כב

May it be Your will, Hashem our G‑d and G‑d of our fathers — Master of all deeds, Lord of all souls — that You pour upon us from Your holy dwelling and draw upon us Your fear and Your awe; and may we merit to the holy attribute of shame [midas habosheh dikdushah]; and may You clothe us in the garment of fear and the cloak of shame from Your great and holy Name; and may we be ashamed before You always in truth — so as not to swerve from Your good will to the right or to the left; and may Your fear be upon my face so that I not sin — this is the shame. Master of the Universe — have pity upon me through Your mercies and be with me to help me: that I have great shame in this world before You — so as not to do anything against Your will, G‑d forbid; and all the more so that I not commit, G‑d forbid, even the slightest stirring toward transgression, Heaven forbid. And may I not be put to shame and not be disgraced in the World to Come. And grant me merit that the fear of Heaven be upon me as the fear of flesh and blood — that I have fear and shame before You, just as before flesh and blood in actuality.

Master of the Universe — King of glory; Who watches over the shame of the shamed; Who spares the honor of all creatures; Who has compassion upon all His works — have pity and compassion and be compassionate in Your true compassion and mercies, upon the very enormity of my shame and disgrace and my very great humiliation — beyond all measure, reckoning, and number — as You alone know. You know my shame and my humiliation and my disgrace. What shall I say and what shall I speak — with what countenance shall I enter before the King? How shall I be able to hide myself from my shame? How shall I be able to conceal my face in the World of Truth from my disgrace? How shall I be able to lift my face — which is blacker than the bottom of a pot — before You, Hashem my G‑d and G‑d of my fathers? How shall I lift my face before my forefathers through whom I came into the world? How shall I lift my face before my teachers and my masters who guided me in the straight and true path — and I did not spare their great and holy honor, and I disgraced myself and also them, as it were? How shall I lift my face before all the true tzadikim and before all the worthy people of every generation? How shall I lift my face before my companions? Who shall be able to rescue me then from my great shame — who shall be able to stand before my enormous disgrace? How shall I be able to find for myself a place to flee and to hide from my disgrace and my shame and my reproach? And what answer shall I return to the One Who sent me? For You have done for me good after good at every time and at every hour and at every moment — in the physical and in the spiritual; and You hinted to me with all kinds of hints, and You called me to Yourself, blessed be He, with all kinds of proclamations; and You stretched out Your hand to me and hinted to me from near and from far — to draw me near through Your mercies with a very great drawing near; with many and many kinds of different hints and proclamations beyond measure and number at every day and at every hour literally. Such that according to even a single radiance — a single flash of Your G‑dliness, blessed be He, and Your holy hints and proclamations that shone to me — it would have been fitting for me not to transgress Your will even in the lightest of light movements. And even over a single slight movement alone — if it had not been as is fitting, G‑d forbid, in accordance with Your will in its completeness — it would have been fitting for me to fall upon my face and lie prostrate in my shame and be covered in my disgrace: until my soul might almost go out, G‑d forbid — and I should be unable to lift my face at all. How much more so and all the more so — for You shone upon me greatly, an immeasurable number of radiances in many aspects; and You involved Yourself with me in many involvements; and You arranged for me many causes — both good ones and ones that were not good — and all of them were for my benefit: in order to hint to me through them to return to You. With many expressions of affection You called me; and with many different hints You hinted to me to draw near to You. And not only did I not spare myself — to draw near to You in truth and to be as You truly desire in completeness — but I was also as one who removed all shame from his face; and I rebelled against You with contemptuous willfulness, in rebellion and in treachery. And I committed very many blemishes — not one day, not two days, not ten days, not one month, not one year — but rather I multiplied transgression and blemish for many days and years; I added days upon days, years upon years — filled with sin and iniquity and transgression, filled with reproaches and great and awesome shamings that are impossible to endure.

