A Person Must be Glad on the Shabbat / The Shabbat is Freedom [Both Prayers 13 and 18 are based on Rebbe Nachman’s lesson in Likutey Moharan II, 17. That lesson consists of two distinct parts; therefore, Reb Noson wrote Prayer 13 focusing on the topic of Shabbat, and Prayer 18 focusing on the topic of Divine providence.] A person must be glad on the Shabbat out of an appreciation for its vast and precious holiness. When he is, his fear of God is enriched with enhanced awareness and is thus made whole. On the weekdays, a person’s fear of God may be compounded with foolishness. That foolishness derives from spiritual slavishness that he is then subject to, which blemishes his mind. But the Shabbat — particularly, the delight of the Shabbat — is freedom. With that freedom, a person’s awareness is perfected and he experiences the fear of God undiluted by foolishness. In this way, he raises his degraded, fallen fears. On the Shabbat, a person should exhibit no signs of depression or worry, but delight in good food and drink, as well as elegant clothes. A person’s eating on the Shabbat is entirely spiritual and holy, and it rises to an entirely different spiritual realm than does his weekday eating. Celebrating the Shabbat with Joy May it be Your will, HaShem our God and God of our fathers, that in Your vast compassion, You will help us celebrate the holy Shabbat with great joy and gladness, with pleasure, song, delight and cheer.

Guard me and rescue me so that I will never experience any sadness, depression, melancholy, sighs or worry on the holy Shabbat.

May I only rejoice with all my strength on the holy Shabbat, with all my heart, all my spirit and all my might, with joy that has no end or limit.

That is how it is truly fitting to rejoice on the holy Shabbat, which is such a holy and awesome day, when great gladness and mighty, infinite joy in all of the worlds are aroused.

The holy Zohar and other works teach about the vast, mighty joy and gladness of the holy Shabbat.

Master of the world, what can I say? How can I express everything that I wish to express in my prayer and petitioning? I know so well how far I am from prayer.

Corresponding to the great level of the holy mitzvot, and corresponding to their great importance for all holy matters, so is the extent of my distance from them, an infinite distance — in particular, from experiencing joy on the holy Shabbat, on which almost everything depends and which constitutes the essence of coming close to You.

You know the extent of the obstacles that stand before this, and how greatly they constantly rise to pull me down and keep me from the joy of the Shabbat, Heaven forbid.

Have mercy on me, my compassionate Father in Heaven! Give me joy in Your salvation always. Help me. Save me. Help me rejoice greatly every Shabbat without exception — the entire day, from beginning to end.

May I then draw the joy of the Shabbat onto the six days of the week, until I am always truly joyful, even on the weekdays.

May my eyes see, my heart rejoice, and my spirit be glad in Your salvation. Through the joy of the Shabbat, help me raise my emotion of fear to holy awareness. May I attain perfect fear of You with complete awareness and without any foolishness at all.

You Who are the awesome, awe-inspiring Master of the world, help me and save me. May I soon attain fear of Your greatness, a holy fear with an awareness that is drawn from the joy of the holy Shabbat.

You Who are filled with compassion, Redeemer and Savior, Deliverer and Rescuer, deliver me and rescue me. Bring me forth from slavery to freedom, from subjugation to redemption.

Help me attain the joy of the holy Shabbat so that, in Your vast compassion and great kindness, I will celebrate the Shabbat with an abundance of joy, wealth and honor, and with a minimum of sins.

Help me honor the Shabbat with every sort of vigor, intensity, joy and gladness.

May I multiply the delights of the Shabbat with every type of food, delicacy and good drink. May I strive to attain beautiful clothes with which to honor the holy Shabbat.

Most importantly, please have compassion on me. Help me and save me so that I will rejoice with all my heart on the holy Shabbat, with truly great joy and gladness, until I will emerge from slavery to freedom, from subjugation to redemption.

Attaining Perfect Fear By means of the joy and freedom of the Shabbat, may I perfect and expand my consciousness with the ultimate expansion and perfection, truly in accordance with Your good will. In this way, may I attain perfect fear, fear that is imbued with mindfulness and that contains no foolishness at all.

Help me and save me so that through holy consciousness, I will raise and elevate all fallen fears to You alone.

May I possess no fallen fears. May I not fear any being in the world: no government officer, no aristocrat, no human being, and no evil beast or criminal — nothing whatsoever.

Only You alone will I truly fear. May Your fear be upon my face so that I will not transgress.

Master of the world, give me perfect, true fear. May I fear Your honored and awesome Name, HaShem our God. May I fear You alone. May I trust in You and rely on You, and not fear anything in the world.

May the verse be realized in me, “HaShem is my light and salvation. Whom shall I fear? HaShem is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?” “HaShem is for me, I shall not fear. What can anyone do to me?” “I have trusted in God, I shall not fear. What can flesh do to me?”

“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid, for God HaShem is my strength and song; He has saved me. Draw forth waters with joy from the wellsprings of salvation.”

True Tranquility Master of the world, filled with compassion, You Who are good and do good to all, help me truly taste the delights of the Shabbat. Help me so that I attain the joy and freedom of the holy Shabbat, nullify all of the subjugation of the weekdays, and settle my mind perfectly, without any confusion at all.

On the holy Shabbat, may no thoughts of business, career or finance, or any worries or apprehensions at all, arise in my mind and thoughts. May it be as though all of my work has been completed.

May I attain the true tranquility, delight and joy of the holy Shabbat — “a tranquility of love and generosity, a tranquility of truth and faith, a tranquility of peace, calm, quiet and assurance, a complete tranquility that You desire.”

“Give joy to the soul of Your servant — because, HaShem, I lift my soul to You!” In Your vast compassion, grant me joy always — in particular, on the Shabbat and festivals. “Cause me to hear joy and gladness; may the bones that You crushed, exult.”

No one but You can gladden my soul in Your mighty lovingkindness, in Your concealed compassion, in the merit and strength of the true Tzaddikim, who are the Shabbat of every day.

Sanctify us with Your mitzvot and place our portion in Your Torah. Satiate us with Your goodness, gladden our souls with Your salvation, purify our hearts to truly serve You, and give us an inheritance, HaShem our God, in love and favor, of Your holy Shabbat. May all Jews who sanctify Your Name rest on that day.

“Let me know the way of life, the satiety of joy before Your countenance, the pleasantness at Your right hand forever.”

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing before You, HaShem, my Rock and my Redeemer.”