Nefilat Apayim

Sources

The worshipper has next to fall on his face in token of surrender of his soul, among all the souls and spirits which the Shekinah at that moment collects in the “bundle of life”.

Zohar, Vayakhel 10:113

R. Simeon began a discourse, citing the verse: “[A Psalm] of David. Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift my soul. O my God, in thee have I trusted”, etc. (Ps. 25, 1-22). ‘Why did David’, he asked, ‘compose this Psalm in an alphabetic acrostic, and besides, why is the letter Vau absent therefrom? Why, again, has this Psalm been prescribed as the “falling-on-one’s-face prayer”?

Zohar, Bamidbar 8:66

Thus in the morning a man takes upon himself the yoke of heaven by reciting the Psalm headed “Praise of David”, followed by ten “Hallelukahs”, to wit, the five Psalms each commencing with “Hallelukah” and ending with “Hallelukah”, with the very last of them containing ten, times the expression “praise ye” (Ibid. 150).

Zohar, Bamidbar 6:57

There follows the pronouncement of the blessing of the people by the priests in order to embrace all Israel at the moment when they receive blessings. For at that moment the Community of Israel receives blessings, and it is a propitious moment to surrender our souls to Him in the full willingness of our heart when we fall on our faces and recite the Psalm: “Unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul…” (Ps. 25, 1), which should be the expression of our full and complete self-surrender to Him. These are the six precepts that are bound up with our daily prayer…

Zohar, Vayakhel 11:154

Balaam could avail himself of all the lower grades, but he saw that even the lowest was still guided by the head. Hence his declaration: “How shall I curse, whom EL hath not cursed?”, because the superior Head did not exercise rigour in those days.

Zohar, Bamidbar 5:47

Korah quarrelled with peace, and he who quarrels with peace quarrels with the Holy Name, because the Holy Name is called peace.

Zohar, Korach 1:5

Rav commanded to the family of Rav Aḥa, Rebbi Immi commanded to his own family, if you go out on the fast day you should not incline normally. Rebbi Jonah inclined on his side; Rebbi Aḥa inclined on his side. Rebbi Samuel said, I saw Rebbi Abbahu inclining normally. Rebbi Yose said, I pointed out a difficulty before Rebbi Abbahu, is it not written, a maskit stone you shall not put up in your land to bow down on it. Explain it if he fixed a place for it. But is it not written, it was when David arrived at the mountaintop where one bows down before God? Except bowing down…

Jerusalem Talmud Avodah Zarah 4:1:5

A man must then look upon himself as having departed this world, his soul having been surrendered to the region of death. This is the reason that that Psalm does not contain the letter Van, since that letter is symbolic of the Tree of Life, whereas that Psalm is concerned with the Tree of Death. For there are sins which are beyond forgiveness until a man departs this world, of which Scripture says: “Surely this iniquity shall not be expiated by you till ye die” (Isa. 22, 14), so that man has given himself over, as it were, to death, and delivered his soul into that region…

Zohar, Bamidbar 8:74

and he cries with a loud voice: “Ye upper and lower beings! Bring witness of him who, by reclaiming sinners becomes a ‘maker of souls’, that he deserves to be crowned and is worthy to enter now into the presence of the King and the Matrona, because the King and the Matrona enquire after him!”

Zohar, Terumah 7:46

The Gemara cited an incident involving Rav, and now it returns to examine the matter itself. Rav once happened to come to Babylonia on a public fast. He stood and read from a Torah scroll. When he began to read, he recited a blessing, but when he concluded, he did not recite a blessing. Everyone else fell on their faces, i.e., bowed down on the floor, during the taḥanun supplication, as was the custom, but Rav did not fall on his face. The Gemara asks: What is the reason that Rav did not fall on his face?…

Megillah 22b:10-15

The following are Torah mitzvoth according to other Torah authorities and according to the Holy Zohar:

Sha'arei Kedusha, Part 1 4:12

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