Tzaddikim Who Serve God with Their Mundane Deeds Speak of Themselves in Grand Terms / Charlatans Who Imitate the Tzaddikim Divert the Charity of Debauched Individuals to Themselves The philanthropists who donate their money to support a true Tzaddik give him his power of speech. Some great Tzaddikim serve God through everything in the world — through eating, drinking, and so forth — by means of which they sweeten Divine judgments and bring about redemptions. These Tzaddikim speak wonders about themselves. The way that these great Tzaddikim describe themselves is imitated by hypocrites, who boast falsely of being wonder-workers, as though nothing is beyond them. The principal energy of these hypocrites comes from this class of Tzaddikim who say great things about themselves. There is also a class of simple Tzaddikim who serve HaShem without saying great things about themselves. Although there are some charlatans who take on that persona, they hardly have as much power to mislead others. Among philanthropists who give charity to Tzaddikim are some wicked, debauched people. Their charity harms the true Tzaddik by blemishing his speech. Fortunately, these wicked philanthropists are often misled into giving their charity to these charlatans rather than to the true Tzaddik. Guard Us from Liars and Hypocrites Unique Lord, filled with compassion, HaShem, true God, shield me and protect me from liars and hypocrites.

Have compassion on me. Guard me and rescue me so that I will never taint myself by lying or speaking even the trace of a lie. May my mouth never pronounce a false or hypocritical word, Heaven forbid.

May it never occur to me, Heaven forbid, to take credit for attainments that are beyond me and greater than I can achieve. May I never fool myself or others.

Master of the world, You know the great, mighty, exalted, holy level of the true, elevated Tzaddikim and of their precious, beautiful greatness, as reflected in their attainments.

At times it is their practice to make truly great and wondrous, awesome statements, in all truthfulness and sincerity, about their attainments. All of their words are true and justified.

When we hear the great things and wonders that they say about themselves with their holy and awesome mouths, we can know and recognize Your greatness, our Creator. You have given Your wisdom to those who fear You, and have empowered Your true Tzaddikim to attain such great levels and speak the truth of their great achievements.

But in Your mighty wondrousness and great wisdom, You have balanced good with evil, and thus You have made error possible.

Therefore, there are liars and hypocrites, who — like monkeys imitating human beings — exist in opposition to the Tzaddikim and boast of their own great attainments and wonders, as though nothing is impossible for them.

They use expressions similar to all of the great and awesome words that come forth truthfully from the mouths of the Tzaddikim — but they tell lies and misstatements.

Therefore, I ask You Who are filled with compassion to have compassion on us and on Your entire nation, the House of Israel. Guard us and rescue us from the liars and hypocrites who clothe themselves in garments that are not theirs, who falsely boast of having achieved great and wondrous matters.

Guard us and rescue us, Guardian of Israel, so that we will not be fooled by them, desire them or listen to them. May they have no power or dominion to harm us at all in either the physical or spiritual realms.

Pour true awareness onto us, so that we will recognize and choose truth and come close to the true Tzaddikim and those who sincerely join them, and place our portion with them forever.

Giving Charity Help us give a great deal of charity with a pleasant expression to truly worthy and decent poor people. Help us break the cruelty of our heart and transform it to compassion so that our heart will not be as hard as stone.

Help us transform our heart of stone to a heart as soft as water, so that we will truly have appropriate, great compassion on worthy, decent poor people and give them everything they need.

With our charity, make great unifications in great, elevated holiness. Empower us so that our charity will bring about unification, blessing and holiness in all of the holy worlds, to the highest apogee.

Please, HaShem, You Who love charity and judgment, in Your vast compassion make it possible for us to fulfill the mitzvah of charity completely, in accordance with Your good will, with all of its details, particulars, intentions and the 613 commandments that are dependent on it.

Help us, by means of this charity, nullify and break lascivious desire. Separate us from the hypocrites and liars. Do not allow unworthy poor people to cause us to stumble.

In Your vast compassion, guard us so that we will not blemish the unity, blessing and holiness brought about by charity, a blemish that strengthens the desire for lasciviousness, Heaven forbid.

You Who are filled with compassion, You Who desire lovingkindness, do not judge me in accordance with my deeds. Do not act with me in accordance with my transgressions. Have compassion on me in accordance with Your great compassion and great lovingkindness. Do not allow the “outside forces” to derive energy from my charity, Heaven forbid.

May they not have the power to damage the unification, blessing and holiness brought about when I give charity. Do not give them the power to increase my desire for lasciviousness, Heaven forbid.

My sole intent in giving charity — which You, in Your vast compassion, make it possible for me to give — is to fulfill the mitzvah of giving charity, in order to give You satisfaction.

You commanded us in Your holy Torah to give charity. You urged us regarding this a great deal, and repeatedly. My entire intent in giving charity is to rectify and not to damage, Heaven forbid. Therefore, I spread my hands out to Your compassion, so that You will guard me from unworthy poor people.

Be with me always. Rescue me and guard me so that the “outside forces” will have no power or dominion to draw energy from my charity, and will not be able to damage it in any way.

May I give all of my charity in the manner of the true Tzaddikim who are great in stature. May they raise my mitzvah of charity, and with it make and bring about great unifications at the highest levels, with truly ultimate, supernal holiness.

May my charity give You satisfaction and great delight. Make it possible for me to entirely break the desire for lasciviousness and truly rectify the covenant as a result of the power and merit of my charity.

You Who are good and do good to all, make it possible for me to increase my charity to the worthy poor with great holiness, in accordance with Your good will, so that this charity will constitute a great rectification for my nefesh, ruach and neshamah, and I will not come before You in shame.

Guard Your entire nation, the House of Israel, the righteous and worthy whose income derives from charity, so that they will not receive any blemished charity from salacious, wicked men whose charity damages those who receive it.

Rather, in Your vast compassion, bring about a positive chain of events so that all of the charity of all wicked and salacious people will go to the liars and hypocrites.

May the true Tzaddikim and worthy people be saved from them, from receiving their blemished charity, so that their blemished charity will not damage the speech of the holy mouth that the Tzaddikim attain as a result of receiving charity from generous people.

A Worthy Income Bring us and the entire Jewish people an honorable, worthy income. May the Side of Evil have no opportunity to seize hold of our income at all.

Rather, may we attain good income with honor and ease, with holiness and great purity, so that we will truly be in accordance with Your good will.

Make it possible for me to study Your holy Torah and truly serve You with all my heart. May I not enter into matters that are greater and more wondrous than I can grasp. Rather, may “I calm and quiet my soul like a child nursing from its mother. May my soul be like my suckling child.”

May I engage in Torah and prayer with a full mouth so that, among all of the worthy people of Israel, I will cut off, destroy and burn away all of the thorns and brambles that surround the supernal rose.

May the liars and hypocrites who boast falsely have no power whatsoever to derive power from our speech. Burn away falsehood entirely and reveal the truth in the world.

May the verse be quickly realized, “A lip of truth shall be established forever, but a tongue of falsehood is merely for a moment.” “Kindness and truth have met, righteousness and peace have kissed.” “Truth will sprout from the earth and righteousness will gaze down from Heaven.”

“Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; it is for You that I have hoped all the day.” “Do not utterly separate a word of truth from my mouth, because I have hoped for Your judgments.”

“HaShem, may my prayer come before You at a time of favor. God, in Your vast kindness, answer me, in the truth of Your salvation.”