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360 | A New Light
were saying, “We thank You for the fact that we know that You are
the strength of our lives and our saving shield, and for the miracles
that You do for us every day in giving us the knowledge to know
You.” We know that Hashem is good and compassionate, and that
His compassion and kindness never end.
We must thank Hashem for both the good and the bad. That is
the wholeness of knowledge that will be revealed in the future. We
are fortunate that the righteous already teach us this wonderful
knowledge, and we request of Hashem that the entire nation of
Israel will know that everything is good and that there is no evil in
the world, so that we will always give thanks to Hashem for both
the good and the evil.
Then “And all the living will thank You, selah”: all those who
come into the world will praise Hashem without cease. “And they
will praise and bless Your great name”: we pray that the name
of Hashem will be enhanced, so that “Hashem is one and His
name is one.” And the sages explained that this means that people
will recite the blessing, “He Who is good and Who does good”
regarding every type of occurrence (Pesachim 50a). That is called
Hashem’s “great name,” regarding which we pray, “May His great
name be blessed.” The blessing continues, “In truth”: we will thank
Hashem in truth with all our heart and not only with our lips.
“Forever”: for both the good and the evil. “Because it is good”:
because everything is good and there is no evil in the world, since
there is no other than Hashem, and He is entirely good. Thus, there
is no evil in the world at all.
The nineteenth blessing, “He Who blesses His nation with
peace,” also relates to knowledge. Peace depends on knowledge,
because a person who has knowledge has peace (as was taught a
number of times). This is the loveliest blessing. As we say: “And
may it be good in Your eyes to bless us.” If we ask the Holy One,
blessed be He, “What is the finest blessing with which You want
to bless us?” Hashem says, “I bless you to have peace.” This is the
blessing with which Hashem most wants to bless us, because when
there is peace there is everything: amity in the home, love between
people, and abundance. That is because peace is “a vessel that
contains blessing” (Uktzin 3). Then everyone gives and bestows to
Chapter Eight: | 377
Counsel and Encouragement for Prayer
Since I have discussed practical guidance for prayer, I will present
a few practical ideas for engaging in prayer with deep intent. There
is a principle in prayer that a person must think about the
words before he says them. If he says the words without thinking
about them first, they will lack deep intent. Rabbi Nachman writes
this explicitly, and when a person studies his wonderful words, his
entire relationship with prayer will change (Likutei Moharan I 76):
A person whose mind is clear can pray or learn without
study. But there is a person who needs to think before
he speaks. Should he speak before he thinks, his
speech will lack thought.
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This short sentence can greatly help everyone who wants to pray
with deep feeling. It is clear and self-evident that only a very few
are among those “whose mind is clear.” People like us, on the other
hand, must think about something before we say it. That is the
level we are on. At any rate, it is clear that a person who prays in
a rush does not have time to invest any thought, and so clearly his
prayer is not prayer at all. Proper prayer demands concentration
and attention. Therefore, Rabbi Nachman says that a person has to
pray with all his might (Likutei Moharan I 9). As written above, that
is the meaning of the verse, “To serve Him with all your heart and
with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 30:6). The central effort of our
prayer and the power of our prayer lies in our thoughts. As the
Nefesh Hachaim writes (Gate 2, Chapter 12):
For us, the work of prayer is a substitute for the service
of the sacrificial offering, which depended entirely on the
thought of the officiating cohen, who with his thought
could render it unfit (pigul). As a result of the holiness
of his thought, the offering would rise as a pleasing
fragrance before Him, may His name be blessed.
That is in line with Rabbi Nachman of Breslov’s teaching (Likutei
Moharan I 73) that a person must firmly and strongly connect his