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all worlds and spiritual levels, and tells you: “My child, at this very The Perfection of the Will
moment, take all of the good in the world….”
But what impedes this? What gets in the way? If Hashem so deeply Saves Us from Death
wants to give this to us and He is all-powerful, what is preventing
that from happening? There is a great difference between the prayer of a person who is
about to drown in the sea and the prayer of a person who is asking
The impediment is that we do not have the capacity to take to be saved from sinning. When a person prays for his life, he is
and receive the goodness of the Creator. Therefore, after we personally involved and he feels the danger strongly, and so he cries
implement the first stage of our work—which is to recognize the out from the depth of his heart—whereas in his prayer for spiritual
Creator with complete faith—we must approach our work. Our matters, he does not feel that if he does not get what he asks for,
work is to prepare ourselves and then receive the goodness of the he is not really alive, because he does not see his spiritual danger as
Creator and the spiritual salvation that He so lovingly extends to literal death. Therefore, he accepts his situation. He “makes do.” It
us. And the work of preparing ourselves is the work of attaining the does not burn so strongly in him. He prays to Hashem calmly. He
wholeness of the will! thinks, “If Hashem gives, He gives, and if not, that is not so terrible.
Life will continue….” Therefore, his prayer is anemic.
The perfection of the will manifests itself only when a person’s
life is in danger. Then an outcry bursts from the depths of his heart.
Therefore, in order to attain the perfect work of the will, a person
must feel the spiritual danger he is in. That is to say, he must feel
that if he does not receive what he is working on, his life is in
imminent and actual danger. He must feel that he absolutely needs
what he is working on, that he must have it immediately, that his
life is at stake! “If I do not get what I am working on at this very
minute, I am not even alive!” Therefore, Rabbi Nachman said that
we must pray for spiritual salvation like a person praying for help as
he is hanging by his hands from a wall and at every moment feels
that he is about to fall to his death.
When a person attains this feeling, he extends his will unreservedly
to the Creator, and receives what he asks for—on the spot!
Therefore, such work brings about salvation quickly. And we must
learn clearly what the work is and what we are seeking.
This Is Not Enough
Whoever does the work of the will wants to change spiritually.
Therefore, he dedicates half an hour every day to that work. But in
