הִנֵּה לֹא טוֹבָה הַשְּׁמוּעָה(חבקוק ג,טז)

Now, the report that I hear is not good; I heard and my stomach trembled (Hab. 3:16) – This essay, directed at a particular community in regard to a disturbing report, opens with the report that the author of the Tanya heard. The expression "the report that I hear is not good" is from I Samuel 2:24. The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menaḥem Mendel Schneerson, comments: "It should be noted that there (in I Samuel) it is referring to the sacrifices (Shabbat 55b) and the delayed union of Ze'ir and Nukva – prayer, the unification of the Divine Presence, and the Holy One, blessed be He" (Lessons in Tanya ). He is suggesting that this is referring to the same issue, only the topic here is prayer, which is also the unification of the Holy One, blessed be He, and the Divine Presence.

אֲשֶׁר עַם ה׳

that the people of God are removing the prayer leader from before the Ark, Turning toward the leaders of the congregation, using gentle language, he attributes the report to "the nation of God," who are guilty of removing the prayer leader "from before the Ark" (since the prayer leader is positioned before the Aron Kodesh ) to appoint another person in his stead. Therefore, when the prayer leader would not pray well, or would not arouse the congregation to pray with fervor, there would be grounds to replace him. However, in this instance, the negative report that the author of the Tanya heard is that they were replacing the person who was actually praying appropriately, and was prolonging the prayers with intention, because they wanted to finish the prayer quickly. In this essay, the author of the Tanya mentions this other reason for replacing the prayer leader.

הָאִישׁ הֶחָפֵץ בַּחַיִּים וַאֲרִיכוּת יָמִים שֶׁל כָּל אַנְשֵׁי שְׁלוֹמֵנוּ, שֶׁבַּמִּקְדָּשׁ מְעַט הַזֶּה(ברכות נד,ב): שְׁלֹשָׁה דְּבָרִים מַאֲרִיכִים יָמָיו שֶׁל אָדָם, וְאֶחָד מֵהֶם הַמַּאֲרִיךְ בִּתְפִלָּתוֹ

a man who desires the life and length of days of all of our colleagues who are in this "minor sanctuary" of our colleagues, in accordance with our Rabbis' statement (Berakhot 54b): Three matters extend a person's days, one of which is "one who prolongs his prayer." The "man who desires life…" refers to the fitting prayer leader, who desires the length of days not only for himself but for all the hasidim of the community that has appointed him as their emissary. The "minor sanctuary" refers to the synagogue. The challenge of the author of the Tanya is that, if this prayer leader who is prolonging the prayers is good for the community and lengthening their lives, why are they replacing him? Furthermore, one could argue that he who prolongs his prayer does so in his own personal prayer, which is characteristic of Chabad hasidim who would spend a long time in prayer and contemplation. However, a lengthy personal prayer is not part of his duties as the communal prayer leader. As can be seen in the situation at hand, when the community is not with him, but to the contrary, the extended length of the prayer is actually a burden to them, therefore it seems that in this situation they are justified in replacing him. In response to this argument, the author of the Tanya emphasizes that the intention of the prayer leader when lengthening his prayer is for the well-being of the congregation. He is not implying that the prayer leader has lofty, esoteric intentions, of which, perhaps, the congregation is unaware, but rather, he is referring to the simple goal of granting them the merit of a long physical life, as the Sages stated in the Talmud.

וְאַף גַּם מִי שֶׁהַשָּׁעָה דְּחוּקָה לוֹ בְּיוֹתֵר, וְאִי אֶפְשָׁר לוֹ בְּשׁוּם אוֹפֶן לְהַמְתִּין עַד אַחַר עֲנִיַּית קְדוּשָּׁה שֶׁל חֲזָרַת הַשְּׁלִיחַ צִיבּוּר הַזֶּה

And even someone who is extremely pressed for time, and for whom it is absolutely impossible to wait until after the refrain of Kedusha in the repetition of this prayer leader, There are parts of the prayer service, like Kedusha, Barekhu, and Kaddish, that are recited only in the presence of a quorum. Often people are rushing to recite these prayers in order to fulfill their obligations, even though this leads to lack of the proper intention. Human nature causes a person faced with accomplishing a time-bound action to give up on that which is less prescribed and not limited in time. Here, the author of the Tanya says that when it comes to prayer, this should not be the case: one's heartfelt intention takes precedence.

