Likutay Moharan - Torah-teaching 99

99

And I pleaded with Hashem at that time, saying

[In the language of the friends]

"And I pleaded with Hashem at that time, saying" (Deuteronomy 3:23). Behold, a person must pray with devaikus [דבקות, deep attachment and cleaving] to the Blessed Name [Hashem Yitbarach, ה׳ יתברך].

Yet if at times he finds himself in a state where he cannot pray with devaikus, he should not say: “Since I cannot concentrate properly or reach attachment in prayer, therefore I will not pray at all, for such a prayer is not accepted.”

And as our Rabbis of blessed memory said (Berachot 34b) regarding Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa: He would pray — and they said to him: "How do you know if your prayer has been accepted?" He replied: "If my prayer flows fluently from my mouth [שְׁגוּרָה בְּפִי, *shegurah b’fi*], I know it is accepted; and if not, I know otherwise [i.e., it has not been accepted]."

This aligns with what we are saying: when one prays with devaikus, the prayer becomes fluent and pleasing in his mouth, and therefore is accepted. And if not — God forbid — the opposite.

Nevertheless, a person must not say, “If I cannot pray with attachment, I will not pray at all.” Rather, he should pray always — and even if he cannot pray with full devaikus, he should pray with all his strength and capacity [בְּכָל כּחוֹ, *b’chol kocho*].

For at the time when he does merit to pray with proper attachment, then all the previous prayers — even those said without devaikus — will ascend together with that properly-attached prayer.

And this is the meaning of: "And I pleaded with Hashem" — that one should plead always, whether with devaikus or without devaikus, at “that time” [בָּעֵת הַהִיא, *ba’et ha’hi*] — meaning: when I merit to pray with attachment, which is the aspect of “my prayer is fluent in my mouth” [שְׁגוּרָה תְּפִלָּתִי בְּפִי].

And this is the sense of: “at that time saying” — meaning, the words are said and are pleasing in his mouth, because he is praying with devaikus. And then — at that moment — all the prayers that he had previously prayed will ascend together with that one prayer, as explained above.