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7 Agencies of Unification: The Sabbath and Prayer Theosophical Kabbalah understood certain mi~ot as particularly concentrating and centering the effluence of Divine energies. Other mi~ot protect the individual from malevolent or demonic forces. Reigious practice consists of balancing these two kinds of mi~ot to counter and take advantage of the shifting effects of the Divine. Medieval Jewish philosophers identified the consciousness of God's unity, mi~at ha-yi1).ud, as a specific commandment of the Torah. To have this consciousness might be an actual act of "unification," or it might be merely a kawanah or intention to be assumed in the course of one's practice. In the Tiqqunim, unification with the Divine is a positive act that takes place through the contemplative practice of certain mi~ot. The Sabbath The Zohar displays a subtle understanding of the metaphysical rhythms of time. The cycles of the day, week, and year are portrayed as a garment for the unfolding of the Divine effluence. The continuum of time is a step down from the unchanging essence of the supernal Godhead.1 The charged metaphysical 107 108 The Enlightened Will Shine nature of the Sabbath is reflected in the halakhic strictures that attend its observance.2 The Sabbath is a day free of creation, the day that "the Shekhinah is freed from her exile."3 Hence, its prohibitions derive from withdrawal from constructive actions.4 Tiqqunei ha-Zohar emphasizes the theurgic aspects of the thirty-nine actions forbidden on the Sabbath. These actions derive directly from the catastrophe of the fall, as they encompass the curses made upon Adam at the expulsion from Eden: "When the dewS reigns, the sages forbade the thirty-nine forbidden actions, which are called avot melakhot,6 corresponding to the Patriarchs on whom reigns the dew which is thirty-nine. Of these thirty-nine actions, ten were inflicted on Adam, ten on Eve, ten on the serpent, and nine on the land. Since this dew already reigns on the Sabbath, no lashes are administered on the Sabbath."7 Because the halakhah defined these actions as paradigmatic acts of creation, they are essential to corporeal existence. On the Sabbath, when the Divine effluence flows directly into the corporeal world, one must refrain from them. Refraining from these actions reflects the Shekhinah's tranquility on the Sabbath day. On the Sabbath, humankind has no complaint with the state of creation, so that one is forbidden to interfere with it: "Wherever Israel are, they are protected and tranquil. Therefore it is forbidden to plow the earth and to make furrows , for it is like a blemish in the Holy Land, the Shekhinah. Therefore it is forbidden to use agricultural tools on the Sabbath , even to carry a stone ..."8 A central metaphysical difference between the Sabbath and the rest of the week is that, on the Sabbath, the demonic is forbidden from going about its mischief. This freedom from the actions of the demonic brings about various changes in the liturgy and in the adept's behavior.9 According to Tiqqunei haZohar and Ra'aya Meheimna, this change in world-view creates the salient dynamic ofthe Sabbath mentality, shinnui, the changing of one's activity. Tiqqunei ha-Zohar presents a lengthy homily on the Sabbath . This sermon combines pietistic exhortations with an esoteric doctrine of the Sabbath's inner nature: Agencies ofUnification: The Sabbath and Prayer 109 To observe the Sabbath, it must be changed from the days of the week, in one's clothing, food, and other delights. One who customarily eats two meals on the weekdays should eat three on the Sabbath, as it says: Eat it today, for today is the Sabbath to God; you will not find it in the field (Exodus 16:25). In all things, one should make an addition for the Sabbath. One who customarily has wine and bread on the weekdays should add meat as a Sabbath addition. Change of action, so that if one customarily behaves in a secular way, he should not do so on the Sabbath.... Change ofname, for every day is called action, as it says: the six days of action (Ezekiel 46:1). But the seventh day is called the Sabbath, the negation of action. Change ofplace, that if one customarily lit a lamp on weekdays, he would change and not light it on the Sabbath, as it says: Do not light fire in all your dwellings on the Sabbath day (Exodus 35:3...

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