READING: BETWEEN AFTER MIDNINGHT AND DAWN SUNDAY

Lesson on the topic of “Everything is Obtained By the Power of Prayer”

LESSON MATERIAL

Everything is Obtained By the Power of Prayer – Selected Excerpts from the Sources

1. Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 57

Everything, small or great, is obtained only by the power of prayer. All the labor and work to which we are obliged are only to discover our lack of strength and our lowliness—that we are unfit for anything by our own strength—for then we can pour out a wholehearted prayer before Him.

We could argue about this, “So I can decide that I am unfit for anything, and why all the labor and exertion?” However, there is a natural law that there is none so wise as the experienced, and before one tries to actually do all he can do, he is utterly incapable of arriving at true lowliness, to the real extent, as said above.

This is why we must toil in Kedusha [holiness] and purity, as it is written, “Whatever you find that your hand can do by your strength, that do,” and understand this for it is true and deep.

I revealed this truth to you only so you would not weaken or give up on mercy. Although you do not see anything, for even when the measure of labor is complete, it is the time of prayer, but until then, believe in our sages: “I did not labor and found, do not believe.”

When the measure is full, your prayer will be complete and the Creator will grant generously, as our sages instructed us, “I labored and found, believe,” for one is unfit for a prayer prior to this, and the Creator hears a prayer.

2. RABASH, Article No. 5 (1991), “What Is, ‘The Good Deeds of the Righteous Are the Generations,’ in the Work?”

We ask the Creator to give us the strength so we can perform all our actions for You, meaning for the sake of the Creator. Otherwise, meaning if You do not help us, all our actions will be only for our own benefit. That is, “If not,” meaning “If You do not help us, all our actions will be only for ourselves, for our own benefit, for we are powerless to overcome our will to receive. Therefore, help us be able to work for You. Hence, You must help us.” This is called “Do for Your sake,” meaning do this, give us the power of the desire to bestow. Otherwise, we are doomed; we will remain in the will to receive for our own sake.

3. RABASH, Article No. 24, “Three Times in the Work”

A prayer is work in the heart. That is, since the root of man’s heart is the will to receive, and he needs the opposite, meaning that it will work only to bestow and not receive, it follows that he has a lot of work in inverting it.

And since this is against nature, he must pray to the Creator to help him come out of his nature and enter what is discerned as above nature.

4. RABASH, Article No. 12 (1991), “These Candles Are Sacred”

The most important is the prayer. That is, one must pray to the Creator to help him go above reason, meaning that the work should be with gladness, as though he has already been rewarded with the reason of Kedusha, and what joy he would feel then. Likewise, he should ask the Creator to give him this power, so he can go above the reason of the body. In other words, although the body does not agree to this work in order to bestow, he asks the Creator to be able to work with gladness, as is suitable for one who serves a great King. He does not ask the Creator to show the greatness of the Creator, and then he will work gladly. Rather, he wants the Creator to give him joy in the work of above reason, that it will be as important to a person as if he already has reason.

5. RABASH, Article No. 4 (1989), “What Is a Flood of Water in the Work?”

He must pray to the Creator to help him so he can go in the work with his eyes shut, and will not need anything, and will be able to do everything for the sake of the Creator despite the resistance of the body to this. That is, he does not tell the Creator how He should help him. Rather, he must subjugate himself and annul before the Creator unconditionally. But since he cannot overcome his body, he asks the Creator to help him win the war against the inclination, since he understands his lowliness.

6. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 5, “Lishma Is an Awakening from Above, and Why Do We Need an Awakening from Below?”

Our sages said (Avot, Chapter 2, 21), “It is not for you to complete the work, and you are not free to idle away from it.” This means that one must give the awakening from below, since this is regarded as a prayer.

A prayer is considered a deficiency, and without a deficiency there is no filling. Hence, when one has a need for Lishma, the filling comes from above, and the answer to the prayer comes from above, meaning he receives fulfillment for his lack. It follows, that the need for man’s work in order to receive the Lishma from the Creator is only in the form of a lack and a Kli [vessel]. Yet, one can never obtain the filling by himself; it is rather a gift from the Creator.

7. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 5, “Lishma Is an Awakening from Above, and Why Do We Need an Awakening from Below?”

The prayer must be a complete prayer, from the bottom of the heart. This means that one knows one hundred percent that there is no one in the world who can help him but the Creator Himself.

Yet, how does one know this, that no one will help him but the Creator Himself? One can acquire that awareness precisely if he has exerted all the powers at his disposal and it did not help him. Thus, one must do every possible thing in the world to attain “for the sake of the Creator.” Then one can pray from the bottom of the heart, and then the Creator hears his prayer.

8. RABASH, Article No. 18 (1989), “What Is, ‘There Is No Blessing in That Which Is Counted,’ in the Work?”

It is upon a person to pray each day that the Creator will open his eyes so he will recognize the greatness and importance of the Creator, so he has fuel to labor with the aim to bestow.

There are two discernments to make in this: 1) to have a desire to bestow contentment upon his Maker, that this will be his only aspiration, 2) to do things with the aim that the actions will bring him a desire to do things in order to please the Creator. In other words, he must work and toil extensively to obtain light and Kli [vessel]. Light means that he received from the Creator a desire where he craves all day to bring contentment to the Creator. A Kli is a desire, meaning that he wants to bestow upon the Creator. Those two, he should receive from the Creator, meaning both the light and the Kli.

9. Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 34

We should learn this trade before we enter the King’s palace, meaning muster power and might to stand as a pillar of iron until we elicit the desire from the Creator, as it is written, “Take no rest.” Although the Creator seems silent and unresponsive, let it not cross your minds to be silent, too, “Take no rest.” This is not what the Creator intended by His silence, but rather to give you power to stand afterward in the King’s palace when you have no blemish. This is why, “and give Him no rest.”

10. Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 34

We rush our pleas above, knock by knock, tirelessly, endlessly, and do not weaken at all when He does not answer us. We believe He hears our prayer but waits for a time when we have the Kelim [vessels] to receive the faithful bounty, and then we will receive a reply to each and every prayer at once, since “the hand of the Lord will not be short,” God forbid.

11. RABASH, Article No. 29, (1987), “What Is ‘According to the Sorrow, So Is the Reward?’”

“There is no light without a Kli, no filling without a lack,” first one needs to obtain a deficiency. That is, he must feel that he is deficient of this Kli called “desire to bestow.” And concerning feeling, it is impossible to feel any lack if one does not know what he is losing by not having the Kli, called “desire to bestow.” For this reason, man must introspect on what causes him not to have the desire to bestow.

To the extent of the loss, he feels sorrow and suffering. When he has the real lack, meaning when he can pray to the Creator from the bottom of the heart for not having the strength to be able to work for the sake of the Creator, then, when he has the Kli, meaning the real lack, this is the time when his prayer is answered and he receives assistance from above. It is as our sages said, “He who comes to purify is aided.”

12. RABASH, Article No. 22 (1986), “If a Woman Inseminates”

The only way to obtain a deficiency, that we are lacking the desire to bestow, is by prayer, which is a “medium” between man and the deficiency. That is, one prays for the Creator to give him something for which he has no deficiency, that he will lack it. It follows that the Kli that is called “deficiency” is a deficiency with respect to the feeling, meaning that he does not feel its lack, and the prayer is that the Creator will give him the light, which is the filling of his lack. It therefore follows that the filling is a lack. Thus, he has no other choice but to pray to the Creator to give him a deficiency, and this is what connects the Kli with the light.

13. RABASH, Article No. 37 (1985), “Who Testifies to a Person?”

He must perform every act of Torah and Mitzvot in order to bring himself into the aim to bestow. Afterwards, when he has a complete understanding of how much he needs to engage in order to bestow, and he feels pain and suffering at not having this force, then it is considered that he already has something for which to pray—for work in the heart—since the heart feels what it needs.

For such a prayer comes the answer to the prayer. This means that he is given this strength from above so he will be able to aim in order to bestow, for then he already has the light and Kli. However, what can one do if, after all the efforts he has made, he still does not feel the lack of not being able to bestow as pain and suffering? The solution is to ask the Creator to give him the Kli called, “A lack from not feeling,” and that he is unconscious, without any pain from being unable to bestow.

