The Ascent of Prayer to the Higher Worlds According to the Zohar HaKadosh

Rabbi Alexander Ziskind of Grodno, in his sefer “Yesod ve-Shoresh Ha-Avodah,” based on the book Zohar HaKadosh and the teachings of the Arizal, provides a detailed account of the order of service of every Jew.

The Vilna Gaon (zechuto yagen aleinu) wrote of him: “Rabbi Alexander Ziskind of Grodno is as great as his book, and his book is as exalted as he is. He passed through the world in peace along a tightrope stretched over a raging sea.” For our website users, we present an excerpt from the book of Rabbi Alexander Ziskind describing the detailed process by which prayers ascend to Heaven.

The Ascent of Prayer and Its Influence on the Rectification of the Higher Worlds According to the Zohar HaKadosh

“The prayer of a person who stands in awe before his Master brings about the rectification of the worlds. It is adorned with the songs and praises of the angels above and of the people of Israel below. One must fill the heart with lofty intention so that the prayer may have an impact on the highest heavens. Then the Holy One, blessed be He, grants the person tranquility and peace below: ‘And the L-rd said to him: Peace be with you...’ (Judges 6:24) Peace is sent to him from Heaven throughout all the days of his life. And when he departs this earth, his soul ascends to the heavenly spheres, and nothing obstructs it. The Holy One, blessed be He, calls to it: ‘Let him come in peace...’, while the Divine Presence proclaims: ‘May he rest on his couch who walked in righteousness.’ (Isaiah 57:2) Before him are revealed thirteen mountains of pure balm שמן אפרסמון, and no one hinders him.” (Zohar, Vayakhel, p. 200) The Zohar HaKadosh continues: “He began and said: ‘You are My servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified!’ (Isaiah 49:3) This refers to prayer offered by a person to the Holy One, blessed be He—a vital and significant service of his Master. Fulfilling the will of the Holy One, blessed be He, is expressed through action, but its more refined form is prayer, founded upon the higher mysteries. People cannot imagine how high it ascends, rising to the heavenly spheres and opening the gates. The angels who receive prayer are stationed at the four points of the compass. In the east dwells the angel גזרדי"א, together with other angels and ministers awaiting the prayer that ascends on high. This angel receives it, and if it is worthy, he and all the ministers kiss it and rise with it to the heavenly firmament, where other angels are appointed. They kiss the prayer and say: ‘Fortunate is the people of Israel, who know how to offer their Master an adornment of holiness. Fortunate is the person from whose lips this prayer emerged!’ Then the letters of the Twelve-Letter Name that rules in the heights rise, and together with the prayer an angel also ascends, holding in his hands the keys of the Master of the heights. Together they rise to the first heavenly firmament, where the prayer is passed to another angel and continues ascending to the boundless heights. The prayer continues to rise and reaches the angel located on the western side, where nine gates are situated, with angels and ministers standing beside them, and above them the angel זבוליא"ל. At dawn, the prayer ascends through one of these gates, and all the ministers and angels over whom זבוליא"ל presides emerge from the gate, kiss it, rise together with it, and reach the second heavenly firmament. There, twelve gates are opened, and beside the last of them stands ענא"ל—the angel appointed over the hosts and camps. When the prayer rises to him, he proclaims: ‘Open the gates, that the righteous nation which keeps faith may enter!’ (Isaiah 26:2) All the gates open, and the prayer enters through them. Then the angel appointed over the six hundred thousand camps appears, and all of them, endowed with eyes and ears, emerge and kiss the words of this prayer, as it is said: ‘The eyes of the L-rd are toward the righteous, and His ears are attentive to their cry.’ (Psalms 34:16) The prayer rises to the third heavenly firmament, known as the firmament of Governance, from which a scepter descends and bows to it. It receives higher adornments and ascends to the fourth heavenly firmament. There it is perfumed with the fragrances of the Garden of Eden, and it remains there until all the camps rise together with it to the fifth firmament, where גדריא"ל is found—the angel of the hosts of the other nations. When the prayer rises there, he trembles, all his camps lose their power, emerge, bow to it, adorn it, and together ascend to the sixth heavenly firmament. Then the hosts and camps emerge, receive the prayer, and rise with it to the seventy gates, where the supreme angel ענפיא"ל resides. He bestows upon the prayer another seventy adornments, after which all the heavenly hosts that accompanied it from one firmament to the next join it. They carry the prayer, which has merited all these adornments, to the seventh firmament, and סנדלפו"ן—the supreme minister, in whose hands are all the keys of his Master—allows it to enter the seven royal palaces. Fortunate is the person who offers a prayer filled with awe, adorning the crown of the Holy One, blessed be He. Reflect on the reverence with which the higher angels treat prayer, kissing it and bowing before it! Through prayer filled with awe, blessing descends upon all the worlds, as it is stated in the Zohar: ‘Blessing descends from the highest depths to all the worlds, and the higher and lower beings receive it through prayer.’ (Zohar, Vayechi) This influences the fulfillment of all 613 mitzvot. And surely the account in the holy Zohar is sufficient to awaken our hearts to lofty intention, as it is said: ‘Prayer must proceed from a whole mind and the desire of the spirit, and one must not allow any defect in it, lest all the worlds be deprived of blessing.’ (Zohar, Pekudei) It is also said: ‘One should unite the mouth and the heart and devote oneself to the service of our Master, for every word ascends to the heavenly heights.’ (Zohar, Vayakhel) It is stated in Tikunei Zohar (ch. 69, p. 106): ‘Thus say the sages of the Mishnah: when a person is occupied with the service of the Holy One, blessed be He, all the creatures in existence come to his aid. The entire world was brought into being solely for the sake of this unity, and the fiery and holy angels were created to support it. He offers prayer, and the angels spread their wings and open their mouths to receive it, as it is said: ‘...a bird of the heavens may carry the utterance, and a winged creature may report the word.’ (Ecclesiastes 10:20) The Holy One, blessed be He, receives these words and builds worlds from them, as it is said: ‘For just as the new heavens and the new earth that I am making shall endure before Me, declares the L-rd, so shall your seed and your name endure.’ (Isaiah 66:22) And this is the secret of: ‘I have placed My words in your mouth, and in the shadow of My hand I have sheltered you, to establish the heavens and found the earth, and to say to Zion: You are My people.’ (Isaiah 51:16) ‘Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai began and said: Fortunate is the one who prays, directing his thoughts heavenward; his lips utter Names and his fingers write mysteries. When the Names emerge from his lips, how many angels spread their wings, and how many angels of life in the heavenly Chariot prepare to receive them...’ (Tikunei Zohar, ch. 21, p. 45) (Based on the book of Rabbi Alexander Ziskind, “Yesod ve-Shoresh Ha-Avodah,” edited by Rabbi Chaim Burshtein, from a trip to the graves of tzadikim)

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The Ascent of Prayer to the Higher Worlds According to the Zohar HaKadosh

The Ascent of Prayer and Its Influence on the Rectification of the Higher Worlds According to the Zohar HaKadosh

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