וְאָנֹכִ֞י עָמַ֣דְתִּי בָהָ֗ר כַּיָּמִים֙ הָרִ֣אשֹׁנִ֔ים אַרְבָּעִ֣ים י֔וֹם וְאַרְבָּעִ֖ים לָ֑יְלָה וַיִּשְׁמַ֨ע יְהוָ֜ה אֵלַ֗י גַּ֚ם בַּפַּ֣עַם הַהִ֔וא לֹא־אָבָ֥ה יְהוָ֖ה הַשְׁחִיתֶֽךָ׃
내가 처음과 같이 사십 주야를 산에서 유하였고 그 때에도 여호와께서 내 말을 들으사 너를 참아 멸하지 아니하시고
Olat Reiyah
“R. Chanin said in the name of R. Chanina: If one prays at length, their prayer does not return empty. From where do we know this? From Moshe our Teacher, as it says, ‘And I prayed to G–d…’(Devarim 9:26), and it is written afterwards, ‘and G–d listened to me that time also.’ (Devarim 10:10) Is that so? Didn’t R. Chiyya bar Abba say in the name of R. Yochanan - if one prays at length and expects the fulfillment of his prayer, in the end he comes to heartbreak, as it says, ‘Hope deferred makes the heart sick’? (Mishle 13:12) What is his remedy? Occupy himself with Torah, as it says, ‘But desire fulfilled is a tree of life; (ibid.) and the tree of life is none other than the Torah, as it says, ‘She is a tree of life to those who hold fast to her!’ (Mishle 3:18) — There is no contradiction: one refers to a man who prays at length and expects the fulfillment of his prayer, the other to one who prays at length without expecting the fulfillment of his prayer.” [Berachot 32b]
Prayer is the product of spiritual feeling from the depths of the soul’s nature, and the intellect is fit to serve only as her introduction and foundation, because in so far as one’s intellect is lucid, and through it one’s actions aligned toward the essence of wholeness, so the nature of their soul is elevated and her power increased in the moment when she pours out her plaint before her Maker. But mingling a deep accounting of intellectual influences into prayer itself removes one from the realm of prayer at all, because the true nature of prayer, and its essential precious quality, comes not through an accounting of logical, intellectual connections, but rather from above this. That is how the nature of the soul is established - through the revelation of the essential nature of the depths of the pure soul as she turns longingly toward the G–d of her redemption. Therefore, to the extent that no alien force is mingled in the element of spiritual feeling, and she is left in her pure nature to aspire toward the object of her actions, the greater the power of prayer grows. One who prolongs prayer with the expectation of response, bringing intellectual functions into prayer, comes to heartache. The ways of the soul’s sentiments in her inner nature will be withheld from them, since they desire to give them intellectual pathways, through which they will never achieve comprehension nor come by way of them to their ultimate purpose.
However, if one’s soul longs for intellectual perfection, that through it their emotions be clear and more fit for intellectual awareness, the practice of prayer is not for this purpose. Rather, this is achieved through Torah, and the more one gains wisdom in Torah, and through it their intellect is refined, so the intellect will work on the powers of feeling and imagination, that they be their brightest. But there is one who prays at length in order to actualize the longings of the soul and its thirst for Divine intimacy, and does not expect to see their fulfillment. This includes the one who readies further wisdom and fitting holy consciousness before the time of prayer, because according to the magnitude of preparation, so will be the preciousness loftiness of the feeling. Their prayer is like the lengthy prayer of Moshe our Teacher, which flowed from the intellectual nature of that which preceded it, his primary occupation of Torah, and was a lofty preparation for prayer fit to the value of his stature. Such a prayer does not return empty.
Prayer is the product of spiritual feeling from the depths of the soul’s nature, and the intellect is fit to serve only as her introduction and foundation, because in so far as one’s intellect is lucid, and through it one’s actions aligned toward the essence of wholeness, so the nature of their soul is elevated and her power increased in the moment when she pours out her plaint before her Maker. But mingling a deep accounting of intellectual influences into prayer itself removes one from the realm of prayer at all, because the true nature of prayer, and its essential precious quality, comes not through an accounting of logical, intellectual connections, but rather from above this. That is how the nature of the soul is established - through the revelation of the essential nature of the depths of the pure soul as she turns longingly toward the G–d of her redemption. Therefore, to the extent that no alien force is mingled in the element of spiritual feeling, and she is left in her pure nature to aspire toward the object of her actions, the greater the power of prayer grows. One who prolongs prayer with the expectation of response, bringing intellectual functions into prayer, comes to heartache. The ways of the soul’s sentiments in her inner nature will be withheld from them, since they desire to give them intellectual pathways, through which they will never achieve comprehension nor come by way of them to their ultimate purpose.
However, if one’s soul longs for intellectual perfection, that through it their emotions be clear and more fit for intellectual awareness, the practice of prayer is not for this purpose. Rather, this is achieved through Torah, and the more one gains wisdom in Torah, and through it their intellect is refined, so the intellect will work on the powers of feeling and imagination, that they be their brightest. But there is one who prays at length in order to actualize the longings of the soul and its thirst for Divine intimacy, and does not expect to see their fulfillment. This includes the one who readies further wisdom and fitting holy consciousness before the time of prayer, because according to the magnitude of preparation, so will be the preciousness loftiness of the feeling. Their prayer is like the lengthy prayer of Moshe our Teacher, which flowed from the intellectual nature of that which preceded it, his primary occupation of Torah, and was a lofty preparation for prayer fit to the value of his stature. Such a prayer does not return empty.