“You have chosen us from all the nations and exalted us above all languages.” The unique holiness of the Jewish People is founded on God's Covenant, which requires that we overcome the physical lusts that separate us from God, especially immoral sexual desire. The instrument God gave us to conquer our desires is the “Holy Language.” This refers first and foremost to Hebrew, the language through which God brought about the creation, the language of the Torah and the prayerbook. However in a broader sense this term is also applied to our own private prayers and conversations with God in our mother-tongue. To cultivate the art of prayer is to master the Holy Language. The more we do so, the greater our ability to cool the furnace of our physical passions. In consequence of the eating of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, we live in a world in which good and evil are mixed up in every sphere, including the language we use in our mundane affairs. (This corresponds to Aramaic, which was the vernacular of the Jews of ancient times, and is the language of the Targum — translation of the Torah.) In our everyday conversations it is all too easy to fall into falsehood, slander, vulgarity, idle talk, obscenity and so on. Only when we refine and sanctify our everyday language can we attain complete mastery of the Holy Language of Torah and prayer. The opening verse of the Torah (Genesis 1:1) contains twenty-eight (Kaph-Chet) Hebrew letters: these are the source of the Ko'aCh — creative power — of the Hebrew letters that animate everything in creation. One who achieves mastery of the Holy Language is able to arouse this creative power, and can reach a level where all his pleasure in eating and drinking, etc. derives not from physical food and drink but from the spiritual letters of the Holy Language they contain. Divine power is channelled to the letters animating the creation through the thirty-two names of God [Elokim] found in the account of creation (Genesis 1). These thirty-two (Lamed-Beit) names are, as it were, the heart (LeV) of creation. When a person is nourished by the letters underlying the physical creation, his heart radiates, shining to his face, which becomes so pure that other people are moved to repent purely by looking at him. The relationship between the Holy Language and the language of everyday life — the Targum — corresponds to that between Shabbat and the days of the week. Our task is to sanctify the days of the week by bringing the Shabbat spirit into them, until the entire creation becomes reunified in its Source. God: Open my lips and my mouth will declare Your praise. Open Your mouth to the dumb, and help me offer my prayer to You in the language of love and entreaty, in words of crystal clarity, in the language used by the ministering angels. Let me find words that can arouse Your true love for me. Let me speak to You in language of perfect holiness — the Holy Language.
Master of the Universe! Loving God! Help me attain complete mastery of the Holy Language, so as to enable me to subdue and break all my evil instincts and bad character traits. They all derive from the seventy nations of the world, because all base impulses and character traits really belong to them, not to us, especially the burning furnace of sexual lust, which attacks me constantly. Have pity on me, and help me overcome this burning lust and remove it from myself completely.
You chose the Jewish People from all the nations and exalted us above all tongues. You gave us as our portion the Hebrew Language, the perfect Holy Language. This is the language with which You created Your universe, as it is written: “With the word of God the heavens were made and with the breath of His mouth all their host.” Through Your prophet Moshe You gave us Your holy Torah, which is written in Hebrew. This was the language You spoke to all the faithful prophets who spoke in Your Name with holy, prophetic spirit. With all of them You spoke in the Holy Language, which is “the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth.”
HaShem, my God and God of my fathers: I have come to plead with You. Have pity on me. Let my soul be precious in Your eyes. Arouse Your true love for me and grant me perfect mastery of the Holy Language, so that I will be able to bring my evil urge under control and totally break and remove my sexual lust. HaShem: You know that this instinct is our main test and stumbling block. The only reason we had to come into this world was to be tried and refined through grappling with this instinct. You wanted to test us with this desire, to see if we would have the strength to control our urges, break our bodily appetites and attach ourselves wholeheartedly to Your great Name all the days of our lives, in order to come to true good in the end, so that You could take pride in us in all the worlds when we break this desire and remove it from ourselves.
But I have sinned repeatedly and I have not been careful to stand up to the test properly. In the words of King David (may he rest in peace): “You tried my heart, You tested me in the night, but You did not find in me what You wanted. If I once thought to challenge You to test me, I won't let such words leave my mouth.” My life and my years have gone on pain and sighing. Only because of this lust have I strayed from Your laws and commandments. “Each day one's instincts attack ever more strongly.”
Through the true Tzaddikim of the generation You have given us good advice as to how to avoid falling to temptation — by sitting passively and refusing to act on our urges or dwell on lustful thoughts. But I've made little effort to follow this advice, and I've failed to guard myself against lustful thoughts and idle fantasies.
Even so, You are full of mercy, and Your love for me is still not exhausted. You are the great source of counsel, and You guide in the most amazing way. Have pity on me and guide me to a good, true pathway — one that I will really be able to follow — in order to escape this blazing furnace. Save me from this crazy, evil impulse. Because my sins have left me confused, and I don't know how to actually practice the holy teachings You have given us about the way to escape this desire. Through Your true Tzaddikim You have revealed to us that by attaining perfect mastery of the Holy Language we can conquer this evil desire. But You have also taught us that it is impossible to attain perfect mastery of the Holy Language except by breaking our sexual lust and observing the Covenant. I do not understand where to start in order to attain these holy levels — mastery of the Holy Language and observance of the Covenant — since each depends on the other.
HaShem, my God, I beg You: “Please, teach me Your ways,” and help me understand which pathway I should follow to attain perfect mastery of the Holy Lanugage and observe the Covenant, so that I will be able to come genuinely close to You. You know that it is impossible to come close to You except by completely breaking this instinct, which is the comprehensive evil of the seventy nations. As Jews, members of the Holy Nation, we are at root totally removed from this evil desire. We have no connection with it at all. It is their share, not ours.
Master of the Universe, protect Your honor. See how low we've come and how despised we are. We have fallen into exile among the seventy nations because of this evil desire. It has been the cause of all the troubles and exiles, collective and individual, that we have suffered right up until the present, and we've still not been saved. True: we ourselves are well aware that this foolish desire has been the cause of our troubles, yet we've failed to guard against it or make an effort to drive it out. Even so, You know that we are only flesh and blood. You know our evil urge: we are physical creatures. “I was conceived in transgression and my mother was heated with sin.”
But You are almighty and have complete power to save. You have all the ways and means at Your command, and You have the power to turn things in any direction You want. “Power and might are in Your hand, and it is in Your hand to make anyone great or strong.” You can find the good points even in me, and You have the power to make them shine, until the good in me will be strong enough to overcome the bad, and all the evil that clings to me will fall away and disappear. The good will be refined and elevated, enabling me to develop my power of speech to perfection and master the Holy Language.
I will then be able to sift out the good in the “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil” — namely the vernacular, the language of everyday conversations — and overcome and remove all the bad in it. The forces of evil and the husks deriving from the primordial serpent will then be powerless to gain entry through my everyday conversations so as to tempt and sway me, God forbid. Just help me at all times: inspire me with holy wisdom, knowledge and understanding, so as to destroy their power to tempt me and enable me to drive this reckless desire from me completely.
Let me develop my power of holy speech — the Holy Language — to perfection by purifying the language I use in my everyday life. Send me a spirit of holiness and purity, so that I will always be able to sanctify my speech and never say anything unbecoming. Let me only speak words of Torah, prayer, requests and entreaties, and talk only about devotion to God and other holy topics that enhance and sanctify the tongue. Give me complete mastery of the Holy Language very soon and bring me to true observance of the Covenant.
Awesome, holy God: please help me attain perfect awe of Heaven and always fear and revere You with all my heart, so as to fulfil the injunction to “fear the Lord your God.” And through this, help me refine and purify my speech until I sanctify myself in everything I say and attain complete mastery of the Holy Language — for Your holy Sages have informed us that “the awe of HaShem, His precious treasure” is the key to being able to sanctify one's speech.
Master of the Universe: You have taught us that the root cause of all the shame and abuse people suffer is sexual immorality, which is the worst disgrace of all, as our Sages said: “Where there is nakedness there is shame.” Have pity on me and help me escape this shame and disgrace, at least from now on. Let me conduct myself with self-respect and holiness, and bring me to perfect mastery of the Holy Language, so as to enhance and magnify Your great glory through always speaking in a language of perfect holiness.
Loving God: grant that I should be able to cool the heat of my physical desires through speaking words of holiness, as it is written: “My heart is hot within me, my panting is burning fire. I speak with my tongue.” Help me say the holy words of the Torah and the prayers with fervent heat and heartfelt passion. Let me stir up the flames of the Godly fire rooted in the nefesh, ru'ach and neshamah within me, blazing and burning to come close to God, until I am able to devote myself constantly to Torah, devotion, prayers, supplications, entreaties, songs and praises of God, all with a heat flowing from the depths of the heart in holiness and purity.
Let my words burn with blazing fire. Let my words be like coals of fire, let them pour forth in Godly fear and awe. Let me make You king over all of my two hundred and forty-eight limbs and three hundred and sixty-five sinews in fear, dread and trembling, until all the words flowing from my mouth will be words of perfect holiness, so that the heat of my physical passions will be cooled by the words of the Holy Language. With the holy fire of the Holy Language let me burn and destroy all the evil fire of the burning furnace of the seventy stars — the heat of sexual lust — so that this evil lust is completely removed from me from now on and for ever.
Fulfil the verse: “From the fire they came forth, and the fire will consume them.” “The falsehood of their own mouths will cover the heads of those surrounding me and plotting against me. Burning coals will pour down upon them; with fire they will cast them down into the depths so that they will not be able to rise up.” Let me be holy and completely separated from desire. Bring me to a level where I feel no need at all and my only motive will be for the sake of having children in true holiness and purity in accordance with Your will.
Loving God: save me from evil thoughts and bad dreams, and let my bed be a place of perfect holiness. Help me sleep only the minimum necessary for the health of my body, and even that in holiness and purity. Let my sleep be sweet. As I go to sleep, let it be with thoughts of Torah in my mind and with feelings of joy. Let me recite the bedtime Shema with great holiness and surrender, with deep concentration and heartfelt intensity, so as to kill all impure and destructive spirits and all unholy forces.
Let my nefesh, my ru'ach and my neshamah be joined in unity with all the holy souls of the Jewish People. Let my soul ascend with them to You as I sleep, and let my soul be delivered into Your hand alone, as it is written: “Into Your hand I entrust my spirit: You have redeemed me, HaShem, God of truth.” Loving God: banish all the different kinds of evil spirits and unholy forces wanting to take hold of my soul. Have mercy on my poor soul and help her ascend to You in peace while I sleep and return in peace to my body when I wake up. Let me enjoy good, sweet, holy sleep — the sleep of life! Send me good, true, holy dreams through true, holy angels, and save me from false, vain and confused dreams caused by unholy spirits.
Kind and merciful God: guard me and save me from the vain emission of seed at night. Let me never have a vain emission either during the day or at night. Let me always sleep in holiness and purity: let me lie down to rest in goodness and purity, and awaken to Your love.
Kind, ever-loving, merciful Father: You watch over us from afar, planning everything for our ultimate benefit. Have pity on us and on our little ones, and save me and all the Jewish People from vain emissions. You know the terrible damage this causes in all the worlds, up to the very highest. Because of this our city was destroyed, our Holy Temple was made desolate, the glory was taken from the House of our life, and we were exiled from our land, dispersed among the nations and scattered to the four corners of the earth.
