Q&A: Shekhinah
Shekhinah
Question
Hello, honored Rabbi,
In honor of the festival of Purim they say, “whoever stretches out a hand, we give to him.”
I wanted to ask: what is meant by the concept of the Shekhinah? And also about the sefirot—not necessarily the role of each one, but the overall idea. And by the way, when the kabbalists focus their intentions during prayer, are they praying to the Infinite itself?
I didn’t see even any mention of this here in the responsa when searching the titles.
Answer
The question is too general, and so although “whoever stretches out a hand, we give to him,” that is only when there is a request and something to give.
Shekhinah is a concept that represents the collective of the Jewish people (especially as the spouse of the Holy One, blessed be He). If you are expecting a picture of the Shekhinah, I have none to provide.
In the early Shomer Emunim it is explained that the kabbalists pray to the Holy One, blessed be He (His hidden essence) through the sefirot, and not to the sefirot or to anything outside of Him. However, the halakhic decisors in the non-mystical tradition object to this, since one may not pray through intermediaries; but he explains there that this refers to intermediaries in the worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah (up to the sphere of the moon, in Aristotelian-philosophical terminology), whereas what is above that is not an intermediary but a garment that is part of the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself.
And I received from my teachers, may their light shine, that in precise manuscripts the reading is: “whoever is a thug—give him a hand,” meaning, you honor him with two slaps until the whiteness goes and the redness comes.
Although of course this has nothing to do with the upright questioner here, still, let it serve as a point for others.