a) By trusting G-d, meaning that one watches and looks expectantly for the Holy One alone while relying on Him, one creates a vessel for bounty; then one merits that that the bounty and income come at the time and moment one needs them, like it says, “ The eyes of all wait for You” and through this “You give them their food in its right time” (Psalms,145:15), in other words when it is needed.
b) There is an aspect of “My soul thirsts”. That’s to say like someone who is very thirsty who will drink even dirty water; so also in the service of G-d. There are people who are always in an aspect of thirst – they learn and serve G-d continually yet they are always ‘thirsty’ for their soul yearns continually for the service of G-d. But it is not in the right time or with intelligence because sometimes to cease from Torah is the way to preserve it, as it says, “It is a time to act for G-d, they made void Your Torah” (Psalms, 119:126). Their main thirst is in essence because they are in a state of ‘limited consciousness’ and they do not merit to a renewal of the mind. They are an aspect of those who cannot see or are blind in the service of G-d. The blind person lacks a feeling of satiation, as the Sages said. Therefore they cannot give satiation to their souls, or to quench their thirst in the service of G-d. This is the virtue of attachment to tzaddikim for, by this, one merits to serve G-d in an aspect of ‘seeing’ and ‘intellect’ which represent a boundary and proper time, not an aspect of thirst. Consequently, a Jew has to try to come close to tzaddikim, for even someone who constantly studies and serves G-d doesn’t know how to behave in his service without the advice of a tzaddik.
c) Through repentance resulting from a love of G-d, no impression remains from a person’s sins. Then he can merit to pray and study with a pure intellect, which is an aspect of ‘expanded consciousness’. Then he will merit to pray as is fitting as well as studying and understanding without great effort; and he will merit to renew his mind every single day.
77.
The rule is that whatever we do, whether prayer or studying Torah, it is all in order that the Kingdom of G-d become revealed.
Prayer (77)
“My soul thirsts for G-d, for the living G-d: when shall I come and appear before G_d.” Your mercy is great O Lord: quicken me according to Your judgments.” Master of the World, let me merit to repent sincerely and wholeheartedly before You. May I really repent out of love in order that You pardon me for all my iniquities, so that no impression at all remains of them. Let all my iniquities turn into meritorious deeds. Let me be worthy of a holy mind and intellect to a pure, refined intellect, free of any dross or waste, just like pure silver. Like silver that has been refined and purified seven-fold. May I merit to renew my mind all the time with great holiness and purity. Help me and save me at all times to learn and teach with a pure and refined mind. May I merit to understand very quickly indeed every book that I learn so that I need not peruse any further at all. May my mind progress and grow with great holiness, with tremendous speed, with purity and clarity. Help me merit to be very speedy in the service of Heaven and to understand everything in the words of Your holy Torah, perfectly and truthfully at great speed, without any confusion at all.
In Your bountiful mercy, give me the merit, show me and teach me all the time to really know how to behave in each matter and in the matter of learning the holy Torah, how to set a quantity and limit to my learning so that I know when to learn and when to cease whit it is absolutely necessary. Let this be in such a way that my brain and mind exist with great perfection and great holiness, as is Your good desire. Do not let a lot of learning and engaging (in holiness) beyond the limit harm me, as it is written: “It is time to act for the Lord, for they made void ceasing from learning the Torah is its continued existence.” “But I am more brutish (ignorant) than any man; and I have not the understanding of a man.” I have no idea how to behave in this matter so that it really be as Your desire, for sometimes I cease from learning completely, more than is really fitting, and sometimes my soul burns and is enthused and longs very much to learn all the time, without even a break or ceasing at all. In fact this is not good either, for Your desire is to set a limit to each thing.
Therefore I cast my supplication before You and spread out my hands in prayer towards You, my Father, merciful Father. You see, gaze, look upon and know the concealed, hidden feelings of my heart. In Your bountiful mercy and very great immense and awesome loving-kindness, grant me a holy mind. Guide me in Your truth and teach me at all times how to behave with regard to learning and with regard to all holy matters – when and how much to learn or teach, how much to do or engage myself in Your holy service. Let me know when to pause and break off for a little, according to the necessity, as is Your good desire, in order to give my brain a rest, so that I do not cease completely. Heaven forbid, by learning beyond the proper limit, as You know. Take pity and have mercy upon us for You know how many confusions and doubts there are in this matter, for each person is according to his spiritual level. We do not know what to advise our souls in this matter at all. Have mercy upon us for Your Name’s sake. Show me Your ways so that I merit to always determine and attune my behaviour in all matters in accordance to the ultimate truth. “Teach me Your way. O Lord. I will walk in Your truth: unite my heart to fear Your Name.” Lead me in Your truth and teach me: for You are the G-d of my salvation; for You I wait all the day.
78.”AND HE WILL GIVE STRENGTH TO HIS KING” ( Shmuel,1, 2:10)
a) Holy speech, meaning words of Torah and prayer and fear of G-d, is very sublime and precious; for holy speech is an aspect of the Divine Presence, an aspect of the revelation of His Kingship and His faith. It is an aspect of the Spirit of Meshiach, a Spirit of Holiness, an aspect of the Resurrection of the Dead and an aspect of the Unification of the Holy One and the Shechinah.
b) Speech is also an aspect of ‘Mother of the Sons’ meaning that like the mother always accompanies her sons, even into the filthy places, and doesn’t forget them, so also the power of speech accompanies a Jew at all times even into the filthy places in order to always remind him of the Holy One. That’s to say even if a Jew is situated in the lowest of spiritual levels, wherever he is, Heaven forbid, even so, through the power of speech he can forever remind himself of G-d’s presence in the world. In other words, even if he is where he is, when he strengthens himself even there to at least speak holy words of Torah and prayer, or to speak to G-d or to speak to his rabbi or friend about fear of G-d, he can always remind himself of G-d, even there in the places far away from the service of G-d which are like filthy places. Even if he fell to wherever he fell, Heaven preserve us, speech doesn’t let a person forget the Holy One. Understand well the greatness of the power of speech; it is a wonderful and awesome piece of advice to whoever really desires not to lose his world completely, Heaven forbid.
c) Without studying Torah it is impossible to live for sometimes a Jew burns with enthusiasm to cleave to G-d beyond measure such that he could become entirely burned out, Heaven forbid, because of his excessive burning enthusiasm. However, by studying Torah he cools the fire of this burning so that it will be in the proper measure and he can continue to exist. The opposite is also true, Heaven forbid, for sometimes a Jew burns with the desires of this world so much that he can burn all his body, Heaven forbid, from the intensity of the burning fire of cravings. However, when he studies Torah it shields him and saves him; it extinguishes the burning fire within him so that he can live. So it is that the main essence of life we acquire through studying Torah.
Prayer (78)
May it be Your will G-d our G-d and G-d of our Fathers that in Your great compassion You help me and merit me to sanctify the words of my mouth always. May I constantly say holy words every day and pray a lot. Protect us and guard us so that no word escape our lips that negates Your will. Let us never blemish our speech. Rather merit us to sanctify our speech at all times and to speak abundantly holy words and Torah and prayer.
My Father, compassionate Father, bring us close to Your holy Torah. Merit me to study and contemplate You Torah by day and night until I merit to cool down all my fiery passion by means of my words and Torah and prayer. For You know the degree to which my heart burns. Sometimes my mind becomes confused and this passion turns into a heart which burns for the physical cravings of This world. It becomes like a fiery furnace which wants to burn up my body and soul, Heaven forbid.