הֲלֹא טוֹב טוֹב לוֹ שֶׁלֹּא לִשְׁמוֹעַ קְדוּשָּׁה וּבָרְכוּ מִלֵּירֵד לְחַיֵּיהֶם שֶׁל הַחֲפֵצִים בַּחַיִּים

it is far better for him not to hear Kedusha and Barekhu than to harass those who desire life. The author of the Tanya gives a halakhic ruling here, like in Iggeret HaKodesh, epistle 1, that a lengthy and mindful public prayer is more important than ensuring that those individuals who cannot wait will be able to hear the Kedusha. Therefore, although they will not hear Kedusha, they must not hurry the congregation's prayer for that purpose. And here he adds another reason: since a long prayer extends the life of the congregants, then the prayer leader is harming the whole community that desires life.

וְאוֹנֶס רַחֲמָנָא פַּטְרֵיהּ. וְהַשְּׁלִיחַ צִיבּוּר מוֹצִיאוֹ יְדֵי חוֹבָתוֹ אַף שֶׁלֹּא שָׁמַע כְּאִילּוּ שָׁמַע, שֶׁהוּא כְּעוֹנֶה מַמָּשׁ

The Merciful One exempts a victim of coercion, and the prayer leader fulfills his duty on his behalf, such that even though he did not hear, it is as though he heard, and he is like one who literally responds. A person who has an urgent reason to leave and cannot hear Kedusha or Barekhu because the congregation is prolonging their prayer is considered coerced [anuss ]. This halakhic principle is applied in various situations in many parts of the Torah, and stipulates that a person who is a victim of circumstances beyond his control is freed of his obligation. The novel point here is that the author of the Tanya calls a person who prolongs his prayer "coerced". This set of circumstances beyond one's control looks very different from other examples of this principle; for example, when a person has some sort of life-threatening situation, or other combination of various pertinent factors that leave him with no option but to not fulfill a particular mitzva. The author of the Tanya explains that God frees even a person who is "coerced" because he is praying for a long time from his obligation to join the group prayers. In other situations beyond one's control that render a person exempt from a particular mitzva he nevertheless misses out on the mitzva. In this situation, however, the person does not miss out on the mitzva, but rather the halakha is that the prayer leader fulfills his obligation. A person who is a victim of circumstances beyond his control and therefore cannot respond to Kedusha or Barekhu, or for example, is up to a part of prayer that he is unable to make a response, and he listens, then he is considered what the halakhic principle calls "he who hears is as if he answers."

וְכִדְאִיתָא בַּגְּמָרָא (ראש השנה לה,א) גַּבֵּי עַם שֶׁבַּשָּׂדוֹת דְּאַנִּיסֵּי, וְיוֹצְאִים יְדֵי חוֹבַת תְּפִלַּת שְׁמוֹנֶה עֶשְׂרֵה עַצְמָהּ בַּחֲזָרַת הַשְּׁלִיחַ

This is as taught in the Gemara (Rosh HaShana 30a) with regard to the people in the fields who are constrained by circumstances beyond their control, and they fulfill their duty of the

