(Many thanks to Reb Dovid Weiser for this translation)

On Friday evening, Layl Shabbos Kodesh, during the first meal, Rabbi Eliezer Shlomo Shick (Mohorosh) Shlit”a spoke awesome and wondrous words expounding on the teachings of Rabbi Nachman in Likutei Mohoran (II, 84) which discuss serving HaShem through prayer.

Mohorosh began by quoting the words of Rabbi Nachman "the main part of joining and clinging to Hashem is through prayer. For prayer is like a gateway through which we enter unto the Presence of HaShem, and there we worship Him. Prayer also has an aspect of kingdom, as King David writes "And I am prayer" (Ps.109). Furthermore, the Hebrew word for prayer (Tefilah) is related to the word for joining or uniting, as it is written about Rachel’s prayer (Gen. 30) "naftulai elokim niftalti." (naftulai being similar to the word tefilah) Onkelos, the Aramaic translator, renders this as "The language of joining together." So when a person prays, all thoughts of his own importance fade away since prayer acquires an aspect of the Divine Kingdom, of the "I" which is exiled to the Evil Kingdom. The prophet Yechezkel (Ezek. 1) expresses this: "And I am in exile." Though a person, who actually is "I", wants to escape that exile, the evil kingdom of his own self-importance hinders him and holds him back because he still longs to be great and to dominate others. He must pray more forcefully to strengthen himself against the Evil Kingdom and escape from exile. When pride gets the upper hand over Israel, the only recourse is to pray with great force and to fortify the Divine Element that is in us". These are the words of Rabbi Nachman.
 
 

Mohorosh explained that clearly the main part of a person's joining and clinging to HaShem is prayer because it is impossible for anyone to deny his material being except by prayer. Let him simply and truly pour out his heart before HaShem, just as a person speaks to a good friend or a father to his son. For the more often a person engages in this divine service, the more he merits to approach to HaShem until he enters into His heavenly palace and achieves true union with the Almighty, blessed be He. But this process requires great stubbornness, for in the beginning a person sees no results, and it seems that no one above heeds or needs him at all. He then falls into all kinds of weak and despairing thoughts. Yet if remains stubborn and ignores such thoughts even as he increases his regular prayers and meditations every day eventually he will be rewarded by seeing HaShem's salvation. He will realize how the Holy One, blessed be he, guides him to serve Him in truth, and he will be granted entrance to the celestial palace where he will bask in the splendor of the Shechina's rays.

And Mohorosh continued by saying that Rabbi Nachman in this teaching reveals to us a very wondrous secret, the secret of prayer, that when a person begins to pray he is granted a glimpse of the kingdom; he enters the divine kingdom of HaShem and can sense that there is no reality outside of the Almighty, blessed He, the King of Kings who rules over the entire universe. For prayer indeed has an aspect of royalty as can be seen from the expression "For I am prayer" in Psalm 109 where "I" means the divine kingdom. Rabbi Nachman teaches us that the "I" of every person is a manifestation of the Divine Presence (the Shechina); in Likutei Moharan I, 22 he explains that what we call the "I" of a person is the essence of his spirit, an eternal thing that is actually divine rather than earthly. For what is man? Behold, he is no more than a piece of dust, dug up from the earth, into which a holy soul has been implanted, part of the supernal and ultimate Being. Whatever vitality a person has within him is derived from his soul, which is his share of the Divine and without which he would be no more than lifeless dust. When a person speaks of his "I", therefore, he really means the eternal Creator Who animates him, giving and sustaining his existence. But when a person speaks with impaired awareness his "I" goes into exile as the words of the prophet Yechezkel make clear: "I (meaning the "I" of the Eternal Spirit) am in exile."

A person who is unable to realize that the true reality of HaShem's Presence is constantly upon him will be confined to a very deep exile indeed. It seems to him as if he possessed some kind of "I" that is not dependent upon the Holy One, blessed be He, but that is merely an illusion of this world where man is exiled among his worst lusts and vices. That is what leads him to prideful thoughts, as if he had any existence and reality in this world, as if he deserved any sort of glory and greatness, until he begins to serve the evil kingdom. But as soon as a person devotes his soul to prayer and prays with great forcefulness in order to nullify his own existence, then his prayer joins him to HaShem so that his own "I" gradually disappears. Then his "I" (Hebrew aleph-nun-yud) is transformed into "Eyn" (Hebrew aleph-yud-nun); it is elevated into the Infinite (Hebrew "Eyn-sof"). For prayer derives from the words for joining and cleaving as we see in Genesis 30 where Rachel says: "Wrestlings (naftulai) of G-d have I wrestled" which is elucidated as "the language of joining." Prayer joins and unites every person with HaShem until he begins to sense the Divinity that surrounds him at all times, until he escapes from his exile and begins to see the Almighty, blessed be He, illuminating all the world.

