרָה דְרוֹעָא שְׂמָאלָא:
תִּפְאֶרֶת גּוּפָא:4 נֶצַח וְהוֹד
תְּרֵין שׁוֹקִין: יְסוֹד סִיּוּמָא
דְגוּפָא אוֹת בְּרִית קֹדֶשׁ:
מַלְכוּת פֶּה, תּוֹרָה שֶׁבְּעַל
פֶּה קָרֵינָן לָהּ: חָכְמָה
מוֹחָא אִיהִי מַחֲשָׁבָה מִלְגָו:
בִּינָה לִבָּא וּבָהּ הַלֵּב מֵבִין,
וְעַל אִלֵּין תְּרֵין כְּתִיב
הַנִּסְתָּרוֹת לַייָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ:5
כֶּתֶר עֶלְיוֹן אִיהוּ כֶּתֶר
מַלְכוּת, וְעָלֵיהּ אִתְּמַר
מַגִּיד מֵרֵאשִׁית אַחֲרִית,
וְאִיהוּ קַרְקַפְתָּא דִּתְפִלִּין,
מִלְגָו אִיהוּ שֵׁם מַה כְּגוֹן:
יוֹ״ד הֵ״א וָא״ו הֵ״א

Sephardi

sitra: levushin tekinnat
lon, de-minaihu parchin
nishmatin livnei nasha: ve-chammah
gufin tekinnat lon,
de-itkeri'u gufin le-gabbei
levushin di-mechasyan aleihon,
ve-itkeri'u be-tikkuna da:
chesed dero'a yemina:
gevurah dero'a semala:
tiferet gufa:4 netzach ve-Hod
trein shokin: Yesod siyuma
de-gufa ot berit kodesh:
malchut peh, Torah she-be'al
peh karinan lah: chochmah
mocha ihi machshavah mi-legav:
binah libba u-vah ha-lev mevin,
ve'al illein trein ketiv
ha-nistarot la-Adonai Eloheinu:5
Keter Elyon ihu Keter
malchut, ve-aleih itmar
magid me-reshit acharit,
ve-ihu karkafeta di-tefillin,
mi-legav ihu shem Mah ke-gon:
Yod He Vav He

English

of spiritual garments for these attributes, to cover over their great holiness, so that souls can fly out from them and come into this world to give human beings life. Without their garments, the holy attributes would not be able to bring souls into our physical, unholy world. You made a number of attributes, which are like bodies to these garments; they are called “bodies” when compared to the garments that cover over them. The attributes are called body parts. They are each compared to a different part of the body, as follows: Chessed, kindness, is compared to the right arm. Gevurah, severity and power, is compared to the left arm. Tiferet, harmony, is compared to the main part of the body,4 the chest and stomach area. Netzach, victory, and Hod, glory, are compared to the two thighs. Yesod, foundation, is compared to the end of the main part of the body, which is the sign of the holy Circumcision—the Covenant that God made with the Jewish Nation. Malchut, royalty and kingship, is compared to the mouth, which expresses and explains a person’s thoughts. This is why we call Malchut “Oral Torah,” because the Oral Torah explains the meaning of Written Torah. Chochmah, wisdom, is compared to the brain; that is, the thoughts that are inside the brain. Binah, understanding, is compared to the heart, because when a person understands something properly, the heart feels it. About these last two attributes—Chochmah, wisdom and Binah, understanding, which are both hidden like a person’s thoughts—it is written in the Torah: The hidden things belong to the Lord, our God, because only He knows about them.5 The highest of all the attributes is Keter, Supernal Crown; it is like a royal crown on top of a person. The verse in Isaiah says about Keter: From the beginning He tells what the end is. Keter is also like a head upon which tefillin are placed; it surrounds the attributes, just as a head surrounds the brain and tefillin surround the Torah passages inside them. Inside all of the attributes is the power of God’s name of Mah—the name that has a numerical value of 45. God uses this name to

Commentary

1 Literally, “opened.” With this discourse, Elijah not only added new details to existing concepts, but also opened an entirely new approach to understanding God and the mystical concepts of kabbalah.

2 The word “grasp” not only means “understand,” but also “hold onto.” A person’s body, for example, “grasps” the soul in the sense that it literally holds onto it for dear life. For this reason, the soul is directly affected by the actions and experiences of the body. God, by contrast, cannot be “grasped” by anything at all—nothing in the universe can affect Him.

3 God’s attributes are referred to as “tools,” because in order for God’s infinite holiness to descend into the world, the holiness must first be conditioned and “fixed,” so to speak, by the attributes. God’s attributes effectively act as spiritual “vessels” that “restrict” and contain God’s infinite holiness, thereby allowing it to be revealed in the physical world.

4 The name of this attribute, “Tiferet,” can also be translated as “pride.” God has great pride when we conquer our “body”—our physical desires.

5 Intellect is described as something that is “hidden,” because one can never know with certainty another person’s thoughts or his level of understanding. Emotions, on the other hand, can be more easily perceived. They are openly revealed and expressed to others.