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322 | A New Light
the level of the goal that he desires. Without the necessary desire,
he will not reach the goal. But when a person knows the importance
of joy and he knows that he cannot progress in any aspect of serving
Hashem—as well as in any this-worldly matter—without acquiring
joy, he will not ignore and neglect such an important topic without
addressing it in a fundamental way. Thus, a person’s clear awareness
about the importance of joy causes him to engage in the work of
attaining it.
“Illuminate Our Eyes”
Everything depends on learning. Therefore, we need to pray
to Hashem to help us learn, clarify the topic and attain complete
and clear awareness. Our every imperfection is an imperfection in
our awareness. We must beseech Hashem to give us a clear mind
and proper awareness. Torah and prayer bolster each other. As
stated in Likutei Eitzot, “Torah and prayer bolster each other
and illuminate each other” (Talmud Torah 6; cf. Likutei Moharan I 2).
Therefore, Rabbi Nachman said: “What must a person do in this
world? He need only pray, learn, and pray” (Sichot Haran 287).
Just as learning certainly provides great inspiration to strengthen a
person’s will and help him pray, he also needs a great deal of will
and prayer to help him learn. Therefore, every day he must ask
Hashem to help him learn, to receive clear, distinct and perfect
awareness, and he must pray that his learning will give him a strong
and perfect will to do everything necessary to attain that which his
soul loves.
Therefore, before we learn, we must pray to Hashem and plead
with Him: “I am prepared and ready to learn in order to do
Hashem’s will and give Him pleasure, so that my learning will lead
me to keep, do and implement, to attain good and upright traits,
inspire my will, bring me to faith, prayer and the fear of heaven,
and to lead me to do the work of the will and dedicate half an hour
a day to pray regarding my principal good until I acquire it….” And
every person must add his own prayers.
To conclude, I will quote the following encouraging words of
Rabbi Nachman (Sichot Haran 19):
Chapter Eight: | 351
or “Redeem us,” we must bear in mind that we want to receive
knowledge. All of our requests, outcries and pleas are basically
one: to attain knowledge. What do we need to be saved from?
We need to be saved from egotism. That is because egotism is
the absolute opposite of knowledge. Knowledge means that we
know that there is no other than He, whereas egotism is a person’s
foolish and false feeling that he is a something: “I and no other”
(Isaiah 47:8). Therefore, in our every request for salvation, we must
plead to be saved from egotism and instead experience ourselves as
nothingness, knowing that there is no other than He and that there
is no “I.” When we experience our nothingness and know that
there is no other than He, that itself is redemption!
The Beginning of Knowledge
The first blessing of the Shemoneh Esrei, “Shield of Abraham,”
relates to knowledge in its entirety. Before we make any request,
we must first praise Hashem. We must stand before Him and know
that He is the sole and supernal power, “the great, the mighty and
the awesome.” In this blessing, we make mention of the patriarchs,
who knew Hashem and made His name known in the world.
Redemption is knowledge (as noted earlier). Therefore, when you
say the words, “Bring a redeemer to the children of their children,”
have in mind that the Holy One, blessed be He, will illuminate us
with knowledge in the merit of the patriarchs. And when you ask
Hashem to bring a redeemer “for the sake of His name,” have in
mind that His name will be revealed. “His name” is the knowledge
that Hashem is one and His name is one. When Hashem’s name is
revealed, all people in the world will know and recognize Him.
In the second blessing, “He Who gives life to the dead,” in the
words “boundlessly saving” and “causes salvation to sprout,” bear
in mind that Hashem will save us from all heresy and egotism, and
we will attain knowledge. In this blessing, we affirm that Hashem
“supports the fallen,” “heals the ill,” and “frees the imprisoned.”
All of this comes about when we have knowledge, because (as was
previously explained), all imperfections exist because of a lack of
knowledge. The revival of the dead itself comes about by means of
knowledge. As Rabbi Nachman teaches, “The essence of eternal life