practical kabbalahfeatured in 40 works

Kavanot HaTefillah (Mystical Intentions of Prayer)

kah-vah-NOT hah-teh-fee-LAH

Directing a prayer at the specific inner "machinery" it is meant to affect — aiming the words at the configurations and unifications they correspond to.

Most people think of prayer as asking for things. Kabbalists taught that certain prayers are precision instruments — each phrase aimed at a specific point in the hidden structure of creation, where the words, correctly applied, "channel the will of the Ein Sof into structured life." Kavanot HaTefillah are the focused intentions that aim a prayer at the specific part of the system it is meant to influence: the configurations, Names, and unifications a given passage corresponds to. This is how prayer becomes not just a request but an act that helps reconnect the channels of creation. (See "Leshem Yichud" for the everyday entry-point to this.)

How it traveled

Zohar
Guadalajara · 1280
explains
Tikkunei Zohar
Guadalajara · 1280
explains
Zohar Chadash
Guadalajara · 1290
explains
Recanati on the Torah
Recanati · 1300
explains
Sefer HaKanah
Castile · 1380
explains
Avodat HaKodesh (Ibn Gabbai)
Cairo · 1523
explains
Sha'ar HaMitzvot
Tzfat · 1565
explains
Sha'ar HaKavanot
Tzfat · 1570
explains
Sha'ar HaPesukim
Tzfat · 1570
explains
Pri Etz Chaim
Tzfat · 1572
explains
Sefer Etz Chaim
Tzfat · 1573
explains
Reshit Chokhmah
Tzfat · 1575
explains
Sha'ar Ruach HaKodesh
Damascus · 1610
explains
Ohr HaChammah on Zohar
Tzfat · 1620
explains
Mikdash Melekh, RaMaZ Commentary on Zohar
Tzfat · 1680
redefines
Mekor Mayim Chayim on Baal Shem Tov
Medzhybizh (Ukraine) · 1700
explains
Maaseh Rokeach on Mishnah
Amsterdam · 1735
redefines
Mikdash Melekh on Zohar
Tzfat · 1750
explains
Sefer Baal Shem Tov al HaTorah
Medzhybizh (Ukraine) · 1750
explains
Ben Porat Yosef
Polonne (Polnoye, Volhynia) · 1760
explains
Be'er Mayim Chaim
Czernowitz (Chernivtsi) · 1775
redefines
Toldot Yaakov Yosef
Polonne (Polnoye, Volhynia) · 1780
explains
Arvei Nachal
Krakow (Cracow) · 1780
explains
Yahel Ohr on Zohar
Vilna (Vilnius) · 1790
explains
Agra DeKala
Dinov (Dynów) · 1801
explains
Likutei Moharan
Breslov (Ukraine) · 1802
explains
Likkutei Torah
Liadi · 1810
explains
Zera Kodesh
Ropshitz (Ropczyce) · 1810
explains
Torah Ohr
Liadi · 1813
explains
Maor VaShemesh
Krakow (Cracow) · 1817
explains
Bnei Yissaschar
Dinov (Dynów) · 1820
explains
Bat Ayin
Tzfat · 1820
explains
Tiferet Shlomo
Radomsk · 1825
explains
Beit Aharon
Karlin (Pinsk) · 1830
explains
Likutei Halakhot
Breslov (Ukraine) · 1840
explains
Shem MiShmuel
Sochaczew · 1925
redefines
Talmud Eser HaSefirot
Jerusalem · 1939
explains
Sulam on Zohar
Jerusalem · 1945
explains
Sources and References on Likkutei Torah
Liadi
explains
Sources and References on Torah Ohr
Liadi
explains

Key passages(20)

REF ref-aryeh-kaplan-meditation-and-kabbalah

Meditation and Kabbalah · Aryeh Kaplan

Citation only · not on Sefaria

Very high

Sha'ar HaKavanot, Sermons on Intentions of the Shema Recitation.3 1:4↗explains

Sha'ar HaKavanot · Chaim Vital · 1570 CE

How it traveled

Key passages(20)

Modern teachers who discuss this idea