Master of the Universe — You alone know the pain of shame in the World to Come, in the World of Truth. You alone know that agony and great and awesome suffering of the shame of one who did not adorn himself for the wedding celebration of the King's palace. How much more so one who corrupted and defiled himself with many kinds of blemishes and defilements. How much more so, etc. — (and each one should specify the afflictions of his own heart). You alone know that there is no pain or suffering or affliction in the entire world that can be compared to the pain of this shame, G‑d forbid — and even the pain of Gehinom, harsh and bitter above all kinds of hard and bitter afflictions in this world: such that if all kinds of hard and bitter afflictions and sufferings in the world were gathered together upon a single person, G‑d forbid, for all the days of his life, Heaven forbid — they would be counted as nothing compared to even a single hour, or even a single moment, of the pain of Gehinom. And even so — even the pain of Gehinom, harsh as it is, is not considered anything at all compared to the pain of shame; which is a greater pain than all kinds of pain and suffering in the world — even greater than the pain of Gehinom — as Your true tzadikim have revealed to us. And it is impossible for us to picture in this world — while we are clothed in the physicality of our bodies — to picture in our mind the pain of shame of the World to Come. Woe to that shame; woe to that disgrace. And if our sages of blessed memory said: Every tzaddik is scorched by the canopy of his fellow [Talmud Bava Basra 75a] — woe to that shame. And they also said: The face of Moshe was like the face of the sun; the face of Yehoshua was like the face of the moon [Talmud Bava Basra 75a] — woe to that shame; woe to that disgrace. And if every single tzaddik is shamed like this before his fellow who is greater than him — we, what shall we say after them? We — what shall we say and what shall we speak? In what language shall we speak of our shame and our disgrace? And where is the orator who can weave eloquence over the very essence of our disgrace and our reproach? And where is the eulogist who can lament over the very pain of our shame? And where is the one who knows how to plead and appease — who can entreat and please and appease You to gather in our reproach and to cover our disgrace?

And after all this — if I had already merited in any case to the holy attribute of shame: to be ashamed before You from now in truth, so as not to swerve from Your will, Heaven forbid — I would have been silent. But what shall I do, my Father in Heaven? What shall I say and what shall I speak — for I am still far from shame; and I have still not broken the boldness of the body at all. Therefore my words are confused and I do not know at all from where to begin to speak, from where to begin to set forth my speech. We lie down in our shame and our disgrace covers us — for we have sinned against Hashem our G‑d [Jeremiah 3:25]. Therefore I have no mouth to speak and no forehead to lift my head — but I have come before You, Hashem my G‑d and G‑d of my fathers, spreading out my palms to You and lifting my eyes to Your holy dwelling-place. To You I lift my eyes — O You Who are enthroned in the heavens [Psalms 123:1] — that You provide and send to me true words in my mouth and on my tongue, with which I can please You and persuade You — that You turn Your face toward me, and be gracious to me and save me from shamings and reproaches and degradations from now and forever; and may You be with me to help me, and pour upon me the light of fear and holy shame. My Father in Heaven — have compassion upon me as the compassion of a father for his son; and draw upon me the attribute of fear and holy shame from its root — from before creation: from the complete utterance which is Bereishis — Yiray Boshes ["In the beginning" — fear and shame]; from supernal wisdom [chochmah ila'ah], from the supernal hidden and concealed Eden [Eden ila'ah d'samim v'ganiz]. Who shall not fear before these brilliantly scintillating lights? Who shall not be ashamed before them? Who shall not be afraid, who shall not tremble — when he recalls his great distance from attaining these lights; even if he were completely clean from sin — how much more so one who has blemished any blemish whatsoever throughout his days of life; how much more so one full of sin and iniquity and transgression. Have pity and compassion upon me; have pity and compassion upon my soul and spirit and neshamah; have pity and compassion upon my body — physical and so very distant from Your holiness with the utmost distance; blemished with many kinds of blemishes, corrupted with many kinds of corruptions.

