Chapter thirty-one of the Tanya addresses a danger built into its own system. The previous chapters instructed the reader to crush the ego, to contemplate one's spiritual wretchedness, to view oneself as contemptible. But what if all that self-examination produces not bitterness but depression?
Rabbi Schneur Zalman says: do not worry. Even if the process leads to deep sadness, the end result will be joy—and here is why.
Sadness, technically, comes from the kelipat nogah (קליפת נוגה)—the intermediate shell, not from holiness. Scripture says, "Strength and gladness are in His place" (1 Chronicles 16:27). The Shechinah rests only in joy. So how can a practice that induces sadness be part of divine service?
The answer: the sadness is a means, not an end. It is the axe taken from the forest to fell the forest itself. The Talmud in Tractate Sanhedrin says: "From the forest itself is taken the axe." The sitra achara is defeated using its own material. The sadness that temporarily darkens the heart is weaponized against the very kelipah (a shell of impurity) that produced it. Once the kelipah is broken—once the ego has been crushed and the arrogance shattered—joy floods in through the cracks.
But the Tanya makes a critical distinction. Atzvut (עצבות), sadness or depression, is not the same as merirut (מרירות), bitterness. Depression deadens. The heart becomes a stone. Nothing moves. Bitterness, on the other hand, is alive with energy—painful, fervent, agonized, but vitally active. The broken heart is a bitter heart, not a dead one. And bitterness comes from the holy attribute of gevurah (גבורה), divine severity.
The instruction is practical: set aside specific times—not during prayer, not during Torah study—to engage in this self-examination. Let the bitterness do its work. Then move into joy. The joy that follows genuine brokenness is infinitely superior to the joy that has never known darkness. As (Ecclesiastes 2:13) says: "Wisdom surpasses folly as light surpasses—and emerges from—darkness."
Even if by prolonging the deep concentration on the aforementioned matters for an hour or two in order to acquire a humble spirit and a contrite heart, the individual will lapse into a profound dejection, he should not worry. For although sadness stems from the realm of kelipat nogah and not from that of holiness, since in regard to holiness it is written, “Strength and gladness are in His place,”1 I Chronicles 16:27. and “the Divine Presence (Shechinah) abides only in joy…as is the case also in the study of halachah,” and so on,2 See Shabbat 30b. except that if the sadness comes from reflections about celestial [i.e., spiritual] things, it is derived from the realm of goodness that is in nogah [hence the Arizal3 See above, ch. 2, note 9. wrote that even worry about sins is only fitting during confession4 In the Prayer Before Retiring to Bed. but not during prayer and Torah study, which should be conducted with joy derived from the side of holiness, exclusively]— Nevertheless, the method of subduing the sitra achara is on the latter’s own ground, as the Rabbis of blessed memory have said, “From the forest itself is taken the axe wherewith to fell it,”5 Sanhedrin 39b. and “He met his equal.”6 Shabbat 121b. With regard to this it is written, “In every sadness there is profit,”7 Proverbs 14:23. the profit being the joy that follows the sadness, as will be explained later. In truth, however, a contrite heart and the bitterness8 The author makes a distinction between עצבות (“sadness,” bordering on depression or melancholy) and מרירות (“bitterness”). of the soul—because of its remoteness from the light of the Divine Countenance and its being clothed in the sitra achara—are not called atzvut (dejection) in the sacred tongue, for atzvut implies that the heart is dull like a stone and is devoid of vitality. But in the case of merirut (bitterness) and a broken heart, the contrary is surely true—there is vitality in the heart fermenting agitation and bitterness, except that this vitality stems from the attribute of the holy gevurot (severity), whereas joy comes from the attribute of chasadim (kindness), for the heart is comprised of them both. Thus it is sometimes necessary to awaken the attribute of the holy gevurot in order to ameliorate the stern judgments, arising from the animal soul and evil nature, when triumphing, Heaven forfend, over man. For the stern judgments can be sweetened only at their source.9 See below, chs. 40 and 41. Therefore the Rabbis, of blessed memory, said that “a person should always rouse the good impulse,”10 Berachot 5a. that is, whenever he perceives in his soul that he is in need of it. But the propitious time, which is the time specifically fitting for the majority of people, is when one is in any case troubled by mundane worries, or, simply, without apparent cause. Then is the appropriate time to transform the sadness by becoming one of those “masters of account” mentioned earlier11 Ch. 29. and to act on the counsel of the Rabbis that “[a person should] always rouse…,” as has been mentioned above. Thereby will he rid himself of the dejection occasioned by mundane affairs. Following this he will attain true joy when he will reflect in his heart and gain a double measure of comfort, in view of what has been said above in truth, saying to himself: “Truly and without doubt I am far removed from G–d, and I am abominable and loathsome, and