14. RABASH, Article No. 25 (1987), “What Is Heaviness of the Head in the Work?”

The primary goal should be to be rewarded with Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator. Since the reason objects to this, he must go against reason, and this is very hard work.

Since he is asking the Creator to give him something to which all of his organs object, it follows that each and every prayer he makes to the Creator has its special work. This is why a prayer is called “work in the heart,” meaning that he wants to go against the intellect and the mind, which tell him the complete opposite.

This is why it is not called “the work of the brain,” since the work of the brain means that a person exerts to understand something with his mind and reason. But here he does not want to understand with his reason that we should serve the Creator in a state of knowing. Rather, he wants to serve the Creator specifically with faith above reason. This is why a prayer is called “work in the heart.”

15. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 19, “What Is ‘The Creator Hates the Bodies,’ in the Work?”

One should believe that the obstructions of the will to receive in the work come to him from above. One is given the force to discover the will to receive from above because there is room for work precisely when the will to receive awakens.

Then one has close contact with the Creator to help him turn the will to receive to work in order to bestow. One must believe that from this extends contentment to the Creator, from his praying to Him to draw him near in the manner of Dvekut [adhesion], called “equivalence of form,” discerned as the annulment of the will to receive, so it is in order to bestow. The Creator says about this, “My sons defeated Me.” That is, I gave you the will to receive, and you ask Me to give you a desire to bestow instead.

16. RABASH, Article No. 37 (1991), “What Is the ‘Torah’ and What Is ‘The Statute of the Torah,’ in the Work?”

When he wants to do everything for the sake of the Creator and not for his own sake. Here the body resists with all its might, since it argues, “Why do you want to put me and my domain to death? You come to me with having to work only for the sake of the Creator and not for one’s own sake, which is truly annulment of the will to receive from everything. You tell me that our sages said, ‘The Torah exists only in one who puts himself to death over it,’ meaning to put to death all the domain of self-benefit and care only for the benefit of the Creator, and before this, a person cannot be rewarded with the Torah.” Yet, a person sees that it is unrealistic that he will have the strength to go against nature.

At that time, one has no choice but to turn to the Creator and say, “Now I have come to a state where I see that unless You help me, I am lost. I will never have the strength to overcome the will to receive, as this is my nature. Rather, only the Creator can give another nature.”

17. RABASH, Letter No. 65

A person must decide that he wants the Creator to give him a desire to completely annul before Him, meaning not leave any desire under his own authority, but that all the desires in him will be only to give glory to the Creator.

Once he decides on complete annulment, he asks the Creator to help him execute it. This means that although in the mind and the desire he sees that the body disagrees with him annulling all his desires before the Creator instead of for his own sake, he should pray to the Creator to help him want to annul before Him with all the desires, leaving no desire for himself. This is called a “complete prayer,” meaning that he wishes that the Creator will give him a complete desire without any compromises to himself, and he asks of the Creator to help him always be with his righteousness.

18. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 5, “Lishma Is an Awakening from Above, and Why Do We Need an Awakening from Below?”

One must know, when exerting to attain the Lishma, to take upon himself to want to work entirely to bestow, completely, meaning only to bestow and not to receive anything. Only then does one begin to see that the organs do not agree to this view.

From this one can come to clear awareness that he has no other choice but to pour out his heart to the Creator to help him so the body will agree to enslave itself to the Creator unconditionally, as he sees that he cannot persuade his body to annul itself completely. It turns out that precisely when one sees that there is no hope that his body will agree to work for the Creator by itself, one’s prayer can be from the bottom of the heart, and then his prayer is accepted.

19. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 122, “Understanding What Is Written in Shulchan Aruch”

A person wanting to work entirely in the form of bestowal, and that all of one’s thoughts of his own pleasure will be revoked. Then, when he feels what he is saying, his heart can fear that his prayer might be accepted, meaning that he will have no desire whatsoever for himself. And concerning self-pleasure, there appears a state where it seems as though he leaves all the pleasures of this world, together with all the people, friends, his kin, all his possessions, and retires to the desert where there is nothing but wild beasts, without anyone knowing of him or of his existence. It seems to him as though he loses his world at once, and feels that he is losing a world filled with the joy of life, and takes upon himself death from this world. He feels as though he is committing suicide when he experiences this image. Sometimes, the Sitra Achra [other side] helps him picture his state with all the dark colors. Then the body repels this prayer, and in such a state, his prayer cannot be accepted since he himself does not want his prayer to be accepted.