Master of the Universe, Master of the Universe — Lord of mercies and forgiveness. See my affliction and my toil; see my affliction and my wandering, wormwood and gall [Lamentations 3:19]. You know the very essence of the compassion resting upon the flesh of my body — which is so fierce and strong in its desires for this world; until the body has distanced itself from the soul with the utmost distance; until it is impossible for the soul to draw near to the body at all — to reveal to it and to illuminate it with any illumination or any attainment that the soul constantly attains at every time in the supernal worlds. For Your good intention in creating me and in my going forth into this world was so that I merit to attain You in this world — with body and soul together. And I did not spare Your great and holy honor and the honor of the holy soul — and I did not exert myself to overpower the desire of the body and its evil traits; until the soul is unable to draw near to the body at all — because it is so fierce and powerful in its desires. And the brazenness of the body without any shame whatsoever before the blessed Name has so overpowered — until I do not know at all by what path, by what counsel and stratagem, I shall merit to subdue and break the brazenness of the body. For every path and every counsel and every stratagem that the true tzadikim have revealed — through which one can break the brazenness of the body and draw near to You — is hard and heavy for me to fulfill in practice; and I do not know by what path I shall merit to begin to fulfill Your holy counsels which You have revealed through the true tzadikim — for I have rebelled against all Your good counsels.

Master of the Universe, Master of the entire universe — have compassion upon me. For now I know no counsel or stratagem — except to cry out to You always: that You be gracious to me as a complete free gift with all good traits; and save me through Your great lovingkindnesses from all desires and evil traits. And even for this I do not merit — for days and years pass by in which I do not merit even to cry out to You in truth as is fitting. And even if they passed by without blemishes — I would still need to cry out greatly over the loss of precious time, more precious than all wealth: time in which I could have earned and gained eternal life beyond all measure and reckoning. But would that the days had passed by in any case, without blemishes at all — but since the days and years have passed like a fleeting shadow in the blink of an eye, filled with blemishes like these — sins and iniquities and transgressions — and the blemishes and iniquities overpower me so greatly, until I cannot even cry out to You properly as I need to cry out. And now, now — my Father in Heaven, my Father in Heaven — what shall I do, what shall I accomplish? Where shall I flee, where shall I fly to dwell? Who will grant me — in the wilderness — a wayfarers lodging house [Jeremiah 9:1], to flee from physicality and the brazenness of the body? But You know that there is no place to flee from the body. I turn and I turn again like a wheel amid words — and they all return to one place. To You alone my eyes are lifted; to You alone my thoughts gaze; to You alone my eyes are raised. For the salvation of Hashem — my eyes wait and are still [cf. Lamentations 3:26]. I have no one to lean upon except my Father in Heaven; I have no hope except in You, compassionate Father; I have no refuge or shelter except in Your mighty lovingkindnesses.