This is what every person engaged in prayer must do, to purify his mind and his heart of all prideful thoughts, while every syllable of prayer reinforces in him the truth of HaShem's presence. Pride and arrogance will be pushed aside, for wherever the Holy One, blessed be he, is found there is no more "I" but only "Eyn" which is the light of the Infinite Eyn-Sof. How then could one have prideful thoughts? This is the chief part of perfect prayer, that a person should not be aware of himself at all while he is praying but should think he is standing in the King's palace where no one is present except the King Himself; see Likutei Moharan, I, 55. Rabbi Nachman once expressed it by saying that a person can cleave so well to HaShem during prayer that he will say, "May it be my will," meaning that he has nullified his own being to the extent that he no longer feels that he is praying, but rather that the Holy One, blessed be He is, as it were, praying within him. For by himself he is nothing, being completely absorbed into the Infinite. Once a person is granted to achieve such a level of self-nullification, he will certainly not trouble himself to think about other people or to worry that perhaps someone may deprive him of honor and greatness. He will have no thought of others at all as before his eyes he sees only the truth of the Almighty's existence. Therefore, the chief part of a person's serving HaShem is to devote his soul to Him, to pray always with great forcefulness, and to speak to Him simply and sincerely in the language that is most comfortable for him. This kind of prayer which is known as meditation ("Hisbodedut") will enable one to join and cleave to HaShem until He leads him out of his deep exile and casts upon him a most pleasant and wondrous light, happy is he and blessed is his lot.

Mohorosh then related this matter to the weekly portion by a marvelous interconnection, for at the end of this week's reading (Numbers, 4) we find the following words: "Cut ye not off the tribe of the Kohathites from among the Levites, but do this unto them, that they may live and not die when they approach unto the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and against them every one unto his service and unto his burden, but they shall not go in to see the holy (things) as they are being covered lest they die." It seems necessary to understand what is being asked of the Kohat tribe who are the bearers of the Holy Ark. Why is the warning given, "Cut ye not off," and why are they warned "They shall not go in to see the holy (things)..." more that the other Levites? But answer is evident according to the words of Rabbi Nachman, for the Holy Arkis equivalent to the Holiness of Thought through which one can achieve joining and cleaving to HaShem. For the mind and its thoughts are the sanctuary of the soul in which the Shechina is revealed. All those who wish to enter unto the Holy and to bear with them Holiness of Thought must cerainly be very careful about avoiding any idea of pride and self-conceit; the smallest deviation from being attached to HaShem, through a single prideful thought, can cause a complete ruin, G-d forbid, and that is equivalent to falling into death. As it is written, (Gen. 36) "And he will reign ... and he died," that as soon as there is a kingdom that rules outside of the Kingdom of the Almighty there is a falling into death and it is completely decimated.

That is why those Tzaddikim who wish to bear the Ark, which is Holiness of Thought, the Holy of Holies, must be especially careful, "Cut not off . . . but do this unto them, that they may live and not die." The word "this" (Zot) refers to faith and to establishing the Holy Kingdom as explained in Tikunei Hazohar, 6, commenting on the verse "With this Aaron shall enter the holy place" (Lev.16), and "This is the blessing which Moses, the man of G-d, pronounced", as well as "In this I trust" (Ps.27). Once again we see that the chief part of joining and clinging to HaShem is through prayer which reveals the Holy Kingdom as we have deduced from the verse "And I am prayer " (Ps. 109). And that is the meaning of "When they approach unto the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and against them every one unto his service and unto his burden." Every person must find the place that is reserved for him in service of HaShem. But as the verse continues, "They shall not go in to see the holy things as they are being covered lest they die." And the idea here is that prideful thoughts should not come into people's minds while they pray, as if they would cover up all Holiness with thoughts of themselves, as if they had any real existence in and of themselves, for that will cause them to fall into spiritual death, G-d forbid. But if they cleave completely to His light, to the Holy of Holies, until they lose all awareness of their own existence, they will not be cut off from their supernal root but partake of eternal life. May HaShem allow us to attain such service of true prayer and holy thought so that we too may become truly and eternally attached to the Holy One, blessed be He, now and forever, Amen.