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לְפּוּרִים — For Purim (7 paragraphs):
- Opening plea to fulfill the Purim mitzvos with joy and holiness
- The miracles shine in every generation — drawing down Purim's holiness
- The depth of exile and personal distress; needing miracles like those of Mordechai and Esther
- The essential nature of all miracles is the salvation of the soul — Haman-Amalek is the sitra achra
- Confession: "I pursue myself more than any enemy"
- "I am a brute" — yet still calling out from the dust
- Plea to vanquish Haman-Amalek, draw out from exile, arrange circumstances for good
לְפֶּסַח — For Pesach (1 long paragraph):
- Parah Adumah purification flowing from Purim → chametz vigilance → the Seder
לְתַּעֲנִית אֶסְתֵּר — For Ta'anis Esther (2 paragraphs):
- Fast with holiness, selichos with devotion, feel the pain of sins, cry out bitterly — and begin a new beginning
- Closing: all the Purim mitzvos — Megillah, mishloach manos, matanos l'evyonim, the seudah, even the shikrus of Purim — and drawing the joy across the whole year
A ta'anis mivoorach and a frailichen Purim! Na Nach Nachma Nachman MayUman! 🎉
Prayer 37 · תּפִלָּה לְז
עברית ▾ May it be Your will, Hashem our G-d and G-d of our fathers — You Who perform miracles and wonders in every generation, Who contends our contention and judges our judgment, and takes our revenge, and repays retribution to all the enemies of our soul, and exacts our retribution from those who afflict us — that You have mercy upon us through Your abundant mercies and help us through Your wondrous and awesome salvations, that we merit to receive and to observe the holy days of Purim in their appointed time as is fitting, that we merit to fulfill all the holy mitzvos that are practiced on Purim — in great holiness and purity, in joy and in goodness of heart, with exultation, song, delight and very great and mighty gladness, with all their details and their precise requirements and their intentions, and the 613 mitzvos connected to them.
עברית ▾ Master of the Universe — You have already revealed to our ears that all the miracles and wonders that You performed for our ancestors, upon which the holy festivals were established, all of them are performed and revealed and illuminated in every generation, with every person, and at every time. And we must draw down the holiness of Purim and the holiness of all the holy days, and the illumination of the miracles and wonders that were performed then — in each and every year, in every generation and generation, with every single individual. And so I have come before You — Who performs miracles and wonders in every generation, and every day and every time and every hour. Teach me and instruct me and be gracious to me and grant me merit that I merit the joy of Purim in its fullness in truth — that I merit to rejoice very, very greatly with all heart and soul in the holy days of Purim, in every single year, with a joy that has no end. Until I merit, through the joy and holiness of Purim, to draw down upon me and upon all Israel the holiness and purity that flows from the Parah Adumah [Red Heifer] — which purifies from the impurity of the dead — which You have commanded us to engage with the reading of this parashah of the Parah Adumah after Purim; and You have revealed to us that through Purim one merits the purification of the Parah Adumah — so that we merit to be pure, to receive the holiness of the Passover offering [Korban Pesach] in its proper time.
עברית ▾ Master of the Universe — You know that through the very depth of our descent and our fall into the depths of this bitter exile, and the extreme and numerous afflictions of the soul that pass over every single Jew — and over me in particular — and the extreme and numerous deeps of the flooding sea that overwhelm me, pursuing me exceedingly from all sides; and I am in very, very great distress — beyond measure and reckoning — and I know of no opening of hope to rectify and to be saved from all of this: for all of this, I now stand in need of wondrous miracles and great and awesome salvations, as You performed with the entirety of Israel throughout the generations — wondrous and awesome miracles the like of which have never been — in the days of Mordechai and Esther, when the wicked Haman, may his name and memory be blotted out, rose against them, etc. This miracle of Purim is greater than all the miracles that You ever performed for us — as You have made known to us through Your holy Sages, of blessed memory. And all the moadim [festivals] will be nullified, but Purim will never be nullified [Yalkut Shimoni, Mishlei 944]. And formerly all beginnings were from Pesach — for all the festivals are a remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt — and now, etc.
עברית ▾ Master of the Universe — Moray d'alma kola [Master of the entire universe] — Lord of wonders, the One Who causes salvations to flourish — You know the truth: that all the miracles and wonders that You performed for us at the Exodus from Egypt, and in the war against Amalek in the days of Moses, and in the days of Mordechai and Esther, and all the miracles and wonders You performed for us in the days of Chanukah, and in every generation — the essential miracle and salvation is the salvation of the soul. For the essential jealousy and hatred of all those who afflict us and pursue us physically and spiritually, is solely because we believe in You, Hashem our G-d, and yearn to walk in Your holy ways and to fulfill Your awesome commandments, and to reveal and publicize the truth of faith in Your G-dliness and Your Providence and Your sovereignty in the world. It is only for this reason that not one alone has stood against us to destroy us — but in every generation they rise up against us to destroy us, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, saves us from their hand [Passover Haggadah]. And therefore the essential miracle and salvation from all the afflictions is the fact that You are zealous for Your honor, and You perform miracles and wonders — in order to uphold the Torah and the mitzvos, so that they not be nullified from the world, G-d forbid, as the enemies and the deniers — may their names be blotted out — desire; for all of them are from the side of Haman and Amalek, may his name be blotted out.