Master of the Universe — may Your innards churn over me; may Your graciousness be stirred in compassion over a shamed one as I am, over one full of reproaches and shames as I am. May Your hand be steadfast with me — and Your arm strengthen me [Psalms 89:22]. Arise to help me and save me — for You are all-powerful and no scheme is beyond You. And You through Your mercies and Your great lovingkindnesses and Your great power — You raise up from the very ultimate of descent to great ascent; until the descent is itself the ultimate of the ascent; and You through Your mercies transform iniquities into merits [cf. Talmud Yoma 86b] — for who shall say to You what to do? Have pity and compassion upon us — and do what You will do through Your mercies and Your mighty lovingkindnesses; in such a way that You raise us up from our descent, and say to our sufferings: Enough. And may You begin from now to raise us higher and higher — and may all the descents be transformed into great ascents; and may You grant us merit to complete teshuvah in truth; and may You through Your mercies transform all the iniquities into merits. And help us through Your mercies — that we merit to engage all our days in Torah and good deeds and prayer, in truth and in faith and in true humility and with self-sacrifice [mesiras nefesh] and with great cleaving to You in total nullification. And may we merit through Your abundant mercies to draw upon ourselves at every time the light of the testimonies and the holy crowns [or ha'eidim v'hakisrin dikdushah] with which You crowned us at Horeb at the time of the receiving of the Torah — at the moment when we said before You Na'aseh v'Nishma ["We will do and we will hear"] [Exodus 24:7]: for then two crowns were placed on the head of every single one of Israel; and through our sins they were taken and removed from us. And You will in the future return them to us — as it is written: And the joy of the world shall be upon their heads [Isaiah 35:10]. Have mercy upon us and help us to sanctify and purify ourselves — and may we merit to turn from evil in truth and to do that which is good in Your eyes always. And may we merit to engage in Torah and prayer always in truth and with self-sacrifice; in such a way that we merit that there be returned to every single one of us those two crowns formed from Na'aseh v'Nishma — which are Torah and prayer; which are the revealed and the hidden aspects of the Torah [niglos v'nistares shebaTorah]. And may You grant me merit at every time to attain the hidden aspects of the Torah — to attain the Torah of Hashem. And may we merit to engage and to toil and to labor always in Your service with great cleaving and with self-sacrifice in truth; until we merit to go and to ascend with great swiftness at every time from level to level and from rung to rung; until we merit to attain and to understand at every time the hidden aspects of the Torah — ever more and more sublime; and at every time may we merit to the attainment of an ever more elevated Na'aseh v'Nishma. And may we always merit that from the hidden there be made revealed; from the heard there be made done; from prayer there be made Torah; from the Torah of Hashem — our Torah: as it is written: Rather, the Torah of Hashem is his delight, and in His Torah he meditates day and night [Psalms 1:2]. And may we merit to attain and to understand the lofty service that is within the words of the Torah — which are the secrets of Your Torah [sitrei Torasecha] — clothed in the words of the Torah: in the verses surrounding every single commandment; for the very greatness of the holy service within these verses — we do not merit to attain it at all. Have pity and be gracious to us through Your abundant mercies — and grant us merit to attain and to understand this lofty service; that we merit to know how to serve You and to do Your hidden and concealed will in these words of the Torah. And may we merit to ascend at every time from level to level, and from world to world — ever more sublime; from one Na'aseh v'Nishma to a yet more sublime Na'aseh v'Nishma; and so at every time forever and ever — as it is written: The hidden things belong to Hashem our G‑d, and the revealed things belong to us and to our children forever — to perform all the words of this Torah [Deuteronomy 29:28]. Until we merit to ascend with great ascent — to understand and attain the Torah of Hashem truly and in truth; and may we merit to ascend and to be included in You in the light of the Infinite [ohr ha'Einsof]; and may we merit to be included in Your oneness — until we merit to the Torah of Hashem and the prayer of Hashem in truth.

And therefore may it be Your will, Hashem our G‑d and G‑d of our fathers — that You have compassion upon us and be with us to help us; and may You grant us merit to holy joy and exultation [simchah v'chedvah dikdushah]; and may we merit to always be in joy — and the joy of Hashem shall be our strength [Nehemiah 8:10]. And may we merit through this to holy boldness [azus dikdushah] — and help us at every time to merit to holy voices [kolos dikdushah]; and may You place in our hearts strength and fortitude to cry out and to shout to You always. And may You have compassion upon us and save us — that we incline our ears and our hearts to hear well all the holy voices; and may they enter our hearts well: whether the voice of true mochichim [rebukers], whether the voice of melody and song and praises and glorifications to Your Name and Your service, whether the holy voice of the shofar, whether the voice of our own sighs and cries and prayers — what we ourselves sigh and cry and beseech and pray to You, Hashem our G‑d. And all the other holy voices — may we merit to stir them all and to hear them well; and may they enter our hearts and our ears and incline our hearts to You in truth. And may we merit to receive through them holy boldness [azus dikdushah] — to overpower the brazenness of the body [azus haguf]; in such a way that I am able to break and subdue and nullify the brazenness of the body completely; and may all the desires of the body and its evil traits be nullified; and may the body be nullified before the holy soul. And may I merit to be bold as a leopard in Your service and in Your Torah and in Your fear — until I merit that the soul can have compassion upon the flesh of my body; that the soul draw near to the body and reveal to it and illuminate it with every illumination and every attainment that the soul constantly attains at every time; until the soul itself is benefited through this — that the soul can return to its level always through the impressions of the illuminations it illuminated in the flesh of the body. And may we merit to always cleave to You — with body and soul in truth — in the ultimate completeness.

