The higher and lower worlds are blessed by the one who prays.... He is loved from above and adored from below. His needs are answered and all his heart’s desires are fulfilled, because he is loved by all the Spheres [sefirot].” JOSEPH GIKATILLA
“The greatest Kabbalists,” writes Gershom Scholem, “were all great masters of prayer.”[344] Prayer, along with the performance of good deeds, is central to the Kabbalist’s supreme mission of tikkun—the restoration of our fractured world that must take place because of the breaking of the vessels and the subsequent fall of Adam. Thus, the Kabbalist prays with more than a desire for a personal boon or a yearning to commune with God. He does so with the conviction that his prayer will restore peace and harmony to this world and to the heavenly realms. The Zohar says that prayer works on four levels to perform tikkun. It not only “builds up him who prays,” but it also restores the physical world, the upper world with the heavenly hosts, and the world of the sefirot.”
“What is kavvanah?” asked Maimonides in the twelfth century. “One should empty one’s mind of every thought and regard oneself as if one were standing in the presence of the Shekhinah.”[347]
Kabbalah teaches that kavvanah allows us to engage in a mystical, inner work. Kavvanah creates a flow of blessings upon the one who prays, upon the world in which he lives and upon the upper worlds. In essence, the Jewish mystics teach that we get the best results from our spiritual practices when we do them with profound devotion and understanding. One traditional prayer that takes on special meaning for Kabbalists is the Shema, the declaration of faith that is at the core of Jewish worship. The Shema is to be said twice a day, upon arising and before retiring. The first verse, “Shema Yisrael: Adonai Elohenu, Adonai Ehad,” means “Hear, O Israel: the LORD, our God, the LORD is One.”
“In traditional Judaism, the Shema affirms the oneness of God and the monotheism of Judaism. The first and second sections of the Shema are taken from Moses’ final advice to the Israelites on the eve of their entrance into the land of Canaan. The statement “the LORD is One” is intended to remind the Israelites not to worship other gods and idols because their God is the one, true God who is above all other gods. The declaration that opens the Shema has no less meaning to us today. It reminds us that God alone—and not the lesser gods of material comfort, human personality or worldly honor—should be the object of our devotion. Kabbalists take the Shema’s declaration of monotheism to new heights. They see an inner meaning in the words of the Shema relating to the unity of the sefirot. They teach that when the Shema is said with kavvanah—that unique mar riage of prayer and meditation—it restores the world of the sefirot. It also allows the upper and lower worlds to function in perfect harmony and unity and causes blessings to flow from sefirah to sefirah until they reach our physical world. The Zohar says that when a person recites the Shema properly, “the Shekhinah comes and settles upon his head and blesses him with an abundance of blessings.”
The words Adonai Ehad (“the LORD is One”) in the Shema are not only an affirmation of the one God. When we say them with kavvanah, we can experience a profound sense of universal oneness. “The LORD is One” means that although there are many spiritual paths, they all lead to a single Source; and if we are all children of the one LORD, then we are all part of the same family. And if the LORD is One, there is nowhere he is not. At the heart of Kabbalah, and of mysticism wherever it appears, lies a deep sense that we are already one with God and that God is everywhere—we just haven’t taken the time to look for him. We are too caught up in the illusions that rise to the surface of life and hide the inner core of reality. Moses Cordovero writes, “The essence of divinity is found in every single thing—nothing but It exists.... Ein Sof exists in each existent. Do not say, ‘This is a stone and not God.’ God forbid! Rather, all existence is God, and the stone is a thing pervaded by divinity.”
“To truly realize that we are made in the image and likeness of God, that we are sparks of God, that we are a part of his very being is what we must strive for each time we recite the sacred declaration of our oneness with God and with each other: “Shema Yisrael: Adonai Elohenu, Adonai Ehad.”
“To the Jewish mystic, in addition to kavvanah there are two more ingredients necessary to spiritual progress and effective prayer: joy and enthusiasm. “When you observe a commandment with joy,” says the Baal Shem Tov, “there is reward without limit.” Luria teaches that it is healthy to rejoice when we serve God and that depression prevents us from attaining enlightenment. Vital wrote down the following teachings of Luria on this subject: When a person prays, studies Torah, or observes a Commandment, he must be happy and joyful. He must have more pleasure than if he had reaped a great profit or had found a thousand gold coins.... The trait of sadness is a very bad quality, especially for one who wishes to attain wisdom and Ruah HaKodesh [the Holy Spirit]. There is nothing that can prevent enlightenment more than depression, even for those who are worthy. We find evidence for this from the verse, “And now bring a minstrel, and when the minstrel played, the hand of God came upon him” (2 Kings 3:15).”
“I have found that one of the best ways to generate joy is to meditate on how much I have to be grateful for, not the least of which is the boundless love and mercy of God. Try making yourself a notebook and writing at the top of the first page, “Hear, O Universe, I AM grateful!” Then once a day write down something you are grateful for, whether it be the blessing of good health, the first daffodils of spring or the smile of a little child. If you are ever tempted to become discouraged or depressed, open that book and it will remind you that God does indeed love you—because he has given you so much to be grateful for.”