In our lesson in Tanya today we (almost) complete Chapter 31 dealing with the theme of Timtum HaLeiv (dullness of the heart) and the importance of not allowing these feelings to interfere with actually becoming happy! Our duty and obligation is to free the Shechinah (the Godly soul) from its exile within our bodies — and let it shine out to ourselves and to others!
Freeing this Godly soul brings great joy Above and to ourselves as well.
For more info, please see my site https://www.lovingkindness.co and feel free to be in touch about anything Torah and life! It is like the son of the king being freed from hard labour within a prison. One can only imagine the joy for both the prisoner and the king.
This experience is nothing less than a Yetziat Mitzrayim – an exodus from Egypt. Just as we were freed from the hard labour in Egypt, so too, when we release that Godly soul from its exile within our bodies, we create the same effect upon ourselves.
One should always remember that even though the body and the animal soul are contemptible (leaning towards material matters that keep one away from being able to feel the connection to God), nevertheless, we are not to blame for our situation. It is God who has made us as we are and with the condition we find ourselves in. We can feel both these feelings at once. On the one hand, the contempt for the body, and on the other hand, the knowledge that we are aware that this is not our own doing. As a result, we can also experience much delight with our real selves – the Godly part to ourselves, even as we consider the contempt of the physical body (which serves only to keep us at bay from what Godliness is.)
Ultimately, all of this is just a descend for the purpose of an ascent. The soul is placed inside a physical body not for its own sadness, but rather to uplift it to an even higher level than it was originally before it descended into the body. We lift it up by engaging it in Torah study and Mitzvah performance, through garbing it in the thoughts, speech and deeds that we involve ourselves in each day – each moment.
