Rabbi Berland's Prayer for Complete Faith (Emuna Shelema)

From Tefilah L’Ani: Leket Tefilos u’Vakashos

A Prayer for Complete Faith (Emuna Shelema)

Ribono Shel Olam – Master of the World!  Please awaken our hearts to Your simple faith, to Your holy Torah, and to Your service -- in truth.  Bestow and draw upon us songs and zemiros, and reveal to us holy melodies which are drawn from the empty space, from the peak of faith, from the melody of the light of the Infinite, from the supreme song of Moshe Rabeinu, may peace be upon him, from which all the songs and melodies in the world are drawn from, so that we should merit through this to complete faith – in truth, and it will be fulfilled in us what is written: “Come, gaze from the peak of Amana” (Shir HaShirim 4:8). Help me, in Your mercy, that I should merit to truth and faith, in absolute faith, and to the entirety of the supreme song, the song of faith, which is the root of all songs, which only the truth Tzadik who is an aspect of Moshe Rabeinu knows it. Let me merit to intend in all of my prayers and in every single movement to the truth of Your good will – to be valorous and to raise up the courage to know and to comprehend You, in truth and with a complete heart.  Strengthen me and encourage me to be strong-willed, myself and all Your people, the House of Israel, to forever entreat You, to implore You, and to pray to You about of all these things day and night, because You are our Father, and You desire to do good with us from Your true good, with all types of true good, and You always await to reveal to us Your true good.  Let me merit, myself and all the House of Israel, to pray these requests day and night, every day, always, and in the merit of this let us merit, myself and all Your people, the House of Israel, to all the good influxes physically and spiritually – children, life, and sustenance – without lacking a thing, until the end of all generations. Ribono Shel Olam – Master of the World!  Please do good, in Your will, with someone who is far from good like me, who rebelled with Your good, unintentionally and intentionally, accidently and willfully.   Thousands and myriads of instances You benefited me spiritually and physically; endless times You bestowed upon me true and eternal good, and I pushed away with my hands Your true good through lack of knowledge many, many times, “until they stopped counting, because there is no number” (Breishis 41:49). Please, good God, Whose good never ceases, forever – let me merit to be satiated from Your eternal good and to be encompassed in Your unity in truth, and to know that there is no other besides You, and there is nothing without You, and that I won’t put before my eyes [anything] other than Your awesome and unique Name – “I shall place Havaya before me always” (Tehilim 16:8).  I will not fear any living thing, and I will not make any movement in order to find favor in the eyes of any person.  Rather, all my movements, thoughts, words, and meditations will always be given and handed over to You alone, and I will not waste away my years in fleetingness and worthlessness, with thoughts of fleetingness and forbidden lusts.  And I will not tilt my heart towards any matter amongst the matters of this temporary and fleeting world, which is totally worthless delusions and illusions, which never existed and were never created, and are nothing but deception of the eyes which come from the blemishing of the eyes. Please, give me complete faith – in truth, that I will not fear nor be terrified of anything.  And despite the terrible decrees which are renewed upon Your people, the House of Israel, every single day, I will believe in You [with] complete faith, that You are prepared and ready to do with us as with our forefathers, in those days, at this time – miracles and wonders beyond measure, and without number, to fulfill in us the verses: “Behold, I have made you into a sharp, new threshing iron with many blades; you will thresh mountains and pulverize, and make hills like chaff.  Winnow them and the wind will carry them off, and the storm wind will scatter them; you will rejoice in Hashem, in the Holy One of Israel you will be praised” (Yeshayahu 41:15-16).