תפילות

Prayer 1

Master of all worlds — source of all delights and joys in all the worlds (א) — be with my aid to guard well the memory at every single point of turning from evil and doing good in thought, speech, and deed — which is what binds my soul in the knowledge of Your G-dliness (ב) — in knowledge beyond knowledge and in delight beyond delight without limit (ג). Help me to deepen very greatly this memory and all the inwardness of my thoughts — in such a manner that I may merit to rejoice at every single point as is fitting to rejoice in this. For You are the very essence of Good — of Good, and of Delight — of Delight, and of Joy — of Joy, without limit. And there is no end and no boundary to the love and longing for Your name and Your honor — love of love and longing of longing, etc. For You are the love of the sweetness of my life — in whatever way it passes over me in body and soul [here one elaborates on all that passes over him]. For I believe with complete faith that all manner of suffering and all manner of poverty and all manner of illness and all manner of pains and all manner of punishments in this world and in the World to Come — all of them, all of them, are literally as nothing and nothingness compared to the wondrous delight of cleaving to Your G-dliness — and to the pleasantness of pleasantness of Your Torah and the words of Your Tzadikim — which every person will merit: Ta'anigiger fun ta'anigeyer biz an eyk, freylichkayteyer fun freylichkeyt biz an eyk, gilibterer fun gliptkeytt biz an a ek, glustigeyer fun glustikaytt biz an eyn eyk — di bist mayn lib khiyus, mayn zis khiyus, viy azoy es geyt oyf mir iber b'guf u'b'nefesh. Mayn hartz geyt mir oysh nokh dir, mayn khiyus geyt mir oysh nokh dir… [Delight of delight to no end — joyfulness of joy to no end — belovedness of belovedness to no end — desire of desire to no end — You are my beloved life, my sweet life — in whatever way it passes over me in body and in soul. My heart goes out to You, my life goes out to You…] …For I believe with complete faith that all manner of suffering, all manner of poverty, all manner of illness, all manner of pains and ailments, all manner of death, all manner of Gehinnom — regarding everything — is as nothing at all compared to the delight of cleaving to Your G-dliness which every soul will

merit.

(This divine delight of the World to Come is greater and deeper than all manner of delight without end. This divine joy is greater and deeper than all manner of joy without limit. More beloved than all manner of love without limit. You are the beloved G-d of my life, the pleasant G-d of my life. With all that passes over me in body and soul — the longing of my heart goes out to You, the life of my soul goes out to You. I believe with complete faith that all manner of suffering in the world, all manner of poverty in the world, all manner of illness in the world, all manner of pains and ailments in the world, all manner of deaths, all manner of sufferings of Gehinnom — are as nothing and nothingness compared to the spiritual delight of cleaving

to Your G-dliness that every Jewish soul will merit in the future.)

Help me and grant me merit to draw fear first — to fear and to be afraid of You always: in the fear of punishment and the fear of exaltedness — in a most supernal fear of fear in ultimate perfection. For even Your terror and Your fear have no limit and no boundary: Farkhtigeyer fun farkhtik biz an eyn eyk, shrekindiker… (You are more worthy of fear than all manner of fears without limit. Your dread is greater than all manner of dread without limit.) [To grasp the staff at both its ends as above — and to draw myself toward the ultimate height — and to fix upon this certain hours — and with all of this to be in joy as above.] Help me that Your fear be upon my face so that I do not sin and do not deviate from Your commandments from now on at the very least — and all the more so from the great commandment to be in joy always, which You commanded us through Your true Tzadikim — that at every time and moment I may merit to be awakened and to bind myself to the inwardness of the good in my heart, to the inwardness of the Divine portion within me. In this inward good — may the joy and gladness in You (ד) be kindled and burn within me in every manner of flame and burning.

Note of the author: The attentive reader will understand by himself that I founded this prayer upon the words of Moharan"as z"l in many places — and in particular in Hilchos Pesach Halacho 9 — that specifically through fear one arrives at joy, and even through the fear of punishment. And as is hinted in the saying of our Sages of blessed memory regarding the matter of leishrei lan mar [let the master lead us in song] — he said to him: vay lan d'misnan [woe to us that we must die] etc. — which is very wondrous etc. — but according to the above the words are well understood. For he was in such great joy that the dread of death — which is the fear of punishment — had no power to bring him down to sadness, G-d forbid; rather on the contrary etc. — from the very immensity of the dread and fear from death etc., he strengthened himself to fulfill the words of our Sages of blessed memory: to gladden himself, etc. — see there. And since it is brought in Likutay Tinyono section 10 that also through joy one merits settled mind — to settle oneself regarding what is the ultimate purpose etc. — which is the aspect of the remembrance of the day of death — and as brought in Likutay Tefilos part II section 10 in the prayer on this — see there — and it is found accordingly that these two depend upon each other. Therefore I joined to this the following section —

in which there is much discussion of this remembrance.

Notes to Prayer 1

(א) The delights of this world are the dross of dross — that which has separated and detached from them like the separation of the refuse from the food within a person. And whoever stumbles in them not in holiness (for in holiness even they become refined — but one who stumbles in them in impurity, G-d forbid) is compared literally to the soul of a pig — for which too it seems that there is nothing better

than the filth it chews.

(ב) For after the soul is refined from the defilement of sins — which form a barrier and separate it from Him, may He be blessed — it will then cleave through every good point to Hashem and to His true Tzadikim, and in particular to the Head of all His Tzadikim — who is himself the source of the binding — for through him alone one becomes bound to Him, may He be blessed. And we will merit for eternity to all the delights of

knowing Him, may He be blessed — as brought from this above in Part III — see there.

