Tanya 26 – Part 10
The Alter Rebbe now goes on to discuss a different type of sadness, that caused by one’s failings in matters of the spirit.
אך העצבות ממילי דשמיא, צריך לשית עצות בנפשו ליפטר ממנה
As for sadness connected with heavenly matters, one must seek ways and means of freeing
oneself from it.
אין צריך לומר בשעת עבודה, שצריך לעבוד ה‘ בשמחה ובטוב לבב
That this applies to the time of one’s divine service, is self-evident, for one must serve G d with joy and gladness of heart.
אלא אפילו מי שהוא בעל עסקים ודרך אר’, אם נופל לו עצב ודאגה ממילי דשמיא בשעת עסקיו
But even one who is occupied in business and worldly affairs, should there descend upon him any sadness or anxiety about heavenly matters during his business affairs,
בידוע שהוא תחבולת היצר, כדי להפילו אחר כך בתאוות, חס ושלום, כנודע
it is certainly a trick of the Evil Inclination which saddens him, ostensibly for spiritual reasons, in order to lure him afterwards into lusts, G d forbid, as is well known.
It is man’s nature to seek pleasure and not to remain depressed. If his feeling of spiritual failure distresses him, he will seek his pleasure in physical gratification. The Evil Inclination therefore wishes that one be depressed, be it even over spiritual matters, so that he will later succumb to temptation.
שאם לא כן, מאין באה לו עצבות אמיתית, מחמת אהבת ה‘ או יראתו, באמצע עסקיו
For if it were not so, that this depression is the doing of the Yetzer Hara, whence would a genuine sadness, one that is derived from love or fear of G d, come to him in the midst of his business affairs?
Since a genuine sadness is an expression of love or fear of G d, it should express itself at a time when these emotions are active — during prayer, Torah study and the like, but not during one’s business. Clearly, then, the sadness is artificial, created by the Yetzer Hara for its own purposes, and one must therefore rid himself of it. The next paragraph provides the means:
והנה, בין שנפלה לו העצבות בשעת עבודה בתלמוד תורה או בתפלה, ובין שנפלה לו שלא
בשעת עבודה, זאת ישים אל לבו
Whether the depression settles upon him during his service of G d in Torah study or prayer, or when he is not engaged thus, but with his material affairs, this is what he should consider:
כי אין הזמן גרמא כעת לעצבות אמיתית, אפילו לדאגת עונות חמורים, חס ושלום
“Now is not the proper time for genuine sadness, nor even for worry over grave sins, G d forbid.
רק לזאת צריך קביעות עתים ושעת הכושר בישוב הדעת, להתבונן בגדולת ה’ אשר חטא לו
For this one must set aside opportune times, when the mind is calm, to reflect on the greatness of G d against Whom he has sinned,
כדי שעל ידי זה יהיה לבו נשבר באמת במרירות אמיתית, וכמבואר עת זו במקום אחר
so that thereby his heart will truly be rent with genuine bitterness i.e., bitterness — remorse — as opposed to depression; the former is alive and active, while the latter is resigned and ”dead“. It is explained elsewhere when this time should be.20
ושם נתבאר גם כן כי מיד אחר שנשבר לבו בעתים קבועים ההם, אז יסיר העצב מלבו לגמרי
There it is also explained that immediately after his heart has been broken during those appointed times, he should completely remove the sorrow from his heart,
ויאמין אמונה שלימה כי ה‘ העביר חטאתו, ורב לסלוח
and he should believe with perfect faith that G d has erased his sin, and that ”He pardons abundantly.“
Thus, even if one has sinned repeatedly against Him, G d will readily forgive him as though he had sinned for the first time; unlike man, who easily forgives a first offense but finds it difficult to do so when the offense is oft repeated.
וזו היא השמחה האמיתית בה’ הבאה אחר העצב, כנ״ל
This knowledge that G d has surely cleansed him of his sins is the true joy in G d which follows the sadness, as explained above —that the advantage of sadness lies in the joy to which it gives rise.
Up to this point we were discussing sadness that came not from your fault at all.
And on that we say the following
The reality may not change,
But our perception of reality could,
And a fresh proper perception can breath new life into us.
Because if we see clearly that a situation (or aspects of it) cannot be changed,
We can still change ourselves to adjust and grow,
And that itself creates a healing,
Because now we can look at the same situation,
In a much more positive light,
And often we will have received the gift,
Of seeing the blessing in an open revealed way.
But here now we have a different story altogether.
