Taking it With You: A Chamber for the Shechinah
It is written, “And she (the Shunammite) said to her husband, ‘Behold now, I know that this is a holy man of the Lord who passes by us continually. Let us make a little chamber on the wall, and let us set before him a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick’ (II Kings 4:9-10).”
Here we have an allusion to prayer:
“Behold now, I know,” refers to the concentration of mind during prayer.
“I know that this is a holy man of the Lord,” refers to the supernal world which sits upon its Throne of Glory and from where emanate all sanctifications and which sanctifies all worlds.
“Passes by us continually,” with the sanctification through which all the worlds are nourished, He also sanctifies us below, for there can be no sanctification above without sanctification below, as it is written, “I shall be sanctified in the midst of the Children of Israel (Leviticus 22:32).”
Therefore, “Let us make a little chamber,” let us have an ordered service as a stay for the Shechinah, who is called ‘wall,’ as in the verse, “And Hezekiah turned his face to the wall (Isaiah 38:20.” This stay created by our prayers and praises consists of a bed, a table, a stool, and a candlestick. (Zohar II 133a)
The Kedusha of U’va l’Tzion is the ‘stay’ we create for the Shechinah to remain with us after our Ordered Prayer of the Amidah. It is our way of creating a place for the Divine Presence to remain with us after we have completed our prayers.