עברית ▾ And now — what shall I say before You, O Dweller on high? And what shall I recount before You, O Dweller in the heavens? When after all these miracles and wonders, I myself pursue myself more than any enemy — for I did not prevail against my desires; on the contrary, I drew upon myself the evil inclination, and I did what I did — until I brought myself, with my own hands, into these afflictions, these afflictions of the soul, which are harder and more bitter than all other afflictions. For there is no affliction like the afflictions of the soul — and this is the greatest of all the compassions, to bring out a soul of Israel from sins and blemishes.
עברית ▾ Master of the entire universe — Singular and Primordial One — Hashem G-d of Truth — You alone know where these words of mine touch, for in truth I am a brute [Psalms 73:22] and I do not know the full force of the miracle of Purim in physical and spiritual matters — and in particular, how to merit to draw down upon myself the full force of this miracle and salvation. But You alone know everything — and You hint to me from afar to draw near to You at all times, through many kinds of sparks [hisnots'tsus] and countless hints. Yet I, through the very stubbornness of my neck, have still not returned from my error. But this is my consolation in my bitter affliction: that I still stubbornly persist in speaking such words as these before You, and in chirping my utterance from the dust toward You [Isaiah 29:4], and in still hoping for Your mercies and Your salvation.
עברית ▾ Master of the Universe — You alone know the full force of the miracle that occurred then in the days of Mordechai and Esther — that they merited to vanquish the battle of Haman-Amalek, to blot out their name and memory from the world. And how through this they merited to draw down a wondrous illumination and awesome salvation in every generation. And how now all our vitality and hope to emerge from our exile — in body and in soul — rests only upon the force of this miracle. For we stand and await Your salvation — as You helped them then to subdue and to break the kelipah [husk/shell of evil] of Haman-Amalek, to uproot and nullify and subdue his great contamination, and to reveal the faith of Your Providence in the world, and to return and to uphold and to receive anew the holiness of Your holy Torah. So too stand with us in Your help, forever, in every generation — until You vanquish the battle completely, to blot out the remembrance of Amalek utterly, and to remove the spirit of impurity from the earth [Zechariah 13:2], and to return us to You in truth, and to take us out from our bitter exile swiftly. Therefore I have come before You — O Lord of wonders — that You direct Your heart to the greatness of the afflictions of our soul, and look upon our affliction and our toil, and do not look upon our deeds — and perform with us wondrous and awesome miracles, the miracles of Purim, in such a manner that You arrange circumstances for good, that we merit to return to You in our lives, swiftly and speedily — and never again return to foolishness [Psalms 85:9].
עברית ▾ Master of the Universe — Giver of life to all life — living G-d and King of eternity. Have mercy upon us and give us life and sustain us, and sanctify us and purify us from the impurity of the dead — which is the primary source of all impurity — which is [the impurity of] adulterous thoughts [hirhuray niuf] that have greatly intensified and spread throughout the world, until we have sunk in the miry depths and there is no footing; we have come into the deep waters and the flood overwhelms us [Psalms 69:3]. Grant us merit through the power of the holiness of the mitzvah of Purim, that we merit to receive and to draw down upon us the holiness and purity of the unblemished Parah Adumah — to purify us truly from the impurity of the dead in this world and in the World to Come. And I should merit through this to receive the holy Chag HaPesach — the season of our freedom — with great holiness and very great and mighty joy. And we should merit through Your mercies to fulfill all the mitzvos of Pesach with great holiness and great and wondrous joy. And help us and save us and guard us through Your abundant mercies from even a trace amount [mashehu] of leaven [chametz] — that no trace of leaven whatsoever be found in our domain and our possession, for all the days of Pesach. For it is revealed and known before You — Master of the entire universe — that it is impossible for flesh and blood by its own power to be watchful over a trace of chametz, except through Your salvation and Your mercy. Have mercy upon us through Your abundant mercies, mighty Redeemer, true Merciful One — and guard us and save us from a trace of chametz for all the holy days of Pesach. And help us and grant us merit to go forth from slavery to freedom, from grief to joy, from mourning to festival, from darkness to great light [Haggadah]. And may we merit to arrange the Seder of Pesach with great arousal and wondrous ardor and very great and mighty joy. And may we merit that there come upon us and illuminate within us with wondrous illumination all the mochin d'gadlus and mochin d'katnus [expanded and contracted states of consciousness] that shine on Pesach — with a great, wondrous, and awesome light. O You Who are full of mercy — help us and save us to fulfill the mitzvos of Purim with such great holiness and joy, that we thereby merit to be truly watchful from even a trace of chametz on Pesach, and to fulfill all the awesome mitzvos of Pesach with great holiness and awesome and mighty joy. Have mercy on us for the sake of Your Name — and grant us the power now to accomplish our request before You in mercy. Help us and save us according to this Torah to return and to draw near to You swiftly in truth; save us through the power of the holiness of the wondrous miracle and salvation of Purim, that we merit to transform ourselves from now — from evil to good — and merit to go forth from grief to joy and from darkness to great light.
