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“Thou Shalt Not Kill” Your Prayers Everything at One Price

When a person prays with intent, his prayer rises to a high The seventh blessing is “He Who redeems Israel.” As I
place that even the angels cannot reach. However, when a person explained earlier, redemption is knowledge, and conversely the
recites prayers without deep feeling, he loses that wonderful gift. exile corresponds to a lack of knowledge. The redemption is
Instead of raising prayers and giving pleasure to Hashem, he creates nothing but the knowledge of Hashem. Therefore, when we recite
phantoms that hang like inert corpses, bodies without a soul and the words, “See our impoverishment,” we must have in mind
without the breath of life. His words do not have the power to rise. that we are asking Hashem to see our impoverished knowledge,
Instead, they fall to the floor like a person deprived of his soul, because “a person is [truly] impoverished only of knowledge”
who immediately falls down dead. Such is prayer without intent: it (Nedarim 41a). When we recite the words, “Fight our battle,” we
is without soul and it falls down dead. must have in mind that we are asking Hashem to help us battle the
evil inclination with its thoughts and distractions, which are the
In accordance with this, we may understand a story about the opposite of knowledge. When we recite the words, “And redeem
holy Baal Shem Tov: us with a complete redemption quickly,” we must have in mind
that we are asking Hashem to redeem us from egotism and give us
One time the Baal Shem Tov and his students came the knowledge to know Him and know that there is no one else but
to a synagogue, and he told them, “This synagogue He. And when we recite the words, “For the sake of Your name,”
is completely filled with prayer!” His students were we must have in mind that we are asking Hashem to help us know
impressed, because they thought that this is something that His name is one—an expression solely of compassion.
very great. But the Baal Shem Tov immediately corrected
their mistake: “Why are you impressed? I mean that all The eighth blessing is “He Who heals the sick of Israel.” I have
of the prayers of many years that were in this synagogue already explained that the words that appear in this blessing, “Save
us and we will be saved,” refer to being saved from egocentricity
have remained below and not risen at all. They did not and to attaining the complete knowledge that everything is for the
have the power to rise, since they lacked deep feeling.” good. Then we can joyfully thank Hashem for illnesses and sufferings.
That is the meaning of the words in the blessing, “Because You are
I related this story in Chapter Eight of In Forest Fields. There our praise.” With these words, we ask Hashem to help us always
I wrote an extensive passage filled with wonderful encouragement thank and praise Him.
regarding every aspect of prayer. And I also wrote there at length
regarding every topic discussed here. There is no need to repeat When we recite this blessing, we must have in mind that we
these matters. Therefore, it is very much worthwhile for anyone who want a healing of the soul. That healing consists of complete faith,
wants to really strengthen his prayer to learn and study that entire and it brings a person joy. Rabbi Nachman writes in a famous
chapter and review it until he internalizes those words properly. passage: “All illnesses that come upon a person result only from
compromised joy…. Joy constitutes great healing” (Likutei Moharan
“To Assemble and Stand Up for Their Souls” II 24). Therefore, when we recite this blessing and ask for healing,
we must focus intensely on our wish to attain the knowledge that
People think that prayer in a congregation always rises to Hashem, leads to joy, so that we will be healed from all illness.
where it is cherished and accepted. However, that is a mistake, as
proven by this story about the Baal Shem Tov. Prayer without deep Principally, healing depends on repentance, because “there are