Q&A with the Genius Hayanuka on the Laws of Prayer and Other Fascinating Topics

3:04 And the second thing is that the Shechinah stands facing the person praying: Zohar, Va'eschanan. The Shechinah is resting upon you now. Now you are, so to speak, brazen, that you gaze, that you look straight toward it, or a person steps in front of it. And the same law applies during Kaddish too. When a person is saying Kaddish, it is forbidden to pass in front of the one saying Kaddish. The moment a person is praying now, you may not pass in front of a person saying Kaddish. Only when he reaches "Yehei shelama rabba min shemaya."

3:28 When he reaches the end of the Kaddish, the Kaddish is over, then, at the end of the Kaddish, when it's finished, you may pass in front of him. At "Yehei shelama rabba min shemaya" you may pass. Now, those are the times when the Shechinah is present facing the person. So a person needs to know, always, when he prays, not to stand in a place where he will disturb the public. And second: if he is already standing there and finds himself within the four amos of someone praying, because "I was already there from the start," and today there are these shtenders, the tables, which are a partition higher than 80 centimeters.

4:04 The benches are fixed, and they don't move either; these aren't chairs. There are benches that form a barrier in front of each person praying, and I too am there within the four amos. That doesn't disturb, because each one is in his own place. So one can be lenient about this. Of course, that is not with regard to the Shechinah, for the Shechinah is indeed facing the one praying. So it is better that he either step to the sides or wait. And if he sees that this person is taking a long time, he should stay; he will finish the prayer, and then he can go on his way.

4:32 If he sees that he is going on too long, then this way he can... A question about a chair... There's a chair; there's a partition of eighty centimeters. A shtender? I didn't say that is a barrier. A bench. Not a barrier... I said it about a bench. You see this bench? It doesn't move. This whole bench is fixed. You see it?

4:57 It's like a partition. Why isn't it a partition? It's not that someone writes so about this. This is me speaking. No? Here, this very thing. Just as an example. You see this? Is this over 80 centimeters? Yes. It's more? It even looks like 90 to me. It is a partition in front of each person praying. And the small, small table? No.

5:22 That one, no. There are 80 centimeters. 80 is a partition, and so this too has to be taken into account... That is good, so one may. But whoever can be mindful of the Zohar should either step to the sides, or so on. A chair, though, does not count as a partition. To the sides it makes no difference; after all, in the end I'm not stepping in front of him.

5:57 I'm not coming in front of him. The whole problem is that you come and step in front of a person who is praying, and you distract him, you disturb him, you distract him. The moment I go off to the side, or step a little sideways, move a bit, I may. Because "the whole earth is full of His glory": the Holy One, blessed be He, where is He? Here, here, here, here, there, facing me. So a person who is saying Kaddish, for example, began to pray, and he doesn't know which direction Jerusalem is.

6:22 Or let's say a person is praying there, or a person is praying there; he doesn't know which direction Jerusalem is. He doesn't know if Jerusalem is here or Jerusalem is there; he doesn't know where Jerusalem is. So what should he do? He should pray and set his head toward one place: set his body toward one place and his head toward another place, and then he is aiming at two angles: perhaps the place is here, perhaps the place is here. So you've gained two; pray like that.

6:47 Now you are praying in a place where you're in doubt where Jerusalem is. Still... but at least I've increased the chances. So I can indeed look to the sides or step to the sides. In the end, if I'm praying now, I don't know if Jerusalem is here, or I don't know if Jerusalem is there or Jerusalem is here. So I stand and I pray, and I turn my head to the side, my body this way: so the head is this way and the body is this way, and then, in effect, I've already covered two sides.

7:16 Perhaps Jerusalem is here, perhaps Jerusalem is here. But what about behind you? True, behind you, you can't; but at least, at least you've already gained another side: maybe it's here, maybe it's here. And then, yes, you can. So from here the point is that the Holy One, blessed be He... "the whole earth is full of His glory"; you too can step to the side, because it may be that your step, in fact, will not be toward Jerusalem; but in the end, you stepped. There's no problem with that. Rav, on the matter of standing on a bus: if I stand, I concentrate much less. Let me ask it like this: is it better to sit or to stand?

