And I pleaded with Hashem at that time, saying

And I pleaded with Hashem at that time, saying [In the language of the friends] "And I pleaded with Hashem at that time, saying" (Deuteronomy 3:23).

Behold, a person must pray with devaikus [דבקות, deep attachment and cleaving] to the Blessed Name [Hashem Yitbarach , ה׳ יתברך]. Yet if at times he finds himself in a state where he cannot pray with devaikus , he should not say: “Since I cannot concentrate properly or reach attachment in prayer, therefore I will not pray at all, for such a prayer is not accepted.” And as our Rabbis of blessed memory said ( Berachot 34b) regarding Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa: He would pray — and they said to him: "How do you know if your prayer has been accepted?" He replied: "If my prayer flows fluently from my mouth [שְׁגוּרָה בְּפִי, * shegurah b’fi *], I know it is accepted; and if not, I know otherwise [i.e., it has not been accepted]." This aligns with what we are saying: when one prays with devaikus , the prayer becomes fluent and pleasing in his mouth, and therefore is accepted. And if not — God forbid — the opposite. Nevertheless, a person must not say, “If I cannot pray with attachment, I will not pray at all.” Rather, he should pray always — and even if he cannot pray with full devaikus , he should pray with all his strength and capacity [בְּכָל כּחוֹ, * b’chol kocho *]. For at the time when he does merit to pray with proper attachment, then all the previous prayers — even those said without devaikus — will ascend together with that properly-attached prayer. And this is the meaning of: "And I pleaded with Hashem" — that one should plead always, whether with devaikus or without devaikus , at “that time” [בָּעֵת הַהִיא, * ba’et ha’hi *] — meaning: when I merit to pray with attachment, which is the aspect of “my prayer is fluent in my mouth” [שְׁגוּרָה תְּפִלָּתִי בְּפִי]. And this is the sense of: “at that time saying” — meaning, the words are said and are pleasing in his mouth, because he is praying with devaikus . And then — at that moment — all the prayers that he had previously prayed will ascend together with that one prayer, as explained above.