1955 Since the Destruction of the Temple • A Prayer by the Gaon HaTzaddik Rabbi

1955 years since the destruction of the Second Temple—tomorrow is Tishah B’Av. The entire Jewish people will wrap themselves in mourning, to weep over the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash and the Shechinah being found in exile.

Before you is a long prayer written by the Gaon HaTzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, to be said before reciting the Kinot and Megillat Eichah. In this prayer, The Rav, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, speaks about how we must weep over the fire that we ourselves have ignited in our own days in Zion—for every generation in which it is not rebuilt, it is as though it was destroyed in that generation. And through the merit of our tears, the Beis HaMikdash will be rebuilt; darkness will be transformed into radiant lights, and His Name will be magnified in all the worlds.

Here is the complete prayer for reading and downloading:

To Awaken Mercy and to Strengthen the Lights of Illumination over the Lights of Fire, and to Reveal Hashem’s Mercy in the World

Master of the World, Almighty—nothing is beyond You, and no plan is withheld from You—grant me the merit to pour out my heart like water on Tishah B’Av, at the time of reciting the Kinot and Megillat Eichah. Grant me the merit to shed a flowing river of tears—oceans of weeping—over the sins of my youth and my transgressions, which have caused, and continue to cause at every moment and every second, the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash; over the lights of illumination that I have turned into lights of fire; over the endless forbidden sights and forbidden touches that ignite the fire of the Sitra Achra and intensify the flames of destruction—“Who can dwell for me with blazing fires? Who can dwell for me with a consuming fire?”—for with my own hands I ignite, at every moment and every second, a fire in Zion, as it is said: “He kindled a fire in Zion, and it consumed its foundations.”

Please—Merciful and Gracious One, Almighty—nothing is beyond You, and no plan is withheld from You—how long will I serve You only with a mitzvah performed by rote, mere habit, about which it is said that all who are sick with sorrow will languish, and even oceans of tears will not suffice to atone for it—especially for the death of the tzaddikim, which is doubly as severe as the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash; and especially for the terrible murders of the nine million who were in the Holocaust, and all the additional killings from the Holocaust until our days; and all the dreadful killings that occur each and every day—when I alone am to blame for them. For in all my gilgulim I have only added sin upon transgression: from iniquities I moved to willful sins, and from willful sins I moved to rebellions; and today, literally, I am already rebelling at every moment and every second against the Shechinah of Your might. Through my dreadful arrogance I drive the Shechinah away from the earth, and I cause what is said: “He cut off His word”—He tore His royal garment—so that the lights of illumination were turned into lights of fire, and the Beis HaMikdash was burned—the Sanctuary of Hashem, which is the garment = 378 for the Shechinah; and the־Chashmal [=378] was turned into fire—into the three impure kelipot: a storm-wind, a great cloud, and a flashing fire. And it was fulfilled in me what is said: “Because this people draws near with its mouth and honors Me with its lips, but its heart is far from Me, and their fear of Me has become a mitzvah performed by rote,” therefore, behold, I will continue to astonish this people—astonishment upon astonishment—and the wisdom of its wise will be lost, and the understanding of its discerning will be concealed.”

And I, through my many iniquities and transgressions, caused wisdom to depart from the wise—something doubly as severe as the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash. All my deeds were in darkness, and I forgot the verse said in Tehillim (139:12): “Even darkness does not darken from You; night shines like day—darkness is like light,” and: “If a man hides in hidden places, will I not see him?”

Please, Hashem: “Guard me, Hashem, from the hands of the wicked; protect me from the man of violence, who planned to push my steps. The arrogant hid a trap for me, and cords—they spread a net beside the path; they set snares for me, Selah.” And wherever I turn I see only turmoil and stumbling blocks, for “the snares of death confronted me”—terrible desires, forbidden gazes, and blemished thoughts. “Such knowledge is wondrous to me; it is too lofty—I cannot attain it. Where can I go from Your spirit, and where can I flee from Your Presence?”

Please—Merciful and Gracious One—from the day You created Your world, there has never been a creature as lowly as I am, nor will there be until the end of generations. And yet, precisely from a lowly creature like me—one beneath whom there is none—precisely from me: “Yitgaddal v’yitkaddash Shmei Rabbah.”

Please—Merciful and Gracious One—do it for the sake of Your great and awesome Name that is called upon us. Grant me the merit to bring down tears like a flowing river, and let the verse said about Rabbi Akiva be fulfilled in me: “From weeping he bandaged rivers, and from hiddenness he brought forth light.” And through my weeping over the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash, grant that all my “lights of fire” be repaired; and may the torrent of my tears extinguish the fire of desires that burns within me day and night without pause, without even a second of interruption.

And through my tears—poured out like rivers and like pools—grant me the merit to transform all the burning blood within me into a fire, a flame of holiness for Hashem, may He be blessed. May all that burning blood be transformed into a holy blaze, from which the quarry of souls is hewn. And through this, may the Beis HaMikdash be rebuilt—for with the fire of my desires I ignited the Beis HaMikdash, and with the torrent of my weeping—which will transform lights of fire into lights of illumination—You are destined to rebuild it with a fire, a flame of holiness.

Until, through the merit of my awesome weeping and the weeping of the entire House of Israel, the Mikdash will be rebuilt and the Mizbe’ach restored to its place. And may it be fulfilled in us, through the merit of these awesome tears: “A continual fire shall burn upon the Mizbe’ach; it shall not be extinguished.”

The prayer for download and distribution:

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