Have pity on the remnant of Your people, the House of Israel. Have pity on Your poor, scattered flock — for there is no one to gather us in. Loving King: have pity on us. Good and beneficent God, give us success in our search for You. Return to us in love for the sake of the patriarchs, who carried out Your will. Say “Enough!” to our troubles. Loving God: purify us, guard us and save us from night-time emissions from now on, and guard us in life and peace when we go out and when we come in, from now and for ever. Protect us from all evil. Let us never harbor evil thoughts by day, so that we won't come to impurity at night, God forbid. Let all our thoughts be pure and holy at all times.
Loving God: bring me to eat in holiness and purity, with no physical desire whatever. Give me the power to arouse the light of the twenty- eight holy letters of creation which are clothed in everything in the world, until all my enjoyment of everything I eat or drink comes only from the light of the holy letters contained in it. Through this, give me a good heart: let my heart radiate with great holiness through enjoying and being nourished only by the light of the letters that powered the act of creation and are contained in all things.
Help me and guard me from ever benefiting from this world without saying a blessing. Let me recite the appropriate blessings before and after everything I eat and drink with intense concentration and with the sole intention of blessing Your great and holy Name in holiness and purity. Let all my blessings and thanks, songs and praises flow forth in words of perfect holiness — words of the Holy Language, as complemented and completed by the language of everyday conversation.
Let me thereby arouse the power of the thirty-two names of God that appear in the account of the creation, which are the force underlying all God's works, the force powering the letters clothed in everything in the world. Through them You created everything in the world according to Your will, from the largest to the smallest. You created everything with its own unique appearance, taste and form, corresponding to the letters of the holy Torah that You put into it according to Your will, as weighed, measured and determined in Your holy wisdom. “How many are Your works, HaShem, You made them all in wisdom, the world is full of Your possessions.” “And now, let the power of my Lord be magnified, as You spoke saying...”
For Your sake, for the sake of Your glory, and for the sake of Your holy letters clothed in all things, give me the power to always be able to arouse the letters of creation clothed in all things. Don't let me follow the stubbornness of my heart. Let me reduce my material desires to a minimum and have no physical craving for anything in the world. Let all my enjoyment of food, drink and other pleasures come only from the radiance of the letters they contain and not from the gratification of bodily desire.
Send blessing into my food, and let me be genuinely satisfied. Let me feel physical satisfaction even after eating just a little. Let my satisfaction come from the radiance of the holy letters contained in what I eat and drink in holiness and purity, and fulfil in me the verse: “And you shall eat with full satisfaction and praise the Name of HaShem your God, who has done wonders with you, and My people will never be ashamed.”
Through eating and drinking in holiness, let my heart shine with goodness and joy, and let the radiance of my heart light up my face with holiness and joy until my face is constantly bathed in the light of HaShem's countenance. Fulfil in me and my offspring the verse: “This is the generation of those who search for Him, seeking Your countenance — Yaakov, Selah.” Let my face be so radiant that I will be able to bring people to complete repentance just by their seeing my face. Let my face shine with the light of God's countenance like a bright mirror that people will look into and see themselves in, and realize how their own faces are sunk in darkness. Let them be inspired to renew their youth like the eagle and come back to You in true, perfect teshuvah.
Kind and loving God: Grant me that I should come close to the true Tzaddik of this generation and hear the Torah of the Living God directly from his holy mouth, just as he hears it from Your mouth through the merit of his good deeds. Inspire me with awe of Heaven — awe at Your supreme exaltedness. Let me listen to the holy words coming from the lips of the true Tzaddik with reverence and awe, so that I too will be able to receive the full benefit of the Holy Language.
Bring me to true observance of the Covenant in great holiness as befits a member of Your chosen people of Israel. Be gracious to me, and grant that I should be able to make amends for all my sins and transgressions in my lifetime. Let me make up for everything I've done wrong from my earliest years until today, including even the sins I have committed unknowingly or under compulsion. Let me rectify everything quickly and easily in my lifetime, and from now on let me come genuinely close to You in holiness and purity, gain perfect mastery of the Holy Language and faithfully observe the holy Covenant.
HaShem my God and God of my fathers! God of love and favor: Help me and bring me to celebrate Shabbat with tremendous joy and delight, with awe and love. Let me take an active part in preparing for Shabbat and do so eagerly and energetically. Help me to always keep up to date with my study of the weekly Torah reading: let me read the portion of the week each Friday, twice in the Hebrew and once in the Aramaic Targum, with full concentration, in holiness and purity, and thereby bring me to gain perfect mastery of the Holy Language through the language of the Targum.
Let me bring the holiness of Shabbat into me through washing in hot water and immersing in the mikveh on Shabbat eve. Help me never to miss washing and immersing prior to Shabbat. And just as I wash and immerse myself in this world, so purify and sanctify my body, my nefesh, my ru'ach and my neshamah with Your supreme holiness. Send down flames of the holy, Godly fire that burns above and consumes and destroys all kinds of fire, so as to burn and destroy all the evil that has come into me personally and the Jewish People as a whole as a result of eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and all our sins and transgressions. Let all the evil that has taken hold of us be burned and fall away, and let the good be purified so as to ascend and become unified with the Supreme good — Your great goodness that will endure for ever.
Please, HaShem: You know that I don't have the power to bring the holiness of Shabbat into me by myself. Have pity on me and arouse Your love for me. You know how far I am from experiencing the true holiness of Shabbat. Be kind to me and grant me the true holiness of Shabbat as an outright gift. Let me add to the Shabbat at its beginning and end, and help me draw the holiness of Shabbat into the other days of the week, until all the six working days will have the purity and holiness of Shabbat. Let the six working days then become reunited with their holy vital source — Shabbat, which gives life and sustenance to the other six days of the week, to the entire array of different creatures of every kind and on every level, spiritual and physical, and to all the worlds, from the first point from which the creation emanated down to the central point of the material world. All their life and sustenance come from the Shabbat.
Master of the Universe: In Your love and kindness You gave us this good gift called Shabbat that was hidden in Your treasure-house. I have therefore come to pour out my prayer and plead and beg You, HaShem my God and God of my fathers: just as You gave us this good, holy gift with such overwhelming love and mercy, so now shower me with goodness, inspire me and help me to receive this good and holy gift and celebrate Shabbat with the utmost holiness, joy and delight. Inspire me with the holiness of Shabbat at all times so that I can break and destroy the evil that has taken hold of me and sift out and elevate the good in me by mastering the Holy Language through refining the language of everyday conversation. Bring me to the true holiness of the Covenant and let me come back to You with all my heart and constantly rise from level to level with ever greater holiness, just as You want, until I will ascend and become merged in the supreme Shabbat and You will mercifully grant me the day that is all Shabbat and rest and eternal life.
[עַל־פִּי תּוֹרָה י"ט - תְּפִלָּה לַחֲבַקּוּק]
אֲדֹנָי שְׂפָתַי תִּפְתָּח וּפִי יַגִּיד תְּהִלָּתֶךָ. פְּתַח פִּיךָ לְאִלֵּם. וְזַכֵּנִי לְסַדֵּר תְּפִלָּתִי לְפָנֶיךָ, בְּלָשׁוֹן רַחֲמִים וְתַחֲנוּנִים, בְּלָשׁוֹן צַח וָזַךְ בְּלָשׁוֹן שֶׁמַּלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת מִשְׁתַּמְשִׁין בּוֹ, בְּלָשׁוֹן שֶׁאוּכַל לְעוֹרֵר רַחֲמֶיךָ הָאֲמִתִּיִּים עָלַי, בִּשְׁלֵמוּת לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ:
“You have chosen us from all the nations and exalted us above all languages.” The unique holiness of the Jewish People is founded on God's Covenant, which requires that we overcome the physical lusts that separate us from God, especially immoral sexual desire. The instrument God gave us to conquer our desires is the “Holy Language.” This refers first and foremost to Hebrew, the language through which God brought about the creation, the language of the Torah and the prayerbook. However in a broader sense this term is also applied to our own private prayers and conversations with God in our mother-tongue. To cultivate the art of prayer is to master the Holy Language. The more we do so, the greater our ability to cool the furnace of our physical passions.
In consequence of the eating of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, we live in a world in which good and evil are mixed up in every sphere, including the language we use in our mundane affairs. (This corresponds to Aramaic, which was the vernacular of the Jews of ancient times, and is the language of the Targum — translation of the Torah.) In our everyday conversations it is all too easy to fall into falsehood, slander, vulgarity, idle talk, obscenity and so on. Only when we refine and sanctify our everyday language can we attain complete mastery of the Holy Language of Torah and prayer.
The opening verse of the Torah (Genesis 1:1) contains twenty-eight (Kaph-Chet) Hebrew letters: these are the source of the Ko'aCh — creative power — of the Hebrew letters that animate everything in creation. One who achieves mastery of the Holy Language is able to arouse this creative power, and can reach a level where all his pleasure in eating and drinking, etc. derives not from physical food and drink but from the spiritual letters of the Holy Language they contain.
Divine power is channelled to the letters animating the creation through the thirty-two names of God [Elokim] found in the account of creation (Genesis 1). These thirty-two (Lamed-Beit) names are, as it were, the heart (LeV) of creation. When a person is nourished by the letters underlying the physical creation, his heart radiates, shining to his face, which becomes so pure that other people are moved to repent purely by looking at him.
The relationship between the Holy Language and the language of everyday life — the Targum — corresponds to that between Shabbat and the days of the week. Our task is to sanctify the days of the week by bringing the Shabbat spirit into them, until the entire creation becomes reunified in its Source.
God: Open my lips and my mouth will declare Your praise. Open Your mouth to the dumb, and help me offer my prayer to You in the language of love and entreaty, in words of crystal clarity, in the language used by the ministering angels. Let me find words that can arouse Your true love for me. Let me speak to You in language of perfect holiness — the Holy Language.
רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם, מָלֵא רַחֲמִים, זַכֵּנִי בְּרַחֲמֶיךָ הָרַבִּים לִשְׁלֵמוּת לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ, לְמַעַן אֶזְכֶּה עַל־יְדֵי־זֶה לְהַפִּיל וּלְהַכְנִיעַ וּלְשַׁבֵּר כָּל הַתַּאֲווֹת רָעוֹת וְכָל הַמִּדּוֹת רָעוֹת הַנִּמְשָׁכִין מִשִּׁבְעִין עֲמָמִין, אֲשֶׁר כָּל הַתַּאֲווֹת וְהַמִּדּוֹת רָעוֹת שַׁיָּכִים לָהֶם וְלֹא לָנוּ, וּבִפְרַט תַּבְעֵרַת הַמְּדוּרָה שֶׁל תַּאֲוַת נִאוּף הַחֲפֵצָה לְהִתְגַּבֵּר עָלֵינוּ בְּכָל עֵת. חוּס וַחֲמֹל עָלֵינוּ, וְזַכֵּנוּ לְהַפִּיל וּלְהַכְנִיעַ וּלְבַטֵּל תַּבְעֵרַת הַמְּדוּרָה הַזֹּאת מֵעָלֵינוּ וּמֵעַל גְּבוּלֵנוּ,
Master of the Universe! Loving God! Help me attain complete mastery of the Holy Language, so as to enable me to subdue and break all my evil instincts and bad character traits. They all derive from the seventy nations of the world, because all base impulses and character traits really belong to them, not to us, especially the burning furnace of sexual lust, which attacks me constantly. Have pity on me, and help me overcome this burning lust and remove it from myself completely.
