The Rema in the Shulchan Aruch – Orach Chaim 1:2-3 brings down as Halachah the importance of awakening at midnight in order to mourn the destruction of the Temple. Amazingly, though this is brought down at the very beginning of the Shulchan Aruch, most people will only really glance through it quickly to get through it in order to get to learn “real” Halachah.
Of course, this Halachah is just as equally as important as all the rest. In fact in terms of making a beginning to one’s day and one’s life, it is perhaps the most important thing one can do. Perhaps it is neglected because many don’t understand it well enough or perhaps because life in today’s times moves too fast to allow for people to get to bed early enough to awaken early enough to do the midnight prayers.
Nevertheless, be that as it may, we will look today at what Rabbi Chaim Vital teaches us regarding the midnight prayers known as Tikkun Chatzot – or “The Midnight Repair”. We are not discussing the text (which is readily available at any general Torah bookstore) but rather just looking at the importance of it for now. We are also not discussing the exact time for saying these prayers.
The most important thing to keep in mind is that the Torah clock is based upon sunrise/sunset / dawn/nightfall as opposed to the clock of 12am being midnight. Another important point to keep in mind is that רחמנה ליבא בעי – The Merciful-One desires the heart! With this in mind let us continue:
In discussing the importance of awakening at midnight, Rabbi Chaim Vital says in Shaar HaKavanot Derushei HaLayla Derush 4:
What comes out from everything discussed is that a person should accustom himself in this way as we shall discuss, and through this, he will be beloved Above and desired Below. There will be a thread of kindness drawn over him during the day and he will be called amongst those members of the palace of the Holy Queen.
And this is the matter: At the beginning of the night when he wants to go to sleep, he should recite the order (of prayers) as structured. The purpose of sleep is to have his soul ascend in the secret of the Dormita, in order that his soul will be a part of the secret of Mayin Nukvin (female waters i.e. an awakening from below – for the purpose of causing an awakening from Above) in order to couple Leah with Yaakov after midnight – because before midnight Leah also stands with her back…
After he cries (for the pain of the Shechinah and the destruction of the Temple etc.) he should get up and occupy himself in the study of Torah until the light of morning – and he should do this for Rachel (i.e. the Partzuf). This is the secret of King David who occupied himself in Torah with songs and praises the entire midnight and onward, and to give help and support to the Sechinah which is Rachel…
At dawn, Rachel is rectified in order for her to ascend during the morning prayer in the world of Atzilut and where she couples with her husband. Without a doubt, a person who has the active intention for all these things is called truthfully the friend of the Queen.
Through this one can understand the great praise that the Zohar praises about someone who occupies himself in Torah after midnight. Know that the main thing is that a person should put in all his effort to occupy himself in Torah from midnight onwards until dawn and then go and pray and he should not make any interruption of sleep at all – and with regards to this thing, there is nothing greater than this!