7:46 Shemoneh Esrei? It is permitted to sit and pray. It is permitted to pray sitting. Is it better to stand? — On a train too, on a plane too, and in a car too. If a person knows, or is concerned, that the time for prayer will pass, he may pray that way. And there is someone who can't concentrate while sitting, because it troubles him: the feeling, the thought that "I'm sitting, not standing, and not praying," it troubles him; then he is permitted to pray a make-up prayer (tashlumin), to pray twice.

8:12 But in a case where a person has peace of mind sitting, and he feels there's no problem sitting and he'll have more peace of mind, and he can't stand, and every moment he'll move, he'll fall, or he has a certain weakness and he can't, he should sit, press his knees together, and pray. Ah, and afterward does he repeat his prayer? He doesn't have to. True, he should go back and pray, but he isn't obligated to go back and pray. If he prays with kavanah... Nowadays, just as a person who did not pray with kavanah wants to go back and pray as a voluntary prayer (nedavah), wants to make it a voluntary prayer, to go back and pray: now, if he truly is a person who concentrates well all the time, and only now he didn't concentrate, he is permitted.

8:53 But if his repetition, when he goes back, also won't be with that kind of kavanah, then to sit and refrain is better. "From the north comes gold." "From the north comes gold"; "to grow wise, turn south." That doesn't mean: go to a certain place and you'll be wise, go to a certain place and you'll be rich.

9:27 It is in terms of what is hidden (tzafun), what the Holy One, blessed be He... that a person knows how to draw close to the Holy One, blessed be He, and truly knows how to draw close to the Holy One, blessed be He, in the right way. Closeness to the Holy One, blessed be He, has to be in this: that a person knows how to draw close to Hashem from every place. The Menorah too, which was in the south, in the Beis HaMikdash, the Holy Temple: every place that was in the Temple, every place, every angle, every sign, every direction to every place is a hint from Heaven to something.

9:55 There is a direction for everything. Like, for example, that the shedim (demons) are revealed to people on the northern side. There is the northern side. The north side: a person walks in the desert and stands facing the northern side, toward the north side, and the shedim will be revealed to him. There are shedim; if a person goes toward the northern side, they are revealed to him. They are revealed to a person facing the northern side.

10:21 Each side has a certain time, and a certain power of influence corresponding to each side. The four directions correspond to the letters of His blessed Name, the Name Havayah: south, north, east and west. And corresponding to these four directions you have the Name Havayah, blessed be He. In the mikveh too, one immerses four times, one immerses once each: north, south, east and west.

10:46 Whoever immerses in the mikveh can also have in mind north, south, east, west. To turn around, really to turn around in the mikveh, yes. There are kavanos in this, in this too, corresponding to the four directions. The four directions. Now, what the Holy One, blessed be He, set there is a certain propitious power: that the power of the northern side can bring about wealth.

11:11 Of course, these are spiritual matters. There is the arrangement of the bed, south to north; there is an order for the bed too. But one doesn't need to turn the whole house upside down now and break down the walls and so on, whoever can't. He bought the apartment from a contractor and it came out this way, with the bed this way. Everyone can arrange things in whatever way he wants. If he wants to come and arrange it and do a renovation, let him do it; may blessing come upon him. But there is significance in the sides too, because according to the side, a person can truly see...

11:37 a thing can be revealed according to the side, according to the side you pray toward. Indeed, it's not for nothing that we pray toward Jerusalem, the east side; there is a segulah, a virtue and an importance in this side, that it is propitious for the prayer being accepted. Toward Jerusalem: "And My eyes and My heart shall be there all the days"; "I will carry my knowledge from afar," "I will carry my knowledge from afar." That is the meaning of the power of the prayer toward the east. West: you go to receive the Shechinah on the eve of the holy Shabbos, so you turn to the west.

