Question:
Rebbe Nachman’s teachings contain a lot of hisorerus that is meant to motivate us to work harder in our avodas Hashem. These words give us mussar that shows us just how far we are from perfection and pushes us to aim higher. At the same time, Rebbe Nachman’s sefarim are also full of chizuk. He reminds us to focus on our good points, to remember that Hashem loves us and is always with us, and to reflect on similar ideas that lift up our spirits.
These two approaches seem to clash, causing many people to wonder which one they should focus on. Should we concentrate on the messages of comfort and encouragement or on seeking constant inspiration and motivation?
Answer:
Many people get caught up in this confusion. Some tend to focus mostly on mussar, which points out all their flaws, driving them to improve all the time. People who lean that way often stay away from chizuk. They are concerned that a dose of comfort might cause them to become complacent and cool off their holy desires and aspirations to advance in their avodas Hashem. After all, if a person feels okay with himself, why should he push himself to change?
Others focus on comforting and strengthening themselves. In our generation, there are many people who feel weak and down. They hold on to the hope that Hashem will eventually lift them up, and they don’t push themselves too hard, concentrating only on their successes and not dealing with their shortcomings. They think that if they think about mussar and words of awakening, they’ll lose the spark of chizuk they need for their avodas Hashem.
A third type of person searches for both approaches independent of one another, and they end up totally confused. On the one hand, they have a true desire to improve and succeed, but they can’t find a way to awaken themselves to do so without getting broken and losing their chiyus in avodas Hashem. On the other hand, they can’t find a way to encourage themselves without falling into laziness.
The common thread is that people think there’s a contradiction between hisorerus and chizuk. However, anyone who learns the sefarim of Rebbe Nachman and Reb Nosson can see that every teaching blends both hisorerus and chizuk, since they are not two separate paths at all.
Rebbe Nachman mission is not just to encourage or motivate us. Rather, he reveals our true goal in life: to come closer to Hashem. We achieve this by strengthening our emunah and awakening our hearts to search for Hashem in our current situation.
Once this goal is clear, we can see that there are two paths we must use to attain it. The first path is by recognizing Hashem’s greatness. If we truly internalize the greatness of the Creator, we will never rest in avodas Hashem. We will push ourselves as much as we can, by learning a lot of Torah, doing many mitzvos, and attaching ourselves to the practice of tefillah, both the required tefillos we say three times a day and hisbodedus (personal prayer). We will awaken our hearts to love and fear Hashem, and we will climb the ladder of attaining deeper understanding of Him. Rebbe Nachman calls this path: איה מקום כבודו—“Where is the place of Your glory?” This describes our constant search for deveikus to Hashem.
The other path is by recognizing that Hashem has immeasurable compassion for every Jew, no matter what he’s been through. Even someone who is very far from kedushah is still very close to Hashem because of His endless kindness. Rebbe Nachman reveals many teachings that encourage us to believe in the goodness of Hashem. He shows us how to feel happy and filled with chiyus, whatever we may have done. This path is called: מלא כל הארץ כבודו— “The entire world is filled with His glory.”
When we have a clear goal of coming closer to Hashem, we will see that there is no contradiction between these two paths. Rather, we can live with both of them simultaneously by awakening ourselves to serve Hashem from a place of joy and strength from the fact that Hashem is very proud of every little thing we do. If we look at life through this lens, we’ll never become complacent, since we won’t think that we’ve accomplished everything there is to do for such a great and awesome King.
With this, we can also understand why Reb Nosson says that for every spoonful of hisorerus, we need a plateful of chizuk. We must include both of them together — but it’s best to focus on comforting concepts, like remembering that “the whole world is filled with His glory,” that Hashem has compassion on us no matter what, and He is proud of the tiniest mitzvah or movement in kedushah of every Jew, since these thoughts give us the strength and motivation to move forward, seeking another spoonful of hisorerus to bring us even closer to Hashem.
On a deeper level, the truth is that we’re all very connected to Hashem and, at our core, we’re far from sin. Even if a person has strayed, the foundation of his neshamah remains a part of Hashem. When we really internalize this closeness to Hashem, we understand that He gets the most pleasure when those who are weighed down by depression and desire overcome their yetzer hara and return to fulfilling Hashem’s will, even in the smallest way.
Therefore, we should never feel broken. Even when it seems like we are far from Hashem, in truth, we’re always very close to Him, and every positive movement we make gives Him incredible nachas. Hashem most enjoys the good we do especially when it’s hard for us — each person according to his level.
On the other hand, we should feel embarrassed for our sins, since we are Hashem’s children who have the ability to make Him so happy by fulfilling His will.
In summary, encouragement and motivation aren’t contradictory. They are two sides of the same coin of always coming closer to Hashem. The way of Rebbe Nachman is to constantly yearn for a deeper connection to Hashem from a place of joy and recognition of His immense compassion for us.