For this reason, there must be preparation for the prayer, to accustom oneself to the prayer, as though his mouth and heart are the same.

20. Meshivat Nefesh, Item 40

Our sages said, “Man’s inclination overcomes him everyday.” Were it not for the help of the Creator, he would not overcome it.” Rather, man must only commit to strengthening himself each time anew, and not retreat from this war or cause oneself despair under any circumstances.

Certainly, in this war, it is impossible to evidently see who is the winner, since the war is still long, the exile is intensifying, and each one experiences what he experiences. Yet, as long as we are holding our weapons in our hands—and our main weapon is the prayer—and as long as we do not cause ourselves despair from this war and keep gripping to our weapons, we are winning for sure, since as long as one strengthens oneself in prayer and outcry to the Creator, he is winning the war, as this is essentially the victory.

21. RABASH, Article No. 4 (1988), “What Is the Prayer for Help and for Forgiveness in the Work?”

Man’s sin is that he did not ask the Creator for help. Had he asked for help, he would certainly get help from the Creator. But if a person says that he asked for help and the Creator did not help him, to this comes the answer that a person should believe that the Creator hears the prayers, as it is written, “For You hear the prayer of every mouth.” If he truly believed, his prayer would be complete, and the Creator hears a complete prayer when a person yearns with all his heart that the Creator will help him.

But if his prayer is not constantly on his lips, it means that he does not have the real faith that the Creator can help him and that the Creator hears everyone who asks Him, and that small and great are equal before Him, meaning that He answers everyone. It follows that the prayer is incomplete.

22. RABASH, Article No. 23 (1989), “What Is, If He Swallows the Bitter Herb, He Will Not Come Out, in the Work?”

Even when he comes to know that the Creator can help him, and he understands that the real advice is only prayer, the body comes and makes him see that “You see how many prayers you have already prayed but you received no answer from above. Therefore, why bother praying that the Creator will help you? You see that you are not getting any help from above.” At that time, he cannot pray. Then we need to overcome once more through faith, and believe that the Creator does hear the prayer of every mouth, and it does not matter if the person is adept and has good qualities, or to the contrary. Rather, he must overcome and believe above reason, although his reason dictates that since he has prayed many times but still received no answer from above, how can he come and pray once more? This, too, requires overcoming, meaning to exert above reason and pray that the Creator will help him overcome his view and pray.

23. RABASH, Article No. 10 (1986), “Concerning Prayer”

Before one knows that he cannot obtain the vessels of bestowal by himself, he does not ask the Creator to give them to him. It follows that he does not have a real desire for the Creator to answer his prayer.

For this reason, one must work to obtain the vessels of bestowal by himself, and after all the work that he has put into it without obtaining it begins the real prayer from the bottom of the heart. At that time he can receive help from above, as our sages said, “He who comes to purify is aided.”

But since this prayer is against nature, since man was created with a desire to receive, which is self-love, how can he pray to the Creator to give him the force of bestowal while all the organs oppose this desire? This is why this work is called “prayer,” meaning he must make great efforts to be able to pray to the Creator to give him the force of bestowal and annul man’s force of reception.

24. RABASH, Article No. 19 (1985), “Come unto Pharaoh – 1”

We should pay attention to, […] and believe through the worst possible states, and not escape the campaign, but rather always trust that the Creator can help a person and give him, whether one needs a little help or a lot of help.

In truth, one who understands that he needs the Creator to give him a lot of help, because he is worse than the rest of the people, is more suitable for his prayer to be answered, as it is written, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit.”

25. RABASH, Article No. 34 (1991), “What Is Eating Their Fruits in This World and Keeping the Principal for the Next World, in the Work?”