(ג) For Hashem, may He be blessed, and His knowledge are one — as is known from the writings of the holy Ari z"l. And as the saying of the Sage, as brought in the Torah Chayyim Nitzchiyim [Eternal Life] in Likutay I section 21: "If I knew Him, I would be Him." And also all His holy attributes are in unity with Him — and therefore just as He, may He be blessed, is infinite, so too is there no end to His holy attributes which are His goodness and His mercy and His delight of delight: Zayn ta'anigdiker fun ta'anig [His delight of delight] All of which are the very essence of His knowledge and His G-dliness, may He be blessed. And the more the soul's knowledge grows — which is also its very essence (for also it is in unity with its knowledge, as brought in the words of Admoyr z"l in Likutay I section 35, on the verse "and the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding" — that the intellect is the soul — see there) — in the G-dliness of Him, may He be blessed, so will its unity and binding grow in the delight of His G-dliness — the immensity of sweetness and good and pleasantness, and the delight of delight — that the soul of a person will feel from its knowledge of Hashem (see Likutay Tefilos part I section 130 and part II section 9 and further in many places in his holy words) — even if it performed only a single commandment — it is impossible to measure with our human mind whatsoever. And already it is known what Moharan"as z"l once said regarding the explanation of the word "eybi'ig" [eternity] — and the understanding from his holy words is that with simple faith it is a great commandment to marvel from afar at the immensity and depth of the meaning of this word. And even though whoever deepens his thought in this and in the words of Admoyr z"l in section 21 — that to eternity and forever and ever there will be distinction in the delight of knowing Hashem between each person and his fellow, according to every single good point that one added over the other — will see with his eyes without any investigation whatsoever that the loss of reward of cleaving to Hashem — which one loses through diminishing even a single commandment, or through the absence of distancing from a single transgression — is more bitter and grievous to the soul than all manner of killing and death and all manner of Gehinnom in the world, all of which are worthwhile and as nothing compared to this. And it is not in the language of exaggeration that he wrote in his holy prayers the cry of our bitterness to no end and no limit (see Likutay Tefilos part II section 12 and many more places). And it is not for nothing that every single person must pour out his heart like water literally before the face of Hashem. For all manner of laments and all manner of weeping and great and bitter outcries would not suffice at all for the afflictions of the soul — which surpass all the afflictions in the world. But with all of this and after all of these — since even the transgressors of Israel are full of commandments like a pomegranate (Berachos 57a) — therefore our joy too is very great and immense beyond all measure. For the distinction for eternity between each person and his fellow will not only be in the quality of the delights of the attainment of His G-dliness — but the quantity of delights even from a single commandment will be without limit. (For what our Sages said: "It would have been better for a person not to have been created" etc. and the verse "better than both of them is one who has not yet been" — these were said only regarding the life of a person in this world — as brought in the Torah L'chu Chazu in Likutay Tinyono section 39 — but regarding the ultimate end that each person will merit: certainly it is better that he was created, and this is said even of the most sinful of sinners — for of him too "all that the Merciful One does" in bringing his soul down to this world He does "for his good" — the infinite good — for even all his bitter and grievous punishments that he will need to endure until he becomes refined — although they will be hard and worse than all — will be as nothing compared to the delight that he too will merit, even if in this world he performed only a single commandment. For his punishments too will be bounded — and the hope of the thread of infinite radiance in knowledge beyond knowledge and delight beyond delight — which the soul of every Jew will merit even through a single commandment — will be without limit and without boundary. And a bounded thing, even if it is great as it is great, is literally as nothing and nothingness compared to a boundless thing. [For the law follows those who search for allusions who said: all come to eternal life (Sanhedrin 104) — brought there also regarding the four who have no share in the World to Come. And see also in the Torah Atika Chayyim Nitzchiyim that even non-Jews will be refined.]) And I further heard from my father, may I be his atonement, regarding the matter of what he said: "ashes under the soles of the feet of the Tzadikim" — [praised is the one who merits this] etc. — and what is brought there that some will be entirely consumed etc. — it appears in my humble understanding to explain this as he himself z"l explained in Likutay Halachos, Laws of Tefillin, Halacho 4, section 5, the matter of the Zohar's saying that repentance does not avail etc. — that this is only the aspect of distancing for those who need to be distanced and about whom this must be written, and indeed even this etc. — see there — and similarly to what our Sages said about Acher etc. — and what is brought in Likutay Halachos… that there are those who will not remain at all — this is said only concerning the kelipah of Amalek — for it is of him that it is said "utterly erase" — for he is literally the very essence of evil and impurity. And if you deepen your thoughts in all of this with faith in wholesomeness and simplicity (for it is forbidden to gaze with the eyes of the intellect at what is above, what is below, etc.) — you will see with your own eyes that this

is as stated above.

