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The fourteenth blessing, “He Who builds Jerusalem,” refers with and prevent purity of thought and deep feeling. “Thou Shalt Not Kill” Your Prayers
to the building of the heart (ibid. 20, 24 and II 1). This means that Whoever increases his regular practice of this will be
knowledge and faith will penetrate into the heart, as explained given increased purity in his thoughts while praying. And When a person prays with intent, his prayer rises to a high
regarding the blessing, “He Who gathers the scattered of Israel.” this practice is a simple type of meditation. place that even the angels cannot reach. However, when a person
Also, Jerusalem corresponds to faith (ibid. 22, 35 and 280). Jerusalem recites prayers without deep feeling, he loses that wonderful gift.
was destroyed because of the fall of faith, and it will be rebuilt by Since prayer with deep feeling means something different for Instead of raising prayers and giving pleasure to Hashem, he creates
means of faith, which is knowledge. different people, every individual must seek and beseech counsel phantoms that hang like inert corpses, bodies without a soul and
that is appropriate for him, and he must try with all his might to without the breath of life. His words do not have the power to rise.
In the fifteenth blessing, “He who causes the horn of salvation pray at a time and in a place in which it is easy to be inspired to do Instead, they fall to the floor like a person deprived of his soul,
to sprout,” we must have in mind the principal salvation, which is the work of the will. The halachic authorities state that every person who immediately falls down dead. Such is prayer without intent: it
the emergence from egocentricity and the attainment of knowledge. should do what he feels will help him concentrate: whether or not is without soul and it falls down dead.
We must look forward and hope that all of our aspirations and to raise his voice, whether or not to sway back and forth, whether
intentions will be to attain knowledge, and that the entire nation to stand in one place or move from one place to another, “because In accordance with this, we may understand a story about the
of Israel will want knowledge. Then, when the nation of Israel will Hashem seeks all hearts” (Chronicles I 28). Let us conclude the topic holy Baal Shem Tov:
request knowledge, the horn of David will sprout—a reference of how to pray with deep feeling by quoting the wonderful words
to the knowledge of faith and prayer (as stated earlier). As the of the Nefesh Hachaim (ibid. chapter 12): One time the Baal Shem Tov and his students came
verse states: “Afterwards, the children of Israel will return and seek to a synagogue, and he told them, “This synagogue
Hashem their God, and David their king” (Hosea 3:5). Our sages of blessed memory said, “I could absolve is completely filled with prayer!” His students were

the entire world from being judged for [imperfect] impressed, because they thought that this is something
When we say the words, “because we have hoped for Your
salvation the entire day,” we must have in mind that we want to prayer because, as the verse states, we are ‘drunk and very great. But the Baal Shem Tov immediately corrected
see the salvation of Hashem: i.e., that all people in the world will not from wine’ (Isaiah 51:21) [due to the exile]” (Eiruvin their mistake: “Why are you impressed? I mean that all
know Him and that the verse will be realized, “The earth will be 65a).[If that was so then,] what will we say now in these of the prayers of many years that were in this synagogue
filled with the knowledge of Hashem like water covering the sea” generations, when every person throughout his life is like have remained below and not risen at all. They did not
(Isaiah 11:9). someone lying down with a wounded head, as though have the power to rise, since they lacked deep feeling.”
he is in the midst of the sea, due to the burdensome
In the sixteenth blessing, “He Who hears prayer,” the toil of earning a living. As a result, no one takes heed I related this story in Chapter Eight of In Forest Fields. There
central intent is that Hashem will hear our prayer and give us the to empty his heart and thought from the confusions I wrote an extensive passage filled with wonderful encouragement
knowledge that we ask for in all of the blessings. And we ask Him of his enormous troubles regarding the vanities of this regarding every aspect of prayer. And I also wrote there at length
to give us everything as an unearned gift. Therefore, we mention regarding every topic discussed here. There is no need to repeat
Hashem’s compassion a number of times: “Have compassion on lowly world in order to prepare himself to encounter his these matters. Therefore, it is very much worthwhile for anyone who
us,” “Father of compassion,” “Accept with compassion and with God, may His name be blessed. Nevertheless, certainly wants to really strengthen his prayer to learn and study that entire
favor,” “Be gracious to us and answer us.” We emphasize Hashem’s every individual in accordance with his intellect chapter and review it until he internalizes those words properly.
compassionate acceptance of our prayers twice: “because You are and understanding is obligated to take counsel and
a God Who hears prayers and pleadings,” and “because You hear seek stratagems in the obligatory war, in order to “To Assemble and Stand Up for Their Souls”
the prayer of every mouth.” These phrases tell that everything is escape the confusion of impure thoughts, so that
an expression of Hashem’s compassion and unearned kindness. his mind will grow settled and he will be able to People think that prayer in a congregation always rises to Hashem,
Hashem does not hear our prayers because we are deserving or properly engage in the service of prayer. where it is cherished and accepted. However, that is a mistake, as
because we had intent in prayer. To the contrary, the fact that we proven by this story about the Baal Shem Tov. Prayer without deep
had intent, the fact that we want and seek knowledge, is itself due