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for a few hours, that will be considered like the work of a few days that Hashem, Who teaches Torah to His nation Israel, has given me doesn’t my Torah learning help me?” I tell them, “Know that even
or months; if he works for a few minutes, that will be considered over the course of the years: the practical work of translating these if a person learns Torah 40 years on the highest level, if he does
like the work of a few hours—which is very good, but not enough. elevated ideas and bringing them down to comprise tools of action not take hold of one element that he wants to change, devoting
It is a great pity when a person who has such a golden opportunity that are accessible to everyone, from the person sunken into the at least half an hour a day to the work of the will, he is unable to
squanders it. He has entered the king’s treasure house but he has 49 gates of impurity to the refined rabbinical scholar who seeks a make choices. He will not change, he will not fulfill his mission, and
not filled sacks of precious stones and pearls for himself. practical way to transform himself and rise from level to level. he will not reach his rectification. And should he be tested, he is
in terrible danger of falling to the lowest level of Sheol, and even
From here, we see that just as it does not suffice to learn Torah You must be aware that even if you learn 1,000 books on the lower, God have mercy!”
and lead a life of Torah and mitzvot in order to change oneself importance of the will, if you do not devote specific time to this,
profoundly, so too it is not enough to travel to the gravesites of the everything will remain theoretical and will not lead to any practical Do you think that this is exaggerated? This is no exaggeration
tzaddikim, because the sole factor that truly changes a person is the change. Therefore, if you want to attain true will that brings about whatsoever. I know of tens of thousands of such scholars, from the
work of his will. real change, you must set aside all of your activities, all of your most outstanding kollels in the entire world, who learned from the
industriousness, all stimuli, everyone you know, everything! At the greatest masters of the generation, and yet who did not change.
A Window of Opportunity very least, for half an hour every day, devote time to the work of I am not exaggerating. Are you surprised? Know that you know
the will. During this time, think about your life, think about what them as well….
If a person does not do the work of the will, then even his prayers kind of a person you would want to be. Consider how you want to
will not change him. And the proof is that there are millions of fine progress, and begin to want: to want, yearn and pray for progress A Perfect Situation
Jews who have prayed three times a day and asked Hashem for in those areas that are truly important to you, in accordance with
knowledge, asked Him to help them completely return to Him, and your state of being and your situation. The main thing is that, of the For 40 years, the generation of the desert learned Torah in
asked Him to place their portion among those who truly trust in His most significant and important matters that are the foundations of perfect circumstances. If only every scholar in our days could enjoy
name. But they did not become tzaddikim, nor servants of Hashem, your life, you choose one item that is especially urgent and resolve such conditions! They were taught by the best teacher in history,
nor even true penitents. That is because the essence of prayer is the firmly that you will devote half an hour of intentions and prayers Moses, who was the mentor of all the prophets. They were free of
work of the will. Without that, prayer is like a body without a soul. to it every day. every burden and every distraction. They did not have the onus of
earning a living, nor the burden of this-worldly concerns. They did
Prayer is our window of opportunity to express our intentions You will certainly see a difference! You will see changes great not need to pay rent, mortgage and property taxes. They did not
and to work on our will. Our holy sages took supernal, wondrous and small. You will attain achievements that you had thought go to work or shopping, and they had no obligations to fulfill. They
intentions, arranged them, and put them into the words of prayer to be impossible. And in consequence of seeing results, you will did not need to travel to visit relatives or to take their children to
and blessings. The entire goal of prayer is to bring about the good feel encouraged to continue working in order to acquire and school. Similarly, they weren’t exposed to the rushing river of the
intentions in a person’s mouth. If a person reads the siddur dryly, attain additional achievements, because there is nothing more desires of our generation. There were no malls, no bakeries, no
that is certainly not prayer. But even if he thinks about the words encouraging than seeing results! This work of the will brings restaurants and no theatres; there were no stock exchanges and no
but he does not arouse his will, then he takes out of his prayer results. It has real consequences. When we see results of our banks, no clothing stores and no shoe stores, no furniture stores,
exactly what he put in. No prayer will return empty and no word work, that gives us tremendous confidence: it strengthens our no electric appliance stores, and no pharmacies. There were no
will be lost. Therefore, his prayer will have an effect and influence faith in Hashem, our faith in ourselves, our faith in the power of newspapers, no radios, no cellular phones and no smart phones.
in heaven in accordance with its power and quality. But this prayer repentance, and our faith in the power of prayer and in the proper 600,000 scholars were entirely freed from every yoke. Never
will not change him. way of service—the service of the will. As a result, we receive a before were there and never again will there be scholars as free to
tremendous impetus to continue this work until we attain every learn Torah, with an entirely clear head.
However, when we understand the secret of life, which is the exemplary trait.
work of the will, then our prayer turns into the most precious gift, And in these perfect conditions they learned in the finest and
the sweetest time. It is our opportunity to dedicate ourselves to the And doing so will in fact be easy. Hashem did not give the Torah most prestigious kollel in the world: the Kollel of Those Who Eat
to the ministering angels. He did not send us here powerless. Rather,