Prayer B — Zealous Rising

Source — Prayer concerning rising in the morning and washing the hands.

She watches the ways of her house, and the bread of laziness she does not eat. Go to the ant; see its ways, and become wise.

Master of the Universe, help me and grant me merit to attain holy zeal. May I merit to do every holy matter in holiness and with great zeal; and may I not, God forbid, postpone any holy matter from day to day. Especially when I must rise from my sleep, whether at night at Chatzos or in the morning, may I merit to rise with zeal and holiness, and to fulfill the saying of our Sages: one should strengthen himself like a lion to rise in the morning for the service of the blessed Creator. And as our Sages said: immediately when he awakens from his sleep, he should rise with zeal for the service of his Creator.

Master of the Universe, are not Your eyes toward faithfulness? Grant me merit that by attaining holy zeal and rising in the morning with zeal, I may merit to enlarge and strengthen holy faith. By rising from sleep with zeal, may I merit to strengthen myself in holy faith, in order to build and enlarge faith and to make Your holy faith known to all who enter the world. Through this may I merit to crown You over all my limbs and sinews, and over the whole world.

Master of the Universe, You have already made known to me through Your holy sages that the essential bite of the serpent comes through sadness and laziness. You, Hashem, know how much sadness and laziness overpower me at every time, and how many goods, both physical and spiritual, I have lost through my laziness in holy matters. Every day the ba’al davar pushed and pushed me, and I did not strengthen myself to break laziness and sadness; through this I did not fulfill the saying of our Sages to rise at Chatzos night and break sleep, which is the main matter. Through this the darkness and the darkened faces, which are an aspect of death, God forbid, overcame me, and through this I did not merit to renew myself, to elevate my soul, and to draw Torah.

Although I am far from drawing Torah, our Sages have already informed us that each person must receive the Torah anew every day. This too is receiving the Torah every single day, as our Sages said: every day they shall be in your eyes as new. All this is merited by breaking sleep, elevating the soul through holy faith, and renewing the soul through awakening from sleep with zeal.

Master of the Universe, there are many words in my heart concerning this matter, but because of my evil deeds I cannot speak before You, for the ba’al davar pushes me away greatly and casts me into sadness and laziness, until I cannot open my mouth and ask You for my soul. From now on may I merit to lessen sleep, taking only the little sleep needed for the preservation of da’as and the mind. May my sleep be sweet to me, and by a little sleep in holiness may I merit to give life to my soul and my mind. May my soul rise and be lifted through a little sleep, and may the verse be fulfilled in me: “When will you arise from your sleep?” — for through sleep in holiness there will be an arising for my soul.

May I merit to rise with zeal for the service of my Creator. May the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shechinah be united by my awakening in the morning, and may I be one who awakens the dawn in order to enlarge faith and the holy kingship. May I merit complete faith, and to annul all heresies that are drawn from the filth of the serpent, which are in the aspect of “laziness casts into deep sleep.” May complete providence be drawn upon me and upon all Yisrael; may we merit to draw near to the power of sight through the Torah that I will merit to study each night when I rise from my sleep with zeal and holiness. May I merit to feel distress, concern, and mourning over the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash, and by this may I merit to see it rebuilt, speedily in our days, amen. Through this may all judgments be erased from upon us and upon all Yisrael, to establish the holy faith and draw good kindnesses upon us and upon all Yisrael. Bestow good kindnesses upon us: blessed is He Who bestows good kindnesses upon His people Yisrael. Amen.

Translator’s Addition — Summary of Prayer B: Laziness and sadness are presented as roots of forgetfulness, heaviness, and heresy. Zealous rising, even with only a small amount of holy sleep, renews the soul, strengthens faith, and leads to Torah, mourning for the destruction, and complete providence.

Translator’s Addition — Diagram for Prayer B. Zealous rising → Breaking laziness/sadness → Renewed soul → Faith and providence