צִיבּוּר כְּאִלּוּ שָׁמְעוּ מַמָּשׁ, וְגַם קְדוּשָּׁה וּבָרְכוּ בִּכְלָל

צִיבּוּר כְּאִלּוּ שָׁמְעוּ מַמָּשׁ, וְגַם קְדוּשָּׁה וּבָרְכוּ בִּכְלָל Shemoneh Esrei prayer itself by means of the repetition of the prayer leader, as though they actually heard it, and Kedusha and Barekhu are also included in this halakha. The Talmud here discusses people who, for example, work in the fields and are unable to recite the Shemoneh Esrei prayer, even on their own; it is as if they heard even when they did not hear. The practice of the prayer leader repeating the Shemoneh Esrei was established to fulfill the obligation of other people who do not know how to pray or are unable to pray themselves. When they would hear the prayer leader and have intention that he serve as their mouthpiece, this would suffice to fulfill their obligation. This is the prooftext for the principle that, as explained above, whoever finds himself in circumstances beyond his control and cannot hear, fulfills his obligation through the prayer leader. He who prays alone does not fulfill his obligation of hearing the Kedusha and Barekhu. Yet if he finds himself in circumstances beyond his control, even if he was not in the synagogue at all, he fulfills his obligation through the prayer leader. This ends the first part of the essay. In review, the author of the Tanya opened with the troublesome report that he heard, and makes an urgent call to the hasidim that they should cease taking the proposed action immediately. He explains the simple reason why it is such a serious issue, and how to act in the future. He continues in a more placating manner in this second half of the essay, and in continuation of the concepts that he mentioned, presents a general yet profound explanation about the power of the prayer of the individual, especially in these generations, and why it is so important to invest time and concentration into it.

וְהִנֵּה זֹאת חֲקַרְנוּהָ כֵּן הוּא אַף גַּם בַּדּוֹרוֹת הָרִאשׁוֹנִים שֶׁל חַכְמֵי הַמִּשְׁנָה וְהַגְּמָרָא, שֶׁהָיְתָה תּוֹרָתָם קֶבַע וְעִיקַּר עֲבוֹדָתָם וְלֹא תְּפִלָּתָם

Now, we have investigated this and it is so – even in the early generations of the Sages of the Mishna and Talmud whose Torah was fixed and was their main occupation, rather than their prayer, "We have investigated this, it is so" refers to the halakhic principle that stipulates that although prolonged prayer is not a defined halakhic obligation, it still takes precedence over more definitive halakhic obligations, like reciting Kedusha and Barekhu. The proofs that the Tanya brings about the supreme importance of prayer come from the Sages of the Mishna and the Talmud, whose "Torah was fixed rather than prayer," which means that they engaged primarily in Torah study as the core of their service of God rather than in prayer.

וּמִכָּל שֶׁכֵּן עַתָּה הַפַּעַם בְּעִקְּבוֹת מְשִׁיחָא, שֶׁאֵין תּוֹרָתֵינוּ קֶבַע מִצּוֹק הָעִתִּים

all the more so now, in the times of the approach of the Messiah, when our Torah is not fixed, due to the distressful times. The full picture of the Messiah is like an analogue of history. The beginning of history is like the head, then there are years that correspond to the hands and body, and then there are the generations that parallel the legs and heels, which is the time that immediately precedes the coming of the Messiah, the end or culmination of time. Just as in the heel there is no intellect or sensation, so too, this time of the "heels of Messiah" are intellectually and emotionally benumbed, relative to the rest of the "body." These times of suffering and concealment lack the power of Torah understanding as well.

וְעִיקַּר הָעֲבוֹדָה בְּעִקְּבוֹת מְשִׁיחָא הִיא הַתְּפִלָּה, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתַב הָרַב חַיִּים וִיטַאל ז״ל בְּעֵץ חַיִּים וּפְרִי עֵץ חַיִּים

The main service in the approach of the Messiah is prayer, as Rabbi Ḥayyim Vital, of blessed memory, wrote in Etz Ḥayyim and Peri Etz Ḥayyim . Rabbi Ḥayyim Vital writes about the difference between these times and Temple times. In kabbalistic terms, during Temple times when zun (Zeir Anpin and Nukva ) were face to face, they were in a constant state of expanded consciousness, and the moḥin did not depart from them. In simpler terms, people had a clear awareness of the Divine and were cognizant of constant divine revelation. That which lies almost entirely beyond our grasp today, and can only be glimpsed through extraordinary effort or divine beneficence, as an illumination from above that shines into our lives for a moment, was for them a basic everyday perception. Therefore, they did not need to struggle to attain divine understanding or cleaving to the Divine, but rather, as soon as they would think about it, they would experience it. This is not the case in this day and age, when immense effort and time is required to arrive at this type of level. This is the work of prayer, which is therefore the main devotional work of this time.