12:04 Just so: the sides have virtue and importance. So the propitious power of the southern side is the ability to draw wisdom to a person, and the propitious power of the northern side is the ability to draw wealth. Now, I don't know that this means a person should actually go there, for there are plenty of poor people in the north, and plenty of rich people in the south. It doesn't exactly cause a person to be rich; it is a kind of certain propitious power, but still, it depends on many things.

12:31 So what does one do today? Do you think that if you give to a poor person, it is really credited to you... That what? That if you give to a poor person, no matter what, you can say that it's coming to you. Correct. In the end, one has to know that beyond all the segulos and all the virtues and these things, there is His blessed will: that the Holy One, blessed be He, determines and wills, in His wisdom, that such and such will happen and such and such will be.

13:01 Such and such will happen and such and such will be, and nothing will help, whether a person does this or that, or wherever he goes. What Hashem, blessed be He, wants is what will be done. And if the Holy One, blessed be He, wants it, a person can even do all the things that work against him, that could ruin it for him, and he won't succeed in ruining it for himself. A person can make, against his own salvation, every possible mistake, so that he'd lose his money, and make all the mistakes; and the Holy One, blessed be He, wants him to be rich: with all this damage he did to himself, with all the most terrible mistakes, he will be rich. And a person can come and do all the smartest, most precise things.

13:36 Say a person comes now, really, and takes advisors, and they tell him: "Listen, you invest in this stock and in this stock, in this way, at this time, in this form." He does it, and by nature everything says he should be rich. The man is a fool: he takes his money and invests it in things that everyone says are a disaster. "What is he doing? It's a mistake!" He invests and loses, there and there and there, and suddenly the Holy One, blessed be He, takes that stock, whoosh, and lifts it to a place you can't comprehend.

14:06 "This one He lowers and this one He raises." It is all the Holy One, blessed be He. This one went in an orderly way, according to his intellect, and lost; and this one went according to... Have you ever heard that joke about Luck and Brains (mazal and seichel)? No. Once upon a time, Luck and Brains were walking. Luck and Brains were walking down the street. Brains came along, Luck came along, and saw Brains sitting on the... lying down asleep on the sidewalk.

14:35 "How nice, he's settled here. I'll go and sleep on the road." Luck went and lay down on the road. A car came, saw Luck on the road, and went up onto the sidewalk... You get it... He has luck. Luck and Brains were walking. Luck and Brains were walking. Brains went to sleep on the sidewalk. Luck said: "He's right on the sidewalk? I'll sleep on the road." A car came, saw Luck on the road, went up on the sidewalk, and ran him over. Sometimes...

15:06 Do you know how a certain person used to hire people for work? He would throw all the resumes, catch one, and say: "I don't need people without luck." He would choose people: out of the whole pile, he'd take one and hire him. So they asked him, and he said: "I don't need people without luck." Meaning, the fact that he was chosen is his luck. He has luck, in that he was chosen. But in matters like these, sometimes it isn't a matter of luck; it's a matter that the Holy One, blessed be He, decides. People don't understand that everything is the will of Hashem.

15:38 And in the end, when the will of Hashem comes, that settles it. — But the Rav spoke about all the segulos? — Everything is by Hashgachah pratis, individual Providence. Pay attention to the word "segulah": segulah means "mesugal," capable. It is capable of making this happen. But if a person behaves in a way that holds all the good things back from him, or he has theft on his hands, and bad deeds, and sins and transgressions, and things that hold back his teshuvah and his tefillah from being accepted, then what good will the segulos he engages in do?

16:05 In the end, for the segulah to be accepted, the person has to be worthy and fit, for this segulah to be accepted. But even if a person is truly worthy and does the segulos: if it was decreed upon him that he won't have? Then he won't have. Therefore one needs to appease and win over the Holy One, blessed be He. Rav, why... what is done about Ketev Meriri, especially in this period? It is this time: because of these days, which are days of judgment, they grow steadily stronger from Rosh Chodesh Av until Tishah B'Av, and afterward they stop. One must be very careful about this: it is from 10 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon.

