In Chapter 26-28, we learned that it is possible to be joyful in any situation, no matter the circumstances.
In Chapters 29 and 30, we learned how to deal with feelings of numbness and indifference that result from negative influences and the forces of impurity covering your heart.
Today, we will tie these two topics together.
Sometimes, in order to crack something, you use the object itself.
It’s difficult to crack a nut using your bare fingers but strategically banging that walnut against another walnut will very effectively crack it.
The Talmud mentions how the handle for an ax used to chop down the forest - is made from wood, from the forest itself.
Similarly, you need to employ terms that the animal soul understands in order to break it. The emotion most effective for this is one that the animal soul uses in order to advance its agenda: Depression.
In this case, however, you tweak the emotion a bit so that instead of depression, you feel Merirut - disenchantment, distress, and regret. When you utilize your pain and regret to drive you to improve and change the status quo, you are using the holy version of sadness. This is the only way to break the unholy, negative state you find yourself in. You employ a tool that the animal soul is familiar with - ie depression - to fight itself.
In fact, this is the only positive side that exists to sadness... Properly utilized, it forces us to face the unpleasant truth and make changes in our lives. Otherwise, it would be a totally negative emotion, one to avoid at all times!
To clarify: The difference between depression and Merirut - sadness and bitterness, is very slight ---:
When experiencing either of them, you admit that the current situation is no good and not sustainable.
But what happens next differentiates the two:
Depression is rooted in the Element of Dust, (one of the 4 elements that the world is made up of: Fire, Air, Water, and Earth).
Depression makes you feel down and heavy, overwhelmed and unable to lift yourself out of the situation.
Bitterness is energizing, like fire. It leads you to take action and make changes as needed.
Like the doctor who gives his patient a choice: Lifestyle change or early death -- pick your choice.
When you feel sadness or depression, you hide in bed under the covers until….
When you feel Merirut - disillusionment or bitterness, you can’t sleep. You can’t stay in one place. You need to do things, to take action.
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How often should you allow yourself to enter this state of Merirut - distress and regret?
Like any medical treatment :
Use only as prescribed
Take only as much as needed, and only at the proper times.
The correct time to sit and think the kind of thoughts that lead to Merirut is when you are already bothered by something else. Grab the opportunity to sit down and take a personal accounting of your life.
This should take an hour or two, not more.
Then, the sadness should be replaced with relief and even joy!
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Merirut - distress and sadness - is like a pill that you have to take when you are sick.
However, for the most part, good health is dependent upon proper nutrition, not medication.
Nutritious food for the soul is JOY and this is the mode you should always operate in.
Of course, medication is used only temporarily and the same applies to Merirut.
Most medications are not to be taken on an empty stomach.
The same applies with Merirut. Only utilize this potent remedy when you’ve got food - JOY - in your system already!
The Lubavitcher Rebbe noted that in a generation where people have experienced so much suffering and trauma, Merirut is an unnecessary bitter pill to swallow. There’s enough of that present already in people’s lives.
In our generation, our task is to serve G-d with JOY.
