ייִדישער מחשבֿה אויף ישעיהו 8:14

Prayer asks that the neshama fulfill her role. When days and years pass without properly aligned⁹The term kavana is central to the practice of prayer, and difficult to translate. Common renderings as ‘focus’ or ‘intention’ strike me as indicative of a process centered outside the self (focus on… intention toward…) Alignment adds the sense of prayer as relationship and right inner orientation of self which allow something to flow through the self (alignment with...) See section 4:8, 11, 12 for further discussion, as well as footnote 17. prayer, battering-stones¹⁰Isaiah 8:14. These are the stones which themselves do the damage, as opposed to the stumbling blocks to which they are joined in the verse (seen Malbim ad loc). Perhaps the proper image is that of a rock-like accretion which accumulates around the heart from a lack of proper prayer. Then when you reach for the heart, you hurt yourself on the hard, sharp surface that has built up. This pain breeds lethargy, meaning a lack of desire or motivation to try and touch the heart. accumulate around the heart, through which we feel an inner spiritual lethargy. And when the good¹¹Translating the word tov as good is literally accurate, but not so helpful in understanding in context. This is because Hebrew is a word-poor language, and relies on context to communicate nuance of meaning. Therefore understanding the meaning of tov, where ever it is used, comes in context of its classic usages. In the first chapter of Genesis, before we hear of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the tree of moral distinctions, there is good. When G–d looks at creation and sees that it is good, there is no evil to define it by contrast. This is good in the existential sense - that which perfectly conforms to the will of its Creator (see Rashi Bereshit 1:7מעל לרקיע ). Humanity does not have the perfection as a creator to fully actualize our inner conception of the good which we desire be. However, an essential expression of our Divine Image is the ability to recognize the potential good in the world, that which is in a state of “not yet,” and to bring it to fruition through prayer and action (see comments on Rashi Bereshit 2:5 in note 2). After the eating from the tree, our access to good comes through relative experience (good as opposed to evil), and our expression of good through words and deeds that move creation toward a state of deeper Divine intention. Thus the following two definitions offered by R’ Kook in Olat Reiyah Pesukei dezimra 14 - spirit¹²The good spirit can be understood as a type of Divine spirit which fills man, like ruach hakodesh. Compare Tehillim 143:10 with the comments of the Malbim and the Radak. For a parallel text from R’ Kook see Olat Reiyah, Modeh Ani 2. returns, and the gift of prayer is given from above, we move forward with each prayer, removing the obstacles, and the many blockages which have gathered in the flowing river of the highest¹³Translating the superlative עליונה poses a similar problem to translating טוב Here are some usages by R’ kook which may suggest its general meaning –
עליון – אידיאלי, אצלי, אלוקי (עפ"י א"ק ב שיג, ושם א רלב) רם במעלתו מכל העניינים הזעירים שלבני אדם (עפ"י ע"ר א קיג)
Transcendent – ideal, noble, G–dly (Orot Kodesh 2:313, 1:232) Elevated in its level from all the small, human matters (Olat Reiyah I p.113)
Additionally, it implies an ideal but dynamic state, one which lies beyond the ability to manifest, but toward which we may continually strive in an asymptotic relationship. soul of life begin to clear. And with that neshama elevation gained through each prayer, relative to the value¹⁴The word erech is rendered as value in the sense of a thing’s place or essential nature in relation to its particular framework ערך – מקומו וענינו (ע"ר א של) of its time, come known achievements¹⁵And with each prayer as it comes fit to the system of alignment in time of day, week, month, year unique in the sameness intersecting a moment which will never be again, deficiencies of the past are healed through attaining accomplishments already known. This already known is in the sense of territory which we already have, we are just recovering it in an active sense. See the word’s biblical usage as a portion which we will inherit in the land and recall that inheritance is not like other processes of acquisition. Rather than acquiring something foreign to us, we are growing into something which was inherent but not yet attained. as cures for the deficiencies of the past. Indeed, the lack is not filled all at once, but rather step by step, and the brilliance¹⁶See Bereshit 6:16, and the midrash Bereshit Rabba 31:11 brought by Rashi on whether the tzohar in Noah’s ark was a window or a gemstone. Is this illumination a window on a different world or a refraction of the light of the soul within? of prayer progressively reveals its lights.