קמט

From the straits I called upon G‑d — He answered me with expansiveness.

Incline my heart toward Your testimonies — and not to gain [Psalms 119:36]. Master of the Universe — help me and save me and grant me merit: that I be cleaved to Your Torah and Your service always forever and ever. And may You set my portion among those who sit in the house of study [yoshvei beis ha'midrash] and not among those who sit at street corners; and may Your Torah be our craft [umanuseinu] in this world and be with us in the World to Come; and may I meditate in Your Torah day and night. And even in the time when it is necessary according to Your will — to engage in some business for livelihood; to do some work or commerce or to travel some journey or the like: have mercy upon me and save me — that even at the time of the performance of the commerce and the business; the innermost of my thought shall be bound and cleaved to You and to Your holy Torah — which is clothed within that business and the commerce; and may I not bring the innermost of my mind within the commerce and the secular business. Rather the outer part of my thought shall engage in the commerce; but in the innermost of the thought I shall be bound and cleaved to You and to Your holy Torah. And may I merit to conduct the commerce with great faith; and may my yes be righteousness; and I shall not change or alter my word ever — even for all the slain of the world. And may all my intent at the time of conducting the commerce be for Your Name's sake and for the sake of Your Torah; in order that I can engage in Torah and service and be generous in charity; and to fulfill Your holy commandments. And may You grant me merit to minimize commerce and to maximize engagement in Torah study for its own sake; and may my Torah be permanent [keva] and my work be temporary [ara'i]. And even at the time of performing the work and the commerce — may the main fixedness of my mind and the innermost of my thought be within the Torah and the service for Your Name's sake alone in truth and to its very truth. And be with me always — in my sitting in my home and in my walking on the road [Deuteronomy 6:7]. And strengthen me in the faith and the trust — to know and to believe in truth: that a man does not overpower through his strength [I Samuel 2:9]; for it is not from the east or from the west or from the wilderness and the mountains [Psalms 75:7]; for everything is from You alone. Rather Your will is that we engage in some commerce for livelihood — in order to clarify and to raise up all the holinesses and the sparks [nitzotzos] that have fallen into the depths of the husks [klippos]; to lift them and to raise them up and to return them and to restore them to their place. And may the verse be fulfilled in me: Trust in Hashem and do good — dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. And take delight in Hashem — and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to Hashem and trust in Him — and He shall act [Psalms 37:3–5]. Have mercy upon us — full of mercy; Who devises thoughts lest any outcast be expelled from Him [II Samuel 14:14]: and give us power and might and counsel for battle; that at every time that we need to go out to engage in external labors — in commercial business and the like; may all our business and our activity be with great faith — in holiness and purity; in awe and fear and great cleaving to Your Torah and Your service — in the innermost of my thought; in such a manner that we have the power through the holy faith to clarify all the sparks that fell into the depths of the husks through our many iniquities and the iniquity of our fathers; in this incarnation and in other incarnations; whether unwittingly or deliberately; whether under compulsion or willingly. Have mercy upon us for Your Name's sake — for You know that there is no power or knowledge in us to fight this battle: to clarify and to bring out the sparks from under the hand of the husks that conquer and imprison them with great overpowering. And at every time when there is arousal to clarify them and to raise them up — they provoke and overpower more and more, G‑d forbid. And because of this our exile has lengthened and the servitude prolonged upon us — in general and in particular. And there is no one among us who knows any way how to overpower against them and how to fight with them. We have no one to lean upon except upon our Father in Heaven. Hashem is a man of war — Hashem is His Name [Exodus 15:3]: He shall fight for us. Contend, Hashem, with those who contend with me — fight against those who fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler — and arise to my help. And draw out the spear and the javelin against my pursuers — say to my soul: your salvation am I [Psalms 35:1–3]. Save me — Master of salvations; that my thought shall always be cleaved to You and to Your Torah — even at the time of my engagement in external labors of work and commerce and the like; and may I strengthen and strengthen myself in complete faith — and in particular at the time of my going out from the tent of Torah to engage in secular business; may I then overpower and strengthen myself with greater and stronger faith. And You through Your mercies and Your great power — may You give power to the holy faith — to clarify and to gather and to raise up and to lift all the holinesses and all the fallen sparks that fell in all the things of the world; from the day of the creation of the world until this very day. And may You raise and lift them; and return them again and restore them to their place — to the place where their tent was at the beginning; with additional strength and additional might [Genesis 49:3]. And may no outcast be expelled from You [II Samuel 14:14]. Grant us merit through Your abundant mercies to engage in commerce with faith; and may the innermost of our thought be bound and connected to the Torah even at the time of conducting the commerce. And through this may we merit that You save us and guard us — that we never need to come to the degradation of the court of law; that we never need to come (before) the judges to be judged before them by Torah law. Rather may all our commerce and trade be in faith; and all who we engage with in commerce — may they deal with us in faith and in truth. And may we know and understand and believe that within all commerce Torah is clothed; and may the commerce be always connected to the Torah; in such a manner that we shall not need to repair the commerce through Torah law before the judges.