World Kabbalah Convention, October 2025 - ״In One Prayer"

Lesson #6 "A Complete Prayer"

Selected Excerpts from the Sources

1. RABASH, Article No. 9 (1984), "One Should Always Sell the Beams of His House"

"We must believe that everything that the Creator gives us is for our own good, although we must pray, just in case, that the Creator will lift these troubles from us. However, we must know that the prayer and the granting of the prayer are two separate issues. In other words, if we do what we must, then the Creator will do what is good for us, as with the above allegory. It is said about that, “And the Lord will do that which seems good to Him.”"

2. RABASH, Article No. 10 (1988), “What Are the Four Qualities of Those Who Go to the Seminary, in the Work?”

"The time of answering the prayer, for man to receive permission to enter the King’s palace so that He will bring him closer to Him and he will be rewarded with Dvekut with the Creator, is specifically when a person sees that, he is lost and powerless to do anything. At that time a person gives a real prayer, since he sees that he is simply wicked. That is, he has no grip on Kedusha [holiness/sanctity].

For this reason, when a person comes into a descent, he should not be startled and escape the campaign. On the contrary, this is the time to make a heartfelt prayer."

3. RABASH, Letter No. 65

"Once he decides on complete annulment, he asks the Creator to help him carry it out. This means that although in the mind and the desire he sees that the body disagrees with him annulling all his desires before the Creator instead of for his own sake, he should pray to the Creator to help him want to annul before Him with all the desires, leaving no desire for himself. This is called a “complete prayer,” meaning that he wishes that the Creator will give him a complete desire without any compromises to himself, and he asks of the Creator to help him always be with his righteousness."

4. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 50, "Two States"

"Sometimes when some desire and awakening for the work of the Creator comes to a person, and he thinks that it comes to him by chance, he should know that here, too, he made an effort that preceded the hearing. He prayed to be helped from above to be able to perform an act with intent, and this is called raising MAN.

Yet, he has already forgotten about it and did not regard it as doing, since he did not receive an immediate answer to the prayer, so as to say, “You hear the prayer of every mouth.” Still, one should believe that the order from above is that the response for the prayer may come several days and months after he prayed.

One should not think that it is by chance that he received this awakening now."

5. RABASH, Article No. 12 (1986), "What Is the Main Deficiency for which One Should Pray?"

"The real deficiency for which one must pray to the Creator should be the Kli. This follows the rule, “There is no light without a Kli.” When he prays for a real deficiency that he is lacking comes the granting of the prayer when the Creator gives him a new Kli, as it is written, “And I will remove the stony heart from your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.”"

6. RABASH, Article No. 25 (1991), "What Does It Mean that One Who Repents Should Be in Happiness?"

"The answering of the prayer is when a person is in a state of joy, when he is content with his share and has no need to receive a higher degree. Rather, in the state he is in, he is content and feels that he is blessed by the Creator. At that time, “The blessed clings to the Blessed,” and then is the time when he can be rewarded with Dvekut, since he already has Kelim for it from the left.

Then, when he can say that he is content with his share, although he is deficient to the point that he feels deficiency and pain at being removed from the Creator, this is considered that he is “happy with his lot.” And since only in the manner that he is deficient can we say that he is “happy with his lot,” whereas when he has no lack, it is not regarded as “happy with his lot,” since “happy with his lot” means that he settles for little, and if he has no deficiency then he is not regarded as “settling for little,” since he has no need for more than he has."

7. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 5, "Lishma Is an Awakening from Above, and Why Do We Need an Awakening from Below?"

"One must know, when exerting to attain the Lishma, to take upon himself to want to work entirely to bestow, completely, meaning only to bestow and not to receive anything. Only then does one begin to see that the organs do not agree to this view.

From this one can come to clear awareness that he has no other choice but to pour out his heart to the Creator to help him so the body will agree to enslave itself to the Creator unconditionally, as he sees that he cannot persuade his body to annul itself completely. It turns out that precisely when one sees that there is no hope that his body will agree to work for the Creator by itself, one’s prayer can be from the bottom of the heart, and then his prayer is accepted."

8. Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 52

"“While they speak, I listen,” meaning the measure of the Creator’s listening depends precisely on the measure of the longing that appears during the saying of the prayer. When one feels excessive longing, he should know at that time that the Creator is listening to him attentively.

Clearly, when he knows this, he pours his heart out even stronger, for there is no greater privilege than the King of the world being attentive to him. This is quite similar to what our sages said, “The Creator longs for the prayer of righteous,” for the Creator’s desire for a person to draw near Him awakens great power and longing in the person to crave for the Creator, for “As in water of the face to the face, so the heart of man to man.”

It follows that the saying of the prayer and the hearing of the prayer go hand in hand until they accumulate to the full measure and he acquires everything."

9. RABASH, Article No. 17, Part 2, (1984), "The Agenda of the Assembly"

"In love of friends we should behave the same: After examining ourselves and following the known advice of praying, we should think as though our prayer has been answered and rejoice with our friends, as though all the friends are one body. And as the body wishes for all its organs to enjoy, we, too, want all our friends to enjoy themselves now.

Hence, after all the calculations comes the time of joy and love of friends. At that time, everyone should feel happy, as though one had just sealed a very good deal that will earn him lots of money. And it is customary that at such a time he gives drinks to the friends.

Similarly, here each one needs his friends to drink and eat cakes, etc. Because now he is happy, he wishes his friends to feel good, too. Hence, the dispersion of the assembly should be in a state of joy and elation."

10. Baal HaSulam, Letter No. 57

"There is no happier state in man’s world than when he finds himself despaired with his own strength. That is, he has already labored and done all that he could possibly imagine he could do, but found no remedy. It is then that he is fit for a wholehearted prayer for His help because he knows for certain that his own work will not help him.

As long as he feels some strength of his own, his prayer will not be whole because the evil inclination rushes first and tells him, “First you must do what you can, and then you will be worthy of the Creator.”

It was said about this, “The Lord is high and the low will see.” For once a person has labored in all kinds of work, and has become disillusioned, he comes into real lowliness, knowing that he is the lowest of all the people, as there is nothing good in the structure of his body. At that time, his prayer is complete and he is granted by His generous hand."