Avraham ben Yaakov
UNDER THE TABLE
& How to get up
Jewish Pathways of Spiritual Growth
Putting on the Shirts
The Limits of Meditation * Torah Study * What to Study * When to Study * How to Study *”You can wear a shirt and still be a Turkey!”
Then the Wise Man gave a sign, and they
threw them shirts. The Wise Man-Turkey said to the king's son, “Do you
think a turkey can't wear a shirt? You can wear a shirt and still be a
turkey.” The two of them put on shirts.
The Turkey-Prince might have been quite
content to while away the time chatting endlessly with his new friend.
However the Wise Man did not only want to get to know the Prince, he
wanted to elevate him. Conversation alone was not going to be enough.
When the time was ripe, the Wise Man had to take the initiative and get
the Prince to act. He had to get him to put his shirt on. “The Wise Man gave a sign, and they threw them shirts.”
The Limits of Meditation
Hisbodidus is made up of conversations –
between the Prince and Wise Man within ourselves, or between ourselves
and God. Hisbodidus can be a very powerful practice, leading to profound
self-understanding, and at times an amazing awareness of God's intimate
closeness. But for a lasting connection with God, hisbodidus by itself
is not enough.
Certain schools of meditation hold that
complete self-realization and intimacy with God can come through
meditation alone. One of the greatest dangers of such approaches is that
they can easily leave those who follow them locked within their own
subjectivity. The altered states of mind that meditation can produce are
sometimes very impressive – so much so that those experiencing them for
the first time may be quite convinced they have found the ultimate
truth of existence. Having had a taste of a higher state of
consciousness, people sometimes spend years trying to recapture it. But
the mere fact that certain meditational states may be very entrancing
does not mean that those who have experienced them are genuinely close
to God. Exclusive attention to a single technique can lead people to
ignore major problems in their lives and personalities that may, in
fact, be keeping them from God.
The Torah teaches that our purpose in
this world is to “know this day and take to your heart that HaShem is
the only God in heaven above and on the earth below” (Deuteronomy 4:39).
“Know this day” implies knowing God not only during moments of intimacy
in meditation, but through all the different phases of the entire day.
“Take to your heart” means that it is not enough to have isolated
religious experiences from time to time: we must draw our knowledge of
God into our very hearts, so that all of our activities are suffused
with a yearning for connection with God.
Much of the work of hisbodidus is
concerned with making the connection between the head and the heart. We
may have noble ideals about the way we would like to be, but they will
always remain theoretical – in the head, as it were – until we work to
marshal the motive forces of the heart, the seat of the will, in order
to realize them. This work is vital, but even so, it is still only a
preparation for the final stage, which is to put our ideals into
practice through action.
The Hebrew word for the knowledge of God is da'at. Da'at means far more than mere intellectual knowledge. Not only does da'at
include the profound states of insight and connection that can be
attained through prayer and meditation. It has a still broader
reference. To “know this day...”means to be aware of and connected with
God in every fiber of our being and in all of our activities, down to
the most mundane.
The only way to attain this connection
is through carrying out the mitzvot, the commandments of the Torah, in
practice. We have seen that the mitzvot apply to every sphere of human
activity, and on every level of behavior – thought, emotion, speech and
action. Each mitzvah is a detailed pathway of practical action relating
to a particular facet of life, and leading to its own particular form of
connection with God. The word mitzvah is thus related to the Hebrew root tzavat, which means “connect.” (See above pp. 28-32.)
The mitzvot are the royal “clothes” of
the “Prince,” the Godly Soul. Thoughts, feelings, words and actions of
any kind are “clothes” through which the personality is expressed and
actualized in different ways. The mitzvot are detailed patterns of
divinely prescribed thoughts, words, feelings and actions, oriented
toward God and connecting us with Him. It is through carrying out the
mitzvot – “putting on” these royal “clothes”– that the “Prince,” the
Godly Soul, becomes revealed in this world, and our potential
spirituality becomes actualized.
Torah Study
“The greatness of Torah study is that it brings one to practical action.”
Kidushin 40b
“The Wise Man gave a sign, and they put
down shirts.” The very first mitzvah a young boy is introduced to is
that of Tzitzit – wearing the four-cornered, fringed garment that covers
the upper part of the body. Tzitzit is also the first mitzvah of the
day for every Jewish male: immediately after getting up in the morning,
one puts on the Tallit Katan, the small, fringed garment worn
throughout the day. The “shirts” in our story suggest this upper
garment: when the Wise Man wanted to get the Prince to dress himself,
this was where he began.