Now I have no wisdom or advice other than to shout out to You until You bring me closer to You for Your sake out of Your bountiful compassion. Hover over me and protect me. Save me. Blow on my heart so that this will put our the fire of my evil cravings. Drive out from me the spirit of folly. Merit me to draw upon me the spirit of life, the spirit of holiness. May I fulfill the verse which says: “Let the Book of Torah not cease from your lips and you will study it by day and night”.
And merit us to recognize You truly above and beyond all the worlds.
79. “TRUST IN THE LORD AND DO GOOD” (Psalms,37:3)
a) Every Jew has to see to it that he causes no delay in the coming of the Meshiach. That’s to say, he has to rectify his deeds and repent perfectly so that he will not hold back with his sins the coming of the Meshiach.
b) In every genuine tzaddik there exists a revelation of Meshiach. At least there is an attribute of Meshiach which is an aspect of Moshe meaning that he is very humble etc.; he truly knows his own lowliness while at the same time knowing the importance and greatness of the People of Israel. He is prepared to sacrifice his soul and his life-force for the sake of Israel. All this he merited to through such perfect repentance that all the evil was discarded entirely and he became totally good; this is also an aspect of Moshe Meshiach.
c) Those Jews who are not yet regular in the service of G-d and their repentance is still not perfect, but rather, sometimes they happen to have thoughts of repentance and begin a little to serve G-d but afterwards fall away from this and then arouse themselves, changing like this each time from bad to good and from good to bad, they are an aspect of once impure, once pure, once defiled once kosher etc. this kind of repentance is like the six work days of the week for this person hasn’t a sense of rest. However, when he repents perfectly this corresponds to Shabbat meaning that he feels at rest in every aspect; the evil is pushed away completely and he becomes entirely good. By this he merits to really see his lowliness together with the importance and greatness of the People of Israel such that because of this he sacrifices his soul and vitality for their sake. This is an aspect of the attributer of Moshe Meshiach, as mentioned previously.
d) Through the sanctity of Shabbat one merits to genuine humility. That’s to say, one sees one’s lowliness and recognizes the importance of the People of Israel; then one is willing to sacrifice one’s soul for them like Moshe, our teacher, may his memory be blessed.
e) The main aspect of humility is that a person consider himself as being beneath his own lowly spiritual level, lower than what he is, like it says of Shabbat, “Remain every person in (under) his place” (Exodus,16:29) meaning, below his own level. At least he shouldn’t go out from his place, to above his own level.
f) By means of humility and lowliness no-one can remove or push him out of his place; that’s to say, no-one can take away his income, Heaven forbid.
Prayer (79)
I have come G-d, my G-d and G-d of our Fathers to cast my entreaties before You. In Your immense mercy, please bestow upon me peace and quiet. Merit me to genuine complete repentance. Let me make my Torah study regular and holy from now on, so that I can serve You constantly by day and night with all my heart, using good and bad urges. Raise me from impurity to purify, from the mundane to the holy, from the six workdays to holiness of Shabbat.
Merit me to receive Shabbat with great joy and immense happiness with all kinds of honour and delight for Shabbat, with tremendous holiness and purity as You want. May I become merged in the holiness of Shabbat and draw the holiness of Shabbat into the six work days. Merit me to the repentance of Shabbat and to rest from all mundane matters, turning away from all the cravings and vanities of This World.
Woe am I for I have sinned. Oh what have I done! How did I not have mercy on my very precious soul. How was I so cruel with my soul, more than all the murderers vicious people in the world.
Help me not to have any hidden pride in my heart, Heaven forbid. Save me from pride and haughtiness at all times. My Father in Heaven, merit me to the eye of Shabbat such that I can see my true holiness. You know my lowliness is beyond measure. Even so my mind becomes confused with extraneous thoughts and pride. Please return me in repentance. Save me from all forms of pride and merit me to true humility until I see my own worthless ness. As a result, let me see the greatness and importance of the Jewish People and sacrifice myself for them at all times.
Guard me so that Meshiach will not be delayed because of me, Heaven forbid. Protect and save me from now on from sins, iniquities and bad thoughts and from all kinds of confusion of the mind. Rather, merit me to pure thoughts, holy thoughts which are really bright and proper. Let me constantly Serve You with true fear of Heaven in all my heart. Enable me to come close to genuine tzaddikim and to pure, straightforward Jews until they bring me into the realm of holiness and genuine repentance.
80. “THE LORD GIVES STRENGTH TO HIS PEOPLE” (Psalms,29:11)
a) The essence of peace is to connect two opposites. Therefore, do not get confused if you see someone whose opinion is exactly the opposite from yours and it seems to you that it is impossible to sustain peace with him. So also when you see two people who are actually two opposites, don’t say that it is impossible to make peace between them. On the contrary, this is the main perfection of peace, to try and make peace between two opposites, just like the Holy One who makes peace in the Heavens between fire and water which are two opposites.
b) To merit to peace is by means of self-sacrifice, for the sanctification of G-d’s Name (see inside). Through this a person merits to speak holy words of Torah and prayer. That’s to say, he will merit to put all his mind, wisdom and understanding into the words and connect his thoughts very well to the words until he understands and listens very well to what he is saying. This is the main holiness of the power of speech. G-d has great pleasure from such speech. To all this one merits through peace to which one merits by self-sacrifice in the sanctification of G-d’s Name.
c) Even the simplest of Jews, even among the sinners of the People of Israel, when the idol worshippers want to force them to renounce their faith, Heaven forbid, they sacrifice themselves to sanctify G-d’s Name, as we have seen already several times. Therefore a Jew has to remind himself of this every day that he is willing to sacrifice himself in order to sanctify G-d’s Name. This is the main holiness of a Jew and through this he merits to peace, as mentioned above.
d) This is a good idea, when you want to pray with concentration, for when a person sees that it is difficult for him to focus his mind in prayer because of many thoughts that confuse and bother him, then he should remind himself that he is certainly willing to die to sanctify G-d’s Name; because even the sinners of the People of Israel sacrifice themselves to sanctify G-d’s Name. By this self-sacrifice to sanctify G-d’s Name a Jew will merit to connect his thoughts to the words of prayer and thus pray with concentration. Even without this, the main perfection of prayer is to pray with self-sacrifice.
Prayer (80)
Help me and bring me salvation so that I am always ready to really sacrifice my soul to sanctify Your Name, especially at the time of reciting “Shma Yisrael” and praying. Merit me to fix in my mind very firmly, with a strong desire, readiness to sacrifice my soul to sanctify You name while burning with enthusiasm so I can overpower my evil urge and thus give over all my body, soul and all my money in order to sanctify Your holy Name. May I, by this, be able to always pray with great concentration in true holiness and purity. And let me put all my mind and thoughts with the words of prayer, connecting my thoughts to the words very firmly indeed. As a result please find pleasure in my prayers.
G-d I need many wonderful forms of salvations all the time. In Your bountiful compassion open up Your fountains of salvation. May the salvation flow and renew itself all the time at every moment in such a manner that we are saved from what we need to be saved from. Sanctify and purify us, through these streams of salvation, from all the impurities, stains and blemishes in the world. Fulfill in us the verse which says: “And I will throw over You , pure waters and will You will be purified; from all the impurities and all the idols I will purify You”.
Master of the World who makes salvations flourish. Fulfill our wishes for our good. Save us hastily and bring us salvation both materially and spiritually in whatever we need. And let this be in such a manner that I return to You and come closer to You in truth.
81.
Sometimes a tzaddik talks with the public about mundane subjects. This is a great favour for them for there are people who are very far away from the Torah and understanding of it such that it is impossible to bring them close (to G-d) by means of words of Torah, but rather, specifically only by these mundane conversations when the tzaddik clothes the Torah within them. Also, sometimes it is a favour to the tzaddik himself; he has to sharpen his mind and revive himself by such a conversation. Then, automatically, this benefit will reach the person who spoke with the tzaddik the mundane conversation which revived him.
