אותיות נקודות וטעמיםThe Soul in Each Word

otiyyot nekudot u-te'amimIn Gamatria ↗

Letters, vowels, notes: body, spirit, breath in every word.

Citing the heavenly Maggid's advice to R. Yosef Karo, the author says to think during prayer only of the words themselves, not of their mystical intentions. No one can fathom the Men of the Great Assembly, who hid every repair of the worlds inside the fixed liturgy. One should picture each word in its letters as it leaves the mouth. Every word has nefesh, ruach and neshamah, as a person does. The letters are deed (writing), the vowel points are speech (they let the letters be voiced), and the cantillation marks are thought. Praying this way binds the whole soul into each word.

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