The purpose of the Tzitzit (the fringes) is that we should “look at them, and remember all the mitzvot of HaShem” (Numbers 15:39).
The numerical value of the Hebrew letters of the word TziTziT is six
hundred, which together with the eight threads and five knots of the
Tzitzit makes a total of six hundred and thirteen. This corresponds to
the six hundred and thirteen mitzvot of the Torah. The Tzitzit thus
alludes to the entire Torah, which we are to “look at and remember”
constantly, studying it whenever possible, and inscribing the knowledge
of the Torah in our memories and our very hearts.
“Putting on the shirts” can therefore be
interpreted as an allusion to studying the Torah, which is as important
as all the mitzvot of the Torah put together (Pe'ah 1:1). Indeed, Torah study is the key to fulfillment of all the other mitzvot, since it is impossible to practice them unless you know exactly what they are.
Only in conjunction with Torah study is
it possible to come to a closer connection with God through hisbodidus.
Some people believe that meditation alone can lead to spiritual
illumination. They put forth their questions and then listen to their
own inner voices, or to what they may think of as spirits channeling
information from somewhere outside of themselves. But without objective
criteria to evaluate the messages they hear, how can they know if they
are truthful and not merely what a part of them wants to hear?
Those who profess to channel spirits may simply be projecting the
outpourings of their own unconscious onto an external source. People
have used meditative “insight”to justify the most wanton acts of
selfishness and destruction.
Exclusive reliance on subjective
intuition can only lead to self-deception. The Torah teaches us that the
creation of the universe was planned in such a way as to place us in a
situation of challenge, so that we can then exercise the highest faculty
we have: free will. On every level, goodness and truth are therefore
mixed up with evil and falsehood, often in the most subtle ways. Our
task is to sift and search until we uncover the good – earning goodness
through our own work and efforts.
Just as good and evil are mixed up in
the outer world, so they are in the inner world of the mind and soul. We
have all kinds of thoughts, ideas, hopes, wishes, dreams, desires,
impulses, intentions, instincts, etc. Some of them are good – they can
lead us closer to God – while others are bad, pulling us further away.
Not only do the Princely parts of the soul dwell side by side with the Turkey in us, but to make the challenge even greater, the Turkey masquerades as the Prince, blunting our sensitivity to what is truly good and desirable and what is not.
Without objective criteria for
distinguishing between fantasy and truth, we have no protection against
the weaknesses of our own judgment. The purpose of hisbodidus is to find
the Prince and Princess in ourselves – to sift out and develop the
good, while cleansing ourselves of our bad, Turkey aspects. But the Turkey
has its own ideas about what is good and desirable. Without the
objective guidance of the Torah it is impossible to escape from our own
subjectivity and find the truth.
The primary purpose of Torah study is
not to develop our intellectual acumen or acquire knowledge for its own
sake, but to connect with God. Every word of the Torah is a revelation
of the will of God. The goal is to fill our minds and hearts with God's
teaching in order to fulfill it and do it. The purpose of study is to
bring us to practical action. It is therefore most important to learn
Torah only from works by Rabbis genuinely devoted to the fulfillment of
Torah, and not from outside sources.
The Torah is unlike any worldly body of
knowledge which we can verify through accepted canons of scientific
validation. The Torah is a revelation from beyond this world, and
connects us with levels of reality which cannot be experienced and
explored directly with our five material senses. The Torah has its own
logic (such as the Thirteen Hermeneutical Rules of Rabbi Yishmael, etc.)
and has to be taken on trust.
We thus speak of kabbalat ha-Torah – receiving
the Torah. When someone gives you a gift, you receive what is given
without trying to dictate what they should give you. The only way to
receive the Torah is through Emunah, faith in God, and Emunat Chachamim,
faith in the saints and sages of all the generations, who labored in
the Torah in holiness and purity day and night and transmitted it to us.
What to Study
Halachah: “The Academy of Eliahu taught: Everyone who studies halachot every day is assured he will be in the World to Come” (Megilah 28b). The first priority in Torah study should be practical Halachah,
the detailed laws of the mitzvot applicable in everyday life – Tzitzit
and Tefilin, blessings and prayers, Shabbat and festivals, Kashrut,
relations with other people, purity of speech, charity, loving kindness,
honesty in business, family purity, etc. Even if you have no time to
study anything else, you should make a point to study Halachah every
day. On a day when you are very pressed, still study at least one
practical Halachah.