82.
Disgrace is an aspect of foreskin, as is written, “We cannot…who is not circumcised, for it is a disgrace for us” (Gen.34:14). There are three layers of skin in the foreskin which are an aspect of the three husks: a storm wind, a great cloud and fire flaring up. By remaining silent about a disgrace, one pushes off these husks, for he doesn’t want to argue and disgrace his fellow. There is also a fourth skin which is very fine; this is an aspect of the husk called ‘noga’, an aspect of ‘chashmal’ (electrum), that’s to say ‘chash’ and ‘mal’. For to remain quiet and silent in the face of disgrace is an aspect of mila- circumcision. It’s known that sometimes ‘noga’ becomes included in holiness but sometimes it goes to the opposite side. Therefore, silence at a disgrace also has two aspects. Sometimes a person remains silent against his fellow in order to cause him more suffering. It turns out by this that he causes even more disgrace to his fellow. Then the silence becomes included in the husk of ‘noga’, an aspect of disgrace, as above. But those who hear themselves disgraced yet do not answer and act from love, meaning that they remain silent out of love, not wanting to embarrass or disgrace their fellow, then this silence, which is an aspect of ‘noga’, becomes included in the realm of holiness. This is what is written in the words of the Ariz’l; on the eve of Shabbat, the husk of ‘noga’ becomes included in holiness. Then the three husks of impurity also want to rise and take a hold on the holiness. So a holy fire descends and burns them so that they cannot attach themselves to holiness (See there in the writings of the Ariz’l). Therefore, the Sages said (Shabbat,88) about those who act out of love, as mentioned above, the verse says, “Those who love him are as the sun when it comes out in its might” (Judges,5:31). That’s to say, they are like a holy flame. By this, ‘noga’ is included within the realm of holiness, an aspect of ‘chash-mal’, for this silence is an aspect of nullification of the foreskin and the disgrace, as mentioned above.
(Prayer 82)
Master of the World, help me and save me so that I merit to remain silent and calm in the face of those who insult me. To those who curse my soul let me be sidlent. May I be among those who are insulted but do not insult, who hear their disgrace but do not reply; who act out of love and are happy in their suffering. Merit me never to have in mind to cause distress to others by my remaining silent to them. May all my intention in keeping silent be true love. Help me always to be very careful not to shame or disgrace my fellows not any person in the world, even those who insult me.
So also, save me and merit me to overcome, break and nullify my evil urge, all my cravings and bad traits. Force my evil urge to be subservient to You such that I can drive away, break and subdue all te impure husks and forces of the Other Side which ixist in all worlds, whether the three completely impure husks (the storm wind, cloud and flashing fire) or whether the bad in the husk of Nogah.
May I merit to destroy and nullify them completely so that I can separate the good in nogah and elevate it into holiness. Then let all the impure husks disappear and become nullified from upon me entirely so that they have no hold over me, Heaven forbid, for now on and for ever. Help me and guard me. Merit me to guard the brit. Nullify from me the husk of foreskin, the foreskin on the heart and the flesh. May I become truly merged in Your sublime holiness.
Merit me to perform perfectly the mitzvah of wahsing in hot water and cutting my nails every eve of Shabbat in such a way that I can push off and nullify from me all these three impure husks so they will have no holk on me at all. Then let me separate and clarify the husk of nogah from all its evil and thus elevate its good into Your sublime holiness. All the husks will then descend and fall into the depths and become nullified completely. Merit me to accept upon myself additional sanctified time prior to Shabbat. Grant me an extra and pure neshama every single Shabbat. Then, amongst all the pious Jewish People, may I elevate all the worlds to far, far above.
83.
The impurity of a nocturnal emission is caused by the husk called 'Lilit'. It takes nourishment from the six letters of the alphabet which, when you write them in full (as they sound) they contain the letter 'pheh'. (The letters are 'aleph', 'kaph', final 'kaph', 'pheh', final 'pheh' and 'kooph'.) Six times the numerical value of 'pheh' (80) is 480 which is exactly the numerical value of the name 'Lilit (L is 30; I is 10; l is 30; I is 10; t is 400). Then from the letter 'pheh' ;(spelt pheh- aleph) comes the letters 'aph' (aleph pheh, meaning 'anger'). This signifies how the harsh decrees become stronger and take revenge on a person, Heaven save us. The rectification for this is to give charity in a secret manner. By this one redeems the holy sparks from out of the husk. Then the anger (aph) will turn into the letter 'pheh'. This is what it says, "A gift in secret pacifies anger" (Proverbs, 21:14). That's to say it pacifies and changes the 'aph' (anger) to 'pheh'.
(Prayer 83)
Master of the World. Merit me to guard the brit perfectly. May I sanctify myself even in what is permissable such that my marital realtions will be an aspect of “if meritorious the Shechinah dwells between them.” You informed us that by blemishing the brit, by a nocturnal emission, one causes a strenghtening of the harsh decrees and G-d’s wrath in the world, Heaven forbid. This is an aspect of “if not meritorious, fire devours them”. Therfore let us give charity to worthy poor people especially in an anonymous manner and by this my all the harsh decrees which were created by a blemishing of the brit be sweetened. Fulfill in us the verse “Anonymous charity forces down the wrath”. Merit us from now on to be sa ved from all kinds of blemishes of the brit.
84.
It says in the holy Zohar that 'There is no day which does not contain good and there is no good other than the Torah.' That's to say, every single day contains hidden good which are the secrets of the Torah that belong to that specific day. However, when a person wants to contemplate on and think about words of Torah, in other words the secrets of the Torah, but he is not worthy of this, then 'snakes and scorpions' come to confuse his thoughts such that he cannot reach a place which is free of them. These are the thoughts that come to a person and confuse him. By wanting and desiring very much to enter into the hidden good and to cleave to good attributes, the latter become gateways and openings to see and ascertain this hidden good in each day. Then each day becomes very long and large for him, for he sees and perceives the hidden good, meaning the hidden secrets of the Torah that belong to each day. This is the essence of 'lengthy days'. And the main way to merit to this is through yielding. When a person yields regarding his money this is the attribute of our Patriarch, Avraham. By this, all the 'snakes and scorpions', that's to say, all the strange thoughts that confuse a person's mind, fall away and become nullified. As a result, one's mind becomes pure and lucid and a person can reach the hidden good which belongs to him each day.
85.
By the brains and the understanding that the Lord (YHVH) only is G-d etc., we rectify and magnify G-d's Kingdom, taking upon ourselves the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven (see inside).
86. TAKING A SMALL STEP ON SHABBAT
c) The main way that the External Forces (of Evil) take hold during the weekdays is through the aspect of the 'legs'; that's to say, they don't let a person 'walk' (progress) in the paths of G-d. On the holy day of Shabbat we again receive the power of walking, an aspect of "if you restrain because of Shabbat your feet…" (Isaiah, 58:13). However, just like an infant when it begins to walk still needs support, so also a Jew who begins on Shabbat to walk in the paths of G-d needs support. This support is by means of truth which is included in the sanctity of Shabbat, as the Sages said, "Even an ignorant Jew is afraid to lie on Shabbat" (D'mai, Ch.4). Even so, he needs to receive power in his legs in order to be able to walk (progress) well. To this he merits by giving charity for the sake of Shabbat. That's to say, one gives charity to a Jew for him to buy his needs for Shabbat or one hosts a poor person at one's table on Shabbat.
d) Charity is an aspect of the sun, as it says, "the sun is charity" (Melachi, 3:20). Charity that one gives during the weekdays corresponds to the sun nowadays whereas charity for Shabbat corresponds to the sun of the future which will be renewed, becoming like the light of the Seven Days of Creation.