מִכָּל שֶׁכֵּן וְקַל חוֹמֶר שֶׁרָאוּי וְנָכוֹן לִיתֵּן נַפְשֵׁינוּ מַמָּשׁ עָלֶיהָ, וְהִיא חוֹבָה שֶׁל תּוֹרָה מַמָּשׁ

Surely, all the more so that it is proper and correct to give our lives literally for it, and it is an actual obligation of the Torah Since in these days we have nothing else, prayer is the path and connection to the Divine. Therefore, certainly, one should give everything for it, not only a little bit of time and a little bit of soulful energy, but "with all of your soul." As explained in the context of a similar concept: "Everything that a man has he will give for his life" (Job 2:4). Irrespective of the question of whether the obligation of prayer is from the Torah or rabbinically mandated, when a person engages in the service of prayer, he fulfills several mitzvot that are undoubtedly of Torah origin, like loving God, fearing God, declaring the unity of God, and more, which lay one's spiritual foundation for the fulfillment of the entire Torah.

לִמְבִינֵי מַדָּע, תּוֹעֶלֶת הַהִתְבּוֹנְנוּת וְעוֹמֶק הַדַּעַת קְצָת כָּל חַד לְפוּם שִׁיעוּרָא דִּילֵיהּ

for those who understand and have knowledge of the advantage of the contemplation of prayer, and a little depth of this knowledge, each according to his own capacity [shiura ]. The author of the Tanya says, "for those who understand…," because this experience is difficult to explain to one who has never tasted it. The work of prayer entails contemplation of God; His greatness, His kindness, and so forth, and the deepening of one's knowledge of Him, even a little bit. When a person does not just understand, but rather strives to forge this connection, this closeness, this personal contact with every fiber of his being, this is the deepening of his "knowledge," which is an unending pursuit. While there were hasidim, "ovdim," who lived and dedicated their entire lives to this, for the average person, even a lesser degree is beneficial. Anyone who does this will reap the benefits of his contemplation in many areas in his life, in ways that are beyond one's intellectual comprehension. When a person accustoms himself to deepen his knowledge for a period of time, even "a little," he will awaken his emotions as well: his love and fear of God, his wonder at the splendor and harmony of life, and so forth. The appearance of these emotions is not automatic. It is not a necessary outcome of contemplation, but rather is like a surprising effect that results from it, that arises at unexpected moments, since these two dimensions are not directly connected. This language, which comes from the Zohar, means according to the one's capacity [sha'ar ], measure [shiur ], and unique way. The extent of the contemplation and depth of one's knowledge necessary to awaken his emotions varies from one person to the next, and from one concept to the next. One person may have a refined intellect and a soul that is sensitive to holiness, so that through only a modicum of contemplation, he can attain the excitement of love and fear, while another person must contemplate longer and invest more effort to reach a bit of emotion.

בְּסִדּוּר שִׁבְחוֹ שֶׁל מָקוֹם בָּרוּךְ הוּא, בִּפְסוּקֵי דְּזִמְרָה וּשְׁתֵּי בְּרָכוֹת שֶׁלִּפְנֵי קְרִיאַת שְׁמַע, יוֹצֵר וְאַהֲבָה

The contemplation of prayer is in the arrangement of the praise of the Holy One, blessed be He, in Pesukei DeZimra and the two blessings before the recitation of the Shema : Yotzer and Ahava . As the author of the Tanya describes in other essays, the Sages established Pesukei DeZimra on one level, and the blessings before Shema on the next level, as preparation for the recitation of the Shema itself, for the unification of God and His love. (The Shemoneh Esrei is even higher, and brings with it total nullification of one who stands before God, the King.) The preparation entails contemplation and deepening of one's knowledge of the words that one recites there, which are entirely praises of God. To connect with God, who is holy and separate from this worldly life, who cannot be fathomed or felt in a normal way, one must enter into a process of speech and thought about Him. Indeed, since we are incapable of thinking about God Himself, who is utterly abstract and separate, these thoughts and words must traverse this familiar world that praises God who created it and sustains it. This is "the arrangement of the praise of the Holy One." Praise of God is that which relates to what one sees and understands in the created worlds: physical mountains, oceans, animals, and people, and spiritual forces, angels that love and fear God. They all are praising, with words and emotions, the One who created them. This is the essence of their existence. Words and thoughts about these ideas, formulated by each person according to his capacity, raises a person little by little, higher and higher, into an elevated spiritual plane in which God is present in a more tangible way.

