Pain

Why did the soul come down from its pleasurable and comfortable abode to this painful and confining world? This question is repeated countless times in Chasidic discourses.

This Shabbat we sat down to study Chasidus before Davening. We opened the discourse and this question came up, again.

[The Temach Tzedek in explaining the Chasidic meaning behind the mitzvah of Tziyzys, brings three introductions. The first introduction is the explanation of why the soul is forced to come into this world and suffer so much pain.]

Now, the problem was, everyone around the table knew the answer to the question. And so everyone around the table began to give their ideas. For anybody who has been minimally exposed to Chasidus knows the answer to this basic question.

Or maybe I should say answers. To make the world holy. To make the world a dwelling place for Hashem. To elevate the soul to greater heights through the challenging experience of 70 – 80 years of life on this planet.

On some level the answer is not the point. It’s the question that is important.

You see, we are trying to understand, and perhaps relate to the pain of the soul. As we all know there is no answer that will eliminate pain.

So we need to keep reminding ourselves that our life in this world is not a vacation, it’s torture for the soul. The soul is jailed, it can’t express itself as it would like. It’s blind; it can’t see Hashem as it once did.

So we must stay focused. Remember that we are paying a high price in pain for the opportunity to be here, let’s make sure it’s worth while.

Sit down once a week – open a Mamar ask yourself why am I here? is all the pain worth it?