And also from all the above you will understand on your own that the life of a person and all his needs in this world — although they too bear upon his service of Hashem, and therefore certainly even the effort for them in the physical is counted as a great commandment, and all the more so effort in the spiritual through prayer and supplication etc. — but after all this, if the compelling hidden knowledge of Him, may He be blessed [hidden in concealment within concealment to no limit], according to the nature of the soul and all the other particulars — is that the soul will not cleave to Him unless it passes through trials and various refinements — according to what passes over each person — then certainly and certainly all the poverty and the pain and the humiliation and the death are as nothing and nothing compared to the cleaving and binding in the attainment of His G-dliness. Also all the punishments of Gehinnom are as nothing compared to this — for they are bounded as above. (See Likutay Halachos, Laws of Nesius Kapayim, Halacho 4, section 7, that the gratitude that the Men of the Great Assembly instituted for us to say three times daily — its essence is regarding the miracles and wonders that Hashem arranges at every time through the mystery of His stratagems in a manner that in the end every person will have a rectification for eternity — see there.) And Admoyr z"l already made known to us that to break one's heart before Hashem one needs to set aside only one hour a day — but all day long one must be in joy. For although in spiritual matters one must be fiercely desirous of outstanding wealth — as is fitting and beautiful for the Divine portion from above, for the son of the Creator, may He be blessed (as it is written "you are children of Hashem your G-d" and as brought from this in the books of truth that the soul of every Jew is a Divine portion from above, as is known) — to merit in this world the ultimate height beyond which there is no height — but since what has already happened with each person has happened, at least one must not swallow back anything that would cause an even more pungent foul odor to emanate. For at least one must do as Admoyr z"l commanded — that one must grasp the staff at both its ends: that even though one yearns and longs to merit the ultimate height — yet correspondingly, more and more and doubly redoubled, one must strengthen oneself in joy and fulfill "In Your name they will rejoice all day" — and be joyous in one's portion at every single point and every hair's-breadth however it may be. For this very joy — for people sick as we are — is a commandment above which there is none higher. And as Admoyr z"l made known to us in the story of the holy Simple One — what he merited through this joy (through being joyous in his prayer even though it was not as it should have been — and similarly at every good point, as understood there) — to the ultimate height and perfection: to face-to-face prophecy, and to behold the image of Hashem so to speak, and to be the leader over all leaders — as is all understood from the conversations after that story. And all of this Admoyr z"l told us so that we may know that every single person, in whatever passes over him, has and has the capability to merit all of this if he too walks in this way. For this awesome new-and-ancient path is itself the isarusa d'lesata [awakening from below] of the World of Repair — through which "Hashem shall rejoice in His works" may be fulfilled — and the isarusa d'lesata arising from this is "Israel shall rejoice in its Maker." And all the weepings and the outcries (see Likutay Halachos, Gratitude, Halacho 6, section 24) and all the repentances and rectifications that a person must make in this world — all of it is in order that he should merit to truly feel in his heart the immensity of this joy and gladness — through which will come the World to Come for all the Tzadikim and pious ones, where the more they attain Him the more they rejoice and delight in Him, and the more they rejoice in Him the more they are unified with Him to know and attain Him. And even today all manner of rescues and salvations comes through drawing one's mind from this ultimate End — to know and believe that all his experiences are for his good. As is brought abundantly in his holy words — to rejoice in His love from morning until evening at every single good point — and regarding this our Sages said: whoever repents out of love has his transgressions turned into merits, and the essence of it is through transforming the very sorrow and sighing itself into joy and gladness — as brought from this in Likutay Halachos, Procreation, Halacho 3, and in Gratitude, Halacho 6 — see there carefully what is explained on this matter — that in one way our joy is greater and greater after all that has passed over us — and yet even we have snatched in the immensity of such darkness and cloud and gloom such precious points — see there. And even after all his words that he wrote there on this, one must add to this what is brought in his holy letters — and brought from this also in the books of his Halachos — that in every word and word through which Admoyr z"l instructs and teaches us, he further hints to us to understand on our own through the hints of his holy wisdom that are clothed even today in his holy books. As is understood from this in the story of the Exchanged Children — that the rectification of the prince — who alludes to each person of Israel as brought in Likutay Halachos, Morning Blessings, Halacho 3 — came only when he became one who understands one thing from within another. For although the primary choice to understand on one's own is only with the truly great whose aspect is that of Moshe who added one day from his own understanding [Shabbos 88], yet even among simple people there is found something of this — which is the main root of everyone's free choice. (And because of this, Admoyr z"l warned so greatly to cry out to Hashem for the rectification of counsels.) And all the more so in a matter as awesome and lofty as this — one must make use of this more and more. And thus too is understood from the words of Moharan"as z"l that I heard orally — that for this very reason, even the holy Rosh HaShanah [pilgrimage to

Uman] that he initiated after his passing — he did not reveal explicitly [how he would make it known].

(ד) See Likutay Tefilos part I section 49 regarding will, and section 34 regarding prayer and outcry — and so too the matter applies also to joy, as is understood from his holy words

elsewhere.

Prayer 2

And help me, my Father in Heaven, to cleave so fully to the holy joy — that my mind may be calm and settled at every time — and I may constantly account to myself the immensity and force of the foolishness and madness of the desires of this world and its vanities. For one knows with clarity and without any doubt that suddenly, suddenly, one will be caught in the trap of death — and there will be no one who can redeem or save from this. And then one will be forced to vomit and return all the desires that one introduced into the body — and there will be no advantage or gain from them whatsoever. And then one will be forced to deal with the Angel of Death without any claim — and to stretch out one's neck to him without any excuse — and to taste the taste of the death-agony, which is more bitter and grievous than all manner of bitterness in the world. And I will look with my eyes in every direction — perhaps there is one who can rescue me from this — and all my beloved ones and friends will stand at a distance from my affliction and will not want to look or gaze upon this at all. And the entire body that was crammed with desires — will be forced to decompose in the earth and in the belly of the worms — and there will be no place to hide and conceal oneself from all this in any manner. And even if I were guaranteed all eighty years — they too will fly away in the blink of an eye, and many of them have already passed and gone — and similarly the remainder will pass and fly. And all the more so that even with this little bit until eighty years — one is not guaranteed at all — for one is not guaranteed life even for a single moment — and at every moment one is ready and prepared to be caught in the net that is spread over all the living. And now — upon whom have I relied that I have rebelled? And also what do I wish to gain? Do I not know that everything is vanity of vanities — and worse than vanity a thousand times — for even the greatest of the great wealthy men, who fills his belly in this blink of an eye with all the imagined desires — he too is forced to descend into the pit and put on burial shrouds and lie with his feet toward the door and wrap himself in the green-faced image of death without any doubt. And every single limb will be forced to rot and putrefy and be consumed by the teeth of the worms — and to be digested in their filthy and disgusting belly — and neither silver nor gold will avail him etc. And now — what do I have to lose in this world

of confusion when I strengthen myself in Your Torah and commandments?

Author's parenthetical note: Since Admoyr z"l warned greatly to guard this remembrance every day — as brought in Likutay I section 54, and in Likutay Halachos, Laws of the Fragrance Blessing and the Fruit Blessing, Halacho 5, section 10 — where it is brought that the primary preservation of the remembrance is through speech: that one must speak of this a great deal — perhaps we may merit to remind ourselves, lest the concealment that is placed upon this in the heart of every person mislead us — as brought from his words in Laws of Shechitah, Halacho 5, section 5 — that although it appears on the surface that everyone knows of this, in truth very few are they who merit to know of it — see there. And therefore the people of our fellowship were accustomed to speak of this matter a great deal in every manner of language. And now — since the men of faith are lost and every day we go and diminish — therefore I said to record and to transcribe at the very least this matter of the remembrance

also in the Ashkenaz tongue — for the reason brought in the Introduction — see there.