כִּי אַתָּה בְּרַחֲמֶיךָ בָּחַרְתָּ בָּנוּ מִכָּל הָעַמִּים וְרוֹמַמְתָּנוּ מִכָּל הַלְּשׁוֹנוֹת. וְנָתַתָּ לָּנוּ לְחֶלְקֵנוּ שְׁלֵמוּת לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ, אֲשֶׁר בּוֹ בָּרָאתָ עוֹלָמֶךָ, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב, בִּדְבַר יְהֹוָה שָׁמַיִם נַעֲשׂוּ וּבְרוּחַ פִּיו כָּל צְבָאָם. וְנָתַתָּ לָּנוּ תּוֹרָתְךָ הַקְּדוֹשָׁה עַל־יְדֵי מֹשֶׁה נְבִיאֶךָ בְּלָשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ, וּבוֹ נִדְבַּרְתָּ עִם כָּל נְבִיאֶיךָ הַנֶּאֱמָנִים הַמְדַבְּרִים בְּשִׁמְךָ בְּרוּחַ נְבוּאָה וְרוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ, אֲשֶׁר עִם כֻּלָּם דִּבַּרְתָּ בְּלָשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ, אֲשֶׁר הִיא כְּלִילַת יֹפִי מָשׂוֹשׂ לְכָל הָאָרֶץ.
You chose the Jewish People from all the nations and exalted us above all tongues. You gave us as our portion the Hebrew Language, the perfect Holy Language. This is the language with which You created Your universe, as it is written: “With the word of God the heavens were made and with the breath of His mouth all their host.” Through Your prophet Moshe You gave us Your holy Torah, which is written in Hebrew. This was the language You spoke to all the faithful prophets who spoke in Your Name with holy, prophetic spirit. With all of them You spoke in the Holy Language, which is “the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth.”
עַל כֵּן בָּאתִי לְהַפִּיל תְּחִנָּתִי לְפָנֶיךָ יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהַי וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתַי, יֶהֱמוּ נָא מֵעֶיךָ עָלַי, תִּיקַר נָא נַפְשִׁי בְּעֵינֶיךָ, שֶׁתְּעוֹרֵר חֲסָדֶיךָ הָאֲמִתִּיִּים עָלַי, וְתַשְׁפִּיעַ עָלַי בְּרַחֲמֶיךָ הַגְּדוֹלִים שְׁלֵמוּת לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ, בְּאֹפֶן שֶׁאֶזְכֶּה בְּרַחֲמֶיךָ לְהִתְגַּבֵּר עַל יִצְרִי הָרָע, לְהַכְנִיעַ וּלְשַׁבֵּר וּלְבַטֵּל מֵעָלַי תַּבְעֵרַת הַמְּדוּרָה שֶׁל תַּאֲוַת נִאוּף. כִּי אַתָּה יָדַעְתָּ יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ, כִּי תַּאֲוָה זוֹ הִיא עִקָּר הַנִּסָּיוֹן וְהַמַּתְקְלָא, אֲשֶׁר רַק בִּשְׁבִיל זֶה בָּאנוּ לָעוֹלָם הַזֶּה כְּדֵי לְהִתְנַסּוֹת וּלְהִצְטָרֵף בְּתַאֲוָה זוּ. כִּי רְצוֹנְךָ הַטּוֹב הָיָה לְנַסּוֹת אוֹתָנוּ בְּתַאֲוָה הַזֹּאת, אִם יְהֵא לָנוּ כֹּחַ לְהִתְגַּבֵּר עַל יִצְרֵנוּ לְהַכְנִיעַ וּלְשַׁבֵּר תַּאֲוַת גּוּפֵנוּ, וּלְדַבֵּק עַצְמֵנוּ לְשִׁמְךָ הַגָּדוֹל בֶּאֱמֶת כָּל יְמֵי חַיֵּינוּ כְּדֵי לְהֵטִיב אַחֲרִיתֵנוּ, לְמַעַן תִּתְפָּאֵר בָּנוּ בְּכָל הָעוֹלָמוֹת, כְּשֶׁנִּזְכֶּה לְהַכְנִיעַ וּלְשַׁבֵּר וּלְבַטֵּל תַּאֲוָה הַזֹּאת.
HaShem, my God and God of my fathers: I have come to plead with You. Have pity on me. Let my soul be precious in Your eyes. Arouse Your true love for me and grant me perfect mastery of the Holy Language, so that I will be able to bring my evil urge under control and totally break and remove my sexual lust. HaShem: You know that this instinct is our main test and stumbling block. The only reason we had to come into this world was to be tried and refined through grappling with this instinct. You wanted to test us with this desire, to see if we would have the strength to control our urges, break our bodily appetites and attach ourselves wholeheartedly to Your great Name all the days of our lives, in order to come to true good in the end, so that You could take pride in us in all the worlds when we break this desire and remove it from ourselves.
וּבַעֲווֹנוֹתֵינוּ הָרַבִּים, לֹא נִזְהַרְנוּ לַעֲמֹד בַּנִּסָּיוֹן וְצֵרוּף הַזֶּה כָּרָאוּי, כְּמוֹ שֶׁאָמַר דָּוִד הַמֶּלֶךְ עָלָיו הַשָּׁלוֹם, בָּחַנְתָּ לִבִּי פָּקַדְתָּ לַּיְלָה צְרַפְתָּנִי בַל תִּמְצָא זַמֹּתִי בַּל יַעֲבָר פִּי. עַד אֲשֶׁר כָּלוּ בְיָגוֹן חַיֵּינוּ וּשְׁנוֹתֵינוּ בַּאֲנָחָה, כִּי רַק עַל־יְדֵי־זֶה סַרְנוּ מִמִּצְוֹתֶיךָ וּמִמִּשְׁפָּטֶיךָ הַטּוֹבִים, וּבְכָל יוֹם וָיוֹם יִצְרוֹ שֶׁל אָדָם מִתְגַּבֵּר עָלָיו בְּיוֹתֵר.
But I have sinned repeatedly and I have not been careful to stand up to the test properly. In the words of King David (may he rest in peace): “You tried my heart, You tested me in the night, but You did not find in me what You wanted. If I once thought to challenge You to test me, I won't let such words leave my mouth.” My life and my years have gone on pain and sighing. Only because of this lust have I strayed from Your laws and commandments. “Each day one's instincts attack ever more strongly.”
וּבְרַחֲמֶיךָ הָרַבִּים גִּלִּיתָ לָנוּ עַל־יְדֵי צַדִּיקֵי הַדּוֹר הָאֲמִתִּיִּים, עֵצוֹת טוֹבוֹת לְהִמָּלֵט מִזֶּה בְּשֵׁב וְאַל תַּעֲשֶׂה, בְּמַעֲשֶׂה וּבְמַחֲשָׁבָה, אֲבָל לֹא נִזְהַרְנוּ לְקַיֵּים עֵצוֹתֶיךָ הַטּוֹבוֹת בֶּאֱמֶת, וְלֹא שָׁמַרְנוּ אֶת הַמַּחֲשָׁבָה מִבִּלְבּוּלִים וְהִרְהוּרִים וּשְׁטוּתִים.
Through the true Tzaddikim of the generation You have given us good advice as to how to avoid falling to temptation — by sitting passively and refusing to act on our urges or dwell on lustful thoughts. But I've made little effort to follow this advice, and I've failed to guard myself against lustful thoughts and idle fantasies.
אֲבָל אַף־עַל־פִּי־כֵן אַתָּה מָלֵא רַחֲמִים, וַעֲדַיִן לֹא כָלוּ רַחֲמֶיךָ מִמֶּנִּי, וְאַתָּה גְּדוֹל הָעֵצָה פֶּלֶא יוֹעֵץ, חֲמֹל עָלַי וְתַשְׁפִּיעַ לִי עֵצָה טוֹבָה עֵצָה אֲמִתִּיִּית, בְּאֹפֶן שֶׁאֶזְכֶּה לְקַיֵּים עֵצוֹתֶיךָ הַטּוֹבוֹת, בְּאֹפֶן שֶׁאֶזְכֶּה מֵעַתָּה לְהִמָּלֵט וּלְהִנָּצֵל מֵאֵשׁ הַמְּדוּרָה הַזֹּאת. וְתַצִּילֵנִי בְּרַחֲמֶיךָ הָרַבִּים מֵרוּחַ שְׁטוּת שֶׁל תַּאֲוָה רָעָה הַזֹּאת, כִּי בַּעֲווֹנוֹתֵינוּ הָרַבִּים אֵין אָנוּ יוֹדְעִים לְהַשִּׂיג עֵצוֹתֶיךָ הַקְּדוֹשׁוֹת אֵיךְ לְהִנָּצֵל מִתַּאֲוָה הַזֹּאת, כִּי אַתָּה גִּלִּיתָ לָנוּ עַל־יְדֵי צַדִּיקֶיךָ הָאֲמִתִּיִּים, שֶׁעַל־יְדֵי שְׁלֵמוּת לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ זוֹכִין לְהַכְנִיעַ תַּאֲוָה רָעָה זוֹ. וְגַם אַתָּה הוֹדַעְתָּ לָנוּ, שֶׁאִי אֶפְשָׁר לִזְכּוֹת לִשְׁלֵמוּת לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ, כִּי אִם עַל־יְדֵי שֶׁמְּשַׁבְּרִים תַּאֲוָה זוֹ וְזוֹכִין לִשְׁמִירַת הַבְּרִית. וַאֲנִי בַעַר וְלֹא אֵדָע, מֵהֵיכָן אַתְחִיל לִזְכּוֹת לְמַעֲלוֹת קְדוֹשׁוֹת הָאֵלּוּ שֶׁהֵם שְׁלֵמוּת לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ וּשְׁמִירַת הַבְּרִית, מֵאַחַר שֶׁשְּׁנֵיהֶם תְּלוּיִם זֶה בָּזֶה.
Even so, You are full of mercy, and Your love for me is still not exhausted. You are the great source of counsel, and You guide in the most amazing way. Have pity on me and guide me to a good, true pathway — one that I will really be able to follow — in order to escape this blazing furnace. Save me from this crazy, evil impulse. Because my sins have left me confused, and I don't know how to actually practice the holy teachings You have given us about the way to escape this desire. Through Your true Tzaddikim You have revealed to us that by attaining perfect mastery of the Holy Language we can conquer this evil desire. But You have also taught us that it is impossible to attain perfect mastery of the Holy Language except by breaking our sexual lust and observing the Covenant. I do not understand where to start in order to attain these holy levels — mastery of the Holy Language and observance of the Covenant — since each depends on the other.
