Halakhah su Geremia 23:78

One should strengthen himself like a lion to get up in the morning to serve his Creator, so that it is he who awakens the dawn. Rem"a: At least, one should not delay beyond the time when the congregation prays (Tur). Rem"a: "I have set the Lord before me constantly" (Psalms 16:8); this is a major principle in the Torah and amongst the virtues of the righteous who walk before God. For a person's way of sitting, his movements and his dealings while he is alone in his house are not like his way of sitting, his movements and his dealings when he is before a great king; nor are his speech and free expression as much as he wants when he is with his household members and his relatives like his speech when in a royal audience. All the more so when one takes to heart that the Great King, the Holy One, Blessed Is He, Whose glory fills the earth, is standing over him and watching his actions, as it is stated: "'Will a man hide in concealment and I will not see him?' - the word of God" (Jeremiah 23:24), he immediately acquires fear and submission in dread of God, May He Be Blessed, and is ashamed of Him constantly (Guide for the Perplexed III 52). And one should not be ashamed because of people who mock him in his service of God, and should also go modestly. And when he lies on his bed he should know before Whom he lies, and as soon as he wakes up from sleep he should rise eagerly to the service of his Creator, May He Be Blessed and Exalted (Tur).

Therefore, it is imperative for a person to be strong as a lion. Immediately upon awakening (and reciting the Modeh Ani prayer) you should rise with alacrity for the service of the Creator, Blessed and Elevated is He, before you are over-whelmed by your evil impulse with various excuses not to rise, and be outsmarted and seduced in the winter [with this argument]: "How can you rise now so early in the morning when the weather is so cold?" Or, in the summer it will argue: "How can you rise from your bed while you are still not satisfied with enough sleep?" or other similar claims. The evil impulse knows very well the art of entrapping a person with all kinds of snares to prevent him from rising. Therefore every sensitive person who fears and trembles before the word of Hashem must triumph over the evil impulse and not listen to it, even if it is extremely difficult because of physical considerations or laziness. Your aim must be to fulfill the will of the King of kings, the Holy One, Blessed be He. You should realize that if you were called by any individual to participate in a business transaction in which there is profit, or to collect a debt, or if someone called with a plan to save your wealth from disaster, for example, if a fire occurred in the city or something similar occurred, you certainly would be quick to awaken immediately because of your concern for your wealth and you would not act sluggishly. Similarly, if you would need to go to the service of the king you would rise with alacrity and not be sluggish lest you be denigrated. [Or you would rise with alacrity] in order to find favor in the eyes of the king. How much more so should this apply for the service of the King of kings, the Holy One, Blessed is He, that you should be concerned to rise quickly and with alacrity. Once you accustom yourself to this practice four or five times you will no longer find it difficult, [as our Sages have said:] "He who makes an effort to purify himself is [Divinely] assisted in his efforts."⁵Maseches Yoma 38b.

In order to unveil the divine ideal in this world, revelation must occur through two complementary facets. Every individual creature is limited, and therefore cannot grasp divine perfection, but the people of Israel as a collective allows divine perfection to be manifest in the world. This indicates the tremendous importance of a unified Israel, because only the Jewish people, in all its components, can receive the Torah and with it rectify the world. Just as there is a difference between souls, so do the words of the Torah have multiple meanings, as it is written: “God said one thing from which I have heard two” (Tehilim 62:12) and: “Indeed, My word is like fire, like a hammer shattering rock” (Yirmiyahu 23:29). The Sages extrapolate, “Just as this hammer fragments into sparks, so too each and every statement that came from God’s mouth refracts into seventy languages” (Shabbat 88b). “Just as this hammer is divided into many fragments, so one verse of scripture generates many meanings (Sanhedrin 34a). Likewise, it is said about the disagreements between Beit Hillel and Beit Shamai, and all other rabbinic disputes, “These and those are the words of the living God” (Eruvin 13b).

A nida (a woman who has menstruated and not yet purified herself by going to the mikveh) is obligated to recite all the berakhot and prayers and may study Torah, for words of Torah cannot become impure, as it is written: “Indeed, My word is like fire” (Yirmiyahu 23:29). Just like fire cannot become impure, the words of Torah do not contract impurity (Berakhot 22a).

He who speaks and is concerned only with his own words and does not consider God¹Lit “Searcher of kidneys.” Who knows his thoughts, his very coming and going Who counts his steps and before Whose glory and power his words are laid, as it is written, “Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? Saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? Saith the Lord” (Jer. 23:23); this man is not on a good path. For the nature of man should be to think of his Creator continually and to place Him before himself, as it is written, “ I have set the Lord always before me” (Ps. 16:8). When a man sits in solitude, wherever he may be, let him empty his mind of all vain matters and think only of his Creator, of His holiness and wonders and of His favors which He does for us each day. But when a despised man concentrates on idle things or hears vain matters, even though he does not intend to speak, immediately he turns his thoughts to idleness²Shabbath 149a. with loss to himself for each and every good thought which (rightfully) should be thought of his Creator’s holiness and of His fear so pure. He should be in that good, pure and exalted station to worship God for love and desire of His commands. And this is the grand worship that the ministering angels and the hosts of heaven, who declaim His holiness, employ as it is said, “Holy, holy, holy” (Isa. 6:3). Therefore one needs to be careful and not multiply idle talk lest he forget the Lord who is always before him, as the seeing before the blind (so is He) with His presence and strength in all places. And this blind man is one who does not see except through his vain thoughts and does not remember the Lord and removes himself from the standard of truth and fear of Him. For it (fear of God) is not found in his heart because of the hardness of his heart, which is calloused and distant from God, in his mind are found only vain thoughts. Therefore he is not present in the Divine Mind, only through difficulty and force. As the blind person cannot perceive or apprehend the person who is before him if he does not touch him or hear his voice, so too an individual cannot learn and bind God in his heart permanently unless he forsake transgression. For transgressions divide and darken fear of the Lord and change one’s countenance³Midrash Rabbah, ed. Horeb. Genesis, Chapter LXXIII, p. 158a. and so he says, “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God” (Isa. 59:2).

Therefore every man should increase his guarding. And if upon running into a beautiful woman, a man will think that Gehinnom is open between her eyelids and that any who approaches her will burn in a perpetual fire, and review his thoughts about these things, 'it will not be a cause of stumbling for him.' And they, may their memory be blessed, said (Berakhot 5a) that if [he] does not have the power in his hand to kill the impulse and to distance its thought from him, he should recite the reading of Shema or involve himself with Torah [study]. And they informed us that it will die with this in any event - as they, may their memory be blessed, said (Kiddushin 31a), "If it is a stone it will dissolve, and if it is iron, it will explode, as it is stated (Jeremiah 23:29), 'Is My word not thus, like fire, etc.'"