לְעוֹרֵר בָּהֶן הָאַהֲבָה הַמְסוּתֶּרֶת בְּלֵב כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל לָבֹא לִבְחִינַת גִּילּוּי

The aim is to awaken through them the hidden love in the heart of all Israel, so that it is revealed Prolonged contemplation during Pesukei DeZimra and the blessings of the Shema, even on the simplest level of contemplation, is enough to unearth the hidden love in the heart of all Israel. This love is discussed at length in Likkutei Amarim (mostly in chap. 18 and onward). It is the love of the divine soul that inhabits every Jewish person, because it is an expression of the soul being a literal part of God above. Yet, since the divine soul is clothed in this world, in the vital soul and in the body, this love become concealed in the loves of the animal soul, that express themselves as desires for the material things of this world. Nevertheless, as explained there, that which within aa person can be, wants to be, and ultimately will be revealed. A person must simply ensure that he does not actively suppress it, on the one hand, and on the other hand, he must strive to reveal it, if not through emotion, then in speech and action. The work of prayer, as the author speaks about it here, is to articulate words that express one's love and fear, words that are recited before the Shema as praise for the Holy One, and if he only has intention for these matters, and restrains himself from thinking extraneous thoughts, then he automatically reveals the hidden love. This too demands a certain amount of time, and this is the topic of this essay.

בְּהִתְגַּלּוּת הַלֵּב בִּשְׁעַת קְרִיאַת שְׁמַע עַצְמָהּ, שֶׁזֹּאת הִיא מִצְוַת הָאַהֲבָה שֶׁבַּפָּסוּק ״וְאָהַבְתָּ גו׳ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ גו׳״

through the openness of the heart at the time of the recitation of the Shema itself, which is the mitzva of love that is commanded in the verse "And you shall love…with all of your heart…" The preparation before reading the Shema is designed to ensure "the openness of the heart at the time of the recitation of the Shema itself." This mitzva of "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul" is written in the Shema. While the deeper dimensions that lie behind these words are manifold, on a simple level it speaks of the heartfelt feeling of love, an extremely strong emotion that transforms a person and his behavior. And the question is: How can a person fulfill a mitzva that calls for a particular emotion? Are a person's emotions within his control? Can he choose how to feel? The Rambam's approach to this, and the author of the Tanya explains it in the same way as well, is that a person fulfills this mitzva by contemplating that which causes love, because this is within his control. This is what it says here, that through contemplation and deepening one's knowledge through the praise of the Holy One during Pesukei DeZimra and the blessings before Shema, a person fulfills the mitzva of "You shall love" when he recites the Shema. Because, whether the love is revealed in a person's heart or not, he nevertheless does his part and therefore fulfills the mitzva when he says, "You shall love." It goes without saying that if he spends enough time in serious contemplation so that the words he says will percolate, then they will certainly reach the heart and open it. A person needs to know that even when he feels some emotion, it takes time and perspective to give it a name and define it as "love of God." Therefore, a person could have love of God and not know it when his particular social circle and intellectual associates do not discuss or openly work toward this lofty goal.

הַנִּמְנֵית רִאשׁוֹנָה בְּתַרְיָ״ג מִצְוֹת, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתַב הָרַמְבַּ״ם ז״ל שֶׁהִיא מִיְּסוֹדֵי הַתּוֹרָה וְשָׁרְשָׁהּ, וּמָקוֹר לְכָל רְמַ״ח מִצְווֹת עֲשֵׂה

