Likutei Moharan 9:4/ליקוטי מוהר"ן ט׳:ד׳

14. And every person must bind his prayers to the <tzaddikim> of the generation. <For the> tzaddik knows how to match the gates [to the prayers] and raise each and every prayer to its appropriate gate. For each and every tzaddik is an aspect of Moshe-Mashiach. As <the Sages would say>, “Moshe, you said it well” (Shabbat 101b). And it is written (Genesis 49:10), “Until Shiloh [i.e., Mashiach] comes”—this is Moshe (Zohar I, 25b). <They have the same numerical value.>

2And Mashiach <is comprised of> all the prayers. This is why [the Sages said that] the Mashiach will judge through the power of smell (Sanhedrin 93b). For <prayer> corresponds to the ChoTeM (nose), as in (Isaiah 48:9), “For My praise [i.e., prayer], eChToM (I will restrain My anger) for you.”

3This is the explanation:

4Rabbah bar bar Chanah recounted: Once, we were travelling in the wilderness accompanied by a merchant.

5He would pick up earth, smell it and say, “This is the way to such-and -such a place, and that is the way to some other place.” We asked him, “How far are we from water?” He said to us, “Bring me some earth.” We brought it and he said, “Eight miles.” [Later] taneinon (we again) brought him some. He said that we were three miles away. I switched them around, but still could not get the better of him (Bava Batra 73b).

6Once, we were travelling … accompanied by a merchant — This “Ishmaelite socher” (trader) corresponds to the tzaddik of the generation. He encompasses all the prayers, like Mashiach. And prayer corresponds to an iShMAelite trader, as is written (Genesis 16:11), “[You shall call his name Ishmael,] for God SheMA (has heard) your affliction.” Onkelos renders this: “God has accepted your prayers.” And this is the reason [he is called a] SoCheR: SaChoR is Aramaic for “surround,” which corresponds to faith <to prayer>, as in (Psalms 89:9), “Your faith surrounds You.”

7We were accompanied by a merchant — We bound ourselves to the tzaddik of the generation, for he is the aspect of Mashiach, the embodiment of prayer.

8He would pick up earth, smell it and say, This is the way to such-and- such a place, and that is the way to some other place — “Earth” corresponds to prayer, as is written (Isaiah 41:2), “His sword will make them as earth.” The sword is prayer, as in, “… my sword and my bow.”

9He would smell [the earth] — For [the tzaddik] has this power of smell because he encompasses all the prayers. And it is written, “For My praise [i.e., prayer] eChToM for you,” [and ChoTeM is the nose].

10and say, This is the way to such-and-such a place — He knew the gates of the prayers, and he knew to which tribe each prayer related.

11We asked him, “How far are we from water?” He said to us, “Bring me some earth.” We brought it and he said, “Eight miles.” [Later] taneinon (we again) brought him some. He said that we were three miles away. I switched them around, but still could not get the better of him — That is:

12We asked him, How far are we from water? — Namely, [how far are we] from (Lamentations 2:19), “Pour out your heart like water before God.”

13he said, Eight [aspects] — This alludes to Torah study [and prayer]: the Five Books of the Torah and the three daily prayers.

14Taneinon (we again) brought him some — “Taneinon” denotes study. Thus, after studying Torah we again brought him earth to smell [so that he would tell us] how far we were from this aspect of “water,” [i.e., from the level where the prayer pours forth like water].

15He said, Three miles — Namely, the three <prayers>. Then he proved to us that we had not yet reached the level where we prayed with such concentration that we poured out our hearts before Him like water. The proof was:

16I switched them around — As is written (Psalms 89:44), “But, You have turned back the edge of his sword, and You have not let him stand in battle.” For all the prayers are a sword for Mashiach, and if the prayers had been as described above, [i.e., offered with true devotion,] God would certainly not have “turned back the edge of his sword.” This was the sign that we had not yet reached the level of “Pour out your heart like water before God.”