87.
Immediately when a person wants to walk on the straight path, he at least needs fear of G-d, that's to say, fear of Divine punishment. This fear is called 'tzeddek' (justice) which is an aspect of harsh decrees. As a result of this, in most cases, when a person begins to come closer to the service of G-d, harsh decrees and suffering are aroused and come upon him, Heaven forbid. However, afterwards when he reaches the truth, meaning fear of G-d's exaltedness, which is called faith, then all the harsh decrees become sweetened at their source and great loving-kindness and great mercy are drawn upon him.
88. WHO COVERS THE HEAVENS WITH CLOUDS (Psalms,147:8)
a. The tzaddik's attributes of fear and love of G-d are in his hands into which he receives all the bounty and the blessings, to bestow them upon the Jewish People. He covers and conceals his love and fear so that accusing forces will not accuse him and thus steal all the bounty from him.
b. However, when the tzaddik is very well known and the accusing forces know about him, they make a big effort so as not to let him bring down the bounty to the Jewish People. Therefore, the Holy One instills in the heart of another tzaddik to desire to arouse controversy against the former tzaddik. This covers him so that he can bring down the bounty.
89. "YOU HAVE MADE HIM SLIGHTLY LESS THAN THE ANGELS" (Psalms, 8:6)
When a person knows that anything he lacks reflects a lack in the Shechinah he may certainly feel great, immense anguish and sadness. Then he will not be able to serve G-d with happiness. Therefore he should say to himself: Who am I that the King Himself tells me His lack? Is there any honour greater than this! By this her can attain great happiness and renew his brains.
90.
By taking joy in G-d, all the deficiencies in the Shechinah are fulfilled.
91.
A person needs very strong faith so that it spreads through all his limbs. Then he can merit to reach intellect by way of faith. That's to say, in the beginning one has to believe because one doesn't understand the concept. Afterwards he can then merit to understand intellectually. However, later on, there are more lofty things which he cannot understand by intellect. Then he must strengthen his faith by believing in what he does not yet understand by way of intellect until, eventually, he merits to understand these lofty concepts also. And so on ad infinitum.
(Prayer 91)
All Your commandments are faith. G-d of faith have compassionn over me for Your sake. Merit me to real faith. Help me and save me so that I strengthen myself with perfect faith constantly. Merit me to achieve higher and higher levels of faith until I reach , understand and ascertain in my mind things that I was unable to understand previously. Enable me to acquire complete faith so that it spreads through all my limbs. Master of the World grant me faith. Master of the World Youknow everything that happens in the world with regard to faith and thus is the foundation of everything especially to what occurs to the Jewish People, Your holy nation who are believers, the descendants of believers. Even so there are thousands and tens of thousands of levels in faith and all the troubles an d exiles that the Jewish People experience are because of blemishes in faith for it is the basis of all Torah as the holy Sages have revealed to us.
Master of the World, merciful One. How can we rectify this . From where should we start to rectify it in Your bountiful mercy You sent us true holy and awesome tzaddikim in each generation who revealed to us wonderfuland sublime Torah innovations. They draw down and teach holy belief, eye to eye, to all people. But even after all this we have not retracted from our mistakes and this has caused us all the troubles that befall us. We are in great distress, both generally and individually.
G-d of faith, have mercy on us. Save us. Hear my prayers. Listen to my pleading. In Your righteousness, answer me. Help me for Your Name’s sake.
Strengthen me to know and believe in You every moment in such a way that I will be saved by this from all kinds of sins, iniquities and wilfull sins, from all kinds of bad thoughts and sorts of confusions, especially crookedness of the heart and thoughts against Your holy faith. Teach us to draw upon ourselves holy faith which our Fathers, Sages and tzaddikim achieved through their immense holiness. Merit us to draw upon ourselves their faith, goodness and righteousness which they acquired by their tremendous efforts and self-sacrifice. And the main thing is to continue to reveal holy belief to all the people of the world especially the holy Jewish People.
So, merit me to constantly bring holy belief into my understanding such that the faith spreads to all my limbs. May my mouth always be full wit wordsof holy belief spoken really wholeheartedly. Fulfill in us the verse which says “Atzaddik lives by his faith.”
Blessed are You, G-d, for ever. Amen. Amen.
92.
By a person wandering back and forth, even within his house, he can sweeten harsh decrees and revive the dead. (See inside.)
(Prayer 92)
Master of the World, You informed us of the greatness of the holy tzaddikim who have the power to revive the dead by walkng back and forth in their house. By this they sweeten all the harsh decrees. Have mercy on us and let us come close to tzaddikim like these. Merit me to engage in studying Your holy Torah every single day so that I can cool down the fire which burns in my heart for all the cravings and vanities of this world. Rather, may my heart burn with great holiness, yearning of Your Torah and Your service in the proper measure. Let me cleave to Your Torah, so much that I become merged with it in Your Oneness and let me be numbered among the holy tzaddikim. And by walking back and forth in my house enable me to sweeten all the harsh decrees and draw down an aspect of the revival of the dead.
93. BUSINESS WITH FAITH
a) By conducting business with faith, G-d's Name becomes loved by people because of you and you fulfill the positive commandment of "And you shall love" which is the root of all the commandments, as it says in the Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 20.
b) Through this you can also reach a spiritual level which is above time and this allows you to pray with a clear, pure mind.
(Prayer 93)
Master of the World, merit us to perform the mitzvah of “And you shall love the Lord your G-d with all your heart” which is the source of all the mitzvot. May I engage in studying Torah a lot and serve Torah scholars. Merit me to carry out business affairs with faith such that the Name of Heaven becomes loved through me. By this, enable me to reach a spiritual level which is above time and to achieve expanded consciousness. As a result, merit me to pray with great concentration and a pure mind.
94.
When you want G-d to bestow His loving-kindness on the Jewish People, believe that in all things there are holy sparks and join wisdom to faith (for by faith you reach intellect, as explained in Torah 91). Then you will have such a holy eye that whatever thing you look at in the world, you will raise the sparks which are the letters. And when you raise them you create holy words of speech through which the Holy One bestows abundant goodness to the Jewish People. This is all that G-d takes delight from.
(Prayer 94)
Merit me to holy eyes and a pure and very clear power of vision such that through this alone I will be able to look at something with wisdom and intelligence and with perfect faith. Let me believe that in each object there are letter and holy sparks. By this looking, may all the sparks rise that are clothed in the object so they return to their source in the aspect of “Engraved like a signet righ, Holy to G-d.” And from the letters and sparks may words be made and by these holy words bestow much good to the House of Israel for this is Your main delight, so to speak.
Have mercy on all the letters and holy sparks which are in a deep exile and speedily redemm them for Your Name’s sake until Your glory is upraised and exalted.
95.
When patrons and leaders of the generation take pride (in themselves), then the Holy One brings upon them people who oppose them and speak evil about them so that they will not be arrogant.
(Prayer 95)
You, Who make peace in the heavens, bring peace upon us and over all the Jewish People. Master of the World. Save me from all forms of controversy, from being abused and attacked. Help me to avoid feeling proud; may I never have a sense of pride in relation to any other person.
Help all the benefactors and leaders of the generation to avoid pride, Heaven forbid. Don’t let them be haughty. Rahter may they consider themselves to be an aspect of “what” - non-existent and nothing. By this, save them from all kinds of controversy and insults and arrange for us benefactors and leaders who are pious and honest.
96.