This is listed first amongst the 613 mitzvot, as the Rambam, of blessed memory, wrote, that it is one of the foundations of the Torah and its root, and a source for all of the 248 positive commandments. Love of God is the first mitzva of a Jew (Rambam, Sefer HaMadda, Hilkhot Yesodei HaTorah 2:1); first, he loves, and afterward, from the force of his love, he performs other mitzvot. A person does not do anything unless he is driven by a force in his soul. As it the case between people, the motivating force to act on behalf of another is love. When a person does something out of fear or for any other reason, he does so because of the other reason. Love is the only motivation that causes someone to do something truly for the other person. How much more so when it comes to performing God's mitzvot. Love of God is the source in one's soul for every mitzva he does. This is not the case only in one's soul. Since it is the power of a person's love of God that propels him to perform mitzvot, the manifestations of love are essentially the fulfillment of the mitzvot; all the mitzvot are essentially a revelation of that love. In this sense, love is the foundation and root of the Torah, since all the mitzvot are only revelations of that foundational existing love between the Jewish people and God.

כִּי עַל אַהֲבָה הַמְסוּתֶּרֶת בְּלֵב כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּתוֹלְדֹתָם וְטִבְעָם לֹא שַׁיָּיךְ צִיוּוּי כְּלָל

For no command applies at all to love that is hidden in the heart of all Israel, in their pedigree and nature. As long as the love is only in one's heart, as long as it does not manifest in other things like spoken words or actions, the love is hidden. As explained, the hidden love, the essential connection of one's soul to God, exists in the spiritual configuration of one's soul. It is not something acquired; it exists. Therefore, it is not comprised in a commandment. The mitzva "You shall love your God" is the mitzva to reveal it. The uncovering of the love begins with contemplation and deepening one's knowledge in prayer, awakening and manifesting the love as an operative force in the heart. If possible, it appears in the form of the emotion of love, and if not, as the force in the soul that causes a person to behave and act like someone who loves, like someone who feels love, for his Beloved, to do His will. This is the ultimate goal of the revelation of the love.

וְדַעַת לְנָבוֹן נָקָל, כִּי כְּשֶׁהָאַהֲבָה הִיא מְסוּתֶּרֶת הִיא עוֹדֶינָּה בַּנֶּפֶשׁ הָאֱלֹקִית לְבַדָּהּ, וּכְשֶׁבָּאָה לִבְחִינַת גִּילּוּי לַנֶּפֶשׁ הַחִיּוּנִית, אֲזַי הִיא בְּהִתְגַּלּוּת הַלֵּב בְּחָלָל שְׂמָאלִי, מְקוֹם מִשְׁכַּן נֶפֶשׁ הַחִיּוּנִית

And knowledge of this is easy for the discerning – for when the love is hidden it is still in the divine soul alone, but when it comes to a state of revelation in the vital soul, it is revealed in the heart, in the left chamber, the place of the vital soul. Knowledge of this matter is simple for someone who contemplates it, as is stated below. As explained, the hidden love is the love of the divine soul, and because it is in the divine soul it is defined as hidden, just as the divine soul is hidden in the material world. The vital animal soul of man manifests and acts in this world, and the divine soul manifests only through its enclothement in it. Similarly, the hidden love manifests only through the vital soul, and further, through and behind the vital soul's loves and desires in the physical body, which is in the left chamber of the heart, as explained in Likkutei Amarim (chap. 9 and elsewhere).

וְזֶהוּ עִנְיַן 'בֵּירוּר נִיצוֹצוֹת' הַמּוּזְכָּר שָׁם בְּעֵץ חַיִּים וּפְרִי עֵץ חַיִּים גַּבֵּי תְּפִלָּה

This is the meaning of the "refinement of the sparks" that is mentioned there in Etz Ḥayyim and Peri Etz Ḥayyim , in connection to prayer. This revelation of the divine love of God through another love of the animal soul is the way a person accomplishes "refinement of the sparks" in the most personally significant way. Therefore, the work of prayer is the main service of refinement of sparks (and as mentioned and explained above in Kuntres Aḥaron at the beginning of the fourth essay.)

