Prayer When Enemies Plot Secretly

When You Know Something Is Being Planned Against You

You feel it. Something is happening behind closed doors. Whispered conversations go quiet when you walk in. Moves are being coordinated. People who used to deal with you openly are now avoiding your eyes. You may not have proof you can hold in your hand, but the heaviness in your gut is real. Someone is plotting against you, and you cannot see the shape of it yet.

This is one of the hardest places to be. It is not a direct attack you can face head-on, but a hidden enemy working in the dark. Dovid HaMelech knew this reality intimately. In Kapitel 64 he cries out: “Hide me from the secret counsel of evildoers.” He understood that the most dangerous enemies are the ones you cannot see.

Rabbeinu Tam, one of the greatest Baalei Tosafos, composed a tefillah asking Hashem to protect from all forms of harm, from enemies visible and invisible, from schemes and traps and every kind of danger that lurks in the world. This tefillah has been passed down as a kabbalistic prayer for protection, and when you say it with a full heart, you are placing yourself entirely in Hashem’s hands and asking Him to do what only He can do: see what is hidden and bring it to light.

Before You Say This Tefillah

Before you begin, close your eyes for a moment. Let the fear settle. You do not need to know who is plotting or what they are planning. Hashem already sees every detail. He sees the text messages, the meetings, the whispered plans. Nothing is hidden from Him. Speak to Him now, in your own words first:

Master of the Universe, why Hashem do You stand far off — the wicked hunt the poor. They scheme in secret, dig pits, and wait for me to fall. Expose their plots — turn their plans upon their own heads, and show that You see everything. God of Meir, answer me.

If giving tzedakah, add:

In the merit of the tzedakah I give in the merit of Rabbi Meir — who exposed plots — so may You expose the plots of my enemies. Ribbono Shel Olam, I care for Your children — please care for me.

Rabbeinu Tam’s Tefillah: The Full Prayer

This tefillah, attributed to Rabbeinu Tam, has been preserved in kabbalistic collections as a prayer for total protection. It moves from asking the malachim to intercede, to declaring Hashem’s sovereignty, to invoking the brachah of Yaakov Avinu over his grandchildren, to the words of Yaakov’s own tefillah for yeshuah. It closes with the brachah of Gad, whose very name hints at overcoming those who attack, and with the image of Yehoshua returning safely from battle. When you are facing hidden enemies, this tefillah covers you from every direction.

What These Words Mean for You

Min hakol yatzileini Hashem “From all of these, may Hashem save me.”

After listing danger after danger, from robbers to famine to every evil thing, the tefillah gathers everything into one final request: save me from all of it. When enemies are plotting in secret, you may not know exactly what form the danger will take.

This line does not depend on your knowing every detail. The prayer first names many kinds of harm, then asks for rescue from all of them together. It is a way of asking Hashem to protect you from the dangers you can name and the dangers you cannot yet see, because He already knows the threat. Sheloi yishletu vi, loi b’gufi v’loi vim’oidi v’loi b’zar’i “That they should have no power over me, not over my body, not over my possessions, and not over my children.”

Secret plots can target more than one part of a person’s life. They can strike the body, the home, the livelihood, or the family.

In this prayer attributed to Rabbeinu Tam, the request itself explicitly includes body, possessions, and descendant; the text itself asks for total protection across a person’s life.

HaMal’ach hago’eil oisi mikol ro “The angel who redeems me from all evil.”

These are the words Yaakov Avinu spoke when he blessed Ephraim and Menashe. Yaakov could say those words after a life marked by danger and rescue: from Eisav, from Lavan, and from many years of hardship.

This line is powerful because it comes from someone who had already lived through repeated danger and deliverance. When you say it, you are borrowing Yaakov’s language of trust: the One Who redeemed him from every form of harm can still redeem you.

God g’dud y’gudenu v’hu yogud okeiv “Gad, a troop shall troop upon him, but he shall troop upon their heel.”

This is Yaakov’s brachah to his son Gad (Bereishis 49:19). The pasuk itself speaks about attack followed by counterattack: Gad is struck, but not defeated.

This pasuk gives language for being attacked and then restored, and Psalm 64 adds the theme that Hashem can turn hidden schemes back on their makers

How to Say This Tefillah

Say this tefillah when you sense danger forming around you. It does not need to wait until you have proof. If your heart tells you something is wrong, that itself is a reason to daven. Parents often say it before leaving the house, especially if they are going into a situation where they feel exposed. Others say it at night, before sleep, when the worry tends to be loudest.

The traditional practice for the recitation pattern is: the “Hashem Tzeva’os…” verses are said three times each, “HaMal’ach hago’el” is said three times, and the “Lishu’atcha” and “Gad” passages are said seven times each. (This recitation counts follow the transmitted versions at Tfilah.org and Breslev; not yet primary-source confirmed from Yosef Ometz in this review.)

Set your kavanah before you begin. You might say: “Hashem, You see what I cannot see. You know who is planning against me and what they are planning. I am putting myself in Your hands.” Then open the words of Rabbeinu Tam and let them carry your tefillah.

Tefillah and tzedakah strengthen each other. When you say this tefillah and also give tzedakah in the zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, you are doing two things at once: davening for protection and performing an act of chesed that gives yeshuah for generations. After the tefillah, say: Elokah d’Meir aneni!

Give Tzedakah in the Zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness

The Gemara (Avodah Zarah 18a-18b) tells us that Bruria’s sister was captured by the Romans, and there seemed to be no way to get her out. Rabbi Meir approached the guard, offering him money and teaching him to say “Eloka d’Meir aneni!” if he was ever in danger. When the guard asked for proof, Rabbi Meir threw a clod of earth at nearby man-eating dogs. They lunged to devour him, and when he called out the words, the dogs turned away. The guard was convinced and handed her over to Rabbi Meir. Later, when the guard himself was caught and sentenced to be hanged, he called out these words and was saved.

Hashem sees everything that happens in the dark. Giving tzedakah in the zechus of Rabbi Meir is asking Hashem to hear your tefillah in the combined merit of this great Tanna and the chesed you are performing right now for another Yid in need.

Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities, founded 1799, supports talmidei chachamim and families in need in Eretz Yisrael. The scholars at his grave in Tiberias daven for those who reach out to them. Give tzedakah for the poor of Eretz Yisrael in the zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, and let your act of chesed rise alongside your tefillah for protection.

Give Tzedakah in the Zechus of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness

A Brachah for Your Safety

The fear of hidden conversations, coordinated moves, and a plan taking shape that you cannot quite see is very real. But the One you are turning to sees everything.

May Hashem expose every hidden plot against you. May every scheme crumble before it reaches you. May the people who plan in the dark find their plans turned back on their own heads, and may you emerge safely, b’sholom, with your body whole, your family protected, and your heart at peace. May you emerge knowing it was Hashem who shielded you from what you could not see.

You can submit a prayer request to the talmidei chachamim at Rabbi Meir’s grave in Tiberias at no cost — they will daven for your safety by name through Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities. And if you would like to give tzedakah in Rabbi Meir’s zechus as well, your chesed will rise together with your tefillah.

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