Contemplation in Chassidus - The Service of Prayer in Our Generation

00:02 Before I address the question specifically, first, just a general point. Sometimes, when you make a problem out of something, it becomes a problem. You turn it into a question, and suddenly it is a question. Sometimes you need to catch it before it gets to that point, so the question never comes into being. Then it simply isn’t an issue. We sometimes create a problem and then build whole philosophies around it. All this discussion in our generation, in our time, about prayer belongs to that category. The whole thing—the question of prayer—starts from a mistaken question that should never have existed in the first place. The question doesn’t come from the right place at all. You create a question, and suddenly there are arguments. Bochurim sit in the dining room, in the mikveh, here and there, [unclear], arguing: This is Rashi, this is the Rashash, yes it is, no it isn’t, this is the point. Sometimes we occupy ourselves with a problem we created, and it becomes our entire reality, because we forget what we’re talking about. The Rebbe often speaks in his sichos about this tendency to create things. As an example, the Rebbe cites the whole debate between [unclear]. There was a book the Rebbe spoke about many times, with all kinds of clever ideas and stories. One story raised a question about a stone used for a mill—how do you call it?—and how to hold the stone, and how to hold the—I don’t remember the question, but I laughed when someone told me about it. There was a whole story with a whole question. But in reality it has no bearing: the story couldn’t have happened, because in reality there is no such way to hold a millstone. And perhaps the stone [unclear]. Think about it: a question about something that doesn’t exist in reality. The Rebbe speaks about this often, because of the questions people asked

02:26 about the Rambam and Rashi. What’s the point? Sometimes we need to stop and think about what we’re actually discussing. So the problem is—I think our mistake, very often, is that we’ve made prayer into a lofty level. You turn something into a lofty level, and then you start being afraid of it. We’ve made prayer into a lofty level: “Oh, even the angels…” I think we’ve made it into a lofty level. “That bochur is on a high level.” Once you’ve done that, it becomes frightening. “Do I belong to this or not? Is it for me or isn’t it?” That’s why we get caught up in all this. The approach is wrong from the outset. After all, this is prayer. Look in the sefarim—from Tanya and Likkutei Torah, from one maamar to another, from Rebbe to Rebbe, and in the teachings of our Rebbe and the Rebbe Rashab. It isn’t—what do you mean? We’ve turned it into [unclear]. What is the order? What is the order? [unclear]. We’ve turned it into [unclear]. Moshiach—what is Moshiach? Moshiach is [unclear]. Moshiach is the Geulah of the world and all that exists in it. As [unclear] says. Just because it’s called by another name, does that make it something different, with a different meaning? Pick up any sicha and they’ll bring in Moshiach. So what is the Rebbe talking about? He’s talking about [unclear]. He’s talking about the supreme kindness. He’s talking about bringing G-dliness and the Essence into my being, into the world, into everything. And when does the Rebbe do that? When you read any maamar you study, or Torah—what does that mean for prayer? Even when you study Tehillim, very often you’re in a certain mode, occupied with prayer, even if you forget it. Yes, sometimes we study, but we’re so caught up in the school of thought that we forget. When do you connect? When do you sense that there is something G-dly here? We talk about concentration, and the whole school of thought becomes something alive. That is prayer. So what is there even to doubt? What is the question of whether I

04:38 need to pray, whether I need to pray? “In our generation, do people pray? Do I belong to this or not?” The question itself comes from such a narrow place. We construct styles, systems, names and titles, and suddenly it becomes [unclear]. You’re sitting in Rabbi Akiva’s place. So you know what? You’re making a whole issue out of it. That’s not the point. In fact, you see it in the Rebbe’s sefarim [unclear]. Often there’s a lot of noise around this. A lot of people come to me about it, and I see that it’s one of the questions here too, for all of us: Do we need to struggle over how to do this ourselves? When I think about arranging to do it in a way that won’t [unclear]—can I do it in a closed room, an open room? I’m telling you, I once saw Shlomo write that someone who hides himself is also not someone who reveals himself. The very fact that you make such an issue of needing to hide yourself shows that, to you, it’s something terribly significant. If [unclear]. It can’t be among you, because [unclear]. “I’ll go into that room. Just me. Just me. Just me.” In your head. I’m telling you, that too is hiding yourself. Then it becomes a big issue. It should simply be this way. Prayer is the normal thing. Being healthy is the normal thing. This is a person; this is a Jew. And prayer is personal. So what is there to hide here? What do you need to hide? Where do you need to go into hiding? Of course, you don’t need to stand in the middle of [unclear], put the case on the cars, and start singing a niggun. That’s something else. But wherever

