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324 | A New Light
Chapter Eight:
“And I Will Pour Out My Spirit”
The Work of the Will in Prayer
Throughout the day, a person must point himself in the direction
of wishing to come close to Hashem. But the principal time for this,
the time that is entirely dedicated to this, is the time of the daily
regular prayers—in particular, the Shemoneh Esrei, which is the
central prayer that our sages instituted. At the time of prayer, a
person must desire to come close to Hashem, cling to Him and want
all that He wants. Prayer is called “a matter that stands at the height
of the world” (Berachot 6b and Rashi), because it is associated with
a person’s will, which is his highest and most precious possession.
The essence of a person’s work in prayer is the work of arousing
his will. Essentially, the power of a person’s prayer corresponds to
the power of his will. The will is the soul of prayer, whereas the
words and blessings are only its body. Therefore, it is necessary to
learn in depth the meaning of the work of the will in prayer.
Those Who Seek Hashem
It is clear and self-evident that the principal element in prayer
and beseeching Hashem is the will! The entire meaning of our
beseeching inheres in our will, in our desire to receive something.
Absent that desire, we are not praying and beseeching but merely
saying words.
Why does the essence of beseeching lie in the will? First of all,
the Hebrew word for “beseeching” can also mean “wanting,” as
illustrated in the verse, “The heart of those who mevakshei”—
beseech or want—"Hashem rejoices” (Psalms 105:3). These people
want, beseech and yearn to be close to Hashem. Incidentally, we
see from this verse that the will to come close to Hashem contains
the secret of deep joy. But at any rate, we learn that “beseech” 11
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What is the solution to all of this? The solution is to engage at length
in reciting the blessing of “He Who graciously gives knowledge,”
knowing that there is no other than He. A person who knows that
there is no other than He will not feel insulted by people, because
he sees that there are no people. When Shim’i ben Geira cursed
King David fiercely, King David was not insulted and affronted, but
said: “He curses because Hashem told him, ‘Curse David.’ And
who will say, ‘Why have you done so?’” (Samuel II 16:10). At that
moment, in the merit of this tremendous faith, King David became
the fourth leg of the heavenly chariot! When a person possesses
knowledge, not only does he not feel humiliated by people, but he
receives wonderful spiritual gifts from every insult and provocation.
The Key to All Salvations
You have reached the blessing, “He Who graciously gives
knowledge.” You have reached your healing! This blessing contains
the healing of the soul for any problem. With this, you eradicate
your every fear, overcome every heavenly decree of suffering
and all depression, and you begin to live a good and sweet life.
When you attain the healing of the soul, you attain true joy. And
when you have joy, you attain healing of the body. This blessing
contains the key to every type of salvation. Even finding one’s
spouse and having children depends on knowledge. As Rabbi
Nachman teaches: “The essence of birth comes about by means of
knowledge…. When a person attains complete knowledge, he has
children” (Likutei Moharan II 89).
So too, raising and educating children depends on a great deal
of knowledge. Many times, parents have problems educating their
children because the parents lack knowledge—in consequence of
which they destroy their children with their own hands. Therefore,
regarding every problem you have with your children, ask Hashem
to give you the knowledge to act in the way of Torah and faith.
Ask to receive knowledge on how on how to relate to your children
properly. And pray that your child will receive the knowledge that
he needs so that he will keep away from bad friends and other evil
influences, and so that he will want things that are good for him,
such as Torah and prayer.