Rabbi Chaim Ben-Atar, known as the holy Or HaChaim for his famous commentary on the Torah, was born in 5456 (1696) in Morocco. Even in his youth, he was known as a holy and scholarly man of God. Near the end of 5501 (1741), he made aliyah to the Land of Israel, but on the way he travelled through Livorno, Italy, where he raised funds for the yeshivah he planned to start in the holy land. It was in Livorno that he printed his famous commentary on the Torah.
When he arrived in the Land of Israel with his students, they first established there yeshivah in Acre and afterward in Tiberias and Peki’in. By 5502 he had moved to Jerusalem, where his yeshivah, Midreshet Knesset Yisrael, finally took root.
The Ba’al Shem Tov said that the holy Or HaChaim was the Mashiach of the generation. The Or HaChaim himself alluded to this, writing, “the name of the Mashiach is Chaim.” His Torah commentary was honored throughout the Jewish world and particularly among the disciples of the Ba’al Shem Tov. The Rebbe Rayatz, the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, related that the Or HaChaim wrote his commentary from the Torah lessons that he would teach his daughters. Less than a year after his arrival in Jerusalem, the Or HaChaim passed away on the 15th of Tamuz, 5503 (1743), and is buried on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.
When the holy Or HaChaim arrived in Jerusalem, he also had a small study hall where he lived and taught. It can still be visited today.
Once, on a holy Shabbat, during the third meal—also known as Ra’ava DeRa’avin, meaning the Will of Wills—the Or Hachaim extended his discourse until the end of Shabbat. The students prayed, performed the Havdalah ceremony, and all left, except for the rabbinic scholar, Rabbi Chaim Yosef David Azulai, the illustrious Chida, who was the last to leave. It was the middle of winter, and as soon as he stepped outside, it began to pour, making it impossible to walk in the street. The Chida remained standing by his teacher’s door, not daring to open it and re-enter. After a long time, Rabbi Chaim opened the door and invited him in. Once the Chida entered and sat down, the Or HaChaim asked for his forgiveness, explaining that the reason he had not opened the door earlier was that as soon as the Chida had left, Elijah the Prophet had come in to speak with him. They had secret matters to discuss, and therefore the Or HaChaim couldn’t open the door.
"I knew that when Elijah entered, the heavy rain began," said the holy Or Hachaim. "And there is a connection between the two. I also knew that you were outside, and I felt badly that you were getting wet, but I could not let you in [since the Or HaChaim's house was just a small room, there was no place for another person to be there while holy secrets were being revealed]. However, because you suffered so much out in the rain, I will compensate you a bit by sharing one thing that I can reveal from the words of Elijah the Prophet: During the Shabbat evening service, after Lecha Dodi (a liturgical song), we say Psalm 92, the psalm for the day of Shabbat. According to many customs, it is specifically during this psalm that we receive the sanctity of Shabbat upon ourselves, and work becomes forbidden. Now, Elijah the Prophet told me that this psalm should be recited while standing."
Today, in many places (including Chabad), it is customary to recite the psalm while standing, but in the time of the holy Or HaChaim, this was a great innovation. What is the significance of standing specifically during the Shabbat eve prayers?
Standing is associated in Kabbalah with the World of Atzilut (Emanation). Even in the weekday prayer order, the Silent Prayer, the Amidah, is directed towards the World of Atzilut. Hence, according to the straightforward understanding of Kabbalah, standing during the Shabbat eve prayers signifies reaching Atzilut at that time. This is because the sanctity of Shabbat is related to Mochin DeAbba (the intellectual sefirot of Abba), wisdom, and "Abba nests in Atzilut."
To delve a bit deeper: standing in many contexts signifies eternity, permanence, and immutability. "I, Havayah, do not change; and [therefore,] you, the children of Jacob, are not consumed." An example of the connection between “standing” and “eternity” can be found in the story about the prophet Elisha who miraculously provided the widow of Obadiah the prophet with a very large amount of oil, which kept increasing until the Bible says, "the oil stood," which literally means that the oil stopped increasing in quantity. However, the sages say that this phrase, “the oil stood” implies that the oil that was created would continue to sustain the widow's family until the Resurrection of the Dead—the ultimate eternity. Thus, standing is what connects this world, our present reality, with the World to Come and with the eternal state attained after the Resurrection of the Dead. Incidentally, like Shabbat, oil hints at the inner dimension of wisdom.
Eternity itself can indeed be associated with the sefirah of netzach (Eternity), but in Kabbalah, the primary meaning of this sefirah is victory. Netzach reaches eternity only after the greatest victory, the victory over the Angel of Death. This can be achieved only through wisdom, which "gives life to those who possess it," the first sefirah and hence the root of the right axis of the sefirot, whose ultimate purpose and end is in netzach.
The supernal world of Atzilut (Emanation) is completely beyond time, and it serves as the root of the time dimension as experienced in the lower worlds (Creation, Formation, and Action). The extension from the beginning of the right axis (wisdom) to its end (victory/eternity), represents a revelation of Godliness that is itself beyond time, but which shines into our limited reality that is governed by time, creating eternity as we know it: something that exists forever. The revelation of Elijah the Prophet, here depicted as Elijah coming to visit the Or HaChaim and speak to him about the Torah’s mysteries, can be described as he whose life is eternal (Elijah, since he continues to possess a body of sorts) connecting with someone who has attained the soul level known as “the living one” (chayah) since this level of the soul corresponds with the sefirah of wisdom as it is in the world of Emanation (Atzilut).
The inner secret of standing during the Shabbat eve prayers, therefore, is to reach a taste of the "World to Come," akin to the Resurrection of the Dead and eternal life. Indeed, the sages explain that the opening words of 92, “A Psalm, a Song for the Shabbat day” mean “a Psalm, a song for the future, for the day that will be entirely Shabbat and rest for everlasting life.”
