T73 Petten Nanach Commentary - Ki VaMayim Ta'avor (Tefillah Lishmah/Ani Vessel, 2 segs)

Opening verse: 'For you will pass through waters, with you I am' (Isaiah 43:2). Torah is both hidden (nistar) and revealed; God is also both nistar and revealed. What is revealed to us is the garment and the externality; what is hidden from us is the p'nimiyus (the inner essence). Every person must strive urgently to attain the p'nimiyus — the hidden aspect. But how can one reach what is hidden? Through tefillah lishmah — prayer for its own sake, where one binds thought to speech in a mighty and strong bond. God desires the prayers of the righteous (Chullin 60b). Why? Because God desires chesed (Micah 7:18) and always wishes to flow influence and blessing — but the divine shefa can only descend through a vessel called 'Ani' (I). As the verse says: 'And I will bless them' (Numbers 6:26). This vessel — the 'Ani' — is created by every Jew who prays with his thought genuinely bound to his words of prayer. Thus tefillah lishmah creates the vessel that allows the hidden to become revealed.

One who receives pleasure from another is called 'nukva' (feminine/receptive) in relation to the one giving pleasure. Therefore, when Hashem, as it were, receives pleasure from Israel's prayers — He becomes 'nukva' in relation to Israel. This is the meaning of the verse 'A fire-offering, a pleasing aroma to Hashem' (Numbers 28:2) — through the pleasing aroma of Israel's prayers, Hashem receives pleasure and enters the aspect of 'nekevah' (the feminine). This is the mystery of the verse: 'A woman encircles a man' (Jeremiah 31:22) — the inner p'nimiyus becomes external. Now the verse is explained: 'Ki va'mayim ta'avor' — 'ta'avor' (you will pass/cross) is the language of revelation, as Onkelos translates the verse 'And Hashem passed over Egypt' (Exodus 12:23) as 'Hashem was revealed.' And 'mayim' (waters) = Torah (Bava Kama 17a). Therefore: when you desire that the hidden within Torah be revealed to you — 'itti ani' — 'with you I am' — meaning: you will make the vessel called Ani, and then the hidden will be revealed.