06:42 it’s done, the very act of thinking about Chassidus before prayer and praying, and putting yourself into avodas hatefillah—that is life itself. It isn’t some extra hiddur. We make it into some special holy undertaking, and suddenly all sorts of questions arise: “Does it apply to me? Doesn’t it? It’s not for me; the world isn’t…” No, no. This is essential to life itself. Now the questions begin: “Where are the sources? Where is it written?” It doesn’t need to be written; this is the thing itself. This is what every teaching and every sicha is about. And if you want sources, take a sicha or a letter from the Rebbe. Start at the beginning and go through sicha after sicha, and see what’s written there. Every sicha speaks to this point, in one way or another. Start [unclear]. Go to Acharei-Kedoshim. Take one sicha after another. What is the Rebbe—the Rebbe… You’re now with Chaim Goshen[?], yes, good bochurim. Everything I know by heart. What is the Rebbe talking about? The sicha of Acharei-Kedoshim: golah, Geulah—bringing the alef into golah. What else is the point? What is the essence of the sicha? That we need to bring G-dliness into reality, into this particular situation, into my life. When do I do that? During prayer. That is the time for prayer. Afterward, it carries through the day. So with this matter of prayer, we think that once there’s an order of blessings, that’s what the siddur is about. And with all our doubts and all the tension surrounding it, we lose the… We no longer look at it that way. Then the order becomes something external. But we pray because we can’t do otherwise. Life is prayer, and that is where it begins—in life. Now, regarding [unclear], the Rebbe brings the story of [unclear]. The Rebbe wanted to grant him many years, but he didn’t want many years. The first time, this is a riddle that the Rebbe gives [unclear]. What is the point? So we brought in the sicha with [unclear] that [unclear] said to the Rebbe: “That isn’t a gift.” No, it isn’t a matter of accepting a gift. You’re setting conditions: a gift this way, a gift that way. I see it this way; I see it that way. The Rebbe asks: “Yes, ... but look, that’s half a blessing. Tell me, are you setting a condition? What am I to explain?” [Unclear] wasn’t setting conditions. He was only stating what had been explained to him: life means, first and foremost, G-dliness. If it isn’t G-dliness, it isn’t life. These may be years, but they aren’t life. At that point, one can live and one can live [unclear]. That isn’t life. Rabbi Elazar—that’s what they say—Rabbi Elazar lived. No, there is no Rabbi Elazar [unclear]. Life means, first and foremost, G-dliness. Life without G-dliness isn’t life. And as the Rebbe says, that is our DNA, our DNA. The [unclear], whose words [unclear]—the DNA of a Jew. What is our DNA? Our DNA is the feeling that [unclear]. Life is G-dliness. Life is G-dliness. Without that, it isn’t life. And that is prayer.

08:50 He didn’t want a great many years. For the first time, this is a riddle the Rebbe poses [unclear]. What is the point? So we brought up, in the sicha with [unclear], that [unclear] said to the Rebbe: “That isn’t a gift.” No, it isn’t a matter of receiving a gift. You’re setting conditions: a gift like this, a gift like that. I see it this way; I see it that way. The Rebbe asks: “Yes, ... but look, that’s half a blessing.” Tell me, what—would you set a condition? How can I explain it? [Unclear] wasn’t setting conditions. He was only mentioning what had been explained to him: life is, first and foremost, G-dliness. If it isn’t G-dliness, it isn’t life. Here, those are years, but they aren’t life. You can live for an hour, and you can live—but that isn’t life. Rabbi Elazar—that’s what they say—Rabbi Elazar lived. No, there is no Rabbi Elazar. Life is, first and foremost, G-dliness. Life without G-dliness isn’t life. And as the Rebbe says, this is the DNA, this is our DNA, the DNA. The Rebbe, [unclear], the DNA of a Jew. What is our DNA? Our DNA is the feeling that [unclear]. Life is G-dliness. Life is G-dliness. That isn’t life. And that is the prayer.