Not only is it vital to know the details
of the mitzvot in order to fulfill them properly. Study of Halachah is
also one of the main elements in separating the Prince from the Turkey.
“When a person transgresses, good and evil are mixed up. A legal
decision is a clear separation between the permitted and the forbidden,
the clean and the unclean. When you study religious law, good is once
again separated from evil and the sin is rectified” (Rabbi Nachman's Wisdom #29).
A wide variety of clear and easily
understandable halachic texts is available in English covering all the
mitzvot of everyday life. Make a list of the main areas you should be
familiar with and work through the relevant texts one after the other
until you have covered them all. Start with simpler works and go through
them steadily, one by one. When you have been through them all, go
through them again. When you are fully familiar with them, move on to
more comprehensive works. Make daily halachic study a lifelong practice.
The Halachah consists of many fine
details, and you may feel you cannot remember much of what you study.
Don't be discouraged. By merely reading the words aloud, you have
fulfilled the mitzvah of studying Torah, even if you later forget what you have learned. (See Rabbi Nachman's Wisdom pp. 126ff.) In fact you
probably absorbed more than you are aware of. The more you review what
you have studied, the more you will remember.
Mussar: Mussar is Torah literature on the theme of spiritual growth. The classic Mussar texts include the Mesilat Yesharim (“The Path of the Just”), the Orchot Tzaddikim (“Pathways of the Righteous”), the Chovot HaLevavot (“Duties of the Heart”), etc. Recent works, such as Strive for Truth by R. Eliahu Dessler, and Gateway to Happiness
by R. Zelig Pliskin, present traditional Mussar teachings in a more
contemporary form. The field of Mussar also includes the classic texts
of Chassidism, such as the Tanya, Rabbi Nachman's Wisdom, the Aleph-Bet Book, Likutey Moharan and Advice, etc.
The Turkey is powerfully entrenched in all of us, and “someone in fetters cannot release himself from prison by himself” (Berachot 5b).
The only way to free ourselves is with Torah, which is the spice
created by God for the specific purpose of tempering the evil
inclination (Bava Batra 16b).
Most of us have so many worldly involvements that it is all too easy to
get distracted from the real purpose for which we were brought into
this world – to get to know and serve God. Regular study of Mussar can
help to keep this purpose uppermost in your mind and inspire you to
follow the Torah path with all your energy. Find the Mussar works that
speak to you most directly in order to get clear guidance on how to
advance along the Torah pathway of spiritual growth.
Chumash: The Five Books of Moses
are the heart of the Torah. Every week you should go through the Torah
portion that will be read in the synagogue on Shabbat. If you know
Hebrew, you should aim to read the entire portion twice, preferably with
the Aramaic Targum and the commentary of Rashi. If you are learning
Hebrew, try to study at least part of the weekly portion in the
original, and in any event read through the English translation.
Familiarity with the text of the Five Books of Moses is the best
foundation for all Torah study.
Other Studies: Everyone should
aim to acquire a basic understanding of the main principles of faith and
the Torah way of life, as explained in the Derech HaShem (“The Way of God”) by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, and other texts.
It is possible to be a pious Jew without being a scholar (see Zohar I:59b and Rabbi Nachman's Wisdom #76),
but deep perception can only be attained with Talmudic scholarship.
Broad knowledge of NaCh (Prophets and other Biblical writings) and
Mishnah is the best foundation for Talmud study. You may look at the
many volumes you would like to cover – the Talmud Bavli and Yerushalmi, Shulchan Aruch, Midrashim, the Zohar
and the Kabbalah of the ARI – and wonder how you will ever get through
them. At the very least, pray about it regularly and tell God you would like to study them all. Follow the example of the Wise Man and make a start
with small, easy steps. Even if you go through only a few lines every
day without fail, your skills will increase with time, and within a few
years you will be able to cover far more ground than you ever thought
possible.
When to Study
The most important thing is to fix regular times for Torah study. Rebbe Nachman points out that the Hebrew word for “fixing”– keva – also has the connotation of stealing (as in Proverbs 22:23). One has to steal
time from one's other activities in order to make time for Torah study!
Make sure to set regular study sessions, whether you study alone, with a
study-partner, or in classes.
