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living without difficulty requires knowledge, because it becomes Then recite the words again with longing, and as you say every explained at length in Chapter Six). It is the faith that we do not
much easier when a person knows that only Hashem provides word think about one of your children, and have in mind your need to “help” Hashem with any effort but that we are to invest
his income. A person who knows Hashem does not grow angry, prayer that Hashem give him or her knowledge and intent so that all of our powers and effort only in prayer. It is the faith that the
because he knows that no one is doing anything to him. Everything he or she will attain faith and know the Torah, and so forth. Creator derives great delight from the fact that we turn to Him and
comes only from Hashem. At whom should he be angry—at from His hearing our prayers and from and helping created beings
Hashem? A person who has knowledge undergoes all tribulations Review the words again and think about your relatives, your who turn to Him.
easily, because he looks at everything as being what Hashem wants. friends, and the entire nation of Israel. Pray that they will all attain
A person who has knowledge finds Hashem at every moment in his all of the above. You may review that intent a number of times and Place the following words before your eyes always, because only
life. He knows and understands what Hashem wants from him and desire it again and again. they are called complete faith in Hashem! A person who believes
what Hashem is showing him. Thus, the entirety of having a good in Hashem certainly invests all of his will into his every word of
life depends on a person’s knowledge. Whenever your heart is aroused with intent and beseeching, prayer. Thus, the completeness of a person’s faith results in the
you must repeat the words at length with that intent. If you have completeness of his will, whereas a lack of faith weakens his will.
So too the purpose of learning Torah is to know Hashem, because a special need regarding one of the issues mentioned above or The measure of a person’s faith expresses itself in the power of
knowing Torah without knowing Hashem is learning Torah in a regarding another issue, repeat your request over and over again. his prayer. A person with faith comes to pray with complete will,
way that is far from a Jew’s purpose in life. The principal point to For instance, if you are learning a difficult passage in the Torah without any doubt of any sort. Therefore, Rabbi Nachman says in
be made here is that a person’s will is knowledge. As the Ramban and you want knowledge and help from heaven to understand it a number of places that “faith is prayer.” In accordance with this,
writes, “The word da’at is used in relation to will” (Ramban on Genesis and remember it, when you say, “Graciously give us…,” have that I have explained at length that Hashem accepts a person’s prayer
2:9). Certainly, a person who has knowledge wants Hashem alone. in mind. With the desire that heaven will open the wellsprings of in accordance with his faith, because only when faith exists is it
Therefore, we must request, “Give us complete knowledge so that wisdom and the gates of remembering, repeat the words over and possible to pray in a perfect manner.
we will only want You.” The purpose of life is to attain knowledge, over again.
and with knowledge we can complete all that we lack in life. The A person who has perfect faith invests all of his will into his prayer,
entire crux of this book, with all of its wonderful light, is that we Draw from the Wellsprings whereas a person whose faith in the power of prayer is flawed or
must ask Hashem to graciously give us knowledge. weak cannot invest all of his will in his prayer. Therefore, in order
One of the most extraordinary Torah leaders of recent generations to begin the work necessary to arouse your will in prayer, you must
A Personal Relationship was Rabbi Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz, the Chazon Ish, whose learn much about faith. To that end, it is highly worthwhile that
awesome mastery of Torah—by means of which he attained the you read my books, In the Garden of Faith and His Gates with
When a person knows all of this, his will is awakened to receive unceasing and inexhaustible wellsprings of wisdom, understanding, Thanksgiving, which fill a person with much faith. Then you will
achieve the desire to attain faith, and you will be able to insert all
knowledge. This will is the essence of a person’s deep feeling and and knowledge—could clearly be seen. Divine inspiration spoke of that desire into your prayer. From now on, you must engage in
heartfelt awareness when he recites the blessing, “He Who graciously from his throat, and he gave advice and counsel in all areas of
gives knowledge.” The more a person wants to attain knowledge, life for every Jew and regarding the conduct of the totality of the the essential work of prayer, which is the topic of this chapter: to
arouse your intentions at the time that you pray and insert these
the greater is the amount of intent that he invests in reciting this Jewish people. How did he attain all of this?
blessing, the amount of soul and vitality that he places in the words. intentions into your words, to insert lifeforce into the words so
that you will transform them into vessels in which to receive the
Then this prayer rises and its every word becomes a complete vessel His brother, the Torah luminary Rabbi Meir Karelitz, testified Creator’s abundance.
in which to receive knowledge. This is (as stated earlier) because the about the source of the qualities in Torah, knowledge, and so forth,
words are vessels in which to receive abundance, and the wholeness that the Chazon Ish attained. These were quite remarkable, and
and quality of the vessels correspond to a person’s will and deep everyone saw that in him the mishnah was fulfilled: “Whoever Wholehearted Service
feeling. Therefore, before you begin to recite the blessing of learns Torah for its own sake attains many things, and not only
“He Who graciously gives knowledge,” remember that you that, but the entire world is worthy of existence for his sake. He Chapter Six taught that only whole prayer brings about salvations
came to this world for the purpose of gaining knowledge: is called friend, beloved…, and people benefit from his advice, and is answered, and that the wholeness of a person’s prayer depends