ולכל הפחות לדקדק בק"ש הנאמר פעמים בכל יום ויום לאומרה בלי מחשבה זרה ח"ו והוא דבר גדול לאין ערך וסימנך כל הקורא ק"ש מזיקין בדילין וכו' מזיקין היינו המזיקי' שבעולם הן בגופם הן בנפשם.
At the very least, be scrupulous with the Shema that is recited twice daily, taking care to recite it without any extraneous thoughts, God forbid. This is an important matter of immeasurable greatness. The mnemonic by which to remember this is the statement,39Talmud Bavli, Brachot 5a “Whoever recites the Shema upon his bed, the forces of harm (Mazikin40Talmudic usage of the term Mazikin-מזיקין generally refers to the demonic forces, but is used here to refer to anything that may cause harm in the world.) depart from him.” The term, “the forces of harm-Mazikin-מזיקין” means all forms of harm in the world, whether bodily harm or spiritual harm.
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הגם שאי אפשר להתפלל בלי מחשבה זרה ירגיל עצמו בלי מחשבה זרה בתחלה:
Even if you find it impossible to pray entirely without extraneous thoughts, train yourself to, at least, begin without extraneous thoughts.41And you will become progressively better at it.
ולכל הפחות לדקדק בק"ש הנאמר פעמים בכל יום ויום לאומרה בלי מחשבה זרה ח"ו והוא דבר גדול לאין ערך וסימנך כל הקורא ק"ש מזיקין בדילין וכו' מזיקין היינו המזיקי' שבעולם הן בגופם הן בנפשם.
At the very least, be scrupulous with the Shema that is recited twice daily, taking care to recite it without any extraneous thoughts, God forbid. This is an important matter of immeasurable greatness. The mnemonic by which to remember this is the statement,39Talmud Bavli, Brachot 5a “Whoever recites the Shema upon his bed, the forces of harm (Mazikin40Talmudic usage of the term Mazikin-מזיקין generally refers to the demonic forces, but is used here to refer to anything that may cause harm in the world.) depart from him.” The term, “the forces of harm-Mazikin-מזיקין” means all forms of harm in the world, whether bodily harm or spiritual harm.
הגם שאי אפשר להתפלל בלי מחשבה זרה ירגיל עצמו בלי מחשבה זרה בתחלה:
Even if you find it impossible to pray entirely without extraneous thoughts, train yourself to, at least, begin without extraneous thoughts.41And you will become progressively better at it.