עַל כֵּן בָּאתִי לְשַׁחֵר פָּנֶיךָ יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהַי, הוֹדִיעֵנִי נָא אֶת דְּרָכֶיךָ וְאֵדְעָה בְּאֵיזֶה דֶּרֶךְ אֶזְכֶּה לְמַעֲלוֹת הָאֵלּוּ, לִשְׁלֵמוּת לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ וְלִשְׁמִירַת הַבְּרִית, בְּאֹפֶן שֶׁאֶזְכֶּה לְהִתְקָרֵב אֵלֶיךָ בֶּאֱמֶת, כִּי אַתָּה יָדַעְתָּ כִּי אִי אֶפְשָׁר לְהִתְקָרֵב אֵלֶיךָ בֶּאֱמֶת, כִּי אִם עַל־יְדֵי שֶׁמְּשַׁבְּרִין תַּאֲוָה הַזֹּאת לְגַמְרֵי, אֲשֶׁר הִיא הָרַע הַכּוֹלֵל שֶׁל כָּל הַשִּׁבְעִין אֻמּוֹת. וַאֲנַחְנוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל עַם קָדוֹשׁ, אֲנַחְנוּ בְּשָׁרְשֵׁנוּ אָנוּ רְחוֹקִים לְגַמְרֵי מִתַּאֲוָה רָעָה הַזֹּאת, וְאֵין הַתַּאֲוָה הַזֹּאת שַׁיֶּכֶת לָנוּ כְּלָל, כִּי אִם לָהֶם וּלְחֶלְקָם, וְלֹא לָנוּ:
HaShem, my God, I beg You: “Please, teach me Your ways,” and help me understand which pathway I should follow to attain perfect mastery of the Holy Lanugage and observe the Covenant, so that I will be able to come genuinely close to You. You know that it is impossible to come close to You except by completely breaking this instinct, which is the comprehensive evil of the seventy nations. As Jews, members of the Holy Nation, we are at root totally removed from this evil desire. We have no connection with it at all. It is their share, not ours.
רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם, חוּסָה עַל כְּבוֹדְךָ, וּרְאֵה שִׁפְלוּתֵנוּ וּבִזְיוֹנֵנוּ אֲשֶׁר יָרַדְנוּ מַטָּה מָטָּה, וְנָפַלְנוּ בְּגָלוּת שֶׁל שִׁבְעִין אֻמּוֹת עַל־יְדֵי תַּאֲוָה רָעָה הַזֹּאת, אֲשֶׁר הִיא גָּרְמָה לָנוּ כָּל הַצָּרוֹת וְכָל הַגָּלֻיּוֹת בִּכְלַל וּבִפְרַט, שֶׁעָבְרוּ עָלֵינוּ כְּבָר וַאֲשֶׁר עֲדַיִן לֹא נִצַּלְנוּ מֵהֶם. וְאִם אָמְנָם אֲנַחְנוּ בְּעַצְמֵנוּ יוֹדְעִים מִכָּל זֶה, וְאַף־עַל־פִּי־כֵן לֹא הָיִינוּ נִשְׁמָרִים לְגָרֵשׁ הָרוּחַ שְׁטוּת שֶׁל תַּאֲוָה זוֹ מִקִּרְבֵּנוּ. הֲלֹא אַתָּה יָדַעְתָּ כִּי בָּשָׂר וָדָם אֲנַחְנוּ, וְאַתָּה יָדַעְתָּ יִצְרֵנוּ כִּי מֵחֹמֶר קֹרַצְנוּ. הֵן בֶּעָוֹן חוֹלָלְתִּי וּבְחֵטְא יֶחֱמַתְנִי אִמִּי.
Master of the Universe, protect Your honor. See how low we've come and how despised we are. We have fallen into exile among the seventy nations because of this evil desire. It has been the cause of all the troubles and exiles, collective and individual, that we have suffered right up until the present, and we've still not been saved. True: we ourselves are well aware that this foolish desire has been the cause of our troubles, yet we've failed to guard against it or make an effort to drive it out. Even so, You know that we are only flesh and blood. You know our evil urge: we are physical creatures. “I was conceived in transgression and my mother was heated with sin.”
אֲבָל אַתָּה גִּבּוֹר וְרַב לְהוֹשִׁיעַ. גְּדוֹל הָעֵצָה וְרַב הָעֲלִילִיָּה. וְאַתָּה 'מִסִבּוֹת מִתְהַפֵּךְ', וּבְיָדְךָ כֹּחַ וּגְבוּרָה וּבְיָדְךָ לְגַדֵּל וּלְחַזֵּק לַכֹּל וְאַתָּה יָכוֹל לִמְצֹא בִּי גַּם כֵּן נְקֻדּוֹת טוֹבוֹת, וּלְהָאִיר וּלְהַשְׁפִּיעַ עֲלֵיהֶם בְּאֹפֶן שֶׁיִּתְגַּבֵּר הַטּוֹב שֶׁבִּי עַל הָרַע שֶׁבִּי, עַד שֶׁכָּל הָרַע הַנֶּאֱחַז וְהַנִּדְבָּק בִּי יִפֹּל וְיִתְבַּטֵּל לְגַמְרֵי, וְהַטּוֹב יִתְבָּרֵר וְיִתְנַשֵּׂא וְיַעֲלֶה וְיַשְׁלִים אֶת הַלָּשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ,
But You are almighty and have complete power to save. You have all the ways and means at Your command, and You have the power to turn things in any direction You want. “Power and might are in Your hand, and it is in Your hand to make anyone great or strong.” You can find the good points even in me, and You have the power to make them shine, until the good in me will be strong enough to overcome the bad, and all the evil that clings to me will fall away and disappear. The good will be refined and elevated, enabling me to develop my power of speech to perfection and master the Holy Language.
עַד שֶׁאֶזְכֶּה בְּרַחֲמֶיךָ לְבָרֵר כָּל הַטּוֹב שֶׁבְּעֵץ הַדַּעַת טוֹב וָרָע שֶׁהוּא לְשׁוֹן תַּרְגּוּם, וּלְהַכְנִיעַ וּלְהַפִּיל וּלְבַטֵּל אֶת הָרַע שֶׁבּוֹ, עַד שֶׁלֹּא יִהְיֶה שׁוּם כֹּחַ לְהַסִּטְרָא אַחֲרָא וּלְכָל הַקְּלִפּוֹת הַנִּמְשָׁכִין מִזֹּהֲמַת הַנָּחָשׁ הַקַּדְמוֹנִי, לַעֲלוֹת דֶּרֶךְ לְשׁוֹן תַּרְגּוּם לְהָסִית וּלְפַתּוֹת אוֹתָנוּ חַס וְשָׁלוֹם. רַק תִּהְיֶה בְּעֶזְרֵנוּ תָמִיד, וְתַשְׁפִּיעַ עָלֵינוּ בְּרַחֲמֶיךָ חָכְמָה וָדַעַת וְשֵׂכֶל דִּקְדֻשָּׁה, בְּאֹפֶן שֶׁלֹּא יִהְיֶה לָהֶם שׁוּם כֹּחַ לְפַתּוֹת אוֹתָנוּ חַס וְשָׁלוֹם, וְנִזְכֶּה לְגָרֵשׁ לְגַמְרֵי רוּחַ שְׁטוּת שֶׁל תַּאֲוָה הַזֹּאת מִקִּרְבֵּנוּ.
I will then be able to sift out the good in the “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil” — namely the vernacular, the language of everyday conversations — and overcome and remove all the bad in it. The forces of evil and the husks deriving from the primordial serpent will then be powerless to gain entry through my everyday conversations so as to tempt and sway me, God forbid. Just help me at all times: inspire me with holy wisdom, knowledge and understanding, so as to destroy their power to tempt me and enable me to drive this reckless desire from me completely.
וְנִזְכֶּה בְּרַחֲמֶיךָ הָרַבִּים לִשְׁלֵמוּת לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ עַל־יְדֵי לְשׁוֹן תַּרְגּוּם, וְתַמְשִׁיךְ עָלֵינוּ קְדֻשָּׁה וְטָהֳרָה, וְנִזְכֶּה תָמִיד לְקַדֵּשׁ אֶת הַלָּשׁוֹן שֶׁלֹּא נְדַבֵּר שׁוּם דִּבּוּר הַפּוֹגֵם אֶת הַלָּשׁוֹן, רַק כָּל דִּבּוּרֵנוּ יִהְיוּ תָמִיד בְּתוֹרָה וּבִתְפִלָּה וּבַקָּשׁוֹת וְתַחֲנוּנִים וּבְיִרְאַת שָׁמַיִם, וּבְכָל עִנְיָנֵי הַקֹּדֶשׁ הַמְקַדְּשִׁין אֶת הַלָּשׁוֹן, עַד שֶׁנִּזְכֶּה מְהֵרָה לִשְׁלֵמוּת לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ וְלִשְׁמִירַת הַבְּרִית בֶּאֱמֶת:
Let me develop my power of holy speech — the Holy Language — to perfection by purifying the language I use in my everyday life. Send me a spirit of holiness and purity, so that I will always be able to sanctify my speech and never say anything unbecoming. Let me only speak words of Torah, prayer, requests and entreaties, and talk only about devotion to God and other holy topics that enhance and sanctify the tongue. Give me complete mastery of the Holy Language very soon and bring me to true observance of the Covenant.
(הַשְׁמָטָה הַשַּׁיָּךְ כָּאן מִסֵּפֶר "תְּפִלּוֹת וְתַחֲנוּנִים")
אֲנָא נוֹרָא וְקָדוֹשׁ זַכֵּנוּ לְמִדַּת הַיִּרְאָה בִּשְׁלֵמוּת וְנִזְכֶּה לְהִתְיָרֵא וּלְהִתְפַּחֵד מִפָּנֶיךָ תָּמִיד בֶּאֱמֶת וּבְלֵב שָׁלֵם וְנִזְכֶּה לְקַיֵּם מִקְרָא שֶׁכָּתוּב אֶת ה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ תִּירָא וכו' וְעַל יְדֵי זֶה נִזְכֶּה לְתַקֵּן בִּשְׁלֵמוּת אֶת הַדִּבּוּר עַד שֶׁכָּל דִּבּוּרֵינוּ יִהְיֶה בִּקְדֻשָּׁה שְׁלֵמָה בִּבְחִינַת שֶׁלֵּמוּת לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ כַּאֲשֶׁר הוֹדַעְתָּנוּ עַל יְדֵי חֲכָמֶיךָ הַקְּדוֹשִׁים זִכְרוֹנָם לִבְרָכָה שֶׁעִקַּר הַתִּקּוּן שֶׁל לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ תּוֹלָה בְּיִרְאַת ה' הִיא אוֹצָרוֹ.
Awesome, holy God: please help me attain perfect awe of Heaven and always fear and revere You with all my heart, so as to fulfil the injunction to “fear the Lord your God.” And through this, help me refine and purify my speech until I sanctify myself in everything I say and attain complete mastery of the Holy Language — for Your holy Sages have informed us that “the awe of HaShem, His precious treasure” is the key to being able to sanctify one's speech.
רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם אַתָּה הוֹדַעְתָּנוּ שֶׁעִקַּר כָּל הַחֲרָפוֹת וּבִזְיוֹנוֹת וּבוּשׁוֹת נִמְשָׁכִין רַק מִפְּגָם הַבְּרִית כִּי זֶהוּ הַחֶרְפָּה הַגְּדוֹלָה שֶׁבְּכָל הַחֶרְפּוֹת וּכְמוֹ שֶׁאָמְרוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ זִכְרוֹנָם לִבְרָכָה אֵין בֹּשֶׁת אֶלָּא בִּמְקוֹם עֲרָיִין עַל כֵּן חוּס וַחֲמֹל נָא עָלֵינוּ וְזַכֵּנוּ מֵעַתָּה עַל כָּל פָּנִים לְהִנָּצֵל מֵהַחֶרְפָּה וּבוּשָׁה הַזֹּאת, וְזַכֵּנִי לְכָבוֹד דִּקְדֻשָּׁה וְלִשְׁלֵמוּת לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ עַד שֶׁנִּזְכֶּה שֶׁיִּתְרַבֶּה וְיִתְגַּדֵּל כְּבוֹדְךָ הַגָּדוֹל עַל יְדֵי הַדִּבּוּרִים שֶׁלָּנוּ שֶׁיִּהְיֶה בִּבְחִינַת שְׁלֵמוּת לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ:
(עַד כָּאן הוֹסָפָה מִסֵּפֶר "תְּפִלּוֹת וְתַחֲנוּנִים")
Master of the Universe: You have taught us that the root cause of all the shame and abuse people suffer is sexual immorality, which is the worst disgrace of all, as our Sages said: “Where there is nakedness there is shame.” Have pity on me and help me escape this shame and disgrace, at least from now on. Let me conduct myself with self-respect and holiness, and bring me to perfect mastery of the Holy Language, so as to enhance and magnify Your great glory through always speaking in a language of perfect holiness.