For You alone know the great extent of the compassion now resting upon my body — which is so distant from the soul with the utmost distance; and the soul too suffers a great blemish, G‑d forbid, through the distance of the body from the soul — as You know. Have pity and compassion upon me — and place in my heart true compassion, that I merit to have mercy upon the flesh of my body; and may I merit to overpower with holy boldness — through holy voices — to subdue and break and nullify through this the brazenness of my body; until my body be completely nullified before my soul; until the soul can illuminate it — until even the body know every illumination and every attainment that my soul constantly attains above at every time.

And grant me merit to draw near to true tzadikim and to true mochichim [rebukers of truth]. And may I merit that I have holy boldness [azus dikdushah] — to be bold as a leopard to stand against the brazen-faced ones of the generation who seek to distance from the true tzadikim. And may You save me and separate me from the erring ones and from the false leaders [manhigei sheker] — whose entire sovereignty and self-elevation is only through the brazenness of the sitra achra alone: a kingship without a crown [malchusa b'lo sag'a]; who lord it over a poor people for nothing. As You alone know how many evils they cause, G‑d forbid — and not only are they unable to draw us near to You in truth; but they actually seek to distance us, G‑d forbid, from the point of truth, from the true tzadikim, from truly worthy people. Have mercy upon us through Your mercies — and separate us from the hypocrites and the liars, from the false leaders; and give us holy boldness that we can stand against their brazenness. And help us through Your abundant mercies — that we have the power through holy boldness to add strength and might in the holiness above; and may You pour upon us and give us additional strength and might from Yourself — to be strengthened and to exert ourselves in Your service and in Your Torah and in Your fear, with great power and might and great holy boldness. And may we not be ashamed before those who mock; and may no fear or dread or shame fall upon us, and no weakening of mind from any person or any created being in the world — except from You alone shall we fear and dread and be ashamed always — so as not to swerve from Your will to the right or the left from now and forever. And may the verse be fulfilled in us: Grant power to G‑d — His majesty is over Israel, and His power in the skies. G‑d is awesome from Your holy places — the G‑d of Israel: He gives power and strength to the people. Blessed be G‑d [Psalms 68:35–36].

And may You pour upon us through Your abundant mercies holy knowledge [da'as dikdushah] — that I merit to know how to conduct myself with boldness; in such a way that I have no boldness of the sitra achra at all — and I not use boldness except for Your Name and Your service in truth. And may You save me and deliver me from the judgment of harsh and very bitter Gehinom that befalls the brazen-faced — who fall into Gehinom with none to support or rescue them. Have pity and compassion upon me with Your true compassion; have pity and compassion upon me — and save me from all kinds of boldness of the sitra achra, from all kinds of brazenness of the body. And may You grant me merit to true holy boldness [azus dikdushah] — to stand against the brazen-faced of the generation who seek to distance from the ways of truth, or to weaken the minds, G‑d forbid, of those who seek to draw near to the ways of holiness in truth. And help us through Your mercies so that we be bold as a leopard against them — to defeat them and to humble them to the very dust, to break them and nullify them completely. And may You grant me merit to always be strong and firm in Your service; and may I merit to all the holy voices — and to overpower through them all kinds of brazenness of the body; until all the desires of the body and its evil traits be nullified. And may I merit to draw near to true tzadikim in truth — and to always associate with worthy and truly G‑d-fearing people who walk in the way of truth as You truly desire. O Hashem — mighty and strong; Hashem — Man of war [Exodus 15:3]. Grant Your strength to Your servant — and save the son of Your handmaid [Psalms 86:16]. And grant me merit to holy boldness — drawn from the holy shamefacedness [boshes panim dikdushah]; from the supernal hidden and concealed Eden [Eden ila'ah d'samim v'ganiz]; from supernal wisdom [chochmah ila'ah]; from the complete utterance which is Bereishis — through which Jerusalem Your city shall be built speedily in our days: a faithful city [Isaiah 1:26]. Lead us in Your strength to Your holy dwelling [Exodus 15:13]. And may You grant us merit through this to complete faith — and to draw near and to be included in the true tzadikim who encompass the seven shepherds [shiv'ah ro'im], who are the totality of holiness. And may there be drawn upon me and upon my offspring and upon all Your people the House of Israel through them — complete faith in truth. And may I merit through Your abundant mercies to believe in You and in Your true tzadikim and in the true mochichim who were in every generation and who are in this generation — in truth and with complete faith, without any confusion or deviation at all. And may I merit through the faith to receive rebuke from the true mochichim — and may I hearken to their voice, and may their true words enter my ears and my heart; and may I incline my heart toward them, and nullify myself completely toward them — until I merit to be as the true tzadikim desire; and may I not swerve from their words and their will to the right or the left.

