טז

Master of all worlds — You created us through Your good will in this lowly world, and You decreed that our soul descend from the supernal world — from the palace of the King, from the Holy of Holies — and enter the physical body in this world; and Your holy intention was for our benefit, so that we merit to cleave to You in this very lowly world. Therefore it is certainly our obligation to be cleaved to You always without any interruption even for a moment, and to engage in Your holy Torah day and night without any interruption or cessation at all — for it is our life and the length of our days, and we have no vitality at all except when we are cleaved to You and to Your holy Torah. But what shall we do, Hashem our G‑d — for You know that because of the murkiness of the physicality of our bodies, and because of the very exile we are in among the nations due to our many iniquities, it is now impossible for us in any manner to always be cleaved to You and to Your holy Torah without any interruption — as is incumbent upon us. And we are inevitably occasionally compelled to rest a little from the words of Torah, from delving in Your holy wisdom; for from the very extent of the confusions that come upon the brain through the clouds that cover the eyes [annanin d'mechasyan al einin], which grow stronger now in the force of our exile because of this — it is even necessary for the true tzaddik to occasionally interrupt his cleaving and his supernal wisdom, in order to give relief to the brain so that the confusions not G‑d forbid grow stronger to confuse and nullify it completely. And I, the one poor in knowledge and impoverished in wisdom — I do not know my own soul: how to conduct myself in the matter of Torah study and its interruption, how to chart my path — that the interruption be only during necessity, at its proper time, and not to interrupt more than necessary.

And therefore I have come before You to seek mercies from before You, Hashem my G‑d and G‑d of my fathers — that You grant me merit and guide me on the correct and true path; and may You pour upon me from the dwelling-place of Your holiness: wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. And help me that I know how to conduct myself in this matter — in the matter of the interruption of Torah, whose interruption is itself its fulfillment. And guide me and teach me in such a way that I merit to always conduct myself according to Your good will — to do everything well in its proper time: to engage in Torah and prayer and good deeds for Your Name always — day and night — with great constancy and with great diligence; and may I merit to increase every day in the service of Hashem in truth. And may You be gracious to me with the knowledge to know when I am obliged to rest a little — and may I merit that there be no interruption for me except during necessity alone. And even at the time when I am obliged to interrupt somewhat from the words of Torah — help me and grant me merit that I not be interrupted, G‑d forbid, completely from everything. Rather may You be gracious to me with knowledge, understanding, and wisdom; and pour upon me from You an illuminating mind so that I be able to remain cleaved in concealment to the blessed Name and to the holy Torah — even at the time of Torah's interruption. And may the eyes of my intellect shine during the interruption, through the trace that remains from the light of the wisdom of the holy Torah with which I was engaged. And may my eyes shine like the sun and like the moon — sometimes like the sun: when we are cleaved to the supernal wisdom in Your holy Torah; and sometimes like the moon: when we are compelled to interrupt from the wisdom and the engagement in Torah — at which time may my eyes shine like the precious wandering moon; in such a way that I merit to be cleaved to You always, forever and ever. And may You be with me always and save me — to return to You in truth in complete teshuvah, and may I merit from now to be cleaved to You truly as You desire; and may I merit to spend all my days in Torah and prayer and good deeds, in holiness and in purity, in truth and in faith, in fear and in love, in joy and with a good heart filled with everything. Help me through Your abundant mercies that I not lose from now any hour or any moment of my brief days — for my days are few, and if not now, when? For You are destined to demand of us a reckoning for every single hour and moment of our lives. Help me that even at the time when I am obliged to interrupt from Torah matters — may You provide me at that time with some affairs of Your service and will through which I can refresh my mind and give relief to my brain; and yet even so I will then be occupied with holy matters that are Your will in truth. Have pity and compassion upon me and help me from now to always be as You truly desire. And may Your abundant mercies be stirred over us — and may You hasten and speedily redeem us and send us swiftly our Mashiach — Mashiach ben David and Mashiach ben Yosef — and may both of them join and be united together, and may they subdue and humble all the seventy nations and all the sitra achra to the dust, and may they reveal their wisdom in the world, and may their wellsprings spread outward [cf. Proverbs 5:16]. And may the earth be filled with the knowledge of Hashem as waters cover the sea [Isaiah 11:9]. And may every being that was made know that You made it, and every creature understand that You formed it — and all the nations will return through their wisdom of the two Mashiachs to Your service and Your fear. And may the verse be fulfilled: "For then I shall turn to the peoples a pure language, that they all call upon the Name of Hashem to serve Him with one accord" [Zephaniah 3:9]. And may You remove the dominion of wickedness from the earth — and the kingdom of evil shall speedily be uprooted and broken and crushed and destroyed and humbled in our days. And may You nullify and clear away all the clouds that cover the eyes; and then shall we merit to be cleaved to You and to Your holy Torah always, without any interruption or cessation at all — and no obstruction shall have any power, nor any confuser any power to confuse our minds at all. Rather shall we merit to be cleaved to You always all the days of our lives forever and ever. And may the verse be fulfilled: "And the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold" [Isaiah 30:26]. Speedily in our days, Amen.