16:43 Roughly, I think, from 9:30 until 4. — In the chazzan's repetition itself... — Not to stand between the sun and the shade. In the chazzan's repetition itself, do they themselves need to say "Le'umasam meshabchim ve'omrim"? Yes, the whole text is said. Everything is said. The author of Shibolei HaLeket, in siman 20, said that this gives the Holy One, blessed be He, the greatest satisfaction: at the time when the Kedushah is said, one lifts the eyes to Heaven and says the Kedushah, "Kadosh, kadosh, kadosh." Those praises too are said, the text of the Kedushah; and the same applies when a person says it together with the chazzan's repetition: the people praying also say it together.

17:21 What is the chazzan's repetition? What's that? — Doing Tikkun Chatzos during Bein HaMetzarim (the Three Weeks), is that higher? By the way, this response that we say... another thing that is important and needs to be told to people: that just as the chazzan discharges the congregation's obligation, so too the congregation needs to discharge the chazzan's obligation with the Amens, because the chazzan doesn't say Amen.

17:48 So the congregation, when we say the Amens, we need to have in mind to discharge the chazzan. In siman 69 of the Shulchan Aruch, in the law of "pores al Shema," when one says, in the law of pores al Shema, when one says Shema Yisrael, or like the law of "Barechu es Hashem hamevorach," so he says "Barechu es Hashem hamevorach," and we say "Baruch Hashem hamevorach le'olam va'ed." Here the chazzan says "Baruch Hashem hamevorach le'olam va'ed." He repeats it; twice, right? He says "Barechu es Hashem hamevorach," then they say "Baruch Hashem hamevorach le'olam va'ed," and then the chazzan also repeats "Baruch Hashem hamevorach le'olam va'ed."

18:16 But in Kedushah he too says "Kadosh"; whereas the Amens he doesn't say them. "Yisgadal veyiskadash shemei rabba," and the congregation says Amen. The chazzan didn't say Amen, so the congregation should have in mind to discharge the chazzan's obligation with the Amens, so that the chazzan too fulfills his obligation in the Amens that he cannot say. That is to say, I say the... Did you understand the distinction? The law of pores al Shema is a different law, because when you say the Barechu, then in the end I do have a response to the Barechu, because I said "Baruch Hashem hamevorach le'olam va'ed," so I responded.

18:51 When I said the Kedushah, I did respond. But in the Kaddishes, the congregation will need to discharge the chazzan, to have him in mind, to complete his Amens for him. When we say the Amens, we have in mind to discharge the chazzan as well. This is important to have in mind, and people don't know it. — The Amens of the repetition too? — Yes, the Amens of the repetition too. — Is it enough that one person has it in mind? — No, the congregation, since the congregation says the Amens. — I mean also at "Yehei shemei rabba"?

19:20 In all the Kaddishes, in all the Amens, in Kaddish, yes? Yes, to have in mind to discharge his obligation. There are several kinds of shaliach tzibbur (prayer leader). One shaliach tzibbur, the first, goes up until Pesukei D'Zimrah; from Pesukei D'Zimrah; and from Yishtabach. From Yishtabach, as is said. The custom of the Noda BiYehudah: he would arrive for the prayer from Yishtabach. That was his custom in praying: he would begin from Yishtabach. He would sit and learn in his room; at Yishtabach he would arrive, come in, say the Kaddish, and pray.

19:49 Now, that is a law of the shaliach tzibbur. There were several kinds of shaliach tzibbur. In this time of Pesukei D'Zimrah it is a different law. For example, it often happens that people are praying with a minyan, and the minyan arrives only later; they pray the Amidah, the Shacharis prayer. And meanwhile the congregation hasn't arrived yet, and they want to say Kaddish after "Rabbi Yishmael," "the Torah is expounded through thirteen principles"; they want to conclude with Kaddish, and there is no minyan.