In order to fulfill the prescription to “meditate in the Torah day and night,” (Joshua 1:8)
you should fix at least one study session during the day and one at
night – even if you can devote no more than a few minutes. If possible,
try to schedule at least one of your daily sessions at a time when you
are fresh and alert, for example in the early morning. If you are unable
to allocate much time for study during the week, schedule longer study
periods on Shabbat. When circumstances arise that cause you to miss one
of your regular sessions, still try to take your study text off the
shelf, open it and read a phrase or two, then close and kiss the book
and return it to the shelf.
Every word of Torah study is a mitzvah:
utilize a few spare moments to open a book and learn even a short
passage. Make it a habit to carry a small book with you wherever you go.
Choose something you enjoy studying. In this way you will be able to
put to good use even the minutes you spend waiting for buses, trains,
appointments, etc.
How to Study
It is best to hold your regular sessions
in a Beit Midrash if possible – “whoever learns in a synagogue or study
hall will not forget quickly” (Yerushalmi Berachot 5). Alternatively, study anywhere that you find
comfortable and where you will not be disturbed. (It goes without saying
that it is forbidden to think Torah thoughts in the bathroom, etc., let
alone bring Torah literature to such a place.)
Treat your study sessions with the
utmost respect. Do not allow anything to interrupt you except a real
emergency. When you learn, you are studying the words of God and His
sages: how do you feel when you are in the middle of an important
discussion and someone interrupts you for something trivial? Use your
intelligence to avoid potential interruptions where possible. Relieve
yourself, have a drink or snack, etc., before you start studying.
A private undertaking to try not to talk
about anything except Torah for the duration of your session is
beneficial to concentration. Before you begin learning, take some
moments to sit, relax, breathe deeply and clear your mind. Offer a few
words of prayer to connect yourself to God through your study, and ask
for success. (Many Siddurim include the special prayer to be said on
entering the study hall.) Spend a moment or two reflecting on what you
are about to study. Remind yourself why you want to study, in
order to motivate yourself. Bringing to mind what you already know about
the subject can help you focus your mind. Where did you leave off last
time? Are there specific questions you would like to have answered?
If you are in a class, try your best to
focus on what the teacher is saying, and reserve your questions until
the teacher has had a chance to explain the material. If you are
studying with a partner, let one of your goals be that your partner
should get as much as possible out of the session. Explaining a point
clearly to a partner or student is one of the best ways of getting it
straight in your own mind.
If you are studying by yourself, read
the words of your study text out loud, for “they are life to those who
pronounce them aloud, and healing to all their flesh” (Proverbs 4:22 and Eruvin 54a).
Saying the words out loud helps you to focus your mind and brings them
into your soul. If you are studying in Hebrew, even if you understand
the language, it is still very beneficial to translate into your native
tongue as you go along.
Where the Halachah, Mishnah or Gemara
discusses a particular case, try to envisage the case in concrete terms.
For example, if you are studying the laws of damages in Bava Kama,
try to visualize the hoof of the ox, the hole in the ground, the camel
munching someone else's produce, the fire spreading into someone else's
field, etc. The same applies whether you are studying the laws of
Shabbat, Kashrut, purity of speech or any other area of Torah. Can you
think of situations in your own experience that parallel the instance
under discussion? After reading the text inside, look away from the text
and try to formulate the concept or go back over the argument in your
own words out loud.
When you come upon a passage that you
find incomprehensible, if you simply read it over several times the
meaning will often become clearer. If not, try to pinpoint your main
problems in order to determine what you need to investigate further. If
you find it impossible to understand, simply leave this passage aside
and go forward. Often, something you learn later will throw light on
what you could not understand earlier. In the long run, you will make
more progress by covering a lot of ground, even without going into
depth, than you will if you try to go into every single detail over a
narrow area.
If you find your attention wandering
during your study session, try to give yourself new energy through deep
breathing. At times it may help you to get up and walk around a bit, or
to close your eyes and relax for a minute or two. From time to time take
a short break to clear your mind, refocus, repeat your prayer for
success and connection with God, and so on.
As you study, ask yourself how the
subject-matter applies to your life. What practical guidance can you
derive? When you come across a teaching that is directly relevant, say
it over to yourself a few times and make a prayer out of it using the words of the text in front of you. “God, help me to fulfill x, y and z.”
