Prayer is a universal practice across almost all religions. It is the daily practice of a large part of the world's population to pray to the One Above. And yet how many of those who stand in prayer before G-d regularly or irregularly can lucidly explain what they are doing?
To state the problem more clearly: why does the all-knowing, all-powerful, compassionate G-d need me to apply to him on a regular basis, praising him, as well as beseeching him to fill mundane and seemingly insignificant needs. If he is all-knowing, he already knows what I need. If he is all-powerful why does he require my praise. If he is compassionate, why does he wait for me to pray to him before answering my prayer, and why is it that sometime my prayer goes unanswered?
This essay or discourse by the Tzemach Tzedek for the first time addresses and answers all these questions in an orderly fashion, describing in the process the network of spheres that make up the system of G-d's energy channeled down to this world through a series of contractions and manipulations. The Tzemach Tzedek also explains the relationship in the Jewish faith between the two poles of the prayer experience, the Sh'ma Yisrael and the Amidah prayer.
Most importantly, this essay discussed the kabbalistic concept of unifications ("yichudim") - how these unifications are an essential part of our relationship with G-d and how they guide our growth as spiritual individuals and as partners in the Creation.
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