An Amazing Prayer to Recite Before Hisbodedus by the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a

With the help of Hashem, Blessed be He, Year 5776, For the sake of His Name, Erev Rosh Hashanah

Master of the World, grant me the merit to perform Hisbodedus with immense and intense desire, without any drowsiness or slumber. Let me sing all types of songs during Hisbodedus—songs of deveikus (clinging to Hashem) and teshuvah (repentance). Master of the World, Who dwells in the high heavens and sits above, Who sees all my hidden places and all the meditations of my heart: Please purify me to serve You in truth, for this is my entire desire, and I have no other will or thought. All my desire in this Hisbodedus is solely to draw close to You with a whole heart. You have revealed to us that when one performs Hisbodedus before You with a whole heart, one saves the entire world from all kinds of terrible decrees. Then, it is possible to save the world so that no Jew—and no person in the world—will die or be killed at that hour. For during the time of Hisbodedus, when done with a whole heart, one sweetens the judgments (Dinim) from the entire world. Then, Hashem, blessed be He, has no possibility to decree any harsh decree in the world at all. Therefore, please save us, Master of the World, that we may be able to perform Hisbodedus before You for the entire hour with all our heart and soul, with intense weeping and wondrous joy.

Please, Merciful One, in the merit of our holy Rebbe (Rebbe Nachman) and in the merit of the Seven Shepherds who occupied themselves all the days of their lives with Hisbodedus—and specifically Moshe Rabbeinu, who merited to perform Hisbodedus day and night from age 20 until age 80. He only occupied himself with Hisbodedus, songs, and praises in the mountains, valleys, fields, and deserts. Nothing interrupted him, and he never slumbered or slept, nor did he eat or drink, until he purified his body so much that he no longer needed to eat ever again, due to the abundance of his deveikus (clinging) and love for Hashem. So too, grant me the merit to perform Hisbodedus before You with immense and wondrous desire, in "flames of love" (shalhovin d'rechimuta), out of true lowliness.

May I merit to feel my own nullification just like Avraham Avinu, who said, "I am but dust and ashes"; and like David HaMelech, who said, "I am a worm and not a man"; and like Moshe and Aharon, who said, "What are we?" During the hour of Hisbodedus, let me not distract my mind from You even for a brief moment. Let me have pity on my young years and my few days of life, which are only one hundred and twenty, flying by like a bird in flight and vanishing like a dream. Therefore, during the hour of Hisbodedus, I will utilize every second and moment. I will not doze off at all, and I will know the state of my immense lowliness—that there is nothing that can save me except for the hour of Hisbodedus. For at that time, You turn away from all Your affairs and have mercy with all Your heart and soul on wretched souls like me. You turn to them with the intensity of Your mercy and raise them from the lowest depth to the height of heights. So too, in Your abundant mercy, raise me as well from the lowest of levels to the highest of heights, ad infinitum and without end.

Perform wonders with me that You have never yet performed with any person in the world. May I merit to return in complete teshuvah (repentance) and to bring the entire Nation of Israel back in teshuvah. May we all merit the complete Geulah (Redemption), the coming of Mashiach ben David, the building of the Holy Temple, and the Resurrection of the Dead, speedily in our days, Amen.