Sunday, February 19, 2012

Two Prayers For Peace



From The Flame of the Heart, translations from Reb Noson’s Likutey Tefilos.

Peaceful Dialogue

Master of peace, “King unto Whom peace belongs,” may it be Your will to bestow peace on Your People, Israel. And let peace grow and extend to all the inhabitants of the world until there is no longer any hatred, jealousy, conflict, strife or hostility between one person and another. May there be only great love and peace among all people. May we all recognize the love that others bear for us and know that they seek our good and our love, and that they desire our lasting success.

Then all people will be able to come together to engage in genuine dialogue and explain the truth to each other, inspiring one another to contemplate man’s lot in this world. For this world passes as the blink of an eye, like a passing shadow—not even the shadow cast by a tree or a wall, but the shadow of a flying bird, which moves quickly out of view.

Let all people discuss with their friends the ultimate futility of worldly desires, and come to understand the true purpose of the soul’s descent to this lowly world. Let us speak at length with each other in a spirit of brotherhood and love truthfully, from the depths of our hearts, without any desire to win arguments or to provoke each other at all.

Through such dialogue may we all draw near to You with absolute sincerity, discarding our “false gods of silver and gold.” May we cease to follow the crookedness of our hearts that draws us toward evil, and may we no longer waste our lives in the pursuit of wealth; may we neither chase after luxuries nor dedicate our lives to amassing riches. Then the spirit of folly will be banished from our hearts, and peace will grow and spread throughout the world.

All Israel will return to You in complete repentance, as is Your beneficent will. All the nations of the world, too, will be aroused spiritually, and they will recognize the ultimate truth. They, too, will all draw near to You and accept upon themselves the yoke of Your Kingship, as the prophet has promised, “For I will turn the language of the nations to one of pure speech, that they all call upon the Name of God and serve Him with a common accord” (LT I, 409).

The Hidden Tzaddikim

Merciful God, reveal to us the “hidden Torah” (secrets of Kabbalah), and reveal to us the hidden tzaddikim. Even if the world does not yet deserve to glimpse this hidden light, deal with us mercifully nevertheless; do not relate to us with strict justice. Arouse Your true mercy and kindness on our behalf, and help us to become worthy of the revelation of the hidden tzaddikim and the hidden Torah.

For we have no hope and nothing upon which to rely, except the hidden tzaddikim and the hidden Torah. Only they can protect us now, in the depths of this bitter exile, in the darkness that precedes the coming of the Mashiach. In Your mercy, awaken Your compassion and help us overcome completely the evil in our hearts, as is Your will. May our deeds find favor in Your eyes, so that even in this world we may experience something of the Supernal Light that is hidden and stored away for the tzaddikim, as the verses state, “Light is sown for the righteous and joy for the upright of heart,” and, “Say of the righteous: It shall be well, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.”

Send peace to the Jewish people and remove all strife from the world, until the influence of peace is so strong that those who have drifted far from You will be drawn near, to serve and revere You. Even those most distant from holiness, who are befouled by all sorts of abominations—may they all experience a spiritual awakening; may they draw near to You through the power of the true tzaddikim, who strive continually to reveal Your Godliness and dominion to the Jewish people and to all of humanity.

Even in this world, let us taste of the wondrous peace that You shall reveal in Days to Come, as the prophet states, “And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid, and the bull and the lion and the fattened calf together, and a small child shall lead them. They will do no harm, and they will destroy nothing in all My holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea” (LT I, 497).

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