וְזַכֵּנִי בְּרַחֲמֶיךָ הָרַבִּים לְקָרֵר כָּל חֲמִימוּתִי בְּהַדִּבּוּר שֶׁל לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב, חַם לִבִּי בְּקִרְבִּי בַּהֲגִיגִי תִּבְעַר אֵשׁ דִּבַּרְתִּי בִּלְשׁוֹנִי. שֶׁתִּהְיֶה בְּעֶזְרִי וּתְזַכֵּנִי לְדַבֵּר כָּל דִּבּוּרִים הַקְּדוֹשִׁים בַּחֲמִימוּת גָּדוֹל דִּקְדֻשָּׁה וְהִתְלַהֲבוּת הַלֵּב בֶּאֱמֶת. וְאֶזְכֶּה לְעוֹרֵר רִשְׁפֵּי שַׁלְהֶבֶת יָהּ, הַמֻּשְׁרָשׁ בְּקִרְבִּי בְּשֹׁרֶשׁ נַפְשִׁי וְרוּחִי וְנִשְׁמָתִי, הַבּוֹעֵר וְלוֹהֵט לְהִתְקָרֵב לְהַשֵּׁם יִתְבָּרַךְ, עַד שֶׁאֶזְכֶּה לַעֲסֹק תָּמִיד בַּתּוֹרָה וּבְיִרְאַת שָׁמַיִם וּבִתְפִלּוֹת וּתְחִנּוֹת וּבַקָּשׁוֹת וְשִׁירוֹת וְתִשְׁבָּחוֹת לְהַשֵּׁם יִתְבָּרַךְ, וְכֻלָּם יִהְיוּ בְּדִבּוּרִים חַמִּים מֵעֹמֶק הַלֵּב, בִּקְדֻשָּׁה וּבְטָהֳרָה,
Loving God: grant that I should be able to cool the heat of my physical desires through speaking words of holiness, as it is written: “My heart is hot within me, my panting is burning fire. I speak with my tongue.” Help me say the holy words of the Torah and the prayers with fervent heat and heartfelt passion. Let me stir up the flames of the Godly fire rooted in the nefesh, ru'ach and neshamah within me, blazing and burning to come close to God, until I am able to devote myself constantly to Torah, devotion, prayers, supplications, entreaties, songs and praises of God, all with a heat flowing from the depths of the heart in holiness and purity.
בְּדִבּוּרִים בּוֹעֲרִים כְּאֵשׁ לוֹהֵט, וְכָל דְּבָרַי יִהְיוּ כְּגַחֲלֵי אֵשׁ בְּאֵימָה וּבְיִרְאָה גְּדוֹלָה מִפָּנֶיךָ. וְנִזְכֶּה לְהַמְלִיכְךָ עָלֵינוּ עַל כָּל רְמַ"ח אֵבָרֵינוּ וּשְׁסַָ"ה גִּידֵינוּ, בְּפַחַד וּבְרַעַד בְּרֶתֶת וְזִיעַ, עַד שֶׁאֶזְכֶּה שֶׁיִּהְיוּ כָּל דִּבּוּרַי הַיּוֹצְאִים מִפִּי, בִּבְחִינַת שְׁלֵמוּת לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ, וְיִתְקָרֵר כָּל חֲמִימוּתִי בְּהַדִּבּוּר שֶׁל לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ. וְעַל־יְדֵי אֵשׁ הַקְּדוֹשָׁה הַזֹּאת שֶׁל לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ, אֶזְכֶּה לִשְׂרֹף וּלְהַכְנִיעַ וּלְהַפִּיל אֶת כָּל הָאֵשׁ הָרַע שֶׁל תַּבְעֵרַת הַמְּדוּרָה שֶׁל שִׁבְעִין כּוֹכָבִין, שֶׁהוּא הָאֵשׁ הָרַע שֶׁל חֲמִימוּת תַּאֲוַת נִאוּף, בְּאֹפֶן שֶׁיִּתְבַּטֵּל מִמֶּנִּי תַּאֲוָה רָעָה הַזֹּאת לְגַמְרֵי מֵעַתָּה וְעַד עוֹלָם.
Let my words burn with blazing fire. Let my words be like coals of fire, let them pour forth in Godly fear and awe. Let me make You king over all of my two hundred and forty-eight limbs and three hundred and sixty-five sinews in fear, dread and trembling, until all the words flowing from my mouth will be words of perfect holiness, so that the heat of my physical passions will be cooled by the words of the Holy Language. With the holy fire of the Holy Language let me burn and destroy all the evil fire of the burning furnace of the seventy stars — the heat of sexual lust — so that this evil lust is completely removed from me from now on and for ever.
וִיקֻיַּם מִקְרָא שֶׁכָּתוּב, מֵהָאֵשׁ יָצָאוּ וְהָאֵשׁ תֹּאכְלֵם. רֹאשׁ מְסִבָּי עֲמַל שְׂפָתֵימוֹ יְכַסֵּמוֹ. יִמּוֹטוּ עֲלֵיהֶם גֶּחָלִים בָּאֵשׁ יַפִּילֵם בְּמַהֲמֹרוֹת בַּל־יָקוּמוּ. וְאֶזְכֶּה לִהְיוֹת קָדוֹשׁ וּפָרוּשׁ לְגַמְרֵי, וְאֶזְכֶּה לִבְלִי לְהִזְדַּקֵּק לָזֶה, כִּי אִם בִּשְׁבִיל קִיּוּם הָעוֹלָם לְבַד, בִּקְדֻשָּׁה וּבְטָהֳרָה בֶּאֱמֶת כִּרְצוֹנְךָ הַטּוֹב:
Fulfil the verse: “From the fire they came forth, and the fire will consume them.” “The falsehood of their own mouths will cover the heads of those surrounding me and plotting against me. Burning coals will pour down upon them; with fire they will cast them down into the depths so that they will not be able to rise up.” Let me be holy and completely separated from desire. Bring me to a level where I feel no need at all and my only motive will be for the sake of having children in true holiness and purity in accordance with Your will.
וְתַצִּילֵנִי בְּרַחֲמֶיךָ הָרַבִּים מֵהִרְהוּרִים רָעִים וּמֵחֲלוֹמוֹת רָעִים, וּתְהֵא מִטָּתִי שְׁלֵמָה לְפָנֶיךָ, וּתְזַכֵּנִי לְמַעֵט בְּשֵׁנָה וְתַרְדֵּמָה. וַאֲפִלּוּ מְעַט הַשֵּׁנָה שֶׁאֲנִי מֻכְרָח לִישֹׁן בִּשְׁבִיל קִיּוּם הַגּוּף, אֶזְכֶּה שֶׁיִּהְיֶה בִּקְדֻשָּׁה וּבְטָהֳרָה, וּשְׁנָתִי תֶּעֱרַב לִי, וְאֶזְכֶּה לִישֹׁן תָּמִיד מִתּוֹךְ מַחְשָׁבוֹת וְהִרְהוּרֵי תּוֹרָה וּמִתּוֹךְ שִׂמְחָה, וְאֶזְכֶּה לִקְרוֹת קְרִיאַת שְׁמַע שֶׁעַל הַמִּטָּה בִּקְדֻשָּׁה גְּדוֹלָה וּבִמְסִירַת נֶפֶשׁ וּבְכַוָּנַת הַלֵּב בֶּאֱמֶת כָּרָאוּי, בְּאֹפֶן שֶׁאֶזְכֶּה לַהֲרֹג כָּל הַמְחַבְּלִים וּמַזִּיקִין וְכָל הַסִּטְרִין אוֹחֲרָנִין עַל־יְדֵי קְרִיאַת שְׁמַע שֶׁעַל הַמִּטָּה.
Loving God: save me from evil thoughts and bad dreams, and let my bed be a place of perfect holiness. Help me sleep only the minimum necessary for the health of my body, and even that in holiness and purity. Let my sleep be sweet. As I go to sleep, let it be with thoughts of Torah in my mind and with feelings of joy. Let me recite the bedtime Shema with great holiness and surrender, with deep concentration and heartfelt intensity, so as to kill all impure and destructive spirits and all unholy forces.
וְאֶזְכֶּה שֶׁתֻּכְלַל נַפְשִׁי וְרוּחִי וְנִשְׁמָתִי בְּתוֹךְ כְּלָלִיּוּת נְפָשׁוֹת הַקְּדוֹשִׁים שֶׁל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, וּבְתוֹכָם תַּעֲלֶה נַפְשִׁי עִמָּהֶם אֵלֶיךָ בִּשְׁעַת שְׁנָתִי, וְתִהְיֶה נַפְשִׁי פְּקוּדָה וּמְסוּרָה בְּיָדְךָ לְבַד כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב, בְּיָדְךָ אַפְקִיד רוּחִי פָּדִיתָה אוֹתִי יְהֹוָה אֵל אֱמֶת. וּבְרַחֲמֶיךָ הָרַבִּים תְּגָרֵשׁ מִנַּפְשִׁי כָּל מִינֵי מְחַבְּלִים וְסִטְרִין אוֹחֲרָנִין הַחֲפֵצִים לְהִתְאַחֵז בָּהּ חַס וְשָׁלוֹם. וְתַחְמֹל עַל נַפְשִׁי הָאֻמְלָלָה וְהָעֲלוּבָה וְתִהְיֶה בְּעֶזְרָהּ שֶׁתּוּכַל לַעֲלוֹת בְּשָׁלוֹם אֵלֶיךָ בִּשְׁעַת שֵׁנָה, וְלָשׁוּב בְּשָׁלוֹם לְתוֹךְ גּוּפִי בְּעֵת הִתְעוֹרְרוּת הַשֵּׁנָה, בְּאֹפֶן שֶׁאֶזְכֶּה לְשֵׁנָה דִקְדֻשָּׁה, שֵׁנָה טוֹבָה וּמְתוּקָה וַעֲרֵבָה, שֵׁנָה שֶׁל חַיִּים. וּתְזַכֵּנִי לַחֲלוֹמוֹת טוֹבִים, חֲלוֹמוֹת צוֹדְקִים וַאֲמִתִּיִּים, חֲלוֹמוֹת קְדוֹשִׁים הַבָּאִים עַל־יְדֵי מַלְאָכִים קְדוֹשִׁים אֲמִתִּיִּים. וְתַצִּילֵנִי בְּרַחֲמֶיךָ הָרַבִּים מֵחֲלוֹמוֹת שֶׁל שֶׁקֶר, מֵחֲלוֹמוֹת הַבָּאִים עַל־יְדֵי שֵׁדִים חַס וְשָׁלוֹם, מֵחֲלוֹמוֹת מְעֻרְבָּבִים, מֵחֲלוֹמוֹת שֶׁל שָׁוְא וָהֶבֶל:
Let my nefesh, my ru'ach and my neshamah be joined in unity with all the holy souls of the Jewish People. Let my soul ascend with them to You as I sleep, and let my soul be delivered into Your hand alone, as it is written: “Into Your hand I entrust my spirit: You have redeemed me, HaShem, God of truth.” Loving God: banish all the different kinds of evil spirits and unholy forces wanting to take hold of my soul. Have mercy on my poor soul and help her ascend to You in peace while I sleep and return in peace to my body when I wake up. Let me enjoy good, sweet, holy sleep — the sleep of life! Send me good, true, holy dreams through true, holy angels, and save me from false, vain and confused dreams caused by unholy spirits.
