The Fiftieth Gate - Likutey Tefilot
Reb Noson's Introduction
to Likutey Tefilot
Our holy Rebbe, the outstanding luminary, 'the hidden, treasured light", Rebbe Nachman, of blessed memory, told us many times and in many different ways to turn his teachings into prayers. He said that never before has there been anything like the delight G-d has from the prayers we make out of Torah teachings. He discussed this many, many times with many different people.
The Rebbe never explained exactly what he meant by this. However from his various statements we inferred that he meant what he said quite literally. We should try to study each of his awesome and holy teachings with a view to understanding the practical gu7idance contained in it. (This is more important than anything, because 'the main thing is not study but practice" [Avot 1:171. As pointed out several times in our works, the Rebbe's main intention in everything he taught was practical.- that we should make every effort to observe and fulfil everything discussed in each teaching.)
Having drawn out the practical points contained in a given teaching, we should then look into ourselves and see how far we are from the spiritual levels discussed in it. We should pray and beseech G-d over and over again to have compassion on us and steadily bring us nearer to Him, until eventually we succeed in fulfilling the entire teaching. We should pour out our prayers to G-d over each of the individual points discussed in the teaching, and beg Him to help us fulfil them to perfection and attain all the levels described.
Someone who can make prayers out of Torah teachings will certainly always be able to express himself to G-d and talk out his innermost thoughts and feelings in relation to each teaching. At first you may think that a given teaching is not relevant to your own personal needs and problems at a particular time. Even so, once you start speaking out your feelings in relation to this teaching, G-d will certainly help you, and you will be able to put everything you have to say into your prayers and conversations surrounding this teaching, and so with all of them.
This is because Rebbe Nachman's teachings are universal: every single one encompasses the entire Torah, the entire Jewish People, and indeed everything in the world. Everyone in the world - from the highest to the lowest, from top to bottom - can find every aspect of themselves in every single teaching of the holy Rebbe. Through every single one of his teachings, everyone in the world can always express what he has to say, no matter who he may be.
For example, the lesson in Likutey Moharan 1:5 begins with the Talmudic teaching that "Each person is obliged to say, "The world was created for me" (Sanhedrin 37)". The Rebbe goes on to tell us that if so, I must make it my constant concern to improve the world and provide what is needed and to pray for the world. It is necessary to know whether or not what is decreed for the world has already been decided.
The Rebbe himself used this teaching as an example when discussing with a number of his followers how to turn Torah lessons into prayers . He told them to examine themselves carefully and see how far they were from everything taught in the lesson. They were to think how each individual is obliged to say that the entire world was created only for him, to pray for what the world needs, and to ascertain if the decree has already been decided or not. They were then to look at themselves and see how far they were from this, and to pray and beseech G-d to help them to attain it.
At the time, the people the Rebbe was speaking to questioned whether praying about this was really relevant to them at that point in view of their present spiritual level. His reply was: "Listen to what your own mouths are saying. The teaching explains how every person is obliged to say that the entire world was created only for me". If so, every one of you has this obligation, and no one can escape it."
The truth is that were G-d to help us follow the Rebbe's instructions literally, as explained here, everyone would certainly be able to express himself through each teaching. No matter how low a level a person may feel himself to be on, or what he may have gone through in his life, if he has a real ur e to return to G-d and is willing to pour out his feelings honestly, he will be able to express everything that is on his mind and in his heart. One could start by saying bitterly how 'the world was created for me - because our Sages told us that everyone is obliged to say that the entire world was created only for me... but how very far I am from this."
Even if a person considers himself to be so impossibly far from this that he dare not even say that the world was created for him, owing to his lowly level, this in itself should enable him to pour out his heart all the more. The fact is ihat he really is obliged to say that the world was created for him, just as the Rabbis said. They specified that this is an obligation that applies to everyone. He may feel so far from this that it is hard for him to talk about it, but this in itself will enable him to pour out his heart like water to G-d when he looks at how far he is from this because of his deeds. This is how he will be able to start the conversation, and go on to express all his inner pain and suffering at that time.
He will then look further along in this teaching, where the Rebbe explains that the way to know whether or not the decree has already been decided is through the joy with which one carries out the n-dtzvot - a joy that should be greater than the mitzvah itself (Aid. 3). He will now start to pray about this, looking at how far he is from it and pleading with G-d to help him achieve it.
