Liturgy for the Ashmoret ha-boker (Morning Watch) Confraternity

A Note on the Order of Prayer for the Me’ire Shaḥar [“Those Who Awaken the Dawn”] Group, from the City of Modena

The Zohar, in the portion of Naso on the verse and in the night His song shall be with me (Psalms 42:9) greatly encourages people—especially the common folk—to rise at dawn to recite seliḥot (penitential prayers). It reads as follows:

It is likewise stated in [the Zohar on] the portion of Beshalaḥ: whoever cries and raises his voice over the destruction of the house of the Holy One will merit the fulfillment of the verse: hark, your watchmen! They lift up the voice, together they sing (Isaiah 52:8), as he will merit to see it when it is rebuilt in joy.

Similarly, it is implied in the introduction to the book of the Zohar, in the story involving Rav Ḥiyya, that every person, even if he is learned in the Torah, is obligated to rouse himself for this purpose, rather than exempting himself with his Torah study at the hour when the King directs His divine presence, thinking that he can perform both requirements. Otherwise, people might say about them that all the good they do is for their own benefit, Heaven forfend. On the contrary, the main idea of studying Torah “for its own sake” is to act toward the unification of the name of the Holy One and His divine presence. For a prayer over the destruction of the Temple is a great preparation for that unification which will come at the hour of the redemption, and it provides it with support and strength during the days of exile, as the prophet declares: rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her (Isaiah 66:10).

A bounteous rain You pour down, O God (Psalms 68:10) on the perfect ones, and also on many of the members of the holy congregation of Modena, may its Rock preserve and protect it. These companions hearken for the sound [see Song of Songs 8:13] of the call from “a watcher and a holy one from heaven” [see Daniel 4:10], who issues a great proclamation each and every day: the morning comes, and also the night (Isaiah 21:12). They wish to draw out the mercy of God all day [see Psalms 52:3] by performing this duty, not due to the obligation of a vow, but as a custom at the hour of His favor, like a baby suckling at his mother’s breast. They journey away from Kibroth-hattaavah (“The graves of lust”; see Numbers 11:34) and encamp in the courtyards of God. Night shines like the day (Psalms 139:12) for them, as their strength is increased through the might of Above.

The first who rise from their beds will sing out songs of love in loud voices until the assembly of the upright gathers together. At this point, all as one, they sweeten the world with the refrain: “Amen, May His great name [be blessed etc.].” From Mithkah [“sweetness”; see Numbers 33:28–29] they move on to encamp in Jotbah (“good land”; see Numbers 33:33–34), as they make their ears like funnels [see b. Ḥagigah 3b] to hear and understand the utterance that emerges from a mouth whose breath is untainted by sin [see b. Shabbat 119b]. This breath is like a fire of the bones, through the power of Torah study and fear of God, which perfects the voice and speech in awe and love. From there they ascend to Mount Hor [see Numbers 20:22–29] to sanctify the name of the Lord with the holiness of aggadah.

Their first supplications shine with the psalm: the Lord is my light (Psalm 27) together with half-Kaddish, which has the power, when it is recited at the start of every song, entreaty, and prayer, to break iron bolts; strong, chained seals; and evil husks, as the Holy One remembers His name and His children by means of this Kaddish.

From Mount Shepher [“Pleasant”; see Numbers 33:23–24] they journey to clothe themselves in trembling, through the sweet rectification prayers practiced by those who grieve in three worlds: with lamentations, moaning, woe [see Ezekiel 2:10]. They do so by reciting psalms and verses of lament over the departed glory of Israel [see 1 Samuel 4:21], like a guilt-offering for robbery [see Leviticus 5:20–26] and a guilt-offering for trespass [see Leviticus 5:14–16].

The shouting for the King is among them [see Numbers 23:21], as they confirm and establish the verse and His kingdom rules over all (Psalms 103:19) upon the eleven curtains (Exodus 26:7) whose dwelling is outside the camp [see Leviticus 13:46], and which are adorned with ivory, apes, and peacocks (1 Kings 10:22). Their lips shall greatly rejoice [see Psalms 71:23] with the sweet songs of David, so that they can be as branches down here below, to sweeten the two tears that fall into the Great Sea [Zohar 1:26b:6]. And from the hope of Israel, the Lord (Jeremiah 17:13), their intention is to whiten that part of their soul which is alluded to by the seraph, angel, and ofan angels [see Ezekiel 1:15], through the power and allusion of “water, natron, and lye” [see, e.g., m. Niddah 9:6]. This occurs by means of the emergent living waters, when they pronounce with love and fear, two or three times over, the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy [see Exodus 34:6–7].