Only those who say that they want to escape from the work but have nowhere else to go, since nothing satisfies them, those people do not walk out from the work. Although they have ups and downs, they do not give up. This is as it is written, “And the children of Israel sighed from the work, and they cried, and their cry went up to God from the work.” In other words, they cried out from the work because they were not advancing in the work of the Creator, so they could work in order to bestow contentment upon the Maker. At that time, they were rewarded with the exodus from Egypt. In the work, this is called “emerging from the control of the will to receive and entry into the work of bestowal.”

26. RABASH, Article No. 38 (1990), “What Is, ‘A Cup of Blessing Must Be Full,’ in the Work?”

He must pray to believe that the Creator does hear a prayer, and everything that one feels in these states is to his benefit. But this can be only above reason, meaning although the mind tells him, “After all the calculations, you see that nothing can help you,” he should believe this, too, above reason, that the Creator can deliver him from the will to receive for himself, in return for which he will receive the desire to bestow.

27. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 209, “Three Conditions in Prayer”

There are three conditions in prayer:

1. Believing that He can save him. Although he has the worst conditions of all his contemporaries, still, “Will the Lord’s hand be too short to save him?” If it is not so, then “the Landlord cannot save His vessels.”

2. He no longer has any choice for he has already done all that he could but saw no cure to his plight.

3. If He does not help him, he will be better off dead than alive. Prayer means “lost in the heart.” The more one is lost, so is the measure of his prayer. Clearly, one who lacks luxuries is not like one who has been sentenced to death, and only the execution is missing, and he is already tied with iron chains, and he is standing and pleading for his life. He will certainly not rest or sleep or be distracted for even a moment from praying for his life.

28. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 20, “Lishma [for Her sake]”

There cannot be a real prayer if he does not know first that without prayer it cannot be obtained.

Therefore, the acts and remedies he does in order to obtain Lishma create the corrected Kelim [vessels] in him that want to receive the Lishma. Then, after all the actions and the remedies he can pray in earnest since he saw that all his actions did not help him whatsoever. Only then can he make an honest prayer from the bottom of his heart, and then the Creator hears his prayer and gives him the gift of Lishma.

29. RABASH, Article No. 38 (1990), “What Is, ‘A Cup of Blessing Must Be Full,’ in the Work?”

When a person is already standing near the place from which he will receive the help from above, and “near” means that the Kli [vessel], meaning the desire to bestow, is far away from him, then he sees that only the Creator can save him. As Baal HaSulam said, this is the most important point in man’s work, for then he has close contact with the Creator because he sees one hundred percent that nothing can help him but the Creator Himself.

30. Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 57

There is no happier state in man’s world than when he finds himself despaired with his own strength. That is, he has already labored and done all that he could possibly imagine he could do, but found no remedy. It is then that he is fit for a wholehearted prayer for His help because he knows for certain that his own work will not help him.

As long as he feels some strength of his own, his prayer will not be whole because the evil inclination rushes first and tells him, “First you must do what you can, and then you will be worthy of the Creator.”

It was said about this, “The Lord is high and the low will see.” For once a person has labored in all kinds of work, and has become disillusioned, he comes into real lowliness, knowing that he is the lowest of all the people, as there is nothing good in the structure of his body. At that time, his prayer is complete and he is granted by His generous hand.

31. Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 57

The writing says about this, “And the children of Israel sighed from the work, etc., and their cry went up.” It is so because at that time they came into a state of despair from the work. It is as one who pumps into a punctured bucket. He pumps all day but does not have a drop of water to quench his thirst.

So were the children of Israel in Egypt: Everything they built was promptly swallowed in its place in the ground, as our sages said.

Similarly, one who has not been rewarded with His love, all that he has done in his work on purifying the soul the day before is as though completely burned the next day. And each day and each moment he must start anew as though he has not done a thing in his entire life.

Then, “The children of Israel sighed from the work,” for they evidently saw that they were unfit to ever produce something by their own work. This is why their sigh and prayer were complete, as it should be, and this is why “Their cry went up,” since the Creator hears the prayer, and He only awaits a wholehearted prayer.