20:15 And there is a person there who needs to say Kaddish; he is within the twelve months, for his father, for his mother. And then a minyan forms after Baruch She'amar. They said Baruch She'amar, and then people gathered again, more people came, and then the question is: may I say the Kaddish in the middle of Pesukei D'Zimrah? Between one psalm and the next. — To say it, or perhaps to continue, since there's no longer a need, because we already said that part? So if there truly is a person who is a mourner within the twelve months and has an obligation, then he may say the Kaddish within these Pesukei D'Zimrah. — Only if there is someone, a mourner, someone among those obligated? — Otherwise there's no point in saying it; what is there to say?

20:52 There needs to be a person who has an obligation to say it, who has the reason to come and say it now. Because after all, we are praying, and already we are also in the order of the worlds: we are in Asiyah, Yetzirah, Beriah and Atzilus. Now, there's no reason to make an interruption between them, in the middle of Pesukei D'Zimrah. One doesn't say blessings or do other things in the middle of Pesukei D'Zimrah, and one doesn't speak in the middle of Pesukei D'Zimrah, because from Baruch She'amar until Yishtabach is one blessing.

21:17 It's like "Shehakol nihyeh bidvaro": you don't speak in the middle of Shehakol. It is one blessing, from Baruch She'amar until Yishtabach; and from Yishtabach one begins the prayer, the Kaddish and so on. So therefore, in such a case, where there is a minyan that gathered after they already said "Hashem Melech, Hashem Malach," and there is a person there who is within the twelve months who wants to come and say this Kaddish for the elevation of his father's soul, then one may make a pause in the middle of the chapter and say the Kaddish there, and immediately continue the order of Pesukei D'Zimrah.

21:48 In the middle of the chapter or at the end of the chapter? — At the end of the chapter, sorry; I mean, between the chapters. Between the chapters, not in the middle of a chapter; not in the middle of a chapter, but rather between one chapter and the next, to be more correct; between one chapter and the next. And of course, one must be careful with the psalm "Yehi chevod Hashem le'olam, yismach Hashem bema'asav," as our master the Chida writes: one should press his knees together, so that they are as in the Amidah prayer, and be very, very careful with "Yehi chevod Hashem le'olam." So he writes, about the psalm "Yehi chevod Hashem le'olam."

22:21 "Mizmor LeSodah": our master the Shulchan Aruch says to say it with a melody, for all the offerings will cease, but Mizmor LeSodah will not cease. With the thanksgiving offering they would bring forty loaves, so that people would speak of the wonders of the Holy One, blessed be He, through the thanksgiving offering, so that as many people as possible would speak of the miracle and talk, and talk; they would eat of the bread, and so say many times: "What miracles, what miracles the Holy One, blessed be He, did for us!" And at the psalm "Yehi chevod Hashem le'olam," when one reaches it, to press the knees together like this, in such a way that a person says this psalm with kavanah, because it has great importance. And you can also see that there are holy Names that come out of this psalm:

22:55 Shin, Dalet, Yud... these Names come out of this psalm, in every verse, every word, and between the verses, at the side. One must be very, very careful with this psalm. And our master the Chida writes: one should press his knees together and say it with great kavanah, for it is awesome, very, very much so. Of course, one should be careful with all the psalms and say them with kavanah, and that is an important thing. Yes. — But the question is: if one person says Kaddish... there are places where only one person says Kaddish; he is within the twelve months, and it isn't his turn; so what, no Kaddish?

23:29 They don't agree to let him say it? What? For example, among the Yemenites, one person says Kaddish... So if there are several in the shul, then that time it would be someone else. What, they prevent a person from saying Kaddish? I don't think so. The Yemenites are particular that only one says Kaddish. Among Ashkenazim only one says Kaddish. — Only one aloud, and not the other? — Yes.

23:56 What about quietly? When Kaddish is said, there need to be at least a few people who hear the Kaddish that the person is saying. A Kaddish that you say in a whisper doesn't help. You can't whisper Kaddish. If I whisper Kaddish, who will hear it? Who will answer? Who will answer Amen? Even, let's say, there's a big minyan and a person... there are those, for example, to take another case, who are embarrassed, all right?