שֶׁלָּכֵן הִיא עִיקַּר הָעֲבוֹדָה בְּעִקְּבוֹת מְשִׁיחָא, לְבָרֵר נִיצוֹצוֹת כו׳ שֶׁהוּא בְּחִינַת אִתְהַפְּכָא אוֹ אִתְכַּפְיָא שֶׁל נֶפֶשׁ הַחִיּוּנִית לַנֶּפֶשׁ הָאֱלֹקִית כַּנּוֹדַע

For this reason, prayer is the main service in the approach of the Messiah, to refine the sparks…This service is the transformation or subjugation of the vital soul to the divine soul, as is known. Unlike the revelation of love in the divine soul, which is like the self-expression and self-actualization of the divine soul and entails an unsurpassed delight, to which every other delight pales in comparison. For the vital soul to feel or even activate love without feeling it, it needs to change, to transform from its original nature; it needs to be like the divine soul. Changing anything is not easy, as everyone knows; it does not happen on its own. For change to happen, one must work and sometimes even fight. Hasidic teachings address two levels of change in the vital soul: "transformation" and "subjugation." Transformation is when the vital soul changes to be something else. It does not transform into a divine soul; however, it transforms into a garment that is nullified to the divine soul that wears it. It then receives the desires and the loves, and so forth, of the divine soul, acquiring them as its own. This is considered a high level in divine service, the level of great tzaddikim, whose souls are rectified to become a microcosm of the supernal world of Atzilut, a perfectly integrated unity of light, vessels, and sefirot, in each other. Subjugation, on the other hand, is when the vital soul is unable to attain this internal nullification and transformation, and the person must subjugate it against its will, as it were, to do the will and love of the divine soul. This is considered a lower level, and in a general sense, is the level of the service of the beinonim, and of times of small-mindedness and concealment: the paradigm of the created worlds. The refinement of sparks in prayers is not just a refinement of the vital animal soul itself, that ascends and approaches the Divine in prayer, but it also refines aspects of the actual world that are bound to the soul that is being refined.

כִּי הַדָּם הוּא הַנָּפֶשׁ כו׳ (דברים יב,כג), וְהַדָּם מִתְחַדֵּשׁ בְּכָל יוֹם מֵאוֹכָלִין וּמַשְׁקִין

For the blood is the soul… (Deut. 12:23), and the blood is renewed every day through food and drink, The spiritual soul is bound to the physical body in the blood. When a person eats every day, his food comes from all corners of the earth, with sunlight, water, and earth involved in its growth, and all combine together to ascend with the body and the vital soul in love of God which is manifested in it in the moment of prayer.

וְגַם מִתְפַּעֵל וְנִתְקָן מִמַּלְבּוּשִׁים וְדִירָה כו׳

and it is also affected and amended by one's clothing and place of residence… While garments are not ingested and do not enter the bloodstream, they still affect the soul. When a person wears a new garment, he feels new, he feels different. When he lives in dwelling place, the environment surrounding him affects his soul and mood. When he translates all these factors into serving God, when he utilizes the forces and possibilities that he has received from his garments and domicile, he elevates and refines the holy sparks that are in those garments and home. All these gather together and are refined with a person's soul in the work of prolonged and contemplative prayer that the author of the Tanya addresses here.

מַה שֶּׁאֵין כֵּן בַּדּוֹרוֹת הָרִאשׁוֹנִים, שֶׁהָיוּ נְשָׁמוֹת הָאֱלֹקִית גְּדוֹלֵי הָעֵרֶךְ, הָיָה הַבֵּירוּר נַעֲשֶׂה כְּרֶגַע, בִּקְרִיאַת שְׁמַע לְבָד, וּבְרָכוֹת שֶׁלְּפָנֶיהָ וּפְסוּקֵי דְּזִמְרָה בִּקְצָרָה וכו׳ וְדַי לַמֵּבִין

This was not the case for the early generations, when the divine souls were of great quality – the refinement occurred instantaneously, through the recitation of the Shema alone, and the blessings before it and Pesukei DeZimra in brief form…, and this is sufficient explanation for one who understands esoteric wisdom. Therefore, back then, there was no need to especially prolong prayer. This does not apply to these days, preceding the coming of the Messiah, in which in order to refine one's soul and reveal the hidden love through prayer, one must prolong his prayer to a greater extent in preparation for the recitation of the Shema and the Shemoneh Esrei.