Here you are sad not because of a tragedy that strikes
But here you created the tragedy within you.
So if during business or doing various activities, isn’t it a good thing to feel sadness so that you can feel remorse and do teshuva?
NO.
IT’S NOT GOOD
Why not? after all it seems like it is coming from the right place. I feel now like a horrible human being because of my sins, I want to cry. I feel wretched. I must do teshuvah? Isn’t this a healthy good feeling, a real connection with Hashem?
NO.
IT’S NOT GOOD
Again we ask
Why not?
BECAUSE YOU WILL SEE ALMOST 100% OF THE TIME THAT IF YOU ARE OCCUPIED IN BUSINESS OR STUDYING FOR AN EXAM,OR DOING OTHER MUNDANE THINGS THAT YOU NEED TO DO,AND YOU START TO FEEL SAD (EVEN IF IT CAME FROM A THOUGHTS OF YOUR “TRUE” SPIRITUAL” SITUATION) YOU WILL SEE GUARANTEED THAT 10 OR 15 MINUTES LATER YOU WILL FEEL A STRONG TAAVAH FOR SOMETHING VERY UNHEALTHY.
Why ?
2 reasons
1- When you feel depressed, you feel the need for an OUTLET. to pull out of that frustration that you have in you, you crave for that immediate high, instant gratification, alleviation of stress. Giving in to this unhealthy outlet actually aggravates the problem, but for a short while you feel better (but once that short time passes, you feel much worse, because you can’t run away from yourself forever)
2-This is not mentioned here. but the Tanya mentions this elsewhere, when you feel low and down, you feel WORTHLESS,BECAUSE I DO NOT MATTER.AND IF I DON’T MATTER,MY LIFE DOES NOT MATTER EITHER,SO WHAT THE HELL,I WILL INDULGE IN THIS DEPRAVED BEHAVIOR BECAUSE NOTHING MATTERS ANYWAY.
Both of these errors must be corrected.
It is all the ploy of the yetzer horah
For if it were not so, that this depression is the doing of the Yetzer Hara, whence would a genuine sadness, one that is derived from love or fear of G d, come to him in the midst of his business affairs?
All of a sudden in business, or studying for an exams ,or doing a mundane task that you need to do, you mysteriously become Mr Holy and Sensitive.
BALONEY
THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY TACTICS OF THE YETZER HORAH.
Because this feeling of spiritual awakening seems to be that Bas Kol from Heaven that will lead you to Teshuva.
But it is not the Bas Kol. Because a) you wouldn’t be thinking about this just now during business b) a Bas Kol would motivate you to positive action, not despair, and not to pull you subsequently into a Taavah..
This spiritual awakening at the wrong time is deadly. If you are working now , Hashem wants you to work. If you are on a lunch break alone, He wants you to eat lunch and rest. or He wants you to study.
Hashem has patience. He says you can speak to me later, by Maariv ,or spare a half hour later to talk to Me.
Now, Mr Yetzer Horah just wants to screw you royally. So now you come to those feelings of Teshuva that makes you sad how far you are from Hashem. That’s a bunch of bull. As real as it feels ,it bull. Ten minutes later a taavah or some other test will come up and those harried thoughts will cause you to fall. That was his plan all along..
We are careless about this.
We do not set times for sadness.
The yetzer horah wants you to feel sad on HIS time not yours, HIS schedule not yours.
He is playing us like a fiddle
Your time is during Tefillah, or you lock yourself in a room in your house for 20 minutes,or even in your car, and you now tell Hashem “Let’s talk about this”
So when sadness hits at the wrong time you tell it “I’ll see you later, now I am working or studying or resting or eating or what ever task you are doing” but the yetzer horah will scream “NOW, be broken about you sins, NOW cry and let the tears fall, NOW think about the Shmuk that you are, NOW deal with the fact that you are SOO SOOOO BAD, You cannot push it off , that’s IRRESPONSIBLE, you can’t push it off till later NOW!!NOW!!NOW!!
Not now.
Hashem has plenty time.
And you push your sadness away.
I am not dealing with your sadness now. That will lead to a bad taavah or a bad temper. If I get depressed now at 445 PM ,I will take that sadness with my home and I will ultimately blow up at my wife and kids. Because sadness can sometimes lead to great frustration that can end up in damaging anger.I cannot afford this. So I will wait till I am ready.
We are much more capable of doing this than we think
Try it.
It works.
Because no one is telling you not to feel.
Just not at this moment because it’s destructive now
Later.
Hashem will help you find the right time.