24:23 Those who are embarrassed: then at least, if he raises his voice so that three or four people hear him, that is enough. At least he is saying it before those three people. If he comes to a shul where they don't want him to say Kaddish because they have their way, then he should look for a place to pray where he will be able to say Kaddish. Certainly, one needs to say Kaddish. It is not right to prevent a person from saying Kaddish. The Manhig, Rabbi Avraham bar Nasan, author of Sefer HaManhig, wrote in siman 25 that the whole matter of Kaddish is founded upon the geulah.

24:50 It is founded upon the geulah. That is its essence. And the Jewish people await the geulah. Therefore it is a very great praise to the Holy One, blessed be He, when it is said; and Kaddish is of greater importance than Kedushah. Greater than Kedushah in its level. So therefore one must be very careful with this, and indeed let a person say Kaddish. Not to prevent people from saying the Kaddish if they have their dear ones, or relatives, for whom they need to say Kaddish. And it is a blessed thing that Kaddish be said for Israel.

25:17 "And a redeemer shall come to Zion." — The Rav said, in passing, that one who says Kaddish quietly, it is as if he didn't say Kaddish. What does that mean, whispering Kaddish? There's a minyan where several people say Kaddish; one says it aloud and one says it very quietly, and his Kaddish isn't heard. Does his Kaddish count? Because no one answers Amen to him. He is together with another who says it before ten people. — Ten people? He said three or four. — It doesn't have to be ten people, either.

25:43 There is a responsum in Rav Pe'alim, by Rabbeinu Yosef Chaim; it is discussed there: if there are ten who need to say Kaddish. There are only those people, and no one to respond. Is it permitted to say Kaddish, or should one of them be silent and respond? Should it be nine, with one responding? The answer is that they all say it, because in the end the angels respond. We say "ve'imru Amen," and say Amen: that is to the angels. So there is no problem with all of them saying the Kaddish. There's no need for one to say: "I won't say Kaddish, I'm the one on duty; you say Kaddish, I'm on duty, I'll be silent," while they say it.

26:14 All of them are entitled to say the Kaddish; they may say the Kaddish. So it's not only so that they'll answer Amen, according to what the Rav said? — That's what I'm saying: at least, when a person prays with the congregation or says Kaddish and is embarrassed, he should raise his voice at least so that three or four people hear him. Better that more hear him; but if he raises his voice in such a way that at least a few people next to him hear him, they hear him, that's fine. He doesn't have to say Kaddish loudly, and then he says: "Listen, if I'm not saying it loudly, I won't say Kaddish."

26:41 There are people who are very embarrassed. Don't you often get to see people who are very embarrassed? They don't want to say Kaddish out loud; they're embarrassed. — And if no one hears him? Then there is a problem. One doesn't whisper Kaddish; you can't whisper Kaddish. Say I whisper... Say Kaddish in a voice that at least three or four people will hear my voice. I pray, I say it. And suppose there's a large congregation where I'm praying, and this one says Kaddish here and that one says Kaddish there, and a certain person who is a mourner stands up and says Kaddish, and he says it in a low voice.

27:14 Now, he should at least say it in a voice that part of the congregation hears. He doesn't have to say it in a loud, strong voice that the whole shul hears, because he is embarrassed. He'll say: "Listen, then I won't say Kaddish." No, no, that's not right. Say it at least so that three or four people hear. I don't want to... — Why? It's called Tikkun Chatzos, the midnight rectification. Why is it done not at midnight? At chatzos, no problem. No problem, because Tikkun Chatzos should be done at night. — What is the point of it, and what is its segulah? — Tikkun Chatzos: Rabbeinu Chaim Palagi writes that its virtue and its segulah are beyond measure.

27:49 It saves a person from the death of children; he will see offspring and live long days; his mazal will be raised; he will have healing, he will have health, joy, a great many bounties, virtues and good gifts. At this time of Bein HaMetzarim, now: "All her pursuers overtook her between the straits." There is great virtue in mourning and grieving over the destruction of the Temple. In these days of Bein HaMetzarim we do it; whoever wants... we are handing out here the Tikkun Chatzos of the days of Bein HaMetzarim, which is a very great segulah. Here, one can say "Al Naharos Bavel"; it's very short, until "Habet miShamayim," until "Atah sakum terachem Tziyon," "You will arise and have mercy on Zion."