Riboyno shel oylem — far dir iz antplekt vos far a haylome dia host gigebin in hartz fun yeder mentshin, az kimat me veyst gor nit tsi me vet amol shtarbn. Helf mir ikh zol es vissin klar bli shum sofek, az me vet plutslung muzin vern a mes, se vet gor keyner nit kenen helfin. In bisheat gesise vet men muzen oysmayken ale tayves, se vet fun zey akorat akorat gor nit aroys kumen. Un me vet zikh muzen bageygenem mit dem malakh hamoves bli shum tayne, un me vet um muzen oys shtrekken dem haldz bli shum teruts, in me vet mizzen far zikhen dem tayem fun der gesise vos er iz toyzenter mol erger fin biter in fin shlekht in fin ale minei paskudnkayt in der velt. Me vet varfen di oygen oyf ale zayten tomer ken eymitser op ratven, in ale fraynd velin oys dreyen dem kop un velin gor nit velen kuken. In der gantser guf vos me hot im ongeshtapt mit di tayves vet er muzen iber gefoylert verin in der erd in ba di verim in boykh, un me vet zikh fun dem alimen nit oys dreyen un nit oys bahaltin beshem oyfn. Un ven ikh zol zayn far zikert mit ale akhtsig yohr — flyen zey zikh oykh iber ki'heref ayin in asakh fun zey iz shoyn iber gelofin punkt azoy vi zey zenen gor nit givehn, un zey velin zikh shoyn tsu mir gevis nit um kern. Un azoy veys ikh gevis az dos iberige vet oykh iber loyfn k'tzel over — me vet azoy lang handlin biz se vet vern oys teg mit oys nekht mit oys yorn. Ubifrat, ubifrat, az afile mit dem bisel yohrin veys ikh nokh oykh nisht ba vos ikh alt — az me iz nit zikher mit dem lebn afile eyn rege, in bkhol rege v'rege iz men mukhan u'mezuman oykh tsu vern a bar minan. Haynt oyf vemis takifus treyt ikh op fun dir — velikhes vel ikh do gevinnen — veys ikh den nit az se iz in gantsn blote mit blote. Der grester gevir, der grester olam-ha-ze-nik, muz krikhen in grubb un muz on tu'en takhrikhim un muz bakumen dem geln patret mit der geshtarbiner tsure — in yeder eyver vet muzen far shtinken vern in iber gisn vern tsu di tseyn fun di verim in nis'akel vern in zeyer mizen un paskudnem boykh. Se helft im nit keyn gelt in keyn shum zakh. Haynt vos hob ikh da vos on tsu vern in der narisher velt in der pepirter velt — [Master of the universe — revealed before You is what manner of concealment You have placed in the heart of every person, that one almost does not know at all whether one will ever die. Help me that I should know this clearly without any doubt: that one will suddenly be forced to become a corpse — and no one at all will be able to help. And at the time of the death-agony one will be forced to vomit out all the desires — and nothing whatsoever will come of them exactly. And one will be forced to deal with the Angel of Death without any claim — and one will be forced to stretch out one's neck without any excuse — and one will have to taste the taste of the death-agony, which is thousands of times more bitter and bad and worse than all manner of foulness in the world. One will cast one's eyes in every direction — perhaps someone can save — and all one's friends will turn away their heads and will not want to look at all. And the entire body that was crammed with the desires will be forced to rot in the earth and among the worms in the belly — and one will not be able to turn away from all of it or hide oneself in any manner. And even if I were guaranteed all eighty years — they too fly away in the blink of an eye, and many of them have already passed exactly as though they had never been — and they will certainly not return to me. And so I know certainly that the remainder will also pass like a fleeting shadow — one will trade and trade until the days run out, the nights run out, the years run out. And especially, especially — that even with this little amount of years I also don't know at what age I stand — that one is not guaranteed life even for a single moment — and at every moment one is ready and prepared to become a "gone one." Now — upon whose strength do I turn away from You — what will I gain here — do I not know that it is completely mud and mud? The greatest wealthy man, the greatest materialist, must crawl into the grave and must put on burial shrouds and must receive the yellow portrait with the dead-face — and every limb will be forced to stink and be poured out to the teeth of the worms and be digested in their filthy and disgusting belly. Money and nothing will help him at all. Now what do I have to lose in this foolish world, this shuffled-around world —

az ikh vel mikh haltn in dayne toyre u'mitsvos. if I hold myself to Your Torah and commandments.]

