שמעתי ממורי ביאור תוספות דפרק קמא דראש השנה (דט"ז ע"ב ד"ה ועיון תפלה) בשם ירושלמי יומא חד בעי איכוין, כי צריך להעלות במחשבתו ממטה למעלה בסוד רפ"ח ניצוצין וכו' וכל מחשבות זרות הוא מלכות שבמלכות, ובבא המחשבה זרה, צריך ליפחד ולירא ממנה, ועל ידי היראה מתחבר יראה עם נורא ומברר ניצוץ הקדושה מתוך הקליפה שהוא המחשבה זרה, והנה זה התנא שהיה מחשבתו ברורה וצלולה ממחשבות זרות לא מצא מקום להעלות ממטה למעלה כי אם על ידי שעלה מחשבתו למנות קורות ביתו או אפרוחים וכו', ובפרטות דברים אלו צריך לימוד וכו' ודפח"ח: (תוי"י דר"ט ע"א).
Rav Chiya Rabba said, “I never concentrated in prayer. One time alone, when I wanted to concentrate, I started thinking ‘who should enter before the king first, the exilarch or the arkabasa.89A high Persian dignitary.‘” Shmuel said, “I found myself counting chicks.” R. Bun bar Chiya said, “I was counting the rows of bricks in the wall.”89Jerusalem Talmud, Berachos 17b, cited in Tosephos, Berachos 16b, s.v. “v’Iyun tefillah.” One must elevate one’s thoughts from below to above, in the mystery of the 248 sparks.89According to the Arizal, at the time of the Breakage of the Vessels, the lights of the vessels ascended to their source, and only the vessels themselves broke. However, 248 sparks of light remained in the vessels to enliven them. It is the main task of human beings throughout history to redeem these sparks from the kelipah nogah into which they fell, thus bringing the world to perfection. For all extraneous thoughts are in Malkhut of Malkhut,89Each of the Sefiros contains aspects of all the others. The lowest Sefirah is Malchus, and the lowest aspect of Malchus is “Malchus of Malchus.” It is from this lowest level that all disruptive and extraneous come. and when a foreign thought enters your mind, you must be scared of it.89For they are pushing you away from the King, as the Baal Shem Tov explained elsewhere. For by means of this fear, you unite “fear” and “awesome” and remove the holy spark from the impure shell, which is the foreign thought itself. Now, the thoughts of Rabbi Bun were pure and clear, and he had no way to uplift them, not until it occurred to him to count the bricks of his house, or the chicks [in the case of Shmuel]. Furthermore, each of these cases also needs to be understood.89See R. Tzaddok HaKohen of Lublin, Tzidkas HaTzaddik 233. It is worth noting that the word “chicks” (as in Shmuel’s prayers) is ephroach (אפרוח), which has the letters RPCh in its root, that may allude to the 248 (רפ”ח) sparks that fell. Toldos Yaakov Yosef, p. 209a
שמעתי ממורי ביאור תוספות דפרק קמא דראש השנה (דט"ז ע"ב ד"ה ועיון תפלה) בשם ירושלמי יומא חד בעי איכוין, כי צריך להעלות במחשבתו ממטה למעלה בסוד רפ"ח ניצוצין וכו' וכל מחשבות זרות הוא מלכות שבמלכות, ובבא המחשבה זרה, צריך ליפחד ולירא ממנה, ועל ידי היראה מתחבר יראה עם נורא ומברר ניצוץ הקדושה מתוך הקליפה שהוא המחשבה זרה, והנה זה התנא שהיה מחשבתו ברורה וצלולה ממחשבות זרות לא מצא מקום להעלות ממטה למעלה כי אם על ידי שעלה מחשבתו למנות קורות ביתו או אפרוחים וכו', ובפרטות דברים אלו צריך לימוד וכו' ודפח"ח:
(תוי"י דר"ט ע"א).
Rav Chiya Rabba said, “I never concentrated in prayer. One time alone, when I wanted to concentrate, I started thinking ‘who should enter before the king first, the exilarch or the arkabasa.89A high Persian dignitary.‘” Shmuel said, “I found myself counting chicks.” R. Bun bar Chiya said, “I was counting the rows of bricks in the wall.”89Jerusalem Talmud, Berachos 17b, cited in Tosephos, Berachos 16b, s.v. “v’Iyun tefillah.” One must elevate one’s thoughts from below to above, in the mystery of the 248 sparks.89According to the Arizal, at the time of the Breakage of the Vessels, the lights of the vessels ascended to their source, and only the vessels themselves broke. However, 248 sparks of light remained in the vessels to enliven them. It is the main task of human beings throughout history to redeem these sparks from the kelipah nogah into which they fell, thus bringing the world to perfection. For all extraneous thoughts are in Malkhut of Malkhut,89Each of the Sefiros contains aspects of all the others. The lowest Sefirah is Malchus, and the lowest aspect of Malchus is “Malchus of Malchus.” It is from this lowest level that all disruptive and extraneous come. and when a foreign thought enters your mind, you must be scared of it.89For they are pushing you away from the King, as the Baal Shem Tov explained elsewhere. For by means of this fear, you unite “fear” and “awesome” and remove the holy spark from the impure shell, which is the foreign thought itself.
Now, the thoughts of Rabbi Bun were pure and clear, and he had no way to uplift them, not until it occurred to him to count the bricks of his house, or the chicks [in the case of Shmuel].
Furthermore, each of these cases also needs to be understood.89See R. Tzaddok HaKohen of Lublin, Tzidkas HaTzaddik 233. It is worth noting that the word “chicks” (as in Shmuel’s prayers) is ephroach (אפרוח), which has the letters RPCh in its root, that may allude to the 248 (רפ”ח) sparks that fell.
Toldos Yaakov Yosef, p. 209a