וּבְכֵן תְּרַחֵם עָלַי בְּחֶמְלָתְךָ הַגְּדוֹלָה, וְתִשְׁמְרֵנִי וְתַצִּילֵנִי בַּחֲסָדֶיךָ הַגְּדוֹלִים מִמִּקְרֵה לַיְלָה חַס וְשָׁלוֹם, שֶׁלֹּא יֶאֱרַע לִי שׁוּם מִקְרֶה לֹא בַיּוֹם וְלֹא בַלַּיְלָה, רַק אֶזְכֶּה לִישֹׁן בִּקְדֻשָּׁה וּבְטָהֳרָה, בְּטוֹב אָלִין אָקִיץ בְּרַחֲמִים:
Kind and merciful God: guard me and save me from the vain emission of seed at night. Let me never have a vain emission either during the day or at night. Let me always sleep in holiness and purity: let me lie down to rest in goodness and purity, and awaken to Your love.
אָבִינוּ אָב הָרַחֲמָן, מָלֵא רַחֲמִים רַבִּים וַחֲסָדִים גְּדוֹלִים וַעֲצוּמִים תָּמִיד, צוֹפֶה מֵרָחוֹק לְהֵטִיב אַחֲרִיתֵנוּ. חוּס וַחֲמֹל נָא עָלֵינוּ, הֲמוֹן מֵעֶיךָ וְרַחֲמֶיךָ יֵעוֹרְרוּ עָלֵינוּ, חֲמֹל עָלֵינוּ וְעַל עוֹלָלֵנוּ וְטַפֵּינוּ, וְהַצֵּל אוֹתִי וְאֶת כָּל עַמְּךָ בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל מִמִּקְרֵה לַיְלָה. כִּי אַתָּה יָדַעְתָּ אֶת עֹצֶם הַפְּגַם הַגָּדוֹל וְהַנּוֹרָא הַנּוֹגֵעַ בְּכָל הָעוֹלָמוֹת לְמַעְלָה לְמַעְלָה עַל־יְדֵי מִקְרֵה לַיְלָה חַס וְשָׁלוֹם, אֲשֶׁר עַל־יְדֵי־זֶה חָרְבָה עִירֵנוּ וְשָׁמֵם בֵּית מִקְדָּשֵׁנוּ וְנֻטַּל כָּבוֹד מִבֵּית חַיֵּינוּ, וְנִתְרַחַקְנוּ מֵעַל אַדְמָתֵנוּ וְנִתְפַּזַּרְנוּ בֵּין הַגּוֹיִם וְנִדַּחְנוּ בְּאַרְבַּע כַּנְפוֹת הָאָרֶץ.
Kind, ever-loving, merciful Father: You watch over us from afar, planning everything for our ultimate benefit. Have pity on us and on our little ones, and save me and all the Jewish People from vain emissions. You know the terrible damage this causes in all the worlds, up to the very highest. Because of this our city was destroyed, our Holy Temple was made desolate, the glory was taken from the House of our life, and we were exiled from our land, dispersed among the nations and scattered to the four corners of the earth.
חֲמֹל עַל שְׁאֵרִית עַמְּךָ בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל, חֲמֹל עַל עֲנִיֵּי הַצֹּאן, צֹאן נִדָּח וְאֵין מְקַבֵּץ. מֶלֶךְ רַחֲמָן, רַחֵם עָלֵינוּ טוֹב וּמֵטִיב הִדָּרֶשׁ לָנוּ, שׁוּבָה אֵלֵינוּ בַּהֲמוֹן רַחֲמֶיךָ בִּגְלַל אָבוֹת שֶׁעָשׂוּ רְצוֹנֶךָ, וֶאֱמֹר לְצָרוֹתֵינוּ דָּי. וְזַכֵּנוּ בְּרַחֲמֶיךָ הָרַבִּים, וְתִשְׁמְרֵנוּ וְתַצִּילֵנוּ מֵעַתָּה מִמִּקְרֵה לַיְלָה, וּשְׁמֹר צֵאתֵנוּ וּבוֹאֵנוּ לְחַיִּים וּלְשָׁלוֹם מֵעַתָּה וְעַד עוֹלָם, וְנִזְכֶּה לִהְיוֹת נִשְׁמָרִים מִכָּל דָּבָר רָע, שֶׁלֹּא נְהַרְהֵר בַּיּוֹם, וְלֹא נָבוֹא לִידֵי טֻמְאָה בַּלַּיְלָה חַס וְשָׁלוֹם, וְנִזְכֶּה שֶׁתִּהְיֶה מַחֲשַׁבְתֵּנוּ קְדוֹשָׁה וּטְהוֹרָה תָמִיד:
Have pity on the remnant of Your people, the House of Israel. Have pity on Your poor, scattered flock — for there is no one to gather us in. Loving King: have pity on us. Good and beneficent God, give us success in our search for You. Return to us in love for the sake of the patriarchs, who carried out Your will. Say “Enough!” to our troubles. Loving God: purify us, guard us and save us from night-time emissions from now on, and guard us in life and peace when we go out and when we come in, from now and for ever. Protect us from all evil. Let us never harbor evil thoughts by day, so that we won't come to impurity at night, God forbid. Let all our thoughts be pure and holy at all times.
וּבְכֵן תְּזַכֵּנוּ בְּרַחֲמֶיךָ הָרַבִּים, שֶׁתִּהְיֶה אֲכִילָתֵנוּ בִּקְדֻשָּׁה וּבְטָהֳרָה בְּלִי שׁוּם תַּאֲוָה גַּשְׁמִית כְּלָל, וְתִתֶּן לָנוּ כֹּחַ לְעוֹרֵר הִתְנוֹצְצוּת הָאוֹתִיּוֹת הַקְּדוֹשִׁים שֶׁל כ"ח אַתְוָן דְּמַעֲשֵׂה בְרֵאשִׁית שֶׁמְּלֻבָּשׁ בְּכָל דָּבָר שֶׁבָּעוֹלָם, עַד שֶׁכָּל אֲכִילָתֵנוּ וּשְׁתִיָּתֵנוּ וְכָל סְעוּדָתֵנוּ וְתַעֲנוּגֵנוּ יִהְיֶה רַק מֵהִתְנוֹצְצוּת הָאוֹתִיּוֹת הַקְּדוֹשִׁים לְבַד, שֶׁיֵּשׁ בְּאוֹתוֹ הַדָּבָר שֶׁאָנוּ אוֹכְלִים וְשׁוֹתִים אוֹ מִתְעַנְּגִים מִמֶּנּוּ. וְעַל־יְדֵי־זֶה נִזְכֶּה לְלֵב טוֹב, שֶׁלִּבִּי יִהְיֶה מֵאִיר בִּקְדֻשָּׁה גְּדוֹלָה, עַל־יְדֵי שֶׁיִּזְכֶּה לֵהָנוֹת וְלִזּוֹן רַק מֵהִתְנוֹצְצוּת הָאוֹתִיּוֹת שֶׁל כֹּחַ מַעֲשֵׂה בְרֵאשִׁית שֶׁיֵּשׁ בְּכָל דָּבָר.
Loving God: bring me to eat in holiness and purity, with no physical desire whatever. Give me the power to arouse the light of the twenty- eight holy letters of creation which are clothed in everything in the world, until all my enjoyment of everything I eat or drink comes only from the light of the holy letters contained in it. Through this, give me a good heart: let my heart radiate with great holiness through enjoying and being nourished only by the light of the letters that powered the act of creation and are contained in all things.
וְתִהְיֶה בְּעֶזְרִי וְתִשְׁמְרֵנִי וְתַצִּילֵנִי תָמִיד, שֶׁלֹּא אֶהֱנֶּה מֵהָעוֹלָם הַזֶּה בְּלֹא בְּרָכָה, וְנִזְכֶּה לְבָרֵךְ עַל כָּל דָּבָר שֶׁנֹּאכַל וְנֶהֱנֶּה, בְּרָכָה תְּחִלָּה וָסוֹף בְּכַוָּנָה עֲצוּמָה, בְּכַוָּנָה קְדוֹשָׁה וּטְהוֹרָה לְשִׁמְךָ הַגָּדוֹל וְהַקָּדוֹשׁ יִתְבָּרַךְ לָעַד. וְכָל הַבְּרָכוֹת וְהוֹדָאוֹת וְשִׁירוֹת וְתִשְׁבָּחוֹת שֶׁלָּנוּ, כֻּלָּם יִהְיוּ בִּשְׁלֵמוּת בִּבְחִינַת שְׁלֵמוּת לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ עַל־יְדֵי לְשׁוֹן תַּרְגּוּם,
Help me and guard me from ever benefiting from this world without saying a blessing. Let me recite the appropriate blessings before and after everything I eat and drink with intense concentration and with the sole intention of blessing Your great and holy Name in holiness and purity. Let all my blessings and thanks, songs and praises flow forth in words of perfect holiness — words of the Holy Language, as complemented and completed by the language of everyday conversation.
בְּאֹפֶן שֶׁנִּזְכֶּה לְעוֹרֵר כֹּחַ מַעֲשֵׂי יְהֹוָה שֶׁהֵם הַלב אֱלֹהִים שֶׁל מַעֲשֵׂה בְרֵאשִׁית, שֶׁהֵם הָאוֹתִיּוֹת הַמְלֻבָּשִׁין בְּכָל דָּבָר שֶׁבָּעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר עַל יָדָם בָּרָאתָ בִּרְצוֹנְךָ הַטּוֹב כָּל הַדְּבָרִים שֶׁבָּעוֹלָם מִגָּדוֹל וְעַד קָטָן. וּבָרָאתָ כָּל דָּבָר מְשֻׁנֶּה מֵחֲבֵרוֹ בְּמַרְאֶה וָטַעַם וּתְמוּנָה אַחֶרֶת, כְּפִי אוֹתִיּוֹת הַתּוֹרָה הַקְּדוֹשָׁה שֶׁהִכְנַסְתָּ בְּכָל דָּבָר כְּפִי רְצוֹנְךָ הַטּוֹב, כַּאֲשֶׁר שִׁעַרְתָּ וּמָדַדְתָּ וְשָׁקַלְתָּ בְּחָכְמָתְךָ הַקְּדוֹשָׁה. מָה רַבּוּ מַעֲשֶׂיךָ יְהֹוָה כֻּלָּם בְּחָכְמָה עָשִׂיתָ מָלְאָה הָאָרֶץ קִנְיָנֶךָ. וְעַתָּה יִגְדַּל נָא כֹּחַ אֲדֹנָי כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתָּ לֵאמֹר.