Prayer 3

Master of the universe — You know that when I sometimes settle my mind I do not know myself what explanation to give of myself: Veys ikh aleyn nit vos far a peyresh tsi zogn oyf zikh [I do not know myself what explanation to give of myself] For You have indeed made known to us — our Father in Heaven — that we are called and considered before You literally as children, so to speak — and all Your pain and suffering, so to speak, is that we do not wish to receive from You the infinite delights — that You delight in delight without end in bestowing them upon us. And now — can it be told? — such immense and sublime foolishness and madness: to exchange and replace the source of life, the source of delights — Hashem, may He be blessed (ה) — for the source of bitterness and pains, the source of death-agony and death — the kelipah of Amalek, may his name be erased. (ו) Without my mind, without my wisdom, without my understanding — until when? Until when will I be sunken in such darkness and gloom — in imaginings and derangements of mind like these? Oyf ven leyg ikh op — az ot vert tog, az ot vert nakht — in me zet mit di oygn az di velt iz erger fin gornit. [To whom do I put it off — now it is day, now it is night — and one sees with one's eyes that this world is worse than nothing.] — l'mosai ani docheh, hineh yom, hineh laylo, ve'ro'im b'aynayyim she'ha'olam ha-zeh garu'a me'efes [Until when do I delay? Behold day, behold night — and we see with our eyes that this world is worse than nothingness.] Help me and save me from now on — my Father in Heaven — to seclude myself [lehisbodded] in the field every single night — and to cry out before You from the depths of the heart regarding all that passes over me — and to properly articulate my conversation before You regarding all manner of hindrances that prevent me from being as Your will in truth. And with all of this I will strengthen myself afterwards with immense and lofty joy in You and in Your true Tzadikim — joy that has no end and limit — until my heart lifts my hands and feet to many clapings and dancings as Your good will. And help me and save me to begin each time anew — and to strengthen myself with very great boldness against all those who mock this. For it is revealed and known before You that in these our days the darkness that darkens the face of creatures has redoubled doubly and doubly before the dawn of the day which we hope for — and it has grown strong and spread in many new and old pathways and roads — beyond what the mouth can speak and the heart can think — as You know the immensity of the desecration of G-d's name from the books of heresy that have multiplied in these times in every corner by thousands and myriads — both in the Holy Tongue and in the Ashkenaz tongue — and in the great mystery of Your ways You gave to their authors the wisdom of the spider — to exude moisture from their mouths and make from it traps and nets to catch and ensnare the souls of the flies that pass through them — to suck out their heads and to eat them and to swallow them until they are transformed into their own essence. (ז) And they multiply slander and mockery against every single commandment and every single service of Israel — and all the more so against a commandment that a person tramples with his heel like this, (ח) — of which the baal davar [adversary] clothes himself in the commandment of fear — and plants and introduces even into the hearts of the virtuous that it is forbidden, G-d forbid, to waste time on clapping and dancing and joy in Hashem. Save me in Your mercy from all manner of confusions and errors in the world — and be with my aid that even when my heart is blocked and confused from feeling the true joy — be with my aid that I draw it down upon myself through milei d'shtuta [foolish words] (ט) — and through dancing and other bodily movements, (י) — and through acting as though I am joyous, (יא) — and through the voice of melody which brings joy to the heart — and through speaking aloud many words of joy, which also brings the remembrance of joy into the heart always, (יב) — until I merit in my living lifetime to all that a Jewish person must merit and to fulfill Your intention in the creation of Your world in ultimate perfection as is fitting — and I will not come in shame before You — until I too merit, among the collective souls of Israel, the hope of Your thread of radiance — the Infinite — in knowledge

beyond knowledge and in delight beyond delight without limit.

Notes to Prayer 3

(ה) For from every single movement and movement through which one turns to do His will, may He be blessed — there is added and increased for the person the essence of the delights at every level — rising to

no end and no limit.

(ו) For through every sin and sin one becomes attached to it — and through this there is added and increased for the person great and immense bitterness and pains which he will be forced to endure until

he is refined from it.

(ז) And it is impossible to speak and argue with them at all — since in their minds (which they will sanctify and purify with cold water and their other good deeds) they think it is very difficult regarding the words of the true Tzadikim. In mit zeyrere shpinishe oygn zeyen zey az se iz keyn gehinom nit do — haynt viy azoy zoln zey nit [And with their spider-eyes they see that there is no Gehinnom — now how should they not (And with their spider-eyes they see that there is no Gehinnom — and now how should they not

oysshteyrn zeyrere khazirisher tseyn mit gishpet un gelokhter bare their pig-like teeth with mockery and laughter] gnash their pig-like teeth with derision and laughter.)

(ח) It appears in my humble understanding that this is the meaning of the interpretation in the way of the mystical secret that Admoyr z"l expounds upon the verse "Ve'haya ekev tishme'un" [And it shall come to pass if you listen] — which alludes to joy and dancing — and also to the interpretation in the way of the simple and the homiletical brought in Rashi z"l — which alludes to the commandments that a person tramples with his heel. And they are one and the same — for there is no commandment that a person tramples with his heel

more than the commandment of joy and dancing.

(ט) As is known and famous — the saying of Admoyr z"l brought in the Sichos [Conversations] — that it is impossible to be joyous except through foolish words. And see also in Likutay Halachos,

Laws of Tefillin, Halacho 4, sections 5 and 6.

(י) See in the book Ha'Aleph Beis under the entry Simchah, section 8.

(יא) See Sichos HaRan after the Sipuray Ma'asiyos, section 74.

(יב) See Likutay Halachos, Laws of Fragrance Blessing and Fruit Blessing, Halacho 5,

section 4.

Prayer 4

Master of the universe — my Father in Heaven — the dearest of my heart — my life and my eternal delight — before You we reveal all the tribulation that has found us — and all the flood of many waters that passes over me at every time — until many and many times it is very hard and heavy upon me even to request regarding joy. For many and many times I am bitter and grievous with a bitterness of bitterness such as this — until in truth it cannot even be called by the name "bitterness" — but only by a borrowed name. For there is no blow to compare to my blows — no pain to equal my pains — and my illnesses and my distresses are heavier and greater a thousand times than my laments and my outcries. But with all of this, with all of this — great and mighty and lofty is Your exaltedness above all blessing and praise. For You are all-capable and nothing is withheld from You in device — and it is in Your hand and Your power even now to impart to us wisdom and understanding and to make known to us true counsels — deep counsels from within the depth of the very depths of the darkness in which I am caught — in a manner that it will be in my capability even now to transform all the sorrows and sighs that I drew upon myself and upon others — all of them I will transform through the power of the source of the binding in You — into joy and gladness, into jubilation, song, delight, and exultation. For in truth — the more and more my blows and my pains have grown and multiplied — so too will they grow and magnify even more and more, doubly redoubled, the cleaving and the binding to You for eternity — until all manner of anguish and blow and pain will be as nothing compared to the joy and gladness that will come from all of these to us in Your name — and Your name in us — and to eternity and forever and ever each one will give thanks and say:

"I will thank You, Hashem, for You were angry with me — Your anger turned away and You comforted me [u'senachamtaini]" — [the letters נַחְמָן being embedded in the word nachamtaini].