so on. Yet all this is myself alone, that is to say, the body with its vivifying soul. Yet, there is within me a veritable part of G–d, which is found even in the most worthless of the worthless, namely, the divine soul with a spark of veritable G–dliness which is clothed in it and animates it, except that it is, as it were, in [a state of] exile. Therefore, on the contrary, the further I am separated from G–d, and the more contemptible and loathsome, the deeper in exile is my divine soul, and the more greatly is she to be pitied; therefore I shall make it my whole aim and desire to extricate her and liberate her from this exile, in order to return her ‘to her Father’s house as in her youth,’12 Leviticus 22:13. before she was clothed in my body, when she was absorbed in His light, blessed be He, and completely united with Him. Now she will again be thus absorbed and united with Him, blessed be He, if I will bend my whole aim toward the Torah and the commandments, to clothe therein all her ten faculties, as mentioned above, especially in the precept of prayer, to cry to the L–rd in her distress of exile in my despicable body, to liberate her from her prison, that she may attach herself to Him, blessed be He.” This is the essence of “repentance and good deeds,”13 Comp. Avot 4:11. the latter being the good deeds which one performs in order to restore the portion of the L–rd to the Source and Root of all the worlds. And this shall be his service all his life in great joy, the joy of the soul in her release from the despised body and “returning to her Father’s house as in her youth,” when engaged in Torah and prayer. Indeed, the Rabbis, of blessed memory, have said that one should be in a state of repentance throughout one’s life.14 Shabbat 153a. For there is no greater joy than the escape from exile and imprisonment, as in the example of the king’s son who was kept in captivity, turning the millstone in prison and becoming covered with filth; then he is liberated and he returns to his father’s royal house. And although the body is still in its contemptible and abominable state—it is referred to in the Zohar as “the skin of the serpent”—inasmuch as the essence and substance of the animal soul have not converted to good, so as to merge into holiness, nevertheless his soul will become more precious in his eyes than the despised body, and he will rejoice in her joy and not confound and confuse the joy of the soul with the misery of the body.15 Cf. below, ch. 33. This [release of the soul from her exile in the body] is in the nature of the Exodus from Egypt, in connection with which it is written, “The people had fled.”16 Exodus 14:5. At first sight it is strange that it should have happened in this way. For had Pharaoh been requested to liberate them forever, would he not have been compelled to let them go? But because the evil in the souls of the Israelites was still in its strength in the left part—for not until the Giving of the Torah did their impurity cease17 Shabbat 146a.—yet their aim and desire was to free their divine souls from the exile of the sitra achara, which is the “defilement of Egypt,” and cleave to Him, blessed be He, as is written, “The L–rd is my strength and my fortress and my refuge in the day of affliction…,”18 Jeremiah 16:19. “My high tower and my refuge…,”19 II Samuel 22:2. “and He is my escape…,”20 Liturgy, Adon Olam. [so, too, was the physical exodus from Egypt in a manner of escape]. Hence in the time to come, when the L–rd will remove the spirit of impurity from the earth, it is written of it, “[You shall not go out in haste], nor go by flight, for the L–rd will go before you….”21 Isaiah 52:12. The quality of this repentance will be stronger and more intense, from the depth of the heart, and likewise the joy of the soul will be with an added measure of light and joy, when he will reflect in his heart with knowledge and understanding to console himself from his distress and sorrow, saying, as above: “Truly and without a doubt…”—“but it was not I who created myself. Why, then, has G–d done such a thing, to cause a portion of His light, blessed be He, which fills and encompasses all worlds, and before Whom everything is of no account, to descend and to be clothed in a ‘serpent’s skin’ and in a fetid drop? It cannot be otherwise than that this descent is for the purpose of an ascent—to raise up to G–d the whole vital animal soul, which is of the kelipat nogah and all her ‘garments,’ namely her faculties of thought, speech, and action, through their being enclothed in the act, speech, and thought of the Torah.” [As for the meaning of this ascent—how this is the ultimate purpose of the creation of the world—it will be later explained at length.]22 Chs. 35, 36, 37. “If this is so, there is one thing for me to do, and this will be my sole aim all the days of my earthly life, to fully occupy therein the life of my spirit and soul, as is written, ‘To You, L–rd, I lift my soul,’23 Psalms 25:1. that is to say, to bind my thought and speech with His thought and speech, blessed be He, which are the very laws which have been set before us, and likewise my action—in the performance of the commandments.” For this reason the Torah is described as “restoring the soul,”24 Psalms 19:8. i.e., [restoring it] to its source and root. Concerning this it is written, “The precepts of the L–rd are right, rejoicing the heart.”25 Psalms 19:9.
