Siman 115

The fourth blessing is "Atah Chonen." And why do we say it after the "Kedushah"? As it is written in Isaiah: "And they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob," and immediately following it: "And those who erred in spirit shall know understanding" (Megillah 17b). And it contains seventeen words (Tur and Pri Etz Chaim), corresponding to the number of words in the verse "And you shall speak to all who are wise-hearted" (ibid.). And because the superiority of man over the beast is understanding and intellect, they therefore established it as the first of the middle blessings. And if there is no understanding, there is no prayer (ibid.). And we recite Havdalah within it on the conclusion of Shabbat and Yom Tov, for it is a matter of wisdom to distinguish between one thing and another (ibid.). That is to say: Havdalah in spiritual matters, such as between the sacred and the profane, is great wisdom. And the essence of the request is to ask of Hashem, may He be blessed, that He give him knowledge to despise evil and choose good (Eliyah Rabbah). And see what I wrote in siman 294.

The fifth blessing is "Hashivenu." And why do we say it after "Binah"? Because understanding leads to repentance, as it is written: "Make the heart of this people fat... lest they see with their eyes... and their heart understand, and they return and be healed" (Megillah ibid.). And it contains fifteen words corresponding to the fifteen words in the verse: "Let the wicked forsake his way" (Tur and Peri Etz Chaim). And great is repentance, for it reaches until the Throne of Glory, and from the earth to the firmament is five hundred years, and likewise each space between one firmament and another. Thus there are seven firmaments and six spaces between them, and the space from the earth until the first firmament, and the space from the seventh firmament until the Throne of Glory—behold, fifteen (ibid.). And the blessing begins with the letter Heh and ends with the letter Heh, corresponding to the Ten Days of Repentance (ibid.).

The sixth blessing is "Selah Lanu" (Forgive Us). And it is related to repentance, as it is written: "And let him return to Hashem and He will have mercy upon him, and to our God for He will abundantly pardon" (Megillah ibid.). And as for what they instituted to say "Our Father" in these two blessings, it is because a father is obligated to teach his son Torah. Therefore we say: "Return us, our Father, to Your Torah." And in "Selah Lanu" we arouse mercy, that He should have mercy upon us like the mercy of a father for his son, and that He should abundantly pardon our iniquities (Tur). And it contains twenty words (Pri Etz Chaim).

The seventh blessing is "Look, please, upon our affliction." This is the wording in the Tur, and he did not count the number of words in this blessing. However, in the book Peri Etz Chaim, he counted them as I wrote in siman 113, and he wrote that it is seventeen words. According to this, one must say "Look upon our affliction" and not "Look, please," and such is the opinion of the Maharshal in a responsum (siman 64). And there is one who wrote to say specifically "Look, please" (Magen Avraham), but I do not know who is able to decide contrary to the opinion of the Ari, of blessed memory, and the Maharshal supports him. And what did they see to say redemption in the seventh? Since we are destined to be redeemed in the seventh year—they established it in the seventh (Megillah ibid.).