And grant me merit through Your abundant mercies to holy service [shimush dikdushah] — that I merit to serve true tzadikim and true mochichim; and may I merit to stand before them and to serve them and to attend to them and to fulfill all their needs and their will — so that I merit through this to have some connection and closeness to them. For You know the great extent of my distance from the true tzadikim — until I have no connection or closeness to them; until even when I merit to hear a holy word from them, the very sound of the voice itself does not reach my ears — only the sound of an echo that seizes and attaches itself to the holy voice; due to my many sins and iniquities. And even my own voice of sighing and crying — I do not merit to hear properly myself — only the sound of an echo. Please Hashem — have compassion upon me and grant me merit to holy service [shimush dikdushah]; that I merit through Your mercies to perform many commandments with my body — that my body merit to serve the soul through performing many practical commandments always. And likewise may I merit to serve many Torah scholars and true tzadikim greatly — in such a way that I merit to hear all the holy voices themselves, without any holding of an echo sound at all. And You through Your mercies shall forgive and pardon me for all my iniquities and transgressions and sins — and may You remove and nullify all the prosecutors [mekatrigim] that were created through my many iniquities; and may You subdue them and humble them and nullify them with complete nullification. And may You be with me to help me — that I overpower with holy boldness the brazenness of my body; until I merit to break and nullify all the desires of the body and its evil traits; until my body be completely nullified before the holy soul; and may the body be included and united with the soul in the ultimate unity. And may the soul illuminate and reveal to the body all the illuminations and all the attainments it constantly attains above. And I — together with my body and soul and spirit and neshamah — shall draw near and be united with the true tzadikim; and may I be truly included in them — until I merit to be truly included in You from now and forever.

And may You stir Your mercies upon us — and send us a true leader, a faithful shepherd [ro'eh ne'eman], who has the power to draw us near to You in truth. And may we merit to be included in the seven holy shepherds [shiv'ah ro'im dikdushah] — who are the totality of holiness, the totality of the holy faith of Israel Your holy people; and may You draw and pour upon us the holy faith through them. And act for Your sake, and for the sake of the seven shepherds who are Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, Moshe, Aharon, Yosef, and Dovid; and for the sake of all the tzadikim who were in every generation until now; and for the sake of the true tzadikim of this generation; and for the sake of all the House of Israel Your people. And may You pour upon us from Your holy dwelling and benefit us with Your true goodness — and may You be gracious to us through Your great lovingkindnesses and be filled with mercy upon us through Your abundant mercies; and may You turn Your face toward us; and may You establish and plant in our hearts Your holy faith in completeness. That we merit to believe in You, Hashem our G‑d and G‑d of our fathers, and in Your true tzadikim: both the true tzadikim who dwell in the dust — holy ones who are in the earth [Psalms 16:3]; and the true tzadikim and true mochichim and truly worthy people of this generation. In all of them may I merit to believe in truth and with complete faith — without any confusion or deviation at all, G‑d forbid; and may I have no dubious thoughts about them whatsoever. And may I merit through complete faith to the fullness of the illumination of the holy hands [melo has'michah dikdushah] — and may I merit to fill my hands today for Hashem [cf. Numbers 3:3]. And give me the power to subdue and break and nullify all kinds of false beliefs from the world — and may they all return to Your holy faith. And may I merit through complete faith to receive rebuke and reproof from the true mochichim — and may their words enter our hearts in truth; and may we merit to return through this in complete teshuvah to You in truth. And may You gather the scattered of Israel — and may You nullify through Your abundant mercies all kinds of expulsion and strife from the world: that Your people the House of Israel never be expelled from their place; and all those who have already been expelled and scattered from their place — from Your people the House of Israel in general and in particular — may You return them all and bring them back to their place in peace. And may You make peace in the world and nullify all kinds of strife from the world. And may You have mercy upon us and purify Your people Israel — and may You guard us and save us always from the blemish of the impurity of nidah, G‑d forbid; and may You separate and distinguish us and all Your people the House of Israel from this impurity completely — that no stumbling or blemish befall us, G‑d forbid, from the sin of nidah, G‑d forbid. Rather may we always merit to be holy and pure.

