Kabbalah Library
Zohar for All, Volume 10
Prayer, Outcry, Tear
228. In the whole world, there are none that can stand before the Creator but repentance and prayer of a person. There are three kinds of repentance: prayer, outcry, tear, and they are all written in this verse, “Hear my prayer, Lord, and listen to my outcry; do not be silent toward my tear.”
229. All three are important in the eyes of the Creator, but of all of them, none is as important as the tear, since with tears, the heart and desire, and the whole body follow, and come before the Creator in thirteen gates.
230. Hearing is written about prayer, as it is written, “Hear my prayer, Lord.” It is written about the outcry, “and listen to my outcry.” A tear is not like them, but more than all of them, for it is written, “Do not be silent toward my tear.”
231. A prayer, at times, when a person prays his prayer, the Creator hears but does not want to grant his wish and is silent toward him and does not notice him, since only hearing is written about it.
232. An outcry is more important than a prayer for he cries out with his heart’s desire before his Master. Because he puts his desire more, it is written about it “listen,” as one who listens to the speaker. For this reason, He is silent and does not wish to grant his wish.
But a tear is with the heart and with the desire of the whole body. This is why it is written about it, “Do not be silent toward my tear.”
233. Not all tears come before the king. Tears of anger and tears of one who passes judgment against his neighbor do not come before the King. Rather the tears of prayer and repentance, and those who pray a prayer out of their plight, they all breach firmaments and open gates, and come before the King.
234. On the day when the Temple was ruined, all the gates were locked, but the gates of tears were not locked. It is written in Hezekiah, “I heard your prayer; I saw your tear,” truly seeing through the tears.
235. It is written about the days to come, “And the Lord God shall wipe the tears from all the faces.” There are tears for the better, and there are tears for the worse. For the better, when they are of the good inclination. For the worse, when they are of the evil inclination. It is written about tears during trouble and tears of prayer, “They shall come in weeping, and I shall lead them in pleas.”
