Morning Blessings-Chanukah Kavanah-Tallit: Cloaked in Light

“You have donned majesty and splendor; cloaked in light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a curtain (Psalms 104:2).” The Midrash asks, From where was light created? They answer, We are taught that God wrapped Himself in light as a garment, and brought illumination to the world. The teacher whispered this answer. His students wondered, why would the teacher only whisper his answer when we have a verse, “You have donned majesty and splendor; cloaked in light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a curtain”? The teacher responded, “Just as I received it in a whisper, so too, I said it to you in a whisper.”

Reb Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin explains that when the master said, “I received it in a whisper,” he meant to convey that he received a small spark of this light that then penetrated and filled his entire heart.

We expect when we wrap ourselves in the Tallit to be wrapped in God’s light. However, our objective should be to receive that first spark that can penetrate deep into our heart and then spread out until it bursts forth from the inside and wraps us just as we are wrapped in the Tallit.

Please see abd compare to Kedushat Levi in “Hallel: Rosh Chodesh Tevet Kavanot“