75 The Doctrine Of Kavanot birth, suckling and Mokhin , in the attainment of which ‒ the last stage in the long process of restoration ‒ they reach their full completion . “The general rule is”, writes Rabbi Hayim Vital, “that the joining together of Abba and Imma is always for the purpose of bringing down the higher lights from the layers above them to the layers below them” ( Sha’ar ha - Kavanot , Jerusalem 1902, 19, p . 3 ) . In another passage, where he reiterates this intention of the prayer of Shema , Rabbi Hayim Vital stresses the connection between it and the Prayer of Amida , or Eighteen Benedictions ( “Shemoneh - Esreh” ) , which comes immediately after it in Jewish liturgy : “The business of Shema ,” he writes, “is the joining together of Abba and Imma and bringing down the Mokhin to Zeir Anpin and Nukva . The business of Amida that follows, is the joining together of Zeir Anpin and Nukva . ” ( Ibid . , 22, p . 3 ) . From those two quotations we learn, first of all, that a p...
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