The main galus we go through is the hardness and heaviness that we feel in our hearts. The best example of this is that when the Jewish people were in Mitzrayim, it seemed to them as though they were crying out and not being answered, and that Hashem did not want to redeem them, G-d forbid. But in the end, the truth was revealed that Hashem heard every single one of their prayers, and everything turned over completely for the good.
We must constantly renew this reality in our minds. We must remember the power of being stubborn and starting over many times, and we must have emunah in the extraordinary effects of our tefillos, which are always received with great compassion by Hashem.
The main advice and tikkun for the heaviness of doubts and feeling stuck in the past is to awaken shame in our hearts: “How could I fall into such a place of questioning Hashem and imagine in my mind as if He doesn’t want me? I know Hashem is truly merciful and compassionate! He made me a Jew and separated me from all the nations to be part of His chosen people. How could my heart entertain even the slightest thought that He doesn’t yearn to hear my prayers?”
This feeling of shame is the essence of real redemption, which renews us with fresh hope in our Yiddishkeit, since the main aspect of all exiles is the bitter questions and thorns that dwell in the depths of the heart.
