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fullness of life in accordance with [his] will” (Psalms 145:16). A
person’s lifeforce is drawn to him in accordance with his intentions
and his prayer, because these two constitute the essence of his
nefesh.
“The Patriarchs Instituted the Prayers”
Rabbi Nachman writes: “Know that the essential way to bond
with and cling to Hashem, may He be blessed, is with prayer.
Prayer is the gate through which we come to Hashem, may He be
blessed, and from there we know Him” (Likutei Moharan II 84). The
essence of our bond—i.e., our clinging—to Hashem is our will. The
essence of bonding is love and desire. What binds two friends who
love each other? It is their will, which inheres in their hearts and not
in their words. If a person expresses words of closeness and bonding
to someone else but his heart is absent, not only does his speech
fail to bind them together but it separates and disconnects them.
Related to this, Rabbi Natan teaches: “Abraham corresponds to
kindness, which is love, yearning, bonding and clinging to Hashem,
may He be blessed. The entire level of Abraham corresponds to
kindness and love. This is because Abraham was the first person
to begin to engage in prayer completely and to draw the way of
prayer into the world” (Likutei Halachot: Tefillah 5:2).
Therefore, the essence of a person’s inspiration and the beginning
of his prayer result from his desire, yearning, love and pining
for Hashem, because his will is the heart of his prayer. That is
alluded to in our sages’ words that “the patriarchs instituted the
prayers” (Berachot 26b). The Hebrew word for “patriarchs,” avot,
is related to the word avah, “desire.” That alludes to the will, as
in the verse, “Hashem your God did not desire—avah—to listen
to Balaam” (Deuteronomy 23:6) and in “You desired—avita—praise
from clumps of dust” (Yomim Noraim Machzor). Thus, Rabbi Tzadok
Hacohen teaches that the essence of the superior quality of the
patriarchs was due to their strong will: “The patriarchs are called
eitanim (Rosh Hashanah 11a). I have heard that this word means
‘stubborn.’ This means that they had a powerful desire burning
like fire, which would not be quiet and rest until it would
be fulfilled” (Tzidkat Hatzaddik 248).
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problems is to spend a long amount of time on the blessing,
“He Who graciously gives knowledge,” because the root of all
psychological problems is a lack of knowledge. This is clear and self-
evident. However, it may be understood on a deeper level. What is
that deeper level? To know Hashem means to attain complete faith,
and Rabbi Nachman says that the soul and faith correspond to each
other (Likutei Moharan I 173). Thus, every flaw in the soul is a flaw in
faith. When a person recites the blessing, “He Who graciously gives
knowledge” at length and intends to know Hashem, he rectifies and
fulfills his faith. Accordingly, he rectifies and heals his soul.
There are many people who, although they are not categorized
as being psychologically ill, nevertheless suffer greatly from
intense psychological problems. Anxieties, worries and fears are
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psychological diseases that affect many people on various levels.
Many people live with a feeling that something bad is going to
happen to them or to those dear to them—whether illness, accident
or terrorist attack. Sometimes these feelings are so severe that they
lead to night terrors and paralysis. But even people who suffer
from low-grade anxiety suffer significantly from worries that bore
through their minds for hours at a time.
A person who has knowledge and knows that there is no other
than He is not afraid of anyone or anything in the world. A person
who knows that Hashem is only good and does good is not afraid
that something bad will happen to him, because there is no evil in
the world. Therefore, a person who suffers from fears, even slightly,
must recite the prayer of “He Who graciously gives knowledge” at
length and ask Hashem for knowledge. He must review the words
many times and know that there is no other than He, and that there
is no evil in the world. He must know that there is no independent
reality in the world and that no one in the world can harm him,
because he is solely in Hashem’s hands. Because he currently
lacks this knowledge, he must recite “He Who graciously gives
knowledge” a great deal and at length to complete his knowledge,
so that all of his fears will leave him.