Further on it is explained that the way to attain joy is through 'thunder" - intense prayer - and that one comes to this by clearing the mind of chametz, leaven, namely, n-dstaken ideas and unholy thoughts and desires. One has to drive them away - ""Drive away the wild beast of the reeds" (Psalms 68:31) - and free oneself of all fears other than the fear of G-d. The main thing is to protect one's mind from the "chametz" of thoughts contrary to the Torah.
The lesson continues: One has to have faith in the Sages and to believe that all the conflicts between the perfect Tzaddikim are only for one's own benefit. One has to take them as a personal message of rebuke for having wasted the drops of one's own mind - a sin of which it is said, "None who go into her will return or attain the paths of life" (Proverbs 2:19). Only through this reproof is it possible to come back from death to life, from chametz to matzah, etc. For this reason one should not ask questions about the conflicts between the true Tzaddikim: one should simply have perfect faith in all of them (ibid.4).
In order to attain all these levels, one must pour out one's heart in prayer and supplication. How many prayers one must offer to cleanse one's mind of extraneous thoughts so as not to sour oneself with lustful desires and ideas contrary to the Torah. Virtually everyone is caught up in this to some extent. We need to beg G-d to save us and think only pure and holy thoughts. How much we have to pray in order to come to prayer with proper concentration and fervor!
The same applies to everything else discussed in this teaching and in all of the Rebbe's other teachings. Think about it and you will be able to infer a great deal for yourself from the things we have said. "One who comes to purify himself is helped from Heaven" (Yoma 38b, etc). If you work on your own heart, G-d will help you and send a flow of words to your mouth, and you will be able to express everything in your heart at any time through each of the Rebbe's teachings.
Anyone who is concerned about his spiritual destiny and genuinely wants to come dose to G-d should know that the only way to do so is by breaking all one's bad character traits and developing good ones, and by going in the ways of G-d. There is only one way to do this through prayers, supplications, cries and screams to G-d over the course of years and years. All truly holy and pious people only attained what they did through prayer and supplication, as pointed out so often in our works. But to pray and entreat G-d is itself very hard and onerous - people usually find themselves unable to say a single word or express themselves at all. However, through turning the Torah teachings into prayers, as explained here, it is easy to express everything one feels.
Nevertheless, all kinds of obstacles and difficulties stand in the way of this too. Not everyone is so familiar with the Rebbe's teachings that he is capable of turning them into prayers, and there are many other obstacles as well. I have therefore decided to copy the prayers I wrote down for myself in accordance with what the Rebbe told me about the value of writing down a well-organized prayer in order to be able to say it again at some other time. I did this for myself, and later I saw that it would be good to copy them over in a style that would be applicable to everyone, and to give them to members and supporters of our group so as not to withhold good from its proper owners.
I see that these prayers have universal application and are needed by everyone, each on his level, from the greatest to the smallest. There is nothing a person may need in the service of G-d that he will not find in these prayers. I copied a few of them and gave them to a number of people, and they approved of them highly and urged me to copy all of them. Although my feelings on this were somewhat divided, I have surrendered myself to G-d alone and will rely upon Him. According to His good will and the will of the Rebbe, so will I do.
The value of these prayers will be appreciated by all who yeam for truth and honesty. There have never been prayers like these in the world. They are full of goodness for the House of Israel - prayers, supplications, requests, entreaties, confessions, pleas, excuses, cries", shouts and screams to G-d, to arouse His abundant love for us so as to draw us closer to FES service swiftly and easily.
They also include words of self-arousal that a person can say to his own soul in order to arouse himself so as not to go through the whole of life in a state of sleep, G-d forbid. For words have a great power to arouse us. Even when one knows things full well in one's heart, the act of saying them out loud is itself inspiring, and fills one with strength, determination and desire to come close to G-d, until one can come to complete teshuvah. Anyone who says these prayers regularly, truthfully and honestl will certainly Y, come to the eternal life.
While "it is good for you to hold onto this, you should also not allow your efforts to flag in the other" (Ecdesiastes 7:18) - namely your own private prayers. Every day you should speak to G-d in your own words in your own native language and express everything in your heart, as discussed many times in the Rebbe's works. You must make your own prayers out of the Torah teachings, because it is impossible to put in writing all the different things every person needs, especially in view of the constant changes people go through.
The Rebbe often told us to say many additional prayers and supplications every day, such as those printed in the larger Siddurim, in "Sha"arey Tzion" (by R. Nathan Nata Hanover d. 1683) and other works, especially the Psalms. Anyone who wants to take the Rebbe's advice and follow the path of prayer to the eternal life will certainly find the prayers in this work very satisfying. There are no other prayers in the world where you can find yourself the way you can in these prayers. They cover all facets of human character and personality and every aspect of life, as you will see for yourself. Fortunate is the person who recites them regularly.
