(lit. "midnight restitution"). A ceremony, primarily among kabbalists, in which lamentations and prayers are recited at midnight to mark the exile (Galut) of the Divine Presence (Shekhinah) and its redemption.
The custom of rising at midnight and reciting hymns and praises already existed at the time of Sherira Gaon and was considered a pious practice. Hai Gaon linked this custom to a talmudic legend according to which God mourns throughout the night for the destruction of the Temple and the exile of the Jewish people (Ber. 3a). Asher Ben Jehiel (13th cent.) stated that "it is fitting for every God-fearing person to be grieved and distressed at midnight, and to lament the destruction of the Temple" (commentary on Ber. 3a).
The kabbalists adopted this pious custom and regarded it as a tikkun---a human action which affects and restores the Godhead. The Zohar regards midnight as an appropriate hour for the pious to awaken and study the Torah, this having a beneficial influence on both those who study and on the upper worlds. At the same time, the Zohar does not use the phrase Tikkun Ḥatsot, nor does it enumerate the lamentations to be said at midnight for the Divine Presence in exile.
The fixed text for Tikkun Ḥatsot was composed by the 16th-century kabbalists in Safed. According to the custom of the followers of Isaac Luria, Tikkun Ḥatsot is composed of two parts, reflecting two aspects of the Divine Presence: Tikkun Leah and Tikkun Raḥel. During Tikkun Raḥel, which symbolizes the Divine Presence in exile, certain mourning rites are practiced and Psalms 137 and 89, the last chapters of Lamentations, and lamentations which were composed in Safed and in Jerusalem are recited. Tikkun Leah, which follows Tikkun Raḥel, also includes the recitation of psalms and the reading of various piyyutim (religious poems) and stresses redemption and consolation. This custom later spread from Safed to other Jewish communities.