This applies particularly to the study of Mussar and Chassidut, which
are primarily concerned with personal spiritual growth. When you find a
passage in Mussar or Chassidut that addresses your current growth issues
directly, use some of your learning time to say it over and over again.
This is how the words will penetrate your heart and consciousness until
the spirit of the holy sage who taught them will come into you, lift
you and bring you to true holiness.
When you come to the end of a study
session, pause for a moment or two and cast your mind back over what you
have been learning. Thank God for His Torah and the opportunity to
learn it. (A prayer when leaving the study hall is also printed in many
Siddurim.) Use spare moments after your session (e.g. on your way home
from the Beit Midrash, or while eating, etc.) to review what you studied
in the session.
The hardest thing about learning is
getting to the session. Even when you feel tired and unable to
concentrate, you can still learn a little. Take one small step – open
the book. Just say over a few words, even if you don't understand them.
This is also learning.
“You can wear a shirt and still be a Turkey!”
Contemplating the vast literature of Torah, you may ask, “Where do I
come into all this?” The six hundred and thirteen commandments confront
us with an awesome code of detailed regulations and prohibitions
reaching into every corner of life: Torah commandments, enactments of
the Rabbis, customs and stringencies with the force of law, opinions and
counter-opinions... all contained in thousands upon thousands of pages
laden with dense commentaries and supercommentaries...
“Is this the way to find myself, or am I being asked to give up
my individuality, my spontaneity and personal creativity and take on a
heavy burden that will crush any hopes of ever enjoying life?”
It may be easy enough to offer answers,
and explain how the mitzvot provide the clothes that enable the inner
Prince and Princess to come forth in their true radiance and beauty. (See above pp. 28-32.)
God created the souls. The Torah is His infinite wisdom. The mitzvot
that make up the Torah are tailored to all the souls that have ever been
and ever will be. Each soul is the unique child of God. In a royal
court, the beautiful costumes of each of the royal children are
individually styled and tailored. So too, for each one of us, the six
hundred and thirteen mitzvot that are the garments of the Godly Soul
have their own unique meaning and significance.
“Rabbi Chanania ben Akashia says: The Holy One, blessed-be-He, wished to confer merit upon Israel and He therefore gave them Torah and mitzvot in abundance” (Maccot 23b).
The endless treasury of Torah includes opportunities for the
development of every level of aptitude and ability, joyously and
creatively, for the glory of God – whether in the pursuit of
spirituality, cultivation of the intellect, emotional growth, the
development of skills, interpersonal relationships, domestic and family
life, social and communal activity, agriculture, manufacturing,
engineering, business, the professions, administration, scientific
research, arts, crafts, music, literature, care of the sick, elderly,
handicapped or underprivileged, travel, sports, entertainment and
anything else that comes into the realm of the permissible.
Even fulfillment of the regular daily
and periodic mitzvot is not supposed to resemble a performance of the
longest-running play. Each day and each moment is new: it never has been
and never will be. Let today's Sh'ma be different from any other. The
Divine sparks in this fruit will come into your thoughts, words and
deeds in an entirely original way, the like of which will never be
again: put unique energy into the blessing you make over it. Next
Shabbat will have a spirit quite different from that of last Shabbat. A
young boy's Seder night could never be the same as his grandfather's...
Answers like these may be good for Princes and Princesses, but what about Turkeys?
For the Turkey, submission to the mitzvot may certainly entail a
surrender of individuality – if that means eating anything one wants
to eat in whichever restaurant takes one's fancy, lying in bed as long
as one likes instead of having to get up to pray, spending all of one's
money exactly the way one wishes, doing anything one wants over the
weekend instead of having to think about Shabbat, and so on.
Even when we are basically willing to
follow the mitzvot, we may still have many contrary feelings. The next
step in deepening our observance may be staring us in the face, yet we
may still feel unwilling to take it because of apprehensions concerning
the extra commitment involved. We may be well aware of what we are
supposed to be doing, yet we keep putting it off until eventually we
either do it cursorily or neglect it completely.
After years of mitzvah-observance there
can still be days when it seems the hardest thing to open the Siddur and
begin the prayers, to put one's hand into one's pocket and give a
little charity, to smile at someone we had an argument with... God's
plan is to give us complete freedom of choice about the mitzvot. No
matter how much the Prince desires to keep a mitzvah, the Turkey
is likely to be there almost every step of the way with resistance and
opposition of some kind: arguments against, other things to do, sudden
irresistible impulses, fatigue and heaviness. The very holiness of the
mitzvot may overwhelm us: “Who am I to put on the garments of the
Prince?”
