Page 385 - 20780

416 | A New Light Chapter Eight: | 385

asleep—and not on anything else. The greater your bond with person thus makes his own contribution to the prayers of the
Hashem, the more you will get up refreshed, focused, filled with congregation. And the combination of the prayers recited with
energy, and—the main thing—filled with holy will: the desire for intention creates a complete prayer, as Rabbi Nachman teaches (as
Torah, the desire for prayer, the desire to do good things. In short, excerpted from Sichot Haran 75—and see the entire talk, because
you will get up to a day of life. Therefore, Rabbi Elazar would it contains powerful encouragement for praying):
pray after his prayer: “May we rise up early and may our hearts
yearn to fear Your name” (Berachot 16b). Rabbi Nachman said that it is impossible for a person
to pray the entire prayer service with the proper deep
But if, on the other hand, a person wants to sleep, that means feeling. Rather, every individual can only recite a
that he wants to be disconnected from Hashem, that he wants to part of the prayers with deep feeling. This may be
die. Then his sleep is degraded and impure, and that will affect his seen in actuality: one person recites the ketoret with
entire day. Even after he gets up, he continues to “sleep,” he is
spiritually drowsy and tired, and the desire to sleep accompanies deep feeling, another recites pesukei dezimra with
him throughout the day. Thus, he is not alive at all. Why does this deep feeling, and so forth. I saw a teaching on this in
happen? Because he wants to sleep, and there is a spiritual law that Rabbi Nachman’s writings, but I was unable to copy
“in the way that a person wishes to go, he is led.” Heaven tells it. However, a little of what I recall from there is that
him: “Do you want to sleep? We will give you the chance to get 13 this corresponds to the statement in the Tikunim (Tikun
abundant sleep. You will sleep and sleep until you will burst from 18) that there are “masters of the hands” and “masters
so much sleep. And when you get up, you will get up to a day of the feet,” and so forth. Thus, every individual is
of death. You will be tired, and you will not have any desire for inspired and is able to pray a part of the prayer with
anything.” deep feeling, on his level. Therefore, a person should
not feel downhearted when he sees that although he was
Thus, the description at the beginning of this chapter of the hours
and years that a person will lose as a result of his unnecessary hours able to pray some part of the prayer with deep intention,
of sleep refers only to the loss of quantity. But in addition to that, suddenly that stopped, and he cannot pray properly any
there is the loss of quality, because the entire day such a person is more, no matter how hard he tries, because this is how
in a state of spiritual sleep and torpor. He is not focused and he things have to be. So he should try to recite the rest of
accomplishes little, and all of his actions are chaotic and confused. the prayers with absolute simplicity.
Thus, he loses almost his entire life. That is a terrible usury taken
by the evil inclination that does not exist even in the meanest and Another aspect of prayer recited with deep feeling is that when a
cruelest black market. person recites one such good prayer, it raises his other prayers that
he had recited without proper deep feeling and that had not risen.
The biggest problem is that when a person goes to sleep with the Therefore, it is very much worthwhile to bolster your prayers at all
desire to sleep, for the entire day he does not see Hashem. Hashem times, because perhaps the present prayer can raise your prayers
speaks with everyone through his reality and through everything that fell to the floor like dead corpses over the days and years when
that happens in his life throughout the day. Hashem gives hints to you were entirely disconnected from the Holy One, blessed be He.
everyone. When a person sees the hints that Hashem sends him, As Rabbi Nachman says on the verse, “And I pleaded to Hashem
he may be said to see Hashem. But if he did not sleep a holy sleep, at that time, saying” (Deuteronomy 3:23; Likutei Moharan I 99):
then his entire day is dark and sad. He does not see Hashem, and
he does not understand the hints. A person must pray while clinging strongly to Hashem,