And save us through Your abundant mercies — and send us true tzadikim and true mochichim who have the power and wisdom to make peace between Israel and their Father in Heaven; who shall occupy themselves with rebuking Israel with the proper rebuke; and who shall know how to rebuke them; and who shall make known to each and every one the great very essence of the blemish of every sin and iniquity — in such a way that we return from them; and may they bring all of Israel back to You in complete teshuvah; and may they have the ability to please You and to persuade You with entreaty — and to diminish greatly before You all our sins and iniquities and transgressions; until You be filled with mercy upon us and upon all Your people the House of Israel: and may You forgive all our iniquities and pardon all our transgressions and sins — that we sinned and transgressed and rebelled before You in general and in particular, in this generation and in the generations preceding it, in this gilgul [incarnation] and in another gilgul. Over all of them may You forgive and pardon, O G‑d of forgiveness [cf. Nechemiah 9:17] — and may You turn Your face toward us and have mercy upon us always; and may You build Your city Jerusalem — a faithful city [Isaiah 1:26] — speedily in our days. And may You make peace in the world. And may we merit through Your mercies through Your true tzadikim to repair in completeness the two holy seals [shtei hachosamot dikdushah — chotam b'soch chotam] — seal within seal: the seal of the hands [chotam hayadayin] and the seal of the feet [chotam haraGlaim]; and may You sweeten and nullify all kinds of harsh judgments from upon us and from upon all Your people the House of Israel forever.