The extraneous thoughts that come to a person when praying, especially to a tzaddik who wants to pray with great concentration (and cleaving to G-d), are from the holy sparks which fell during the Breaking of the Vessels. These extraneous thoughts that come to each person are a reflection of the attribute and spiritual level that the person is at, just at that moment. The tzaddik has to know from which world and which attribute each extraneous thought comes from; he also has to know how to raise it to that world and attribute where he is now. However, sometimes the tzaddik wants to raise it, but cannot. This is because that particular thought is from an aspect of a sublime spiritual level to which the tzaddik hasn't yet reached. Therefore it is impossible for him to raise it. But how does it happen that he gets the extraneous thought before its time (before it can be raised)? This is because when there is a controversy against a certain tzaddik, then an extraneous thought which reflects the controversy falls into the mind of another tzaddik. Then, because the tzaddik wants to raise this thought, even though he doesn't, through the strength of his desire he breaks all the people causing the controversy.
97.
Every Jew can take control through his prayer such that he can bring about what he wants. But the main thing which prevents this is pride, ulterior motives and extraneous thoughts.
One person has pride because he is from an important family or because he has strenuously worked hard in the service of the Creator. Then he certainly cannot have control in his prayer. Therefore when a Jew begins to pray he needs to break all this, to forget his important lineage and all his efforts in the service of G-d. Rather, it should seem to him that he was born today and has yet to begin making any effort in the service of G-d. Also he should think he is alone in the world and has no important lineage. Furthermore, he should break and nullify other extraneous thoughts that come during prayer because of his earliest intentional sins or intentional sinful thoughts; then he will be able to control his prayer. This will fulfill the desire of the Creator, may He be blessed. G-d will have great delight from his prayer. By this he will draw down into the world all kinds of bounty.
(Prayer 97)
Master of the World, You know how far I am from proper prayer and supplications. The main reason is because of thoughts that bother me, both before and during the prayers.Thoughts of self importance and ulterior motives and many extraneous, bad thoughts and confusions. They are endless and innumerable. There ar emany prayers that are so mixed up with these thougths that I was unaware that I had recited words of prayer. Many words of prayer and blessings I just skipped over completely without noticing. What I recited is as if I had said nothing, for the words were far away from my heart. My heart was full of bad, extraneous and confused thoughts. Where will I hide and secret myself in the face of my great shame and disgrace which is so immense and bitter. The mouth cannot describe it nor the heart imagine it.
I have com before You, Who listens to prayer and chooses the prayers of the Jewish nation out of compassion. You long for the prayers of Jews. For this You created the worlld. So, help us at all times to drive out these thoughts which bother and confuse us and merit us to pray before You with all our heart, with great concentration from the depths of our heart truly. May our thoughts be holy and pure so that our thoughts will be connected firmly to the words of prayer, with total unity. At the time of prayer let no ulterior intention or extraneous thought enter my heart, rather merit us to remove all these thoughts and the foolish vain ideas of self importance. Help me to forget about any importance stemming from the status of my family and may I never imagine that I have already struggloed and achieved a lot in the service of G-d. Rather, let me truly recognize my deficiencies and my lowly status so that I will not have any thoughts of pride or superiority.
Grant the power to rule in our prayers such that we have the power to bring about what we want through our prayers, even to alter nature. Fulfill wishes of our heart for the good out of Your mercy. Take delight in our prayers always. Draw upon us Your loving-kindness at all times; sweeten and nullify from upon us and upon all of the Jewish People, all the harsh decrees in the world. Break and nullify all the harsh decrees whether those that have already been decreed or whether those that they want to decree, Heaven forbid.
Master of the World, merciful One. Help us like You did for our Fathers. Protect and save us in every generation. See our weakness and fight our batttle (with the evil urge). Redeem us speedily, a full redemption, for Your Name’s sake.
98.
A person doesn't see how far the blemishes of his sins reach. The tzaddik has the eyes of G-d, as it says, "The eyes of G-d are to the tzaddikim" (Psalms, 34:16). The tzaddik sees how far a person's blemishes extend. When the tzaddik wants to punish someone he gives that person his eyes so that he too will see how far his blemishes reach. Until then, this was hidden from the person. There is no greater punishment than when a person sees what he has blemished.
99.
A Jew has to strengthen himself in prayer, whether he merits to pray with a feeling of cleaving to G-d or whether he doesn't merit to pray with this cleaving and the prayer isn't recited fluently, Heaven forbid. Even so, he should encourage himself even then to pray with all his strength and concentration, for when he merits in the future to pray with cleaving and the words of prayer are fluent in his mouth, as is fitting, then all the previous (imperfect) prayers will rise to Heaven together with this prayer that he prayed properly.
Prayer (99)
Lord, open my lips and let my mouth speak Your praises. Master of the World, merit me to pray before You with great concentration and tremendous devotion. Let my prayer be smooth and fluent in my mouth. Even when I do not manage to pray with real devotion as I should, nevertheless, merit me to put all my strength, concentration and heart into the words of prayer with maximum focus. May I truly believe and put my trust in Your great loving kindness. And when You help me to pray before You with great devotion, as is fitting, and my prayer is fluent, then may all the other prayers rise up together with this one that I merited to pray properly. By this enable me to always strengthen myself in the service of prayer. Fulfill the verse which says: “May my prayer come before You; give your ear to my song”.
100.
The tzaddik who has acquired a great light from the light of the Torah and his deeds are at least commensurate to his perception in the Torah, then his righteousness and his Torah studying both co-exist comfortably. As a result he is calm and companiable with people. But a tzaddik for whom the light of the wisdom of the Torah he gained is much greater than his deeds, then the Torah makes the fire of the holy Torah boil within him, so it is impossible for him to be calm and companiable with people like the former tzaddik mentioned above.
(Prayer 100)
Master of the World, merit me to engage in studying Torah a lot. Enlighten our eyes in Your Torah. Help me to ascertain the great light from the radiance of the Torah. However, much more I ascertain each time in the understanding of the holy Torah, so merit me to add righteousness, piety and good deeds. By this, may I be pleased with others without showing any anger or strictness towards anyone at all. Rather let me be good to everyone. Even if I show to one individual some displeasure about something I consider to be improper, nevertheless let me speak to him positively and softly so my words will be acceptable and settle in his heart. Fulfill in me the verse: “The words of Torah scholars are calm.” “Let me find favour and good understanding in the eyes of G-d and of people.”
101.
In every single person there is an aspect of a 'radiant countenance' which reflects knowledge and perception of the holy Torah in the aspect of the Elixir of Life; this is the sanctity of the Jewish People who, in the source, are very far away from bad attributes and physical cravings. Each person also has within him an aspect of the Seventy Nations who are an aspect of the Poison of Death, an aspect of a 'dark countenance' which is an aspect of darkness and the concealment of understanding. By a person exerting himself to study the Torah for the sake of Heaven until he merits to ascertain and understand the wisdom of the holy Torah, through this he abandons the aspect of 'dark countenance' and turns it into an aspect of 'radiant countenance'. As a result, his enslavement to physical desires and negative attributes, which stem from the Seventy Nations, who are an aspect of the 'dark countenance', is nullified. Then he is called a 'man', an aspect of "That is the Torah, a man" (Numbers, 19), an aspect of "You are called man" (Yevomot, 61), for the essence of the name 'man' we merit to through the holy Torah which is an aspect of a 'radiant countenance'; it reflects the distancing from and breaking of all the physical cravings and negative attributes. Through this a man merits to have the yoke of his enslavement to the Seventy Nations nullified, also in the physical realm, as the Sages said, "Whoever takes upon himself the yoke of the Torah" etc. (Perkei Avot,Ch.3).