Prayer 5

In which all that was mentioned above is briefly repeated, and new matters are also added

Master of the universe — help me to bind my heart to knowledge, so that there should always be felt — in the very depths of my heart, to its ultimate — the spark of knowledge that glimmers within me at times from the immensity of Your goodness — stored away and hidden for all who will merit it. For is there love like the love of the One who brought into existence from nothing all those who are loved and all the loves of all the worlds? Is there desire and longing like the desire and longing of the One who brought into existence from nothing all that is desired and longed-for — physical and spiritual — in the world? Is there joy and sweetness and pleasantness and good and delight like the delight of cleaving and unification — without any measure or limit? Is it not worth waiting for this all the days of one's life in this world — which flies like a moment, like the shadow of a flying bird literally (as is visible to the eye in truth of the depth of thought — in the flying of the time of each person, when he recalls what happened with him in his days of youth, which seems to him as though it happened just yesterday)? Is it not worth suffering for this all manner of suffering from the Creator and from the [evil] inclination? Is there madness like the madness of one who refuses this waiting and endurance — and exchanges all this for the desire of the filth of the barrel — it is the body — which is full of filth and impurity and worms and abominations and stench — standing and ready at every moment for the spreading of the stench even to the outer walls through the striking of illness and death-agony and death — which will strike suddenly without doubt? And besides the fact that through this very exchange itself, the bearing of the suffering mentioned above is increased and multiplied through this very act thousands and myriads of times. Master of the universe — help me lest the dwelling-place of the kelipot and the evil days in which I am sunken prevail over me — to warp my heart with confusions — to uproot, G-d forbid, from my mind even the above-mentioned glimmering.

(For there is no deception like the deceptions of the confusions and the heresy.)

Help me to bind with all my heart and soul to Your Torah and Your true Tzadikim — who labor to bring and to introduce all this glimmering into our hearts and minds. Help me lest all the above and their other awesome words grow old in my eyes. Help me lest the evil inclination cause me to sin by not requesting for this at the very least every single day — as You have made known to us through Your true Tzadikim: that all the standing and sustenance in the swamp of this world is through strengthening without limit in prayer and supplication — however it may be — for there is nothing that saves from the deception of the sitra achra like faith and prayer for one who is strong in this. Help me to cry out and cry out before You every day from the depth of the heart as is fitting for me to cry out. Save us for Your sake, our G-d — save us! Save us for the sake of Your true Tzadikim — save us! Save us for the sake of the Head of Your true Tzadikim — save us! Save us and please save — that from now at the very least all the desires and longings in my nature should be turned to holiness. Have compassion and pity and mercy upon me from now at the very least. And command Your holy angels to remove from over me all the soiled and defiled garments (יג) — that warp my heart with physical desires and its murky materialism — and clothe me in refined garments — in pure and clean garments — in refined and purified natural inclinations — in a manner that I will desire and long only for Your name and Your remembrance, for Your joy and Your gladness, for the attainment of You and the attainment of Your Torah and the words of Your true Tzadikim which are Your unity. Have mercy upon me and help me that my prayer and request be accepted — even through the immensity of their fewness and smallness in quantity and quality. For is there a prayer so tiny and slight in the extreme in the world that is not in Your power to accept — and to create from it vessels for the bestowal of Your salvation? (יד) Is there a heart of stone in the world that is not in Your power to transform into a heart of flesh? Is there a confused heart in the world from which You cannot uproot all the confusions and turn it into an upright heart? And has You not already made known to us through Your true Tzadikim: that wherever I have been more deeply sunken in impure places — from there precisely — if I would merit to be purified and refined in ultimate refinement and to be elevated in ultimate elevation — I would cause through this purification and refinement also for all the inhabitants of the world, (טו) that the spirit of impurity and filth should pass from them too — that there should be removed and uprooted from them too the natural smallness of their minds to be arrogant (טז) and to stubbornly refuse to nullify themselves before the knowledge of the Tzadikim of truth — to contemplate and to understand that all this world is nothing but a passage and a temporary path in which to trade the merchandise that we will succeed with to eternity in the eternal delight forever — and whoever labors in it in investigations and inventions of it — there is no fool

and simpleton like him. (יז)

Help me to be awakened and to yearn toward You in all manner of desire and will — as You wish that I should want — and not that I mislead myself to think that I already want in truth. For only You know all the hidden recesses of my heart to the very end — more than I do. For in truth I do not know at all where I am in the world — and many times it seems to me that I already yearn with all my heart to be as Your will — and in truth this is only imagination. Help me to remember and not to forget that in this I am deceiving none but myself — and not You, G-d forbid. Master of the universe — it is revealed before You that from the immensity of the hidden mysteries of Your ways in various managements — in person and place and time — it is impossible to clarify in any manner the benefit and usefulness of prayer and request (see above in Part II) — but with all of this we believe with complete faith that in truth there is no word that is in vain, G-d forbid —

and every single word makes an impression for good.

Help me to strengthen myself in this without measure and value at every movement — for You have already made known to us: just as there is no moment without affliction [pega], so one must fulfill — there is no moment without entreaty and request. And in particular regarding the healing of joy — for which there is no healing as good and sweet — a healing easy and gentle even for a sick and weakened one such as I. Help me to be expert in all manner of ascent and descent, G-d forbid, in body and soul — not to distance myself through them from this joy. (יח) A warped and sorrowful heart — remove from me. Evil I shall not know. Satiate me with Your goodness and gladden my soul with Your salvation — and purify my heart to serve You in truth. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable before You, Hashem,

my Rock and my Redeemer — Amen and Amen.

(And since joy is the totality of totalities of all the traits — as is understood from the words of Admoyr and Moharan"as z"l that I brought above — therefore I said to include yet

several more traits in this prayer.)

Notes to Prayer 5

(יג) See Likutay Halachos, Betzias HaPas [Bread-breaking], Halacho 5 — in the explanation of the saying of our Sages on the verse "For this shall every pious one pray to You in a time of finding" — "this is the privy" etc. —

and what Mar Zutra said surpasses all of them — see there.

