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Share(כו) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֔ים נַֽעֲשֶׂ֥ה אָדָ֛ם בְּצַלְמֵ֖נוּ כִּדְמוּתֵ֑נוּ וְיִרְדּוּ֩ בִדְגַ֨ת הַיָּ֜ם וּבְע֣וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֗יִם וּבַבְּהֵמָה֙ וּבְכָל־הָאָ֔רֶץ וּבְכָל־הָרֶ֖מֶשׂ הָֽרֹמֵ֥שׂ עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃(כז) וַיִּבְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ אֶת־הָֽאָדָם֙ בְּצַלְמ֔וֹ בְּצֶ֥לֶם אֱלֹהִ֖ים בָּרָ֣א אֹת֑וֹ זָכָ֥ר וּנְקֵבָ֖ה בָּרָ֥א אֹתָֽם׃
(26) And God said, “Let us make humans in our image after our likeness....(27) And God created human in God's image, in the image of God, God created him; male and female God created them.
רַב שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר אִינְיָא מִשְּׁמֵיהּ דְּרַב מָקוֹם יֵשׁ לוֹ לְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא וּמִסְתָּרִים שְׁמוֹ
וּמִי אִיכָּא בְּכִיָּה קַמֵּיהּ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא וְהָאָמַר רַב פָּפָּא אֵין עֲצִיבוּת לִפְנֵי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר הוֹד וְהָדָר לְפָנָיו עוֹז וְחֶדְוָה בִּמְקוֹמוֹ לָא קַשְׁיָא הָא בְּבָתֵּי גַוָּאֵי הָא בְּבָתֵּי בַרָאֵי
וּבְבָתֵּי בַרָאֵי לָא וְהָא כְּתִיב וַיִּקְרָא אדני יהוה צְבָאוֹת בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא לִבְכִי וּלְמִסְפֵּד וּלְקׇרְחָה וְלַחֲגוֹר שָׂק שָׁאנֵי חֻרְבַּן בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ דַּאֲפִילּוּ מַלְאֲכֵי שָׁלוֹם בְּכוֹ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר הֵן אֶרְאֶלָּם צָעֲקוּ חוּצָה מַלְאֲכֵי שָׁלוֹם מַר יִבְכָּיוּן:וְדָמֹעַ תִּדְמַע וְתֵרַד עֵינִי דִּמְעָה כִּי נִשְׁבָּה עֵדֶר יהוה
Rav Shmuel bar Inya said in the name of Rav: The Holy One, Blessed be God, has a place where God cries, and its name is Mistarim.
The Gemara asks: But is there crying before the Holy One, Blessed be God? Didn’t Rav Pappa say: There is no sadness before the Holy One, Blessed be God, as it is stated: “Honor and majesty are before God; strength and gladness are in God's place” (I Chronicles 16:27)? The Gemara responds: This is not difficult. This statement, that God cries, is referring to the innermost chambers, where God can cry in secret, whereas this statement, that God does not cry, is referring to the outer chambers.
The Gemara asks: And doesn’t God cry in the outer chambers? Isn’t it written: “And on that day the Lord, the God of hosts, called to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth” (Isaiah 22:12)? The Gemara responds: The destruction of the Temple is different, as even the angels of peace cried, as it is stated: “Behold, their valiant ones cry without; the angels of peace weep bitterly” (Isaiah 33:7).
... viewed from the outside, God behaves like a transcendent being, but in God's secret heart, God's innermost hiding place, God empathizes with the pain of God's creatures, longing for humans to initiate the tears that God cannot shed until flesh and blood lead the way. Chaim Vital’s slant on the talmudic notion that “the gates of tears were never locked” is that, because humans are created in God’s image, what happens below affects the Divine. An ordinary person crying for the loss of a loved one or filled with compassion for others impacts the Divine realm.
Vital’s suggests, “When one weeps and sheds tears for a good person, they also cause tears to be shed on high.” This is related to the prophet Jeremiah’s description of how God himself would like to cry but cannot:“Oh, that my head were waters” (Jer. 13:17) He mourns, but must wait for people to act before He can.
ברכות ל״ב ב:יהוה
וְאָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר: מִיּוֹם שֶׁחָרַב בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ נִנְעֲלוּ שַׁעֲרֵי תְּפִלָּה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״גַּם כִּי אֶזְעַק וַאֲשַׁוֵּעַ שָׂתַם תְּפִלָּתִי״. וְאַף עַל פִּי שֶׁשַּׁעֲרֵי תְפִילָּה נִנְעֲלוּ, שַׁעֲרֵי דִמְעָה לֹא נִנְעֲלוּ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״שִׁמְעָה תְפִלָּתִי יהוה וְשַׁוְעָתִי הַאֲזִינָה אֶל דִּמְעָתִי אַל תֶּחֱרַשׁ״.
Berakhot 32b:5
On the subject of prayer, Rabbi Elazar also said: Since the day the Temple was destroyed the gates of prayer were locked and prayer is not accepted as it once was, as it is said in lamentation of the Temple’s destruction: “Though I plead and call out, God shuts out my prayer” (Lamentations 3:8). Yet, despite the fact that the gates of prayer were locked with the destruction of the Temple, the gates of tears were not locked,as it is stated: “Hear my prayer, YHVH, and give ear to my pleading, keep not silence at my tears” (Psalms 39:13).
- How do you understand the ideas of the “gates of prayer” and the “gates of tears” How do prayer and tears function for you in moments of loss or distress?
- Have there been times when tears opened something that prayer, or even words, couldn’t? What is the role of tears or other expressions of vulnerability in the process of change/ liberation?
God,
blessed be He,
is to be found in His inner chambers,
weeping,
so that one who pushes in and comes close to Him
by means of studying Torah,
weeps together with God,
and studies Torah with Him.
the weeping,
the pain which a person undergoes himself,
alone,
may have the effect of breaking him,
of bringing him down,
so that he is incapable of doing anything.
that strengthens him.
he weeps—and is strengthened;
he is broken—but finds courage to study and teach.
time and again,
from the tribulations,
stretching his mind
to connect to the Torah and Divine service,
then he enters the Inner Chambers
where the Blessed Holy One is to be found;
he weeps and wails together with Him,
as it were,
and even finds the strength
to study Torah and serve Him.