Prayer (101)
Master of the World, unique Lord, Who gives the Torah. You revealed to us that all the strength of the other nations is from the Seventy Faces of Darkness. That is to say, by our being lax in studying Torah and not studying in depth as we should, as a result ,the paths of Torah are blocked and become darkened in our eyes. Then, all the physical cravings and bad traits overcome us Heaven save us, for they stem from the other nations whose strength is drawn from the Faces of Darkness. This itself leads to the governments becoming more forceful, Heaven forbid and they decree harsh judgments upon us, Heaven preserve us. But what can we do to rectify this. The burden of making a living, the strength of the evil urge and the many troubles make it hard for us to study properly. Even the little we study the darkness in our eyes and our blocked minds prevent us from studying or understanding properly. Mostly we do not understand even the simple meaning of things. We certainly do not understand the depth of things, not the pleasantness, inner essence or secrets of the Torah. For we do not merit to see the light of the face of the holy Torah. We are far, far away for the Seventy Faces of the Torah, from the Seventy Faces of Light which subdue the Seventy Faces of Darkness. When they are subdued automatically the governments of the seventy nations, whose strength comes from those Seventy Faces of Darkness, are broken and fall. But how do we merit to this. In Your bountiful compassion, have mercy on us and grant us a portion in Your Torah. Merit us from now on to be aroused to serve You. Let us start from now on to study Torah by day and night. Do not let m burden of making a living disturb us, rather let others work for us. As a result, may our main involvement be studying the Torah in this world and may it accompany us to the World to Come.
In Your immense bountiful mercy, enlighten our eyes in Your Torah and open up our hearts so that me merit to understand well and with great speed any part of the Torah we study. Let us study all the books of Your Torah every day, Tanach, Talmud, Halacha, Midrashim, the holy Zohar and the Tikkunim; all the writings of the Ariz”l and those of the true tzaddikim. May we finish them and then study them again and again during our lifetime. Have mercy on us for Your Name’s sake and merit us to study consistently with holiness and persistence by day and night. By this, may we break, nullify and kill all the evil cravings and all the evil traits in our body.
Merciful One, grant us intelligence and understanding to hear, study and teach, keep and perform all the words of Your Torah, with love. Merit us to put all our mind and thoughts into Your holy Torah at all times in such a way that the Torah will shine upon us the holy pleasantness of the light of its face. May it radiate upon us and protect us by all the Seventy Faces of the Torah which the true tzaddikim merited to ascertain. As a result, enable us to break and nullify all the physical cravings and bad traits from within us.
In these troubled times have mercy on us, do it for Your sake, for the Sake of our Fathers and for the sake of all the holy and awesome tzaddikim who were in each generation. Then speedily break and nullify all the harsh decrees from upon us, whether those that have already been decreed or whether those that they want to decree against us Heaven forbid. Let no impression of them remain at all. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing before Your countenance, G-d, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Amen.
102.
Each person should be careful to pray in such a way that he can arouse and draw down bounty into the world. This depends on fear, for "whoever has fear of heaven, his words are heard" (B'rachot, 6). There are two kinds of fear, that's to say, there is a sublime fear which comes to a person sometimes when he wants. For fear like this there is no reward. There is another kind of fear which comes to a person from his own strength. This fear is an aspect of "A tzaddik rules in the fear of G-d" (Shmuel,II, 23:3). With fear like this, his prayer is heard and bounty descends into the world; the Kingdom of G-d then becomes revealed and magnified.
Prayer (102)
Master of the World, implant in our hearts always Your fear and awe. Merit us to be like ‘a tzaddik rules through fear of G-d’. That is to say, let us not have to wait for You to bestow upon us Your Sublime fear from Above. Please enable us to draw upon ourselves on every occasion Your holy fear. May we have fear before You, at all times, at ever moment, true fear and perfect fear; a sublime fear, a fear of Your grandeur. As a result, accept all our prayers with mercy and with favour. Listen always to the voice of our supplications, as the Sages said: “Anyone who has fear of G-d, his words are heard” (by G-d).
Through our prayers, may we have the power to arouse bounty in the world. Bestow great bounty to the Jewish People. As a result, let all the husks of the Other Side be subdued completely under the Holy Shechinah. Then make all the evil blow away like smoke and remove the dominion of evil from the earth. Fulfill in us the verse: “And G-d will be King over all the earth and on that day G-d will be One and His Name will be One”.
103.
Regarding that which Moshe called the descendants of the Tribes of Gad and Reuben "a band of sinners" (Numbers, 32:14) and the Targum Unkulus translates as "students of guilty men", see the full text.
104.
The Midrash says that because Moshe called the descendants of Gad and Reuben "a ban of sinners" he was punished that his grandchild served the idol worship of Micah. See the full text for an explanation.
105.
The essence of repentance depends on the Torah. That's to say, when a person studies Torah and exerts himself in it until he is able to deduce one thing from another and can innovate ideas for the sake of Heaven, this is complete repentance. He then returns and joins together all the letters and their combinations, which are his portion in the generality of worlds, to their source and to their proper place; he returns them all from the places to which they were expelled and dispersed. He becomes a new human being and then his mind is calm. He merits to arouse G-d's compassion in such a way that G-d Himself prays for him. That's to say, the Holy One, out of His simple mercy, arouses His great and infinite compassion. As a result, the person will have a great and complete salvation. Amen.
Prayer (105)
May it be Your will, G-d, our G-d, G-d of our Fathers, have mercy upon us. Help us to merit to engage in studying Your Holy Torah. May words of Torah never cease from my mouth and the mouth of our children, forever. Merit us to understand completely all the words of Your holy Torah with great speed. Then let lus understand one thing from another and create true Torah innovations, innovations that will find favour before Your Throne of Glory. By studying Torah may we achieve full repentance for all our sins, iniquities and willful sins that we have committed over the years. Let the light of the Torah really return us to the path of goodness and through studying Torah may we separate, collect and raise all the holy sparks and combinations of letters that have fallen from all the worlds into the husks because of us. They have scattered to where they have scattered and fallen where they have fallen.
Have mercy upon us, upon all the holy sparks and upon all the holy letters which are separated and scattered among the nations and among the husks. Help us to return in true repentance to You. Please hasten to clarify, collect and redeem all the holy sparks from their exile. Return them to their place in peace and by this,
Rectify the blemish of the worlds.
Draw holy understanding and great mercy in the world. Nullify anger and cruelty from the world. Please, You Yourself, pray on our behalf. By Your simple mercy, arouse Your great plentiful mercy. You know Lord our G-d, that none can stand up for us other than You. Our Father, our King, pray for us. We have no one to rely on other than our Father in Heaven, so have mercy and compassion upon us. Save us for Your Name’s Sake. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing before Your Countenance, oh G-d, my Rock and my Redeemer.
106.
When a person is in a state of 'constricted consciousness' he has to strengthen himself to achieve 'expanded consciousness'. Upon achieving 'expanded consciousness' he sweetens all the harsh decrees and brings upon himself loving-kindness and mercy. If he himself cannot achieve this 'expanded consciousness', the best advice is to enlighten others. By this, his own 'expanded consciousness' will be aroused.
Prayer (106)
You endow man with knowledge and teach the frail in sight. Grant us wisdom, insight and knowledge for You know how greatly a person needs mercy if he lacks knowledge in the service of G-d. You also informed us how all the harsh decrees and suffering, Heaven save us, are drawn upon us only because our brains of limited perception. Therefore, have mercy on us, and in Your bountiful compassion, merit us to strengthen ourselves each time and rise from there ‘small brains’to
‘expansive brains’ of understanding. Bestow upon us a bounty of knowledge and wisdom. Merit us also to give intelligence to others so that they will also have a radiance of true knowledge, thus raising me from the aspect of ‘small brains’ to ‘expansive brains’. By this alone may my own brains be aroused. Then sweeten and nullify from over us and all the Jewish People, all the harsh decrees. Fulfill in us the verse: ‘Draw Your loving-kindness to those who you know You:’
107.