(יד) This must be repeated and reiterated: although His will, may He be blessed, is that a person should repair through his prayer an isarusa d'lesata [awakening from below] — vessels to receive His influence — and also one must pray and supplicate to Him, may He be blessed, regarding the isarusa d'lesata and the prayer itself — that we should be awakened to His prayer and service, and that He should accept them in His mercy — all of this is like craftsmen's tools for the making of the vessels — for it is the preparation of the vessels to receive the influence of His strength and capability for the actual making of the vessels to receive all the influences. Yet nonetheless — if a person sees that after all his arguments and prayers his request is not fulfilled — let not his thoughts alarm him about this. For if in the future, in the world of the attainments of His knowledge and understanding, may He be blessed, in the reasons of His management in the particulars of particulars — in person and place and time — and in the reasons of His commandments and admonishments to us through the true Tzadikim [which includes also the admonishment of prayer as above] — and in other wonders beyond understanding — and yet without end His greatness exceeds our greatness and the very truth of His self-knowledge exceeds our knowledge of Him, since He is infinite — how then can it enter the mind — such Amalekite madness and stubbornness — to ask [and to pose objections and wish to understand with one's coarse intellect] even the minutest of minutiae? For everything that is understood in this through His very own words — which He informed us through the spirit of His Shechinah speaking from the throats of the true Tzadikim of truth in the aspect of Moshe as above — all of it must be received in simple faith in its utter simplicity — in a manner that each person according to his level will contemplate through them themselves to the ultimate knowledge of "not knowing" — that one does not know at all and it is impossible

to know at all.

(טו) See Likutay Halachos, Betzias HaPas as above.

(טז) See Likutay Halachos, Laws of Pesach, Halacho 5.

(יז) As the saying of Rabbi Shimon [bar Yochai] upon his emergence from the cave: "They abandon life eternal and occupy themselves with life temporal" — and also His will, may He be blessed, regarding the existence of the world and the absence of its nullification as brought there — is nothing but from His expectation and looking toward the end of all generations — that ultimately He will complete what He desires, precisely through the balance of free choice and trial which He weighs for each person —

as brought from this above at the end of Part I, Emes ve'Emuno — see there carefully.

(יח) See above in the annotations, section 3.

Prayer 6

Master of the universe — it is revealed and known before You that my soul yearns to be as Your will — and yet I know no manner — no manner at all — how to merit complete and true repentance — in a manner that all that I transgressed and ruined in this incarnation or in other incarnations will be turned into merit and rectification. Ahah! Ahah! Ahah! Master of all worlds — Creator of all souls and spirits and vital forces and bodies — who brings into existence and creates within me and within all souls that were and will be all our movements and our existence — as You made known to us through Your true Tzadikim regarding the utter absence of the limit of the mysteries of Your management of every soul — in hidden and covered actions and inventions that appear to our human understanding as two opposites in one subject. For in truth — even though You placed free choice in our hands and in our power and capability to turn from evil and be as Your will in every thought, speech, and deed — yet this too is in Your hand, for there is nothing besides You. And without Your power that brings into existence and activates everything in heaven and on earth — their existence and their maintenance and their management — not a thought and not a reflection, not a kidney and not an organ would stir within us. And who can understand the ways of Your wonders — and who can restrain himself to know and attain — something so unknown and unattainable as this which is drawn from the vacant space [chalal ha'panui] — from which You removed and withdrew — so to speak — even the attribute of the wisdom of Your G-dliness that flows within all the worlds created within it? (See carefully Likutay I section 64.) But we have only the words of the true Tzadikim who informed me of all this — and from the mysteries of Your will — to seek and to supplicate from You regarding every single movement. Therefore I raised my voice and cried out with a bitter and hasty cry: Ahah! Ahah! Ahah! — Givald! Givald! — My beloved Father in Heaven — desire of my heart — my heart is dissolved within me — all my limbs and bones tremble and shudder within me — my beloved Father in Heaven, desire of my heart — whose power and mercy and love for every single Jewish soul called "children" before You is without limit — how can You hold Yourself back from seeing and beholding their anguish and bitterness — even the anguish and bitterness of the body — and all the more so through all arguments of minor to major: the anguish and bitterness of the soul! For even with the measure of mercy that You planted within us — it is impossible to look and see the bitterness of so many punishments — and whoever stands over them is forced to steel and harden his heart in every manner of hardness and cruelty — for he too would grow weak and perish merely from looking and seeing what he sees in

them.

And now — Ahah, my Father in Heaven — is there any limit to Your power to bring me back to such complete repentance — in a manner that there should be upon me no judgment or verdict either in this world or in the World to Come? Is there any limit to Your power to bring into my heart too wisdom and understanding and true knowledge — awakening toward You as Your good will — alacrity and joy and gladness as Your good will — faith and trust and humility and wholesomeness and simplicity and uprightness of heart and mercy upon creatures and true counsels at every movement — and absolute agreement in my heart upon them — and strengthening and fortifying not to deviate from them — and all other manner of salvations in body and soul necessary for the ultimate perfection of my repentance? Is there any limit to Your arguments on behalf of all these my salvations? For You have already made known to me through Your true Tzadikim of Your hidden and unrevealed judgment — revealed only to You and not to any other (see Likutay Halachos, Laws of Gifts [Matanah], Halacho 5). Is there any salvation in the world in body and soul that the merit of Your true Tzadikim would not suffice for? Help me to be awakened and to give isarusa d'lesata in ultimate perfection to their holy merit —

in a manner that I may be saved from now in all that I need to be saved.