28:26 Only the part of Tikkun Rachel: that part is said at midday; and at midnight one says it and prays again, and does it with kavanah. It is a very great virtue. Whoever wants one and doesn't have it can take; they're being handed out here afterward. If you want, you can take. So it is very important to pray; for "it is fitting for every G-d-fearing person to be pained and anxious over the destruction of the Temple," writes our master in the Shulchan Aruch. And truly, the Sfas Emes of Gur says that a person can measure himself, whether he is G-d-fearing: for "it is fitting for every G-d-fearing person to be pained and anxious." So if you are not pained and anxious, then perhaps... apparently the person is not G-d-fearing.

29:03 Good. Rav, in prayer: is it forbidden to respond to Kaddish, to Kedushah, when one is standing in prayer? One may immerse in the sea during Bein HaMetzarim, no problem; only not to float about, and not to go to a place of danger, and not to stand between the sun and the shade. Not to stand at the seam: there is the sun and there is the shade.

29:28 Don't you see, there's suddenly shade from some building? So there is shade. Here the water is lit up; here the water is not. Don't stand at the seam. You sit on a chair on the balcony, you sit on a chair outside at a restaurant: don't stand between the sun and the shade. There is harm there, a damaging angel, between the sun and the shade. "A constant fire shall burn upon the altar; it shall not go out": in the name of the Ramak. The Ramak writes this. Is that what you wanted to ask? Yes, it helps. The Ramak writes that he received it from an elder; of course, this appears in the sefer Beis David uShlomo, that this segulah is attributed to our master the Ramak. He writes that saying the verse is propitious; he received it from an elder.

30:21 Of course, where he says that he received it from an elder, you surely understand that it is not an elder; it is someone far more than an elder. The meaning is Eliyahu, remembered for good. That is "Create in me a pure heart, O G-d, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain me with a generous spirit." One turns the palm of the hand three times over the forehead and says it.

30:46 But what he himself is asking about is "A constant fire shall burn upon the altar; it shall not go out." When a person comes to shul and wants to arrange his prayer, and he has foreign thoughts, he says many times: "A constant fire shall burn upon the altar; it shall not go out. A constant fire shall burn upon the altar; it shall not go out." And it helps. Once more? Sorry... Yes, yes, it helps very much to drive away bad thoughts.

31:17 It also cleanses the mind. "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain me with a generous spirit." And... the palm of the hand goes like this, "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation..." All right. Another segulah is to learn the Mishnayos of Zevachim, to sanctify the mind, and... Zevachim. It sanctifies the mind. It is a segulah in the name of the Rebbe of Rimanov, to sanctify the mind. It is propitious: the Beis HaMikdash, the form of the Beis HaMikdash, the vessels, all kinds of things connected to the Beis HaMikdash; it purifies the mind.

31:48 The Tur in siman 90 writes that when a person has a foreign thought during prayer, he should be silent. So it's implied, you see, that silence too helps to purify the mind; the silence itself. Now you have a foreign thought? Be silent. Silence is a kind of thing that also cleanses it. Silence, a kind of... it's called... What? Yes, it's worthwhile... I can't hear, can't hear, can't hear. No, certainly one doesn't say it in the middle of the prayer.

32:19 In thought, yes. But what he is talking about is before the prayer: to say it many times is good: "A constant fire shall burn upon the altar; it shall not go out. A constant fire shall burn upon the altar; it shall not go out." It is propitious for purifying the soul, and so on. A question: when there are nine... is it promised that there will be a tenth? Who said that, when there are nine? Where is it written that they are promised there will be a tenth? In what place?

32:46 Perhaps it is the Yerushalmi, Pesachim, chapter 5? Not in that wording; because one who begins a mitzvah must finish the mitzvah. Every mitzvah a person begins, he must finish; so, as it were, if he begins a mitzvah, presumably he'll go on to finish it. From Heaven, as it were, they will assist him. But, uh... can one rely on that too? Maybe he'll come, maybe he'll come. But if a person begins a mitzvah, from Heaven they will bring it about for him that, with Hashem's help, he completes it. Whenever a person begins a mitzvah he must complete the mitzvah: Yerushalmi, Pesachim, chapter 10.