עברית ▾ And help us and save us to observe the fast of Ta'anis Esther before Purim with great holiness — and to recite selichos [penitential prayers] with great concentration and devotion, and to cry out and to wail before You very, very greatly. And open my heart that I merit to feel the pain of my sins truly in my heart, and the extreme affliction of my soul — which is beyond estimation — until I merit to cry out a great and bitter cry, as is fitting for me to cry out according to the multitude of my sins and my great transgressions, and my very many and great blemishes — until Your mercies are truly aroused upon me, and You hasten to save me and to redeem me from myself. And You do: “that I shall walk in Your statutes and guard Your commandments” [Ezekiel 36:27] — in truth and with a whole heart. My Father, my King, my Fashioner and Creator and Maker — instruct me in the path: how to begin from the aspect of the holiness of Purim, as You have hinted to us through Your holy Sages. Help me in the way of a miraculous and wondrous and awesome salvation, in the way of a wondrous and awesome renewal — in such a manner that I merit from now to return to You in complete teshuvah in truth. And I merit to begin anew — a complete and true beginning — with all heart and soul in Your true service.
עברית ▾ Master of the Universe — Great of counsel and mighty of deed [Jeremiah 32:19] — set me right with good counsel from before You, and save me swiftly for the sake of Your Name — in such a manner that I merit from now to complete teshuvah in truth for all the days of my life, and not turn from now from Your will, right or left. And I merit to learn and to teach, to observe and to perform and to fulfill all the words of Your Torah with love, and to fulfill all the mitzvos and all the matters of holiness, and to do each and every thing at its appointed time — and I will do everything beautifully in its time with great holiness and purity. And strengthen me in joy and gladness always. And I merit, through the power of the true tzadikim, to banish and to nullify from me and from all Israel the kelipah of Haman-Amalek, may his name be blotted out — and to draw down upon me the holiness of the miracle and salvation of Purim. And have mercy upon us in every generation and every year — that we merit to rejoice very, very greatly in the days of Purim, with great joy and very great gladness. And we merit to fulfill the mitzvah of reading the Megillah with great holiness and purity and very great and mighty joy. And we merit to contemplate the greatness and the force of this wondrous miracle and awesome and mighty salvation — and to publicize the miracle [pirsumai nissa] before every people and congregation. And we merit to fulfill the mitzvah of mishloach manos [sending portions] — each person to his fellow — and matanos l'evyonim [gifts to the poor], and the mitzvah of the Purim feast [seudas Purim] — in great fullness and very great and mighty joy. And we merit to fulfill the mitzvah of the intoxication [shikrus] of Purim as our Sages, of blessed memory, have commanded us [Megillah 7b] — and help us and guard us that the drinking and the intoxication of Purim not harm us at all — neither in body nor in soul — and we not harm any person or any thing through the intoxication; rather, through the intoxication of Purim we merit to enter into great joy and very great gladness — into the joy of Purim — at which time there shines a wondrous and mighty illumination: the illumination of Mordechai, the like of which does not exist at any other time of the year. And I merit to be joyful with all heart, and to make others joyful as well — to gladden all Israel Your people with the joy of Purim, with very, very great and mighty gladness. “We will exult and be glad in Your salvation” [Psalms 21:2] — with true joy — in such a manner that it be for You a delight and a pleasure, and You receive great sha'ashu'im [divine delights] from our drinking and our joys on the holy Purim. And we merit even now, in every year, to the great miracle and the wondrous salvation of Purim — to subdue and to banish and to uproot and to nullify from us the kelipah of Haman-Amalek and his great contamination, and to blot out his name and memory from the world, and to purify ourselves from his contamination with great holiness and purity, and to draw down upon us the holiness of Mordechai and Esther. And we merit to draw the joy of Purim across the entire year — to rejoice always in You with joy and very great gladness in truth. And through this we merit the holiness and purity of the Parah Adumah, and the holiness of Pesach in truth, and we merit to be in joy always. And may there be fulfilled in us the verse that is written: “For in Him our heart will rejoice, for in His holy Name we have trusted” [Psalms 33:21]. “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable before You, {Hashem} my Rock and my Redeemer” [Psalms 19:15].
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