Yishuv HaDa’as: The Ability of a Yid to Be Present, with Completeness of the Soul, in All Situations
A Time to Laugh and a Time to Cry
In truth, we already taught this concept by Shlomo HaMelech, who said: רקוד, ועת ספוד עת לשחוק, ועת לבכות עת a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to wail and a time to dance (Koheles 3:4). That is, a person who endeavors to fulfill the Torah with the proper completeness of the nefesh must be aware of all the facets of his soul, and he must always be able to take out the aspect of the nefesh that is called for at any given time, and then be able to put it back in its place, and take out another aspect of his nefesh as it is needed.
Shlomo HaMelech teaches us: You can be the master of your feelings. You can work to have a הלב, על שליט מח emphasizing the aspect of the nefesh that is called for at any given time.
Meunchas Hanefesh in Times of Joy and, R”l, in Times of Sadness
Menuchas hanefesh means that a person has the ability—the שליט מח הלב על— to go from a wedding to a shivah house and have his nefesh at his disposal in both places equally. When he is at the chasunah, with his entire essence he shares the feelings of joy of the ba’alei simchah, and when he is at the shivah, he empathizes with his entire nefesh with the sorrow of the mourners.
Scatteredness of the Soul Takes Away Joy
But if a person doesn’t have menuchas hanefesh, then he isn’t present— neither for the wedding nor for the nichum aveilim. Being at the wedding, he didn’t “take out” the aspect of his nefesh of “a time to dance.” He went because he had to go... his neighbor made a wedding, and he didn’t want to deal with the discomfort of meeting him afterward not having attended....
But during the time he spends at the wedding, he still doesn’t have menuchas hanefesh. He’s busy thinking about whether the ba’al simchah noticed him, and whether he was happy to see him. “If he knew how long I sat in traffic just to wish him mazel tov for one minute, he would have appreciated my coming. I drove all that way to wish him mazel tov, and he was busy talking to his brother-in-law,” he thinks.
This is called הנפש, פיזורscattering of the soul! Of course, he can’t properly serve Hashem with the “time�to�dance” aspect of his nefesh, because his nefesh is not serene.
Everything Has Its Time—With All Aspects of the Nefesh
Had this person had proper completeness of the nefesh, all these calculations and thoughts wouldn’t bother him: Right now, he has the mitzvah of fulfilling the will of Hashem to bring joy to another Yid during his time of rejoicing—and his nefesh is present 100 percent, whether or not he was recognized or appreciated. “It doesn’t matter one way or another; I am doing what I need to do with one hundred percent of my nefesh.”
Afterward, he comes out of the wedding hall and changes into his regular clothing—able to “take out” the “time�to�wail” aspect of his nefesh as he makes a shivah call. He makes the effort to give it all that he’s got, to express true sorrow together with the aveilim.
When he was at the wedding, he didn’t feel that there’s a shivah, and when he’s with the mourners, he didn’t feel that there was a wedding. This means completeness of the soul!
Tzaddikim Possess This Incredible Ability
When we observe tzaddikim, we can marvel at their ability to switch in and out of different modes, with their entire feeling and their entire essence.
We must analyze the stories that we hear about tzaddikim—how they’re able to sit with Yidden in pain and cry along with them! How they hold their hands, and truly immerse themselves in their situations and feel their pain.
Afterward, when they’re done empathizing with his pain, comes the avodah of being mechazek the Yid. In each avodah, they’re completely there with their entire nefesh.
A Tzaddik Has Bitachon That Hashem Will Give Him the Right Words
When an average person hears about the pain of others, he is generally preoccupied with the thought “What on earth will I tell this person? What do I do?” He can’t properly feel the pain of the other person because he is worried about what he will tell him in response.
This is called scatteredness of the soul! Because you didn’t believe that Hashem would give you the right words, you’re already preoccupied with thinking what will happen soon. When someone is unburdening himself to you, you can’t be completely with him because you’re thinking, “I don’t have anything helpful to tell him....”
Tzaddikim, who have the proper sheleimus hanefesh, thanks to their emunah, can be completely with another Yid, because they’re assured that when it will come to being mechazek the person, Hashem will send them the right words. Tzaddikim can do this because they have complete bitachon, and this gives them all aspects of their nefesh.
A Yid Can Move Seamlessly from One Situation to the Next
The Gemara (Berachos 10a) tells us that regarding to the Ribbono shel Olam, it says, “There is no artist like our Master, because He creates a form within a form, and infuses life and soul into it.”
The Sfas Emes says regarding this Gemara that Hashem has given all of us the ability to go from one form to the next form in a seamless manner. This is what is meant by “creating a form within a form.” A Yid has the ability to change his essence from one moment to the next.