Let me thereby arouse the power of the thirty-two names of God that appear in the account of the creation, which are the force underlying all God's works, the force powering the letters clothed in everything in the world. Through them You created everything in the world according to Your will, from the largest to the smallest. You created everything with its own unique appearance, taste and form, corresponding to the letters of the holy Torah that You put into it according to Your will, as weighed, measured and determined in Your holy wisdom. “How many are Your works, HaShem, You made them all in wisdom, the world is full of Your possessions.” “And now, let the power of my Lord be magnified, as You spoke saying...”
עֲשֵׂה לְמַעַנְךָ וּלְמַעַן כְּבוֹדֶךָ וּלְמַעַן אוֹתִיּוֹת הַקְּדוֹשִׁים שֶׁלְּךָ הַמְלֻבָּשִׁין בְּכָל דָּבָר, שֶׁתִּתֶּן לָנוּ כֹּחַ בְּרַחֲמֶיךָ הָרַבִּים לְעוֹרֵר תָּמִיד כֹּחַ הָאוֹתִיּוֹת שֶׁל מַעֲשֵׂה בְרֵאשִׁית שֶׁמְּלֻבָּשׁ בְּכָל דָּבָר שֶׁבָּעוֹלָם, וְלֹא נֵלֵךְ אַחַר שְׁרִירוּת לִבֵּנוּ, וּנְמַעֵט תַּאֲוַת טִבְעֵנוּ, שֶׁלֹּא יִהְיֶה לָנוּ שׁוּם תַּאֲוָה גַּשְׁמִית שֶׁל הַגּוּף לְשׁוּם דָּבָר שֶׁבָּעוֹלָם כְּלָל, וְכָל אֲכִילָתֵנוּ וּשְׁתִיָּתֵנוּ וְכָל הֲנָאָתֵנוּ וְתַעֲנוּגֵנוּ, יִהְיֶה רַק מֵהִתְנוֹצְצוּת הָאוֹתִיּוֹת שֶׁיֵּשׁ בְּכָל דָּבָר שֶׁבָּעוֹלָם בְּלִי שׁוּם תַּאֲוַת הַגּוּף כְּלָל.
For Your sake, for the sake of Your glory, and for the sake of Your holy letters clothed in all things, give me the power to always be able to arouse the letters of creation clothed in all things. Don't let me follow the stubbornness of my heart. Let me reduce my material desires to a minimum and have no physical craving for anything in the world. Let all my enjoyment of food, drink and other pleasures come only from the radiance of the letters they contain and not from the gratification of bodily desire.
וְעַל־יְדֵי־זֶה תִּשְׁלַח בְּרָכָה בִּמְזוֹנֵנוּ, וְנִזְכֶּה לִשְׂבִיעָה דִקְדֻשָּׁה שֶׁיִּהְיֶה שְׂבִיעָה בְּמֵעֵינוּ לֶאֱכֹל מְעַט וְלִשְׂבֹּעַ רַק מֵהִתְנוֹצְצוּת הָאוֹתִיּוֹת הַקְּדוֹשִׁים שֶׁל אוֹתוֹ הַדָּבָר שֶׁאוֹכַל וְאֶשְׁתֶּה בִּקְדֻשָּׁה וּבְטָהֳרָה גְּדוֹלָה. וִיקֻיַּם בָּנוּ מִקְרָא שֶׁכָּתוּב, וַאֲכַלְתֶּם אָכוֹל וְשָׂבוֹעַ וְהִלַּלְתֶּם אֶת שֵׁם יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה עִמָּכֶם לְהַפְלִיא וְלֹא יֵבֹשׁוּ עַמִּי לְעוֹלָם.
Send blessing into my food, and let me be genuinely satisfied. Let me feel physical satisfaction even after eating just a little. Let my satisfaction come from the radiance of the holy letters contained in what I eat and drink in holiness and purity, and fulfil in me the verse: “And you shall eat with full satisfaction and praise the Name of HaShem your God, who has done wonders with you, and My people will never be ashamed.”
עַד שֶׁנִּזְכֶּה לְלֵב טוֹב וּמֵאִיר, לְלֵב שָׂמֵחַ, עַל־יְדֵי אֲכִילָתֵנוּ וּשְׁתִיָּתֵנוּ, וְעַל־יְדֵי הֶאָרַת הַלֵּב נִזְכֶּה לְפָנִים מְאִירוֹת דִּקְדֻשָּׁה, בָּרְכֵנוּ אָבִינוּ כֻּלָּנוּ יַחַד בְּאוֹר פָּנֶיךָ. שֶׁנִּזְכֶּה לְפָנִים דִּקְדֻשָּׁה, פָּנִים מְאִירוֹת, פָּנִים שֶׁל שִׂמְחָה, שֶׁיִּהְיֶה אוֹר פְּנֵי יְהֹוָה חוֹפֵף עַל פָּנֵינוּ תָמִיד. וִיקֻיַּם בָּנוּ וּבְזַרְעֵנוּ מִקְרָא שֶׁכָּתוּב, זֶה דּוֹר דּוֹרְשָׁיו מְבַקְשֵׁי פָּנֶיךָ יַעֲקֹב סֶלָה. וּתְזַכֵּנוּ שֶׁיִּהְיֶה פָּנֵינוּ מְאִירוֹת כָּל כָּךְ, עַד שֶׁיִּהְיֶה לָנוּ כֹּחַ לְהַחֲזִיר כָּל הָעוֹלָם בִּתְשׁוּבָה שְׁלֵמָה עַל־יְדֵי רְאִיַּת פָּנֵינוּ לְבָד, שֶׁיִּהְיוּ פָּנֵינוּ מְאִירוֹת בְּאוֹר פְּנֵי יְהֹוָה כְּמוֹ אַסְפַּקְלַרְיָא הַמְּאִירָה, עַד שֶׁכָּל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד יִסְתַּכֵּל אֶת עַצְמוֹ וְיִרְאֶה אֶת עַצְמוֹ בְּתוֹךְ פָּנֵינוּ הַמְּאִירוֹת כְּמוֹ בַּמַּרְאָה וְאַסְפַּקְלַרְיָא. וְיִרְאֶה אֵיךְ פָּנָיו מְשֻׁקָּע בַּחֹשֶׁךְ, וִיחַדֵּשׁ כַּנֶּשֶׁר נְעוּרָיו, וְיָשׁוּב בִּתְשׁוּבָה שְׁלֵמָה בֶּאֱמֶת לְפָנֶיךָ:
Through eating and drinking in holiness, let my heart shine with goodness and joy, and let the radiance of my heart light up my face with holiness and joy until my face is constantly bathed in the light of HaShem's countenance. Fulfil in me and my offspring the verse: “This is the generation of those who search for Him, seeking Your countenance — Yaakov, Selah.” Let my face be so radiant that I will be able to bring people to complete repentance just by their seeing my face. Let my face shine with the light of God's countenance like a bright mirror that people will look into and see themselves in, and realize how their own faces are sunk in darkness. Let them be inspired to renew their youth like the eagle and come back to You in true, perfect teshuvah.
וְחָנֵּנִי בְּרַחֲמֶיךָ הָרַבִּים, שֶׁאֶזְכֶּה לְהִתְקָרֵב לְצַדִּיק הָאֱמֶת שֶׁבַּדּוֹר הַזֶּה, וְאֶזְכֶּה לִשְׁמֹעַ מִפִּיו הַקָּדוֹשׁ בְּעַצְמוֹ דִּבְרֵי אֱלֹהִים חַיִּים, אֲשֶׁר הוּא זוֹכֶה עַל־יְדֵי מַעֲשָׂיו הַטּוֹבִים לִשְׁמֹעַ מִפִּיךָ, וְתַשְׁפִּיעַ עָלַי יִרְאָתְךָ הַקְּדוֹשָׁה יִרְאָה עִלָּאָה יִרְאַת הָרוֹמְמוּת. וְאֶזְכֶּה לִשְׁמֹעַ הַדִּבּוּר הַקָּדוֹשׁ מִפִּי הַצַּדִּיק הָאֱמֶת בְּאֵימָה וּבְיִרְאָה גְּדוֹלָה, בְּאֹפֶן שֶׁאֲקַבֵּל דִּבּוּר לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ בִּשְׁלֵמוּת גָּמוּר.
Kind and loving God: Grant me that I should come close to the true Tzaddik of this generation and hear the Torah of the Living God directly from his holy mouth, just as he hears it from Your mouth through the merit of his good deeds. Inspire me with awe of Heaven — awe at Your supreme exaltedness. Let me listen to the holy words coming from the lips of the true Tzaddik with reverence and awe, so that I too will be able to receive the full benefit of the Holy Language.
וְאֶזְכֶּה לִשְׁמִירַת הַבְּרִית בֶּאֱמֶת בִּקְדֻשָּׁה גְּדוֹלָה כָּרָאוּי לְזֶרַע יִשְׂרָאֵל עֲבָדֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר בָּהֶם בָּחָרְתָּ. וְחָנֵּנִי בְּרַחֲמֶיךָ הָרַבִּים, שֶׁאֶזְכֶּה לְתַקֵּן בְּחַיַּי אֵת כָּל הַחֲטָאִים וַעֲווֹנוֹת וּפְשָׁעִים, וְכָל הַפְּגָמִים שֶׁפָּגַמְתִּי לְפָנֶיךָ מִנְּעוּרַי עַד הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה, וַאֲפִלּוּ כָּל הַחֲטָאִים שֶׁחָטָאתִי בְּשׁוֹגֵג אוֹ בְּאֹנֶס, כֻּלָּם אֶזְכֶּה לְתַקֵּן בְּחַיַּי חִישׁ קַל מְהֵרָה. וּמֵעַתָּה תְזַכֵּנִי לְהִתְקָרֵב אֵלֶיךָ בֶּאֱמֶת בִּקְדֻשָּׁה וּבְטָהֳרָה, וְאֶזְכֶּה לִשְׁלֵמוּת לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ וְלִקְדֻשַּׁת הַבְּרִית:
Bring me to true observance of the Covenant in great holiness as befits a member of Your chosen people of Israel. Be gracious to me, and grant that I should be able to make amends for all my sins and transgressions in my lifetime. Let me make up for everything I've done wrong from my earliest years until today, including even the sins I have committed unknowingly or under compulsion. Let me rectify everything quickly and easily in my lifetime, and from now on let me come genuinely close to You in holiness and purity, gain perfect mastery of the Holy Language and faithfully observe the holy Covenant.
לְשַׁבַּת־קוֹדֶשׁ
וּבְכֵן יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶיךָ יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ, מָלֵא רַחֲמִים מָלֵא רָצוֹן, עָזְרֵנִי וְהוֹשִׁיעֵנִי וְזַכֵּנִי בְּרַחֲמֶיךָ הָרַבִּים וּבַחֲסָדֶיךָ הָעֲצוּמִים, לְקַבֵּל שַׁבָּתוֹת בְּשִׂמְחָה גְּדוֹלָה וּבְחֶדְוָה רַבָּה וַעֲצוּמָה וּבְיִרְאָה וְאַהֲבָה. וּתְזַכֵּנִי לִטְרֹחַ בְּעַצְמִי לַעֲשׂוֹת צָרְכֵי שַׁבָּת בְּעַצְמִי בְּכֹחַ גָדוֹל וּבִזְרִיזוּת נִמְרָץ, וְתַעַזְרֵנוּ תָמִיד לְהַשְׁלִים כָּל פַּרְשִׁיּוֹתֵינוּ עִם הַצִּבּוּר, שֶׁנִּזְכֶּה לִקְרוֹת הַפַּרְשָׁה שֶׁל הַשָּׁבוּעַ בְּכָל עֶרֶב שַׁבָּת שְׁנַיִם מִקְרָא וְאֶחָד תַּרְגּוּם בְּכַוָּנָה גְּדוֹלָה וַעֲצוּמָה בִּקְדֻשָּׁה וּבְטָהֳרָה, בְּאֹפֶן שֶׁנִּזְכֶּה עַל־יְדֵי־זֶה לִשְׁלֵמוּת לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ עַל־יְדֵי לְשׁוֹן תַּרְגּוּם.
