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Chapter 29: A Remedy for a heart of stone & spiritual Insensitivity
(LY) 9th Adar 1
1. Dealing with apathy-Timtum Halev and Moach:
- Heart of stone-Unable to feel emotion during prayer: There is another issue for which we must give advice for the Beinoni, and that is regarding the occasional, and at times frequent, experience of heart of stone, in which the heart is not capable of having any emotion or feeling for G-d. In this state, one is unable to open his heart at all in any way to serve G-d during prayer using his heart and with emotion.
- Unable to control his lust for the permitted: Likewise, on occasion the Beinoni is unable to battle his evil inclination, to sanctify himself with that which is permitted, due to the heaviness of his heart.
3. The advice-To break the heart and spirit of evil:
- The teaching of the Zohar to break the body: The advice to be followed for one who is experiencing such a state of apathy and lack of emotion, is based on the following teaching of the Zohar. The Zohar states that the head of the Yeshiva in Gan Eden taught that one who is unable to light a log on fire is to break the log to small pieces, and accordingly if a body is unable to light the soul then it is to be broken.
- The soul’s intellect does not shine: What this means is as follows: The light of the soul refers to its revelation and intellect. When the soul is not shining it means that its intellect is not able to shine and control the coarseness of the body.
- The comprehension of G-d’s greatness does not penetrate the heart: This applies even if the person understands and comprehends in his mind the greatness of G-d, nonetheless, these ideas do not grasp and stick to his mind to the point that it is able to control the coarseness of the heart, and make movements within his emotions and feelings.
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