After they have sanctified themselves with the waters, the stains of their iniquities are purified through the eulogy and the confession that is prepared for the rectification of sins, iniquities, and transgressions in the upper, middle, and lower worlds. Consequently, the Holy One alone will attend to their judgment, as they entrust and hand over their souls into His hand at the end of their confession, with a broken heart, for the sanctification of His great name. They shine a light upon the faith of your times, a hoard of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge (Isaiah 33:6).²

By virtue of the unification of God’s name in the Shema‘, together with other readings from the holy text, they can stir the ancient love, and raise the cup of salvation [see Psalms 116:13], to be a crown of beauty for those He carried from the womb [see b. Shabbat 42a].

They then awaken the “hind of the morn” [see Psalms 22:1; b. Yoma 29a] with the recollection of the covenant of Abraham and the binding of Isaac, while the power of the illumination of the bridges of mercy passes over their faces, and as the root of their souls rises up by means of the six-winged beings [i.e., seraphim].

Next, they bless God in holy assemblies [see Psalms 68:27], as they cast their burdens upon the Lord [see Psalms 55:23]. He will open up the upper constellations to them and satisfy them from His good treasure [see Deuteronomy 28:12].

Once they have completed their supplications, they have the strength to guard themselves from the knocking of shields at the aperture of the great abyss, through the power and might of the Full Kaddish, as it has the power to preserve prayer. Alternatively, they achieve this through the reading of the Torah, which closes up the mouth of Satan so that he cannot whet his tongue [see Exodus 11:7], neither he nor others like him. They show him his path on his way to Seir, while the assembly of Jacob travel to where the shelter of peace is spread over them [see Genesis 33:16–17], for the opening of the gates of plenty through the seven eyes of the Lord that run to and fro through the whole earth [see Zechariah 4:10].

They preserve faith by means of the eighteen [ḥay] blessings [i.e., Amidah], which are life [ḥay] to the head of the righteous. Each one of them answers “Amen” with all his strength after the blessing of a colleague, and this is the gift presented to the King, as expounded in Ra’aya mehemna on the portion of Ekev; and he who has clean hands grows stronger and stronger (Job 17:9).

On days of a late sunrise, one who is accustomed to reading the Bible should do so, and one who is accustomed to studying should do so, in order to unite the nighttime and the daytime with the adornments of the Written Torah and the Oral Torah. Their path takes them from there via a ladder into the chosen mikdash me‘at [“lesser sanctuary”],³ to the song and the prayer [see 1 Kings 8:28], through which they raise up the right hand of the Lord, which is glorious in the power [see Exodus 15:6] of mercy at the rectification of the Morning Prayer. Then one is wrapped in a mitzvah, which is the burden of a braying donkey, and in sacred items, as these are like spices at one’s feet and at the horns of a forewarned ox. The song of terrible ones [see Isaiah 25:5] are on their tongues when they recite the order of the sacrifices and the other preparatory passages for the ensuing songs. Their mouths are like flowing streams, like the precious stone that hung around the neck of our pious ancestor [see b. Bava Batra 16b]; their charity and prayer are perfected with the steadfast spirit [see Psalms 51:12] that is suitable for prayer. These are like the seated rectification in the “pleasant palaces” [see Isaiah 13:22], which are directed from below to above, and then from above to below in the standing prayer, with the addition of Kedushah and blessings to the left and right, in the second section.

Next comes the third section, with the emergence of song and cries in sad voices, to make their voice be heard on high [see Isaiah 58:4]. They complete the number of 613 commandments that are in the prayer, through the supplication of El melekh (“God, King”), and they pour out their souls before God after the revival of repentance from the place of its whitening, through the subdual of their iniquities and the casting of all their sins into the depths of the sea [see Micah 7:19]. This combines with the other rectification at the conclusion of the prayer to tie them with the right hand, to remove the sin that crouches at the door [see Genesis 4:7] of the “hind of the morn,” and to raise up the horn of David, the redemption, by means of the Kedushah de-sidra,⁴ which chases away and removes stones of stumbling and rocks of offense [see Isaiah 8:14]. Thus, the spices of the Garden of Eden will drip with the praises of the Lord. May God, God, the Lord [Psalms 50:1] send their assistance from the holy place, and create a pure heart within them [see Psalms 51:12], and help them for the sake of the glory of His name [see Psalms 79:9]; may they rejoice and be glad in His salvation.