32. RABASH, Article No. 2 (1991), “What Is, ‘Return, O Israel, Unto the Lord Your God,’ in the Work?”

A person prays to the Creator and says, “You must help me because I am worse than everyone, since I feel that the will to receive controls my heart, and this is why nothing of Kedusha can enter my heart. I want no luxuries, only to be able to do something for the sake of the Creator, and I am utterly incapable of this, so only You can save me.”

By this we should interpret what is written (Psalms 34), “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted.” That is, those who ask the Creator to help them so their heart will not be broken and will be whole, this can happen only if a person has been rewarded with the desire to bestow. For this reason, he asks the Creator to give him the desire to bestow, since he sees that he lacks nothing in the world but the ability to work for the sake of the Creator. It follows that he is asking only the nearness of the Creator, and there is a rule, “measure for measure.” Hence, the Creator brings him closer. This is the meaning of the words, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted.”

33. RABASH, Article No. 6 (1986), “Confidence”

We should say that the Creator always hears and answers according to man’s best interest, and this is what He gives us. Thus, one should believe that the states that a person feels are what the Creator wants us to feel because it is in our favor.

It follows that the confidence that we should have in the Creator is that the Creator certainly hears our prayers and answers them, but not according to our understanding, but according to the Creator’s understanding of what we should be given. It therefore follows that the confidence is primarily about trusting the Creator that He helps everyone, as it is written, “His mercy is over all His works.” However, the confidence should not be that the Creator will help us according to our understanding, but according to the Creator’s understanding.

34. Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 52

It is written about this: “Seek the Lord while He is found.” That is, when the Creator presents Himself to you for asking, then you will necessarily seek Him, too, for it is man’s way to move first. In other words, the Creator first gives you the heart to seek Him. When you know this, you will certainly grow stronger, as strong as you can ask, for the King is calling you.

35. Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 52

So it says, “Call upon Him when He is near.” That is, when you call on the Creator to bring you closer to Him, know that He is already near you, for otherwise there is no doubt you would not be calling Him. This is also the meaning of the verse, “Before they call, I will answer,” meaning that if you are calling Him, then He has already turned to you to give you the awakening to call upon Him.

36. Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 52

The measure of the Creator’s listening depends precisely on the measure of the longing that appears during the saying of the prayer. When one feels excessive longing, he should know at that time that the Creator is listening to him attentively.

Clearly, when he knows this, he pours his heart out even stronger, for there is no greater privilege than the King of the world being attentive to him. This is quite similar to what our sages said, “The Creator longs for the prayer of righteous,” for the Creator’s desire for a person to draw near Him awakens great power and longing in the person to crave for the Creator, for “As in water of the face to the face, so the heart of man to man.”

It follows that the saying of the prayer and the hearing of the prayer go hand in hand until they accumulate to the full measure and he acquires everything.

LESSON

Morning Lesson October 27, 2023

Transcription is made from simultaneous translation, which leaves a possibility for differences in the audio

Part 3:

Everything is Obtained By the Power of Prayer – Selected Excerpts from the Sources. #7

Reading Excerpt #7 (00:20) “A prayer must be a complete prayer..”

Reading Excerpt #8 (01:55) “It is upon a person to pray..” 

1. S. (04:08) It says in excerpt 7, that the prayer has to be a complete prayer from the bottom of the heart, to know 100% that only the Creator can help you and then the prayer comes up from the bottom of the heart. The question is, for such a complete prayer from the bottom of the heart, should it rise by itself or this is the work of a person to raise such a prayer?

R. We will learn that separately.

2. S. (04:38) He speaks here about a prayer from the bottom of the heart. My question is different: what are the conditions for reaching such a prayer? The same question is, is the prayer from the bottom of the heart as if the Creator is helping you, answering you and without it you cannot reach Him?

R. You can’t.

S. How do you come to it, how do you come to a prayer from the bottom of the heart, how do you come to it?

R. You need to feel the heart. You need to feel the depth of the heart, to want to know what the depth of the heart really wants, to try and change the desire in the depth of the heart from not so important to the most important and open that towards the Creator.

