Through rectification of the brit, which is a bow, it is possible to shoot the arrows, which are prayer—i.e., prayer’s eighteen blessings, which are three vavs, corresponding to arrows. Their place is in the brit, as in “My brit shall remain faithful to him” (Psalms 89:29). Faith is the concept of prayer, as in “and so his hands were faithful” (Exodus 17:12).

And then the ray of Mashiach begins to shine, as in “I will cause a ray to shine forth for David” (Psalms 132:17), and “Rays from His hand are upon them” (Habakkuk 3:4). “His hand” is the concept of prayer. There are three prayers, for the Mashiach is encompassed in the Patriarchs. In other words, MaShIaCh, who is the speech with which one prays—the concept of “MeiSIaCh (generates speech in) the mute” (Shabbat Morning Liturgy)—is derived from fire, water, wind.

2 . As a result, one becomes a free man—i.e., he acquires the sanctity of Shabbat, when work is forbidden. For ShaBaT is Shin BaT. Shin symbolizes three colors: fire, wind, water. Bat is prayer, the blessings, the concept of: He had a bat (daughter), and Bakol was her name (Bava Batra 16b), as in “and God had blessed Avraham bakol (with everything)” (Genesis 24:1).

3. And the sanctity of Shabbat is the concept of the takhlit (culmination) of knowledge. For the takhlit of knowledge is not-knowing. This is the reason Shabbat is called takhlit of heaven and earth. And this takhlit is the concept of “I thought I would be wise, but it is far from me” (Ecclesiastes 7:23). In other words, this is the essence of wisdom: one’s realizing that wisdom is far from him.

4. This takhlit is the essence of physical space—i.e., the Place of the world. For this takhlit is what encircles the entire world, which was created with wisdom, as it is written, “You created them all with wisdom” (Psalms 104:24). This is also the concept of one who sets a place for his prayer (Berakhot 6b). For that is the essence of physical space, as in, “no man shall go out of His Place on the seventh day” (Exodus 16:29).

5. And then he sheds his leprous body, which is from the skin of the snake, and dons Shabbat garments—i.e., a holy body from the Garden of Eden. For place is a key factor, as in “Take off your shoes… for the place…” (ibid. 3:5). On account of this holy body he is called ShaBbat, as in “look, ShaVah (it returned) to be like his own flesh” (ibid. 4:7)—he was healed of his leprosy and clothed in a holy body from the Garden of Eden, which is called “flesh,” the concept of “flesh of my flesh” (Genesis 2:23).

6. And then his mazal—which is flesh-of-his-flesh—ascends, and he merits wealth, as in “God’s blessing enriches” (Proverbs 10:22). Thus, his good inclination—i.e., “a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26)—gains power. A good inclination is “one who has found a wife has found good” (Proverbs 18:22).

And this is the meaning of “the sound of the shofar growing more powerful” (Exodus 19:19)—“the sound of the ShoFaR” which emerges from the aforementioned body of ShaPiRa (beauty). This sound is also the aforementioned concept of prayer. “Growing more powerful” refers to money (Berakhot 54a). His mazal and good inclination grow stronger, as mentioned above, and so depression and sarcasm, which stem from black bile, are eliminated. This is because depression is the result of stress and poverty, while sarcasm is “the levity of the fool” (Ecclesiastes 7:6), the concept of “the spleen laughs” (Berakhot 61a). They are eliminated by the mazal of wealth and the good inclination, which are the concept of “A wise man’s heart is at his right” (Ecclesiastes 10:2).

7. And through this right side he raises those who succumb to evil loves and fears. He raises them up to holy loves and fears, as in “Every soul will praise YaH (God)” (Psalms 150:6). This is because his right side removes the darkness from their eyes, and then their eyes see wonders, as in “Uncover my eyes, that I might see wonders” (Psalms 119:18). These wonders are the concept of Pesach, which is the right side, the concept of “I will show you wonders, like at the time you went out from Egypt” (Micah 7:15). And Pesach is Peh SaCh (a mouth that speaks), the concept of “The Torah of truth was in his mouth” (Malachi 2:6). It is considered as if he created the world, for it is written there “Let there be luminaries” (Genesis 1:14), and the darkness, which covered the deep, disappeared.

8. The light of the eyes also elevates all the requests and supplications which are prayed in the direction of the Holy Temple, for all the requests ascend there. And from there the light of the eyes emerges, as in “My eyes and My heart will be there” (1 Kings 9:3).

And the light of the eyes awakens redemption, which depends upon the heart, as in “For a day of vengeance is in My heart” (Isaiah 63:4), because His eyes and heart are there. This is the concept of “[God] called the light ‘Day’” (Genesis 1:5). The light of the eyes awakens the “day of vengeance” in the heart, to eliminate the leaven and chametz, the human heart’s inclination for evil, which remains from his youth.

The leaven and chametz in the human heart are what instigate a person to think negatively of the generation’s Torah scholars, and to say: “This one is suitable and that one is unsuitable,” as in “Libam (Their hearts) are divided” (Hosea 10:2). LiBaM alludes to the ayin bet (72) tzaddikim of the generation. This is also “the light of the fourteenth” (Pesachim 2a)—i.e., the light in the aynayim (eyes). Through the eyes, which contain two sets of seven coatings, one searches for the chametz .

9. Then, the heart can be impassioned by Torah study, through the flames of love. Many waters, namely, the external loves and fears, are unable to extinguish this passion, as in “Many waters cannot extinguish the love” (Song of Songs 8:7). The Divine Presence uses Her wings to cover the blood of Israel with this love, so that the wicked seed, being the concept of the Floodwaters, should not rule over them.

And this is: Whoever sins and is embarrassed by it is forgiven… (Berakhot 12b), for “love covers over all transgressions” (Proverbs 10:12). Through embarrassment his blood is spilled, and then the Divine Presence covers his blood with love, as in the mitzvah of covering-the-blood. Through this covering all his transgressions are automatically covered over. {From the beginning of this lesson until here is leshon Rabbeinu, may his memory be for a blessing.}

10. Now, when the Holy Blessed One wants to sample a taste of the positive mitzvot performed by a Jew who is a tzaddik, that corresponds to the limb of a living creature, which may not be eaten and requires ritual slaughter to permit it. A person therefore has to experience embarrassment, which is spilled blood, a form of ritual slaughter, which makes a living creature’s limb fit for consumption. God can then taste his positive mitzvot, be it a single positive mitzvah or many mitzvot. For the mitzvot are called “a tasty dish,” as it is written, “Then prepare a tasty dish for me, the way I love it” (Genesis 27:4)—from the positive mitzvot, as is brought (Tikkuney Zohar #21, p.51a). And when his blood is spilled through embarrassment, he must then be careful to keep the known external forces who would draw energy from this spilled blood from doing so. It must therefore be covered—the Divine Presence covers Israel’s spilled blood with this love, the concept of “the way I love.” This is the concept of covering-the-blood.

11 . Now, the topic of Israel’s spilled blood contains many lofty and hidden matters, be it blood spilled through embarrassment or other, actual spilled blood. For there are very many fallen souls which have no elevation except through the spilled blood of Israel; [that] of a great individual. In some cases, they have no elevation except through actual spilled blood.

This is the concept of “willful-transgressions become like merits” (Yoma 86b) ; that through the embarrassment or spilled blood, the Divine Presence covers their blood with the aforementioned love. And this is the concept of “love covers over all transgressions,” as mentioned above. The willful-transgressions become like merits, and the fallen souls, which correspond to transgressions, are raised up. They are elevated and transformed into merits through the aforementioned covering blood with love (see Tikkuney Zohar, Tikkun #21).