Chapter Seventy-Two: A Prayer for the Education of Children

Master of the Universe — have mercy on us and on our offspring and on all the offspring of Your people the House of Israel. Protect and guard and save all the children of Your people the House of Israel from all the evil factions of the "wise men" who do harm — who spread now throughout the world on account of our many sins, as You know. Both from the factions of the atheists who occupy themselves with external wisdoms and the distorted tongue of the gentiles, who grow stronger at every time to educate the youths of the children of Israel in their evil and bitter ways — to distance them from the study of the Oral Torah, and to learn nothing but the Tanach with the science of grammar, and even this for only a brief time each day, spending the main time on external wisdoms and languages which uproot the person from both worlds. Woe to the eyes that see such things — woe to the ears that hear such things. And from the remaining factions of those wise in their own eyes who mock the wholesome ones in their ways — who occupy themselves with the service of Hashem and His Torah simply, wholesomely, without the foolish wisdoms, as our holy fathers and teachers instructed us. Against them many rise up and spread a net before their feet to turn them from the straight and well-trodden path — inventing in their hearts wisdoms of foolishness and mockery, to confuse and weaken, G-d forbid, the knowledge of the wholesome and upright of heart. Hashem G-d — You know all this: how harmful to Your service are such wisdoms. Have mercy on us and on our offspring and on all the offspring of Your people the House of Israel. Guard and save all the children of Your people the House of Israel from all these evil factions — that they not be caught in their net in the days of their youth. Help and protect and save us at every time. Teach and instruct us always — that we merit to know how to conduct ourselves with our children and offspring from their youth. How to guard them and rescue their souls from these evil factions. Educate them for good in Your holy and true ways — that they walk in the straight and true path wholesomely and simply as is Your good will in truth, as we received from our holy fathers and teachers. May we merit to make known to all our children and our coming generations and to all the generations of the offspring of Israel all the great acts of Hashem that You performed with us from the days of our fathers until now — in every generation and generation: "So that the coming generation shall know — children who shall be born shall rise up and tell their children." May we merit to fulfill perfectly the verse written: "And you shall make them known to your children and your children's children" — to make known to them the holiness of our holy, pure, and wholesome emunah. Have mercy on all the children of Your people the House of Israel from their youth — that they merit to receive the breath of their mouths that has no sin, from the holy dwelling-places of the true tzadikim. Each one builds a holy dwelling-place from which the schoolchildren receive the holy breath of their mouths that has no sin. Master of the Universe — You know all that is happening now in the world in these generations regarding the schoolchildren — for the entire world endures only through the breath of their holy mouths that has no sin. And many rise against them to confuse and corrupt, G-d forbid, the holy breath of their mouths from their youth — through their evil wisdoms. Have mercy on them and on us for Your sake. Shield them, guard them, and save them from all manner of evil education — from all manner of ways that are not straight in Your eyes. You Hashem — guard them, protect them from this generation forever. Have pity on the remnant of the children of Your people the House of Israel — for we have nothing to lean upon but the merit of the holy breath of their mouths that has no sin. Have mercy on them and on us — that all the children of Your people the House of Israel merit that each one receive the breath of his mouth that has no sin from the holy dwelling-place of the true tzadik that belongs to him, according to the root of his soul. Through it may they merit to walk and be educated in the service of Hashem, and to enter into the Torah of Hashem in truth. May they merit to study Torah for its own sake and meditate in it day and night. Open their hearts to the study of Your Torah. Give them understanding in their hearts to hear, study and teach, to guard and do and fulfill all the words of Your Torah in love. Illuminate their eyes in Your Torah and cleave their hearts to Your mitzvos. Lengthen their days and years in goodness and pleasantness. Be with them always — help them and save them, that they merit to serve You in truth all their days forever. Amen, so may it be His will.

(From Likutay Tfilos)