HaShem my God and God of my fathers! God of love and favor: Help me and bring me to celebrate Shabbat with tremendous joy and delight, with awe and love. Let me take an active part in preparing for Shabbat and do so eagerly and energetically. Help me to always keep up to date with my study of the weekly Torah reading: let me read the portion of the week each Friday, twice in the Hebrew and once in the Aramaic Targum, with full concentration, in holiness and purity, and thereby bring me to gain perfect mastery of the Holy Language through the language of the Targum.
וְנִזְכֶּה בְּרַחֲמֶיךָ הָרַבִּים, שֶׁיִּהְיֶה נִמְשָׁךְ עָלֵינוּ קְדֻשַּׁת שַׁבַּת קֹדֶשׁ עַל־יְדֵי רְחִיצַת חַמִּין וְהַטְּבִילָה שֶׁל עֶרֶב שַׁבַּת קֹדֶשׁ, וְתִהְיֶה בְּעֶזְרִי שֶׁלֹּא אֲבַטֵּל לְעוֹלָם הָרְחִיצָה וְהַטְּבִילָה שֶׁל עֶרֶב שַׁבָּת. וּכְשֵׁם שֶׁאֲנִי רוֹחֵץ וְטוֹבֵל עַצְמִי בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה, כֵּן תְּטַהֵר וּתְקַדֵּשׁ אֶת גּוּפִי וְנַפְשִׁי וְרוּחִי וְנִשְׁמָתִי בִּקְדֻשָּׁתְךָ הָעֶלְיוֹנָה, וְתַמְשִׁיךְ רִשְׁפֵּי שַּׁלְהֶבֶת־יָהּ מֵאֵשׁ הַקְּדוֹשָׁה שֶׁלְּמַעְלָה הָאוֹכֶלֶת וְשׂוֹרֶפֶת כָּל מִינֵי אֵשׁ. וְעַל־יְדֵי־זֶה תְבַעֵר וְתִשְׂרֹף וּתְבַטֵּל מִמֶּנִּי וּמִכָּל עַמְּךָ בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל, אֶת כָּל תַּעֲרוֹבוֹת הָרָע שֶׁנִּתְעָרֵב וְנֶאֱחַז בָּנוּ עַל־יְדֵי פְּגַם עֵץ הַדַּעַת טוֹב וָרָע, וְעַל־יְדֵי חֲטָאֵינוּ וַעֲוֹנוֹתֵינוּ וּפְשָׁעֵינוּ. בְּאֹפֶן שֶׁיֻּשְׂרַף וְיִפּוֹל וְיִתְבַּטֵּל כָּל הָרָע שֶׁנִּתְאַחֵז בָּנוּ, וְהַטּוֹב יִתְבָּרֵר וְיַעֲלֶה וְיֻכְלַל לְמַעְלָה לְמַעְלָה בַּטּוֹב הָעֶלְיוֹן בְּטוּבְךָ הַגָּדוֹל שֶׁהוּא טוֹב הַנִּצְחִי:
Let me bring the holiness of Shabbat into me through washing in hot water and immersing in the mikveh on Shabbat eve. Help me never to miss washing and immersing prior to Shabbat. And just as I wash and immerse myself in this world, so purify and sanctify my body, my nefesh, my ru'ach and my neshamah with Your supreme holiness. Send down flames of the holy, Godly fire that burns above and consumes and destroys all kinds of fire, so as to burn and destroy all the evil that has come into me personally and the Jewish People as a whole as a result of eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and all our sins and transgressions. Let all the evil that has taken hold of us be burned and fall away, and let the good be purified so as to ascend and become unified with the Supreme good — Your great goodness that will endure for ever.
אָנָּא יְהֹוָה, אַתָּה יָדַעְתָּ, כִּי אֵין בִּי כֹּחַ לְהַמְשִׁיךְ עָלַי בְּעַצְמִי קְדֻשַּׁת שַׁבַּת קֹדֶשׁ, חוּס וַחֲמֹל עָלַי, יֶהֱמוּ נָא וְיִכָמְרוּ רַחֲמֶיךָ עָלַי, כִּי אַתָּה יָדַעְתָּ, כַּמָּה אֲנִי רָחוֹק מִקְּדֻשַּׁת שַׁבָּת בֶּאֱמֶת, חוּס וְחָנֵּנִי בְּמַתְּנַת חִנָּם, וְתַשְׁפִּיעַ עָלַי בְּרַחֲמֶיךָ קְדֻשַּׁת שַׁבָּת בֶּאֱמֶת, וְאֶזְכֶּה לְהוֹסִיף מֵחֹל עַל הַקֹּדֶשׁ בִּכְנִיסָתוֹ וּבִיצִיאָתוֹ. וְתַעַזְרֵנוּ לְהַמְשִׁיךְ קְדֻשַּׁת שַׁבָּת עַל יְמֵי הַחֹל, עַד שֶׁכָּל שֵׁשֶׁת יְמֵי הַמַּעֲשֶׂה יִהְיוּ טְהוֹרִים וּקְדוֹשִׁים בִּקְדֻשָּׁה גְּדוֹלָה, בִּקְדֻשַּׁת שַׁבַּת קֹדֶשׁ, עַד שֶׁיִּהְיוּ נִכְלָלִים כָּל שֵׁשֶׁת יְמֵי הַמַּעֲשֶׂה בְּשֹׁרֶשׁ חַיּוּתָם שֶׁבִּקְדֻשָּׁה, שֶׁהוּא שַׁבַּת קֹדֶשׁ, שֶׁהוּא מְחַיֶּה וּמְקַיֵּם כָּל שֵׁשֶׁת הַיָּמִים, וְכָל הַנֶּאֱצָלִים וְכָל הַנִּבְרָאִים וְהַנּוֹצָרִים וְהַנַּעֲשִׂים, וְכָל הָעוֹלָמוֹת כֻּלָּם מֵרֵאשִׁית נְקֻדַּת הַבְּרִיאָה עַד סוֹף נְקֻדַּת הַמֶּרְכָּז שֶׁל עוֹלָם הַגַּשְׁמִי, אֲשֶׁר כָּל חַיּוּתָם וְקִיּוּמָם הוּא שַׁבַּת קֹדֶשׁ:
Please, HaShem: You know that I don't have the power to bring the holiness of Shabbat into me by myself. Have pity on me and arouse Your love for me. You know how far I am from experiencing the true holiness of Shabbat. Be kind to me and grant me the true holiness of Shabbat as an outright gift. Let me add to the Shabbat at its beginning and end, and help me draw the holiness of Shabbat into the other days of the week, until all the six working days will have the purity and holiness of Shabbat. Let the six working days then become reunited with their holy vital source — Shabbat, which gives life and sustenance to the other six days of the week, to the entire array of different creatures of every kind and on every level, spiritual and physical, and to all the worlds, from the first point from which the creation emanated down to the central point of the material world. All their life and sustenance come from the Shabbat.
רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם, אַתָּה בְּרַחֲמֶיךָ נָתַתָּ לָנוּ מַתָּנָה טוֹבָה הַזֹּאת, שֶׁהָיְתָה בְּבֵית גְּנָזֶיךָ, וְשַׁבָּת שְׁמָהּ. עַל כֵּן בָּאתִי לְהַפִּיל תְּפִלָּתִי וּתְחִנָּתִי וּבַקָּשָׁתִי לְפָנֶיךָ יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהַי וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתַי, כְּשֵׁם שֶׁגָּבְרוּ רַחֲמֶיךָ וַחֲסָדֶיךָ לִתֵּן לָנוּ מַתָּנָה טוֹבָה קְדוֹשָׁה הַזֹּאת, כֵּן תַּעֲנִיקֵנוּ מִטּוּבְךָ הַגָּדוֹל וְתַשְׁפִּיעַ עָלֵינוּ מִמְּעוֹן קְדֻשָּׁתֶךָ, וְתַעַזְרֵנוּ לְקַבֵּל מַתָּנָה טוֹבָה קְדוֹשָׁה הַזֹּאת, שֶׁנִּזְכֶּה לְקַבֵּל שַׁבָּת בִּקְדֻשָּׁה גְּדוֹלָה וּבְשִׂמְחָה וְחֶדְוָה רַבָּה וַעֲצוּמָה, וְנַמְשִׁיךְ עָלֵינוּ קְדֻשַּׁת שַׁבָּת תָּמִיד. וְנִזְכֶּה לְשַׁבֵּר וּלְבַטֵּל הָרַע הַנֶּאֱחַז בָּנוּ, וּלְבָרֵר וּלְהַעֲלוֹת הַטּוֹב שֶׁבָּנוּ, בִּבְחִינַת שְׁלֵימוּת לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ עַל־יְדֵי לְשׁוֹן תַּרְגּוּם. וְנִזְכֶּה לִקְדֻשַּׁת הַבְּרִית בֶּאֱמֶת, וְנָשׁוּב אֵלֶיךָ בֶּאֱמֶת, וְנִזְכֶּה תָמִיד לֵילֵךְ וְלַעֲלוֹת מִדַּרְגָּא לְדַרְגָּא וּמִמַּעֲלָה לְמַעֲלָה בִּקְדֻשָּׁה גְּדוֹלָה כִּרְצוֹנְךָ הַטּוֹב בֶּאֱמֶת, עַד שֶׁנִּזְכֶּה לַעֲלוֹת לְהִכָּלֵל בְּשַׁבָּת הָעֶלְיוֹן, וּתְחָנֵּנוּ בַּחֲסָדֶיךָ לְיוֹם שֶׁכֻּלוֹ שַׁבָּת וּמְנוּחָה לְחַיֵּי הָעוֹלָמִים.
Master of the Universe: In Your love and kindness You gave us this good gift called Shabbat that was hidden in Your treasure-house. I have therefore come to pour out my prayer and plead and beg You, HaShem my God and God of my fathers: just as You gave us this good, holy gift with such overwhelming love and mercy, so now shower me with goodness, inspire me and help me to receive this good and holy gift and celebrate Shabbat with the utmost holiness, joy and delight. Inspire me with the holiness of Shabbat at all times so that I can break and destroy the evil that has taken hold of me and sift out and elevate the good in me by mastering the Holy Language through refining the language of everyday conversation. Bring me to the true holiness of the Covenant and let me come back to You with all my heart and constantly rise from level to level with ever greater holiness, just as You want, until I will ascend and become merged in the supreme Shabbat and You will mercifully grant me the day that is all Shabbat and rest and eternal life.
יִהְיוּ לְרָצוֹן אִמְרֵי פִי וְהֶגְיוֹן לִבִּי לְפָנֶיךָ יְהֹוָה צוּרִי וְגוֹאֲלִי:
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart find favor before You, HaShem, my Rock and Redeemer.