A Yid sits at the המפסקת סעודה filled with joy, eating and drinking and repeating the holy words of the sefarim hakedoshim regarding the great gift of forgiveness that Hashem is about to bequeath us.
But a few moments later, he comes to shul for נדרי, כל and he is a different person entirely—not to be recognized; the awe and the fear of the holy day are all over his face: When he is experiencing this awe, we cannot see the joy that he felt earlier.
This is the ability of a Yid to transition seamlessly between situations, because he possesses completeness of the nefesh. He knows that every moment has a different avodah, and he must invest all of himself into the call of the moment. He doesn’t make any cheshbonos about later. This is sheleimus hanefesh, completeness of the soul: the ability to be at peace within oneself in all situations, being completely present.
When the Nefesh Is Scattered, We Cannot Learn or Daven Properly
When we observe the tzaddikim, we must learn this avodah from them, and we must become accustomed to have this type of sheleimus hanefesh so that we can learn and daven and serve Hashem properly. As long as a person doesn’t have menuchas hanefesh, he is unable to learn and daven with proper yishuv hada’as. In middle of learning Gemara, he takes out a Tehillim... and in middle of chazaras hashatz, he takes out a sefer to learn! This stems from a scatteredness of the soul; he is unable to be completely present when doing what he must do.
When a person who has merited menuchas hanefesh learns Torah, he is 100 percent present regarding the Torah he is learning. When he davens, he is 100 percent present. And when he is at a simchah, he is 100 percent joyful and present. Wherever he finds himself, he is there 100 percent, with all the aspects and parts of his nefesh.
The Pleasure of Being Completely Present
This is why לסבול שכמו ויט טוב כי מנוחה וירא, he saw tranquility that it was good... he bent his shoulder to bear. When a person sees how pleasurable it is to have menuchah, he is prepared to do the hard work to attain the emunah that will lead to this sheleimus hanefesh.
We can get a taste of this pleasure when we watch a badchan at a wedding who amuses the audience with humor and wit, and everyone laughs... and moments later he evokes tremendous emotion from everyone, and they have tears running down their faces.
People enjoy such a badchan, one who has a range of emotions—because he can take over the people and all their senses and bring them fully to joy and laughter or to the heights of emotion. The nefesh has great pleasure when it can immerse itself completely into a state; this is the opposite of הנפש, פיזור and this immersion brings a person menuchah and tranquility.
The Ribbono shel Olam tells us that we can work on our menuchas hanefesh so that we live with a state of Shabbos the entire week—to let go of everything around us and live with the current mission we have before us right now. Tzaddikim lived this way, and this is why they were able to transition between various situations with serenity and presence of mind.
The Creation Changes Seamlessly
Rebbe Mendele of Vitebsk (Pri HaAretz Parashas Veyeishev) teaches us how a person can indeed attain this level of going from one emotion to the next with serenity and peace of mind.
It is when we believe that the chiyus of the entire universe is renewed by Hashem at every moment; every second, there is a completely new creation. This second and the second after it have no connection, and they have no bearing on one another—because each is a new creation.
This is the truth. The avodah of a person now and the avodah of a person yesterday have no connection—so much so that when a person neglects to perform a mitzvah, there is no way for him to rectify it. Because the avodah of later is different from the avodah of earlier. What you accomplish now is a new avodah for this moment.
Seizing the Moment
This means that it’s not only the person; the entire creation was created in this way, transitioning constantly, without letup. Every moment, it receives new chiyus from Hashem.
When we appreciate this fact, we understand we must seize every moment when it is front of us. It’s a shame to think about anything else, because if I think about something else, I have not lived this moment! If I sit in front of the Gemara and I think about things that I must take care of, I have lost the moment of now! Hashem has just renewed the creation from anew. Therefore, we must seize and utilize every minute. It is a shame to think about things that will happen later at the expense of seizing the chiyus of now.
It’s a Shame to Think of Things That Don’t Belong Now
Just as when a person approaches you on Shabbos and begins talking to you about a business deal, you immediately silence him and say, “Nu, it’s Shabbos today. We can’t think about it now.” “But...” he persists.... “There are no ‘buts.’” On Shabbos we live with the feeling “as though all your work is done.” This doesn’t mean that this person is forgoing the deal... it is simply out of place to think about it at this moment.
The same applies during the week: If he is busy doing something that he must do, according to the ratzon Hashem, then there is no time to think about anything else. It only causes הנפש פיזור.
This person says to himself, “How does this come in now? Even if it is a good thing... a ruchaniyus thing... now is not the time for it. Now I am doing something else that I must do, and I don’t have the time or capacity to think about anything outside of that.”