Master of the universe — revealed before You is the immensity and force of the strong, hard, and bitter kelipah entrenched within me — the willfulness of my heart and the arrogance of my body in its desires and evil traits: in the trait of anger, in the trait of stubbornness, in the trait of sadness, in the trait of laziness, in the trait of falling and weakness of mind from all of this — and similarly in the other desires and evil traits without number. And now, Hashem — until when? Until when will You hide Your face from me? When will You be awakened to arouse even one sleeping as I am — to waken even a driven and fainting one as I am — to remove even from me the hardness of my neck — to purify even me from my kelipah and my defilement — to clean and refine even my heart from all manner of evil and willfulness — from all manner of arrogance and stubbornness — from all manner of anger and wrath — from all manner of forgetfulness and laziness — from all manner of fallings and weakness of mind — from all manner of old age of the sitra achra and foolishness — from all manner of external fears and lack of trust — from all manner of desires for money and licentiousness — from all manner of excess light and corruption of the holy contraction [tzimtzum d'kedushah] — from all manner of pride — and from all manner of evil counsels — all of which gather and assemble against me together to push me and to turn my steps from the paths of joy and gladness at every time — from the roads of jubilation and rejoicing as Your good will. When will You arise and have mercy upon me — to hear the groan and cry of the inner being of our hearts regarding all my evil traits — when will You look and take notice of me in Your abundant mercy and capability which are sufficient even for me — to guide even me at every moment in the straight and correct road — without any fear or dread of the pursuers found in the holy garden — for it is precisely from the cause of fear that one falls and is broken with blows and illnesses? When will You teach us and be with our aid to bind and cleave to the holy man standing beside the garden — in a manner that we should be saved from now from all manner of tribulations in body and soul — in a manner that I should not be expelled from the holy garden — in a manner that I should not distance myself from Your true service as You made known to us through Your true Tzadikim. Master of the universe — revealed before You is the oppression of my soul under the hands of the murderer in all manner of insolent waters through which he passes me — and frightens us and holds us back even from crying out to You as I truly wish. Teach me and instruct me in a time of trouble and distress — how to gesture and to lift even now my eyes and soul to You — in a manner that You will say "enough" to my bitterness from such a death — in a manner that You will rescue my soul from now from Your punishments in this world and in the World to Come. Ahah! Ahah! — Father! Father! Father! — do not stop Your ears from the cry of Your young ones! Do not harden Your heart from the depths of the depths of our cry — from the bubbling of the bubbling of our tears and our anguish. And I hand myself over to You with all my limbs and sinews — with my nefesh and my ruach and my neshamah and my chayyah and my yechidah — with all my thoughts and reflections — with all my innards and my loins and my kidneys — with all the hidden things of my heart and all the pathways of its plans — with all my external and internal senses and powers — with all the powers of will and refusal within me: that You do and guide them as the truth of Your will — at every single movement — in a manner that I utterly refuse the evil — in a manner that I utterly refuse the defilement of the desires of my body and my evil traits in every manner of refusal — in a manner that I choose the good with will and yearning and longing as Your good will in ultimate perfection — in a manner that there should be upon me from now no sin or iniquity or transgression, G-d forbid — in a manner that from now all that I sinned and ruined in deed and speech and thought and in their absence and neglect — both in this incarnation and in other incarnations — will be turned into merits and rectifications — in a manner that there should be upon me from now no judgment or verdict, G-d forbid, neither in this world nor in the World to Come — in a manner that my mind and heart will be refined to the feeling of joy in You and in Your true Tzadikim with immense, exalted, and constant feeling — in a manner that even in my lifetime I will merit to be absorbed into You in ratzo va'shuv [running and returning] as Your good will — from now and

forever.

Prayer 7

Addition to the Above Prayer

Master of the universe — have mercy upon me and do as is fitting for You — to make and to create a vessel of isarusa d'lesata in ultimate perfection — even from the light and lowly prayer of one sunk in the ten crowns of impurity as I am — of a dog returning to its vomit as I am — of one who repays evil for good as I am — in a manner that You will also save me in all manner of salvations in the physical and the spiritual — in a manner that I will merit even in my living life to complete repentance — to the repentance of Shabbos — to the repentance of love and joy in You in ultimate completeness beyond which there is no completeness — in a manner that there will be upon me afterward no judgment or verdict, G-d forbid. For You have indeed made known to us — our Father in Heaven — that in all our afflictions it is affliction for You, so to speak — and in any case we are called Your children. And now — how can You allow and witness the destruction of Your children, G-d forbid? And how can You restrain Yourself in Your mercy and the goodness of Your heart — which are without limit — from standing over the blood of Your young ones who are so sick and feeble and pained and endangered? Please, Hashem — have mercy upon Yourself, so to speak, (כ) and upon us — and say "enough" to Your tears, so to speak, and to our tears — to Your distress, so to speak, and to our distress. Have pity and spare and have mercy also upon one sunk in the very depths of the kelipah of Haman-Amalek as I am — upon one swallowed in the belly of the Samech-Mem as I am — upon one transformed into the very essence of the serpent as I am — upon one inferior to all pejorative designations. And place into the heart of the Head of Your true Tzadikim — Rabbainu Nachman ben Simcha, may the memory of the holy and righteous one be for blessing — and into the heart of his holy disciple Moharan"as z"l — and into the heart of all the true Tzadikim of all ages who are included within him — that they shall pray on my behalf always — and shall stir with their great power immense and mighty and lofty mercy such as is sufficient even for me — that You will save me in all manner of salvations in the physical and the spiritual — that You will save even a sinner who causes the many to sin as I am — in a manner that I will return before You in complete repentance as is fitting — in a manner that in my living life all my sins and iniquities and transgressions will be turned into merits — and all my sins against the many, into merits for the many — and all the desecration of G-d's Name, into sanctification of G-d's Name — and all my sorrows and sighs, into joys and gladnesses in You. You shall be blessed forever and eternally. For it is specifically through this that Your exaltedness will be revealed forever over all Your names — Your exaltedness over all the intellects in all the worlds — Your exaltedness over all praises and laudations without end. And it is specifically through this that Your intention in creating Your world will be completed as befitting Your

good will.

Note to Prayer 7

(כ) I heard in the name of Admoyr z"l who related this in the name of the righteous rabbi Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Ladi z"l — who interpreted the verse "Your mercies are many, Hashem" [Tehillim 119:156] — meaning:

Your mercies — the compassion upon You Yourself, Hashem, so to speak — are many and very great.

Prayer 8

Master of the universe — help me from now on to exult and rejoice in You always. And all the more so in the joy of Torah on Shabbos and Yom Tov — may I merit to add joy upon my joy — until I draw from them the joy also over the weekdays — so that I merit even on ordinary weekdays to exult and rejoice in You and in Your Torah and in Your commandments and in Your true Tzadikim — in every manner of jubilation and gladness — in every manner of delight and joy — in every manner of exultation and rejoicing. Help me to strengthen and fortify myself in all this with all my soul and heart — from now

and forever as befitting Your good will — Amen and Amen.