‹ Chayei Sara Sudilkov · Chassidic Courts

Degel Machaneh Ephraim

Sudilkov · Degel Machaneh Ephraim, Chayei Sara · 1 min

Why clear your mind before prayer or holy acts

Before any act of holiness or yichud (unification) can take place, the dinim (judgments) and kelipot (husks) must first be cleared away and pushed outside the realm of the Shechinah (Divine Presence), just as Eliezer made the camels kneel outside the city before bringing about the union of Yitzchak and Rivkah. So too every person must first clear the mind of extraneous thoughts and distractions before prayer or any sacred act, paralleling the proclamation in the firmament of "Go forth and see" that precedes yichud.AI summary · anthropic/claude-sonnet-5

He made the camels kneel outside the city at evening time, at the time when the women go out to draw water. One may say in this an allusion, along the lines of what is found in the Zohar ha-Kadosh (the Holy Zohar), that they proclaim, "Go forth and see, O daughters of Zion, concerning King Solomon," and the Sitra Achra (Other Side) has no rest, and it is explained, etc., for the "Ben" (Son) above and the "Ben" below cannot [proceed] until it is pushed outside.

And this, one may say, is what the verse alludes to: "He made the camels kneel" — these are the dinim (judgments), along the lines of what is said, that one who sees a camel (gamal) in a dream, death has been decreed upon him, etc. "Vayavrech" (he made kneel) means that he drew the dinim and the kelipot (husks) outside the city — outside the Shechinah (Divine Presence), which is called "city," as in the expression "ir ve-kadish" (city and holy one).

And so it must be with every person: before one wishes to pray or to do anything in holiness for the sake of the yichud (unification) of the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shechinah, one must clear one's mind of all extraneous thoughts and distractions, just as it is stated in the Zohar ha-Kadosh that they proclaim in the firmament, "Go forth and see," etc., and this precedes the yichud.

So too here, Eliezer had to clear away the kelipot from the realm of holiness before he wished to bring about the yichud of Yitzchak and Rivkah. And the maskil (the discerning one) will understand.

ויברך את הגמלים מחוץ לעיר לעת ערב לעת צאת השואבו' י"ל בזה בדרך רמז ע"ד דאי' בזוה"ק שמכריזין צאינה וראינה בנות ציון במלך שלמה וס"א לא נייחא ומתפרשת וכו' כי בן לעילא ובן לתתא לא יכלין עד דדחיק לסא לבר וזה י"ל שמרמז הפסוק ויברך את הגמלים הם הדינים ע"ד הרואה גמל בחלום מיתה נקנסה עליו וכו' ויברך היינו שהמשיך הדינים והקליפות מחוץ לעיר מחוץ להשכינה הנקראת עיר ע"ש עיר וקדיש וכן צריך להיות בכל אדם קודם שרוצה להתפלל או לעשות שום דבר בקדושה לשם יחוד קב"ה ושכינתיה צריך לפנות מחשבתו מכל המחשבות זרות והפניות כמו שאיתא בזוה"ק שמכריזין ברקיע צאינה וראינה וכו' והיא קודם היחוד וכן כאן הוצרך אליעזר לפנות הקליפות מן הקדושה קודם שרצה לעשות יחוד יצחק ורבקה והמשכיל יבין:

Translation: translated by AI (anthropic/claude-sonnet-5)

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