There is nothing unusual about composing new prayers. Many others, great and small, have preceded me in this. The "Sha"arey Tzion" contains many prayers written by the later Rabbis, as do the larger Siddurim and other works. In our own times many new prayers have been composed, and whole volumes are devoted exclusively to prayers. It is just that they are mostly not available in our region. Thus the list of books printed at the end of "Seder HaDorot" includes many volumes of prayers which are simply not available here. Similarly, virtually all the piyutim, selichot and hymns in the liturgy came not from the Prophets or Mishnaic teachers and others with roach hakodesh (holy spirit), but from later writers who lived long after roach hakodesh ceased.
Clearly there is no prohibition against the composition of prayers by people who are not necessarily on the highest spiritual levels, just as there is no obligation for the authors of other kinds of religious literature to possess holy spirit. For the Torah "is not in the heaven" (Deuteronomy 30:12). On the contrary, composing prayers involves no special responsibility and is not attended by any of the hazards that face Halakhic authorities, who, when writing on kashrut, business law and the like, are in constant danger of stumbling in the Halakhah and issuing false rulings. Similarly the authors of commentaries on classic texts are always in danger of misinterpreting the material and failing to bring out its true meaning.
Despite these risks, every advanced Torah scholar is under an obligation to write books to the best of his ability, as discussed at length in several works. No-one is at liberty to refrain from writing merely because of the dangers involved, for the Torah "is not in the heaven." We are obliged to fulfil our obligation and we must endeavor to clarify the Halakhah to the best of our ability and search only for the truth at all times. It is up to us to do our part, and HaShem will do what is good in His eyes.
Similarly, if HaShem sends us original insights, it is our duty to put them in writing and "let our fountains spread outwards" so as to share with others the good we ourselves have been blessed with. We must not withhold this good from those to whom it is due merely because of fears and worries of this kind. For 'the Holy One, blessed be He, does not come as a tyrant over His creatures" (Avodah Zarah 3a), and 'the Torah was not given to ministering angels" (Berachot 25b).
If this applies to Halakhic works and commentaries, etc., how much more does it apply to the composition of prayers, which contain no Halakhic rulings, commentaries or interpretations. One should certainly not hold back from composing them, even if one is not on such a high spiritual level. This applies especially to prayers such as these, which stand on the firmest possible foundation, thank G-d. Each one is built and "founded on pedestals of gold" (Song of Songs 5:15) - the holy teachings of our great and awesome Rebbe, of blessed memory, all of whose words were spoken with the highest level of ruach hakodesh.
Anyone who studies the Rebbe's holy discourses and conversations will understand a little how deep are his thoughts and where his words reach. This is not the place to discuss this at length. All these prayers come forth from a holy place, emerging from the holy spring flowing out of the House of G-d, full of deep, wondrous and awesome advice regarding the service of the Creator, blessed be He - "deep waters, advice in the heart of a man" (Proverbs 20:5).
For all these reasons I have been obliged to satsify the wish of my friends, who have been yearning and longing for these prayers, and to copy and print them and to let them shine upon the face of the earth, to "distribute them in Jacob and spread them forth in Israel" (Genesis 49:7). This explanation should suffice for all who desire the truth, and "HaShem, G-d is truth" ... "He will give truth to Jacob" and show us and lead us on the path of truth always and incline our hearts to Him to serve Him in truth until the throne of David will lovingly be established and he will sit upon it in truth speedily in our days. Amen.
And may HaShem hear our cry, listen to our voice and attend to our prayers and help us engage in prayer and supplication at all times, both the set and written prayers, and those which each one of us must say ourselves in our own words out of our own hearts, as the Rebbe told us many times. This is the main thing, as discussed many times in his holy works. This way, with G-d's help and favor, we will return to Him genuinely and wholeheartedly, until we ascend and merge with Him in the light of the Infinite, 'to gaze upon the pleasantness of HaShem and to visit in His palace" (Psalms 27:4).
In the merit of our prayers, G-d will send us our righteous Mashiach speedily in our days, for the main weapon of the Mashiach is prayer, as explained in the lesson "Speak to the priests" (Likutey Moharan I:2). We must persist with our prayers and supplications no matter what, until HaShem will look down from the Heavens and see and "restore us after two days [the two destructions] and raise us up on the third day [the rebuilding of the Third Temple] and we will live before Him" (Hosea 6:2) to go before HaShem in the light of life. Amen. Amen.