Look how the Wise Man got the Prince to put on his shirt.
After all the sitting and talking and getting to know each other, when the time was finally ripe “...the Wise Man gave a sign.”
What does this sign symbolize? We can look at it as an allusion to what Chassidut calls “the arousal from below.”
Everything in the world is in the hands
of God, yet God has given us free will. We are surrounded by Godly
opportunities and invitations; within our minds, holy thoughts and
impulses come up all the time. These are God's call to us. They are what
is termed “the arousal from above.” But we are given the freedom to
respond or not respond. When offered a prompt, it is up to us to decide
whether we will follow it or not. More than that, we have it in our
power to take the initiative. We ourselves can make the first move,
turning to God in order to receive His blessing. The move we make to
lift ourselves spiritually is called “the arousal from below.”
The question may be asked: if everything
is in the hands of God, how can we make an “arousal from below” without
having had some “arousal from above” to stir us beforehand? In that
case, the “arousal from below” is not really our own initiative. Do we
have free will or don't we? This is a paradox that we do not have the
understanding to resolve in this world. (See above pp. 129-31.)
We cannot know why some holy thought or impulse enters our mind “out of
nowhere.” What is important is that we do our part: when faced with a
prompt, whether from within ourselves or the surrounding environment, it
is up to us to stir ourselves and make a practical response.
When the path we have to take is right
ahead of us, the first thing to do is to point ourselves in the right
direction. Our initiative may be the slightest action: not wanting to
get out of bed on a winter's morning, but still pulling off the cover;
not feeling like praying, but opening the prayer book anyway; having no
energy to do what one knows one has to do, but still whispering a few
faint words of prayer: “God, help me to do this!” Such initiatives are
like the “sign” the Wise Man made. With it he indicated that he was
ready to have what he needed next sent down from above.
The Prince's shirt is there on the floor beside him. How does the Wise Man get him to put it on? He talks him into it! We too must use words to spur ourselves into action. Let the Wise Man in you talk to the Turkey. “Do you think a turkey can't wear a shirt? You can wear a shirt and still be a turkey.” You may feel like a complete Turkey
– interested mostly in just having things easy and pleasant, while
negative about the idea of doing the mitzvah, overwhelmed with heaviness
and apathy. The part of you that wants to do the mitzvah may seem weak
and uninspired. Still, give voice to it, even in a whisper: “I want to.”
The Wise Man doesn't try anything too
ambitious. He doesn't try to get the Prince to put all his clothes on at
once. A single shirt is all he wants him to put on. One small, easy
step. You can do that. Give voice to the Wise Man in you. “This is all I
want to do right now. I may feel heavy and uninspired. I don't
undertake that I'll do any more than this, but this much I can
do. I can do this and still stay myself.” Starting off with small, easy
steps is a fundamental rule in doing anything in life, from beginning
your physical exercises in the morning to learning the Kabbalah of the
ARI.
It is in fact impossible to put on all
the clothes at once and practice all the mitzvot perfectly in one step.
The mitzvot come from the Infinite God: they are pathways of
overwhelming power. Trying to go too quickly can be a recipe for
disaster. Getting involved with the life of the spirit can be very
heady. People who start experimenting with intense prayer and study,
hisbodidus, diet, exercise and so on may be tempted to try to take on
too much too soon. One day they may be filled with a desire for holiness
and purity, only to fall back the next day and drop to a lower level
than the one they started on. Aim to be the best Jew you can be, but
don't try to take on burdens that could break you.
“Do not be hurried. You may find many
kinds of devotion in the sacred literature and ask, `When will I be able
to fulfill even one of these devotions? How can I ever hope to keep
them all?' Don't let this frustrate you.
“Go slowly, step by step. Do not rush
and try to grasp everything at once. If you are over-hasty and try to
grasp everything at once, you can become totally confused. When a house
burns down, people often rescue the most worthless items. You can do the
same in your confusion. Proceed slowly, one step at a time. If you
cannot do everything, it is not your fault. One under duress is exempted
by God.
“Even though there are many things you
cannot do, you should still yearn to fulfill them. The longing itself is
a great thing, for `God desires the heart' (Sanhedrin 106b)“ (Rabbi Nachman's Wisdom #27).
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