When the evil urge becomes strong you instilling within you a sense of self-importance making you consider yourself to already be a tzaddik who "rules with the fear of G-d" and that G-d's desire is in your hands, so to speak, for "who rules Me, tzaddik", then one has to take to heart this itself and say, 'How can I rule when I have pride and the Holy One doesn't dwell with me?', as the Sages have said.
108.
When a Jew is praying properly with concentration or he is speaking to G-d in personal prayers, as is fitting, and in the middle he falls from his spiritual level, this stems from a blemish in his faith. Then it is necessary for his heart to feel broken within him and for him to be ashamed of himself at having fallen and at being thrown down from heaven to earth. He should then have mercy on himself until he sighs about this. By this sighing he will return to his previous spiritual level.
Prayer (108)
Master of the World, merciful One, Who cures those with broken hearts, You know my broken and depressed heart. Have mercy on my broken heart for it is broken to smithereens; for my thoughts of my heart are scattered and dispersed to the ends of the earth. I am really responsible for all this but I did not have bad intentions.
Master of the World, You know the hidden secrets of the world, You see into the chamber of our hearts. Before You all the hidden thoughts of the heart are revealed. You know how hard this itself is for me; it confuses and obstructs me a lot. Even if sometimes in Your great compassion You send me some words and I begin to explain to You all that is in my heart, after a while my heart becomes blocked in the middle of speaking. So also my heart suddenly becomes sealed. I do not know what to do. You seem to hide Your face from me. You have already revealed to us that this is caused by us blemishing our faith for this is considered to be like idol worship. Now, my Father in Heaven, what can I do to atone for this? Oh, what can I do to return Your face towards me. When will I merit to pure faith so that I can speak openly before You, as if face to face, like one speaks to a friend.
Help me and save me so I can accustom myself to sigh, deep sighs from the depths of the heart about my vast distance from You because of my many sins, especially blemishes to faith. Merit me to truly feel my pain and immense suffering such that I really sigh from the depths of my heart. May my spirit be broken within me in a way that will arouse Your true compassion upon me. Open Your hand in mercy and good will and bring me back to You in repentance face to face. Father in Heave, faithful King, G-d of faith, You know everything that happens to us and to every individual regarding holy faith. In You great compassion, You planted Your faith with us, but because of the immense number of our sins we still get thoughts of blasphemy. This is the main form of our distance from You. It causes a concealment of Your face, which is the greatest of all our troubles and distress.
Guard us and protect us from now on from all sorts of disbelief and blasphemous thoughts. Rather, merit me to believe in You Lord our G-d, in Your Holy Torah and in Your tzaddikim with total faith, a faith that is pure and perfect. May my faith be so strong that it is as if I see You, eye to eye. By this, may fear of You be on my face; let me feel shame, so that I will never sin again nor blemish in any way. Let awe, dread and fear of You, with great shame, descend upon me immediately knowing that You stand over me, and see my every deed , at all times and at every moment. And merit me, through the strength of my holy belief, to pray, plead and
Speak openly before You with all my heart and with proper thoughts. Let my mind be connected firmly to the words of prayer without any extraneous thought. The, may all my words and conversations with You be as if face to face, like someone speaking to his friend.
Have mercy upon me like a father over his son. Save me on every occasion by all kinds of salvation. May You be blessed for ever.
Amen and Amen.
109. HOLY SIGHING
a) Holy sighing is very precious, for by sighing about feeling distant from holiness, one breaks the cord of impurity and becomes attached to the cord of holiness. Similarly, if one sighs at lacking some physical desire that one craves for, the opposite takes place, Heaven forbid.
b) When a Jew sighs about his sins or about how little he has achieved spiritually, this is better than several acts of self-mortification or fasts.
Prayer (109)
O Lord, our G-d and G-d of our fathers. Please help me to return in really perfect repentance before You. Master of the World. You know how greatly I have distanced myself from You because of many and immense iniquities and willful transgressions which reach to the Heavens. I do not know any way to return to You. My mind has become very confused, befouled and materialized because of the material and foul matter and evil cravings that have taken hold of me and attached themselves to me very much. Master of all the World, take pity and have mercy upon me; grant me good council, how to look for, search out and find some road, course or pathway, such that from now on I can merit to return to You. In Your bountiful mercy, let me merit to often sigh before You from the depths of my heart about my great distance from You. Let me merit to really come closer to You. May I really sigh about this at all times such that my body be broken by each and every sigh. By these sighs, let me merit to extract the spirit and air of the Other Side and to plant within me the spirit and air of holiness. Through this, may I uproot and cut the cord of impurity which has become tied to me because of my many iniquities. Help me, very speedily, to cut and break myself completely fro the cord of impurity. Let me cleave and tie myself, in a very strong bond, to the cord of holiness, for ever and ever, for all eternities. Break, drive out and nullify from me, from my body, my soul, my spirit and my higher soul, all sorts of impurities of the Other Side. In Your mercy, bring me close to the cord of holiness and tie me to it with a strong and firm knot from now on, for ever.
From now on, draw upon me a good long life, by way of the cord of holiness. Be gracious and bestow upon us good bounty, blessings, compassion, life, peace and plenty; real life; life of holiness; life that has fear of Heaven; life in which merit to really perfect repentance, in which we always serve You and cleave to the Source of Life. Living G-d, our Portion in Life, our Rock, give us life in the light of Your Countenance; raise me so that I live a life of holiness. Take pity on me, help me and make my heart cleave to Your commandments. Let me merit to always cleave to You forever more. In Your mercy protect me and save me from sighs of the Other Side. Let no breath or sigh for the cravings and vanities of This World leave my mouth. Heaven forbid. Rather, may all my sights, yearnings and desires be only for Your Name, for Your worship, to really come closer to You. May I always cleave to You and may it be fulfilled in me the verse which says: “You who cleave to the Lord, you G-d, are all alive this day”.
Amen and Amen.
110.
The Torah is spiritual and a spiritual thing does not take up any space. Therefore, whoever is pure and his actions are upright and his intellect is spiritual, he can grasp the entire Torah and not forget anything. However, someone who materializes the words of the Torah, making them crude, he will come to forget the Torah, Heaven forbid.
Prayer (110)
Please G-d, save me in Your bountiful mercy, so that I merit to engage in studying Torah for its own sake, with great consistency and perseverance, by day and night. Be with me always to assist and save me so that I will not materialize or darken the words of Torah in my mouth, Heaven forbid. Rather, merit me to study Torah with great holiness and purity, nullifying myself and all my materiality at the time of studying. By this let me feel in my heart and mind the sweetness and pleasantness of the spirituality of the mind. Rather, merit me to pure thoughts, holy thoughts which are really bright and proper.
Let me constantly serve You with true Fear of Heaven and wholeheartedly. Enable me to come close to genuine tzaddikim and to pure, straightforward Jews until they bring me into the realm of holiness and genuine repentance.
111.
The initial letters of "The head of the People of Israel" ("rosh bnei Israel") spells out r-b-i (rabbi). And on the contrary, the initial letters of "The wicked will be cut off in darkness" (Shmuel, I, 2:9) – ('r'shayim b'hoshech idamoo') also spell out r-b-i (rabbi).
112.