33:18 Chapter 10... Good. — There are ten kohanim. They go up to bless; there are ten kohanim. Who does it, then? Who calls out the words to them? The chazzan calls them out. What's the problem? No, but he is a kohen. So he reaches the blessing, and they bless. And they say the blessing, as they used to do in the past.

33:45 They used to say the blessing. They say the blessing and they bless. "Yevarechecha Hashem veyishmerecha, ya'er Hashem...," and it isn't called out to them. But they all say it together. They say it together. Yes. Shabbos shalom, shavua tov. Or "Shabbos," since we are still in Shabbos today. Shabbos shalom; we haven't prayed Arvis yet. What's that? — If a person reads Tikkun Chatzos every day, at night it no longer moves him; he just reads it as a text...

34:14 What can be done? Maybe the Rav will compose a prayer for us, one that stirs the heart. There is a commentary with the Tikkun Chatzos. It hurts. When a person says Tikkun Chatzos, he needs to have in mind that all the troubles that exist in the world and in life, all the problems, all the separations and all the suffering: it is all stored away in Tikkun Chatzos. With Tikkun Chatzos I can solve all my problems.

34:39 And I tell you: the segulah of Tikkun Chatzos is a segulah for a home. It is a segulah for a fine apartment. It is a segulah for good things. Housing problems, matters of a home: Tikkun Chatzos. It is also peace in the home, it is also finding one's match, it is also livelihood. These are very great virtues. Tikkun Chatzos: a few moments, four minutes; you say it at midnight and you merit blessings.

35:05 And whoever finds it hard to wait for chatzos: if chatzos comes out at 1:25, 1:15, 1:40, I don't know; chatzos comes out at a different time each time, it depends when; one has to check the calendar. So one can rely on the Komarna and do it at 12. He says that it is always when the clock shows chatzos, at twelve... Yes, so that is the Komarna. But it's better to do it properly, at chatzos, as it should be.

35:36 And remember to say Birchos HaShachar, the morning blessings, because a person will connect to the light more quickly. So, as we said, once chatzos arrives, say Birchos HaShachar without Birchos HaTorah, unless you slept beforehand. In that case you say Birchos HaTorah again. In siman 47, our master the Shulchan Aruch says that one must be very careful with Birchos HaTorah; "one must be very careful with it." The care needed with Birkas HaTorah is very, very great. Notice that everything else we bless several times a day, but Birchos HaTorah we bless only once. We are obligated to engage in Torah all the time. You have no exemption; one may not take one's mind off the Torah.

36:11 You have no exemption to stop learning Torah; you need to learn it all the time. One has to pause the learning... so this learning must not have an interruption. So therefore, sleep constitutes an interruption; but night's sleep, not daytime sleep. So according to the Mishnah Berurah, if he slept during the day he should think Birchos HaTorah in his heart; if he slept during the day, he should think them in his heart. According to the Kaf HaChaim he doesn't need to. But according to the Mishnah Berurah, if he slept during the day he should think Birchos HaTorah in his heart only. Now, that is daytime sleep.

36:41 After night's sleep, he blesses again. Any half hour is an interruption. Let's review. Chatzos of the night arrived and a person was awake: he should say Birchos HaShachar, and right afterward do Tikkun Chatzos with kavanah; and if he can learn something more, or learn Tractate Middos or Tractate Tamid, may blessing come upon him. Is it written that this is for wealth, Rav? — Tractate Tamid or Middos. There is that, for wealth.

37:06 It is very important to learn about the Beis HaMikdash. And then go to sleep: learn a little about the Beis HaMikdash, and then go to sleep. Come, let us pray... Good tidings, a good week to everyone, salvations from Heaven, all the blessings of the Torah upon everyone, salvations... yes, we're finished.