A non-Jew to recite Patakh Eliyahu

Question

Is a non-Jew allowed to recite Patakh Eliyahu because he knows the use of it a little bit? Thank you very much

Answer 1

Yes, a non-Jew may learn and recite Patach Eliyahu. That section of Tikunei Zohar speaks of G-d's unity which is the foundation of being a Righteous Gentile. Although there is a general prohibition for non-Jews to study Torah(1), it is a Mitzvah for them to study the details of the 7 commandments of Noah(2). For this reason the Lubavitcher Rebbe1-2-3 encouraged Bnei Noach to learn the second part of Tanya (Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah). That treatise actually expounds upon Patach Eliyahu, it being essential in order to adequately understand G-d’s unity.1-2

Being that it speaks of delicate concepts in Kabbalah that are readily misunderstood, he should study it with an observant Jew or a commentary.

Sources:

(1) Implication of Sanhedrin 59a and Ran there; See Lechem Mishneh on Rambam Melachim 10:9 who implies the actual prohibition is Biblical, and falls under the seven Noahide laws, although the punishment of death is Rabbinical. Other opinions: Some Poskim imply that the prohibition of a gentile learning Torah is only Rabbinical. [See Kesef Mishneh on Rambam ibid that the verse is a mere Asmachta, hence implying that the entire prohibition is only Rabbinical].

(2) Meiri Sanhedrin 59a; Likkutei Sichos 14:o 38; 27:p246 in footnote.

Translation:

Elijah opened [his discourse] and said: Master of the worlds, You are One but not in the numerical sense. You are exalted above all the exalted ones, hidden from all the hidden ones; no thought can grasp You at all. You are He who has brought forth ten “garments,” and we call them ten sefirot, through which to direct hidden worlds which are not revealed and revealed worlds; and through them You conceal Yourself from man. You are He who binds them together and unites them; and inasmuch as You are within them, whoever separates one from another of these ten sefirot, it is considered as if he had effected a separation in You. These ten sefirot proceed according to their order: one long, one short, and one intermediate. You are He who directs them, but there is no one who directs You— neither above, nor below, nor from any side. You have made garments for them, from which souls issue forth to man. You have made for them a number of bodies which are called “bodies” in comparison with the garments which cover them; and they are described [anthro­pomorphically] in the following manner: chesed (kindness)—the right arm; gevurah (severity, power)—the left arm; tiferet (beauty)—the torso; netzach (eternity, victory) and hod (splen- dor)—the two thighs; yesod (foundation)—the end of the torso, the sign of the Holy Covenant; malchut (kingship)—the mouth, which we call the Oral Torah; chochmah (wisdom)—the brain, that is, the thought within; binah (understanding)—the heart, by means of which the heart understands; and concerning the latter two [sefirot] it is written, “The secrets belong to the Lord our God”;' supernal keter (crown) is the crown of kingship, concern­ ־”,ing which it is said, “He declares the end from the beginning and it is the skull |upon which the] teftllin [are placed]. Within them is the Name [whose numerical value is] forty-five (spelled thus: יו״ד ה״א וא״ו ה״א) which is the path of atzilut (emanation); and the watering of the Tree [of the sefirot] with its arms and branches just as water irrigates a tree and it grows by that irrigation. Master of the worlds. You are the cause of causes and producer of effects, who waters the Tree through that fountain; and that fountain is as the soul to the body, which is the life of the body. In You, however, there is no similitude or likeness to anything within or without. You have created heaven and earth and brought forth from them the sun, the moon, the stars and the planets; and on earth—the trees, the green herbage, the Garden of Eden, the grasses, the beasts, the cattle, the fowl, the fish, and mankind; in order to make known through them the Supernal Realms, how the higher and lower worlds are conducted, and how the higher worlds may be known from the lower. However, there is none who can know You at all. Without You there is no unity in the higher or lower realms, and You are known as the Cause of all and the Master of all. Each seftrah has a specific Name by which the angels are also designated. You, however, have no specific Name, for You permeate all the Names, and You are the perfection of them all. When You remove Yourself from them, all the Names remain as a body without a soul. You are wise, but not with a knowable attribute of wisdom; You understand, but not with a knowable attribute of understand­ ing; You have no specific place. [You clothed Yourself in the seftrot] only to make known to mankind Your power and strength and to show them how the world is conducted through law and mercy—for there is righteousness and justice which are dispensed according to the deeds of man. Law is gevurah (severity, power); justice is the middle column; righteousness is the holy malchut (kingship); the scales o f righteousness are the two supports o f truth; hin (measure) of righteousness is the sign of the Holy Covenant. All these are to show how the world is conducted, but not that You possess a knowable righteousness—which is law, nor a knowable justice—which is mercy, nor any of these attributes at all. Blessed' is God forever. Amen, Amen.

Ten Sefirot - Essay

Answer 2

Interpreting "knows the use of it" as

• it's a prayer (Kisse Melekh to TZ 17a: "This long prayer, its explanation is bigger than the size of the earth, and is arranged in Hadrat Melekh siman 176...)
• to fulfill the Noahide or pious gentile miswah to believe in H"Y and have no other gods or idolatry, namely by getting to know Him and His conduct of the universe

Then IMHO I can't see how there's any problem.

In addition, we find the Ohr Yisrael [brought in Kisse Melekh] commenting here along the latter purpose. This is found at Tikunei Zohar daf 17a which is where Patach Eliyahu is found, at the start.

TZ daf 17a

A second introduction to TZ

BRASYT BRA ELKYM etc. It's written (Dan. 12), "And those that enlighten shall zhine (ZHR) like the briliance (K'ZHR) of the firmament" etc. These are Rabbi Shimon Ben Yohai and his friends Rabbi Elazar his son ... What is K'ZHR? Rather, when they made this book it was approved from on High [which] called it SFR HZHR.

[... permission was given to teach them .. and Eliyahu opened and said ...]

Ohr Yisrael: It seems to me that's why they're called Tikkunim, as it's written [HZOHR] "the enlightened/alerted person" - when a man knows why he was created and Who created him then he can serve Him.
Indeed as a rule the world has no repair [Tikkun] unless it's known why the world was created. And this is included in these Tikkunim where[ever] the word BR"A [occurs, it explains:] Why was it created? So they are indeed, indeed, the repair of the world.