S. What you are saying is that only if you have burdens and troubles you can get to the bottom of the heart?

R. Sorry, what?

S. You cannot come to it without any blows or troubles from around you?

R. With which question?

S. I don’t know, I’m asking you?

R. Of course not. How can you reach the Creator and ask for something from Him if it is not something that belongs to life and death, to the most important thing? How could you imagine such a thing, your plea to the Creator?

S. Meaning what’s happening today in Israel are all signs from Above so we will come to this prayer from the bottom of the heart?

R. Could be.

3. S. (06:33) The awakening from below is that the realization of our efforts in the ten and by that we are coming out of ourselves and not in our bodies but being somewhere higher than the bodies?

R. Not exactly, whoever sees the body it is as if he is above it.

S. But my identification not with the body’s reactions but when you look at the relationship with the Creator, is that corresponding to a reaction?

R. Yes, that is more correct.

S. About the excerpt, after the first feedback in the recognition that I’ve given contentment to the Creator, how do you measure the goal and all of your yearnings? Is the focus going into the ten, into every friend in the search for greatness?

R. That is for you to advance ahead. How else?

S. Is it okay that the main goal gets blurred out a little?

R. Yes, you have to make the goal, emphasize it more, bring it into expression in your feelings in the forms that you imagine, only in that way.

4. S. (08:34) You said that both women and men, we lack a prayer for correction. I’m asking about walking around frustrated, what are we still lacking in the prayer, what are we missing? Just looking at the current state I think we have increased the connection between us, we feel the heart’s closer, we enter the prayer more, we increase our activity in workshops and still there is a huge pain. Why can’t we reach the correct prayer from the bottom of the heart? It simply hurts.

R. I get that the depth is deep and we cannot reach it and feel what is really in the depth of our heart and we can’t also turn to the Creator and ask that He organizes our heart and not one heart but all of our hearts of the tens, and it is not simple.

S. What do we need to do, Rav? What do we really want?

R. You need to open your heart.

S. How do we do it?

R. I don’t know. The Creator knows, turn to Him.

5. S. (10:03) We learned that the prayer has to be for what we’re lacking from the bottom of the heart, and we see from the outside there’s an evil that’s revealed but I do not recognize this evil inside of me. How to discover the crimes from within in order to correct them?

R. The fact that you do not recognize the evil within you, that is a problem. That’s where the evil is that you don’t recognize.

S. How to work here and how to recognize it?

R. First of all consult your friends.

6. S. (10:50) The form of the prayer, what is realized right now is such a form where each ten builds a prayer by connecting their individual prayers, there are other forms. We read in The Zohar, we pray together but then nobody does anything and so what is the difference between these two prayers and what is better for us right now according to our state?

R. There isn’t too much meaning in that. We are not scrutinizing it right now and I don’t understand it but the form that is clarified in me, that form I can turn to the Creator. What I feel from Him is what I can also turn back to Him.

S. I’m asking because there’s a true need. Only to bring it into words, it narrows our prayer down and when we read The Zohar, we do approach that desire which we still do not possess. How to do it so that our words won’t blemish the prayer?

R. You do not need words, you can do it only with feelings, what you bring and imagine, right.

7. S. (12:30) It is not simple this state but how do I personally strengthen in the faith of the Creator. We have three people who are drafted and our bellies are churning. It says in our Torah, in Genesis, chapter 22, “God tried Abraham and told him and said, “Abraham here I am, take your son, you’re only son whom you love, Isaac, to the land of Moriah and offer him as an offering on one of the mountains there,” and the emphasis is in that God tried Abraham. I feel that we are being tried and we have to grow stronger in the faith in the Creator. Thank you for the patience.

R. Thank you, Okay, let’s hope our sons come home.

8. S. (13:44) It says in excerpt number 8, that the light is something that we want to give contentment to the Creator and a vessel is the will to bestow to Him. These two special qualities: how can the ten, how can each friend in the ten come to a state where he gives contentment to the Creator from this connection?

R. We will learn that tomorrow already, and you until tomorrow, try and understand what he is even asking about.

9. S. (14:34) If we turn to the Creator only during the time of trouble or danger, how can I turn to Him not egoistically and what do I do when there isn’t a clear and immediate danger?

R. Yeah vessels are something that we have to scrutinize.