The rule which can be derived from this discourse practically is the great virtue of a word of truth in prayer. By this, G-d Himself will radiate light so that a person can see the openings in that are in the impurity so he can escape the darkness and come to great light etc. (This has already been referred to in discourse number 9. See there.) Here it is explained further such that an intelligent person will understand that he needs to pray all his life in order to merit just once in his lifetime to pray one word of truth before G-d as is fitting. Through this advice a person can become a really kosher Jew all his life, for, in whatever situation, he can always revitalize and sustain himself, through the truth which is the light of G-d Himself: because all the darkness won't block Him out. This is because of the fact that there is no impurity or force of the Other Side in the world without some openings through which it is possible to escape from there. It is only that we don’t see them because of the great darkness which exists there. However, by truth, G-d Himself will illuminate the place so he can merit to see and find the opening of hope even within the depths of his fall; he will be able to escape the darkness and reach light, thus really continually coming closer to G-d. Amen.
113.
The Baal Shem Tov said that before the Heavenly Court sentences a person to a hard decree they ask the person himself being sentenced if he agrees; if so, the decree is then finalized, Heaven forbid. In other words they ask him about a similar case and he says what the punishment should be; then he is sentenced. This is like we find with King David to whom the prophet Natan told the story about the guest and the sheep (Shmuel, II, 12:1) and then David was sentenced to what he said. In all the words and accounts that a person hears he must be very careful not to decide someone's punishment; this is a danger to life, for accounts of events contain very sublime matters.
114.
The matter of controversy against tzaddikim was already referred to in discourse number 88. See there. Here the Rebbe adds that sometimes there is a wicked person who opposes the tzaddik. All this is also directed from Above so that the tzaddik can draw down abundance. The wicked person, however, "wants to kill him but G-d does not forsake him" (Psalms,37:32-33).
115.
Someone who was interested in material things all his life then later becomes enthused and wants to progress in the paths of G-d, the attribute of strict justice accuses him and doesn't let him come close to G-d; it arranges obstacles and when the fool sees obstacles he backs away. But someone who has sense brings himself closer to G-d especially at such a time for he looks and finds the Creator in the obstacle itself. In truth, the Holy One Himself is hidden in this obstacle.
Prayer (115)
You love judgment, therefore You agree so to speak, to arrange obstacles that prevent us from the path of life; this is what we deserve according to our deeds. But, You let us know through Your holy Sages that You love the People of Israel even more than You love judgment. Therefore, out of Your great love for us, You desire greatly that every Jew, even the worst of the worst, will come close to You and serve You with all his heart. You therefore, so to speak, hide Yourself within the obstacles such that someone with understanding can look in One obstacle and fin You within it. For, in truth, there is no obstacle in the world at all. By the obstacles themselves we can come closer to You if we really search for truth. But You know the poverty of our minds and their foolishness; such that it is hard and a burden for us to break even one obstacle at all for as soon as we see an obstacle we retreat.
Therefore, please bring us closer to You in charity and as a gift out of loving kindness. Give us the strength to break all the obstacles that come from the aspect of harsh decrees and judgment. Sweeten and nullify all the harsh decrees from upon us and from me all the Jewish People. Do not let any obstacle prevent us from now on from truly coming close to You. Act charitably to us in judgment.
Blessed are You, oh King who loves charity and judgment.
116.
The person who gives charity is saved from sins.
Prayer (116)
Master of the World, merit me to give away a lot of charity to deserving poor people. Make us feel in our heart mercy towards the poo people and merit us to bestow upon them great loving kindness. By this have mercy upon us, as the Sages said: ‘Anyone who has mercy on others from Heaven they have mercy on him’.
Save us from all kinds of spirit of folly and by this, protect us from coming to any form of sin. Merit us to perform Your will all the days of our life.
Amen.
117.
At the conclusion of Shabbat a revelation of Elijah the Prophet begins. This discards falsehood which is an aspect of the Serpent which brought death to the world. For this reason it is hard to sleep then, for sleep is also a reflection of death. ( See full text ). Another reason is because reciting Havdalah at the conclusion of Shabbat is an aspect of Understanding for "if there is no understanding how can one differentiate" (Jerusalem Talmud,B'rachot,Ch.5). Consequently, it is hard to sleep then, for sleep is an absence of understanding.
Prayer (117)
You informed us that every motzei Shabbat an aspect of the revelation of Eliyahu the Prophet begins. Therefore, have mercy upon us and merit us to receive the holiness of Shabbat properly. By this, merit us immediately after Shabbat ends to receive a true radiance of the revelation of the prophet. Merit us to perform the mitzvah of Havdala over wine every motzei Shabbat. As a result, enable us to receive radiance of true, holy understanding such that we merit to serve You with full understanding all through the week. Help us to distance all falsehood which stems from an aspect of the serpent who brought death to the world. Merit us to cleave to the attribute of truth which is an aspect of the elixir of life. So may it be Your will.
Amen.
118.
a) When you study Torah it is good to elucidate it in a language that you understand. This is a benefit for the world.
b) Each tzaddik of the generation is a reflection of Moshe, the Meshiach. And when he makes Torah innovations it is an aspect of "the spirit of G-d" which is 'the spirit of Meshiach, hovering over the surface of the waters of the Torah' (Zohar, V'yeshev,pg.192). Just like Meshiach suffers evils for the sake of the Jewish People, to atone for them, so each tzaddik of the generation takes upon himself suffering for the whole of the Jewish People in order to ease their lot. Furthermore, the fact that we do not merit to ascertain the Torah innovations of the tzaddik in their fullness, in the loftiest heights, as uttered in the mouth of the tzaddik, but rather, it has to be elucidated for us through mundane means, in Yiddish etc., in everyday language that we are used to speaking, this is also an aspect of, "He was pained because of our transgressions" (Isaiah,53:5) – an aspect of "he is (worked) in pain because of us"(Zohar,Tetzeh,pg.280). This is true also of the tzaddik, an aspect of "he suffers evil to atone for us."
Prayer (118)
Master of the World, who gives the Torah, have mercy upon us and let us merit to engage in learning Your holy Torah for its own sake, with great diligence and perseverance. Grant us merit to learn a great deal every day. Help us so that every holy book we learn we are able to explain well, in a way that we understand. Let this be in such a way that we merit to arouse and draw upon ourselves the spirit of Messiah which is “the spirit of G-d that hovers over the waters”, waters which represent the Torah. Messiah suffers many illnesses and is afflicted with great suffering because our willful transgressions and iniquities, this being in order to atone for us and to save us from all the troubles. By this he gives us a chance to survive. Have mercy upon him and upon us and let us merit to engage a great deal in learning Torah. Let us explain well each thing that we learn in a language that is understood, especially when learning with friends or with students, such that our words enter their ears and hearts. By this, let the spirit of Messiah be aroused upon us. He suffers greatly for us. He lowers himself and dresses himself in several common, everyday appearances in order to be with us, in order to revive us and establish us in the midst of this long, powerful and bitter exile.
Our Father, merciful Father, have mercy upon us, help us and save us, in his merit, in his strength. Save us from all the troubles and from all the harsh decrees, whether those that have already been passed against us or those that they wait to decree. Heaven forbid, for the “power of endurance fails.” Rock of Israel, rise and come to the assistance of Israel. Speedily save us in these troubled times through the strength and merit our righteous Messiah, the holy one of Israel. Fulfill in us the verse which says: “Now I know that he Lord saves His anointed (Messiah); He will hear him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand”. And it says, “Great deliverance He gives to His king and shows loving-kindness to His Messiah, to David and to his seed forever.” And it says, “The Lord is their strength and He is the saying strength of His Messiah.” Save us Lord: let the King hear us when we call.”
Amen and Amen.
119.
On Shabbat Understanding is drawn upon each person. Through this the attribute of compassion becomes strengthened within him so that he has mercy on other humans, for compassion depends on Understanding. Then through his having compassion, Heaven takes compassion on him.