And help us through Your abundant mercies to pray with great intent always — and in particular in the month of Tishray [yerach ha'eisanim] on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and Hoshana Rabbah: help us to pray then with great power and very great and mighty intent. And may You provide for us through Your mercies — on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur — worthy and fitting prayer-leaders and shofar-blowers: who have the power to please You and to persuade You and to stir Your mercies. And help us to hear the voice of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah with complete intent as is fitting — and may we merit to fulfill the commandment of hearing the voice of the shofar in its completeness with all its particulars and fine details and intentions and the 613 commandments dependent upon it; with a good heart and with great joy. And may we merit to hear the voice of the shofar itself — and not any echo sound; and may the holy voice of the shofar enter our hearts well; and may great holiness be drawn upon us through all the holy voices of the shofar. And may the holy voice of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah grow and be strengthened — may He thunder with His voice — a voice of power [Psalms 68:34]. And may fear and trembling and awe and reverence and great and mighty shame fall upon us before You through the voice of the shofar — as it is written: If the shofar is blown in the city — shall the people not tremble? [Amos 3:6]. And may the voice of the shofar go and grow very mighty — until it subdue and break and nullify all kinds of boldness of the sitra achra: both the brazenness of the body, and the brazenness of the brazen-faced ones of the generation. And may we merit to hear all the holy voices of the holy shofar in completeness — both the voice of Tekiah, and the voice of Shevarim, and the voice of Teruah; and may we hear them well and receive in our hearts the holiness of all these voices — until the brazenness of our body be broken through this; and may our hearts be stirred in complete teshuvah before You. And may we merit to be joyful and good of heart on Rosh Hashanah throughout the entire day — until we are stirred to great weeping from within the enormous joy in Your great Name. And may the verse be fulfilled in us: In Your Name they rejoice all day long — and in Your righteousness they are exalted; for the splendor of their strength is You, and through Your favor our horn is raised [Psalms 89:17–18]. Master of the Universe — You know that all our holiness depends upon the holy days of Rosh Hashanah, which is the beginning of the year — this day is the beginning of Your works, a remembrance of the first day [Rosh Hashanah Musaf prayer]: from which the holiness flows upon the entire year. Have pity and compassion upon us and help us and grant us merit to receive Rosh Hashanah with great holiness and with great joy — and help us that we merit to greatly purify and sanctify our thoughts on Rosh Hashanah, with very great holiness and purity in truth — as is proper on Rosh Hashanah; as You know how one must be vigilant to guard the thought in holiness on Rosh Hashanah. And may we merit — in the merit and power of true tzadikim — that all the repairs and unifications [yichudim] and sanctifications that need to be repaired and unified above on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur be completed through us; and may holiness be drawn upon us and upon all Your people the House of Israel from Rosh Hashanah throughout the entire year — from the beginning of the year to its end. For You know that in this our bitter exile — in the footsteps of Mashiach — we have no strength or holy fortitude whatsoever except through the holy Rosh Hashanah: which You gave us through Your mercies as a precious and good gift. And we in our lowliness have no sense or knowledge of how and in what manner to draw upon ourselves the holiness of Rosh Hashanah as is fitting. You know our hearts — arise to our help in this time of distress, in the latter days; and help us and save us and have compassion please upon us, our Lord, our G‑d, our Father, our King, our Rock and our Redeemer. And have mercy upon us in the merit of the true tzadikim of this generation — and in the merit of the true holy tzadikim who are in the earth [Psalms 16:3]: upon whose graves and monuments we and all Your people the House of Israel go and wander and prostrate ourselves on every Erev Rosh Hashanah; and we spread out our palms before You and pray and beseech You — in bowing and in kneeling and in prostration, with a broken and crushed heart. Have pity upon us through Your abundant mercies — and stir the hearts of the souls of all the true tzadikim whose souls are in the lofty heights — at the heights of levels in the holy supernal worlds; that all the souls of the true holy tzadikim descend below on Rosh Hashanah and be with us in the midst of Your people Israel — and help us to pray and to beseech on Rosh Hashanah; and to subdue and drive away the Adversary [Satan] on Rosh Hashanah; and to break and nullify all kinds of boldness of the sitra achra from upon us and from upon all Your people the House of Israel through the prayers and the blowings of the holy Rosh Hashanah — until we merit to draw upon us and upon all Your people the House of Israel holiness and purity from Rosh Hashanah throughout the entire year. And may we merit to repair the two holy seals — seal within seal — in the month of Tishray: on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and Sukkos and Hoshana Rabbah and Shemini Atzeres. And may our voices rise before You for acceptance — and may we merit to holy joy in completeness always. And may You inscribe and seal us and all Your people the House of Israel for good and long life and for peace: a life of fear of Heaven; true life; a life in which we merit the life of the World to Come — eternal life. Master of the Universe — You know our hearts: for our needs are too many to express; until all our days would not suffice to enumerate them. But You know all that is in our hearts — act with us for the sake of Your Name, and for the sake of all the true tzadikim. Have compassion upon us and fulfill our requests for good with mercy — both what we have mentioned before You, and what our hands and tongues are too short to mention before You. And do what You will do — in such a way that we all merit to return to You in truth and with a whole heart in complete teshuvah as You truly desire; and may we not swerve from Your will to the right or the left all our days forever. And may we merit to go and to ascend speedily from level to level and from rung to rung in great holiness — until we merit in our lifetime to be included in You in truth in the light of the Infinite [ohr ha'Einsof], as You desire and as Your true tzadikim desire — until we merit to the Torah of Hashem and to the prayer of Hashem in truth. And may we not be put to shame in this world and never be disgraced in the World to Come. Hashem will give strength to His people — Hashem will bless His people with peace [Psalms 29:11]. May it be Your will, Hashem our G‑d and G‑d of our fathers — that You build Your city speedily in our days; and grant our portion in Your Torah.