Drawing Down Intellect Into Emotions

HaYom Yom 22 Elul

"Before you rebuke you must cut your nails, for every shtach is klipah."

Presumably this means that not only should you not deliberately hurt the person. But that your words shouldn't sting.

"Then you wash your hands which means draw down intellect into emotions."

Seemingly we must approach HaYom Yom with the same way the Rebbe taught us to study Rashi. HaYom Yom is a Chassidic saying or custom for every day, for every Chassid. It's therefore understood that the saying must be understandable to every Chassid including, as the Rebbe put it regarding Rashi, even to the "Ben chomesh limikrah"- the five your old just beginning to study Torah.

Therefore when we see a saying that seemingly needs prior understanding we must ask how's does a "five year old" understand and relate to this idea?

What then does "draw intellect into emotions mean?

Perhaps we can understand this in 3 ways (this is without looking up the source of the saying):

1. When your rebuking your too emotional. You're too heated up and therefore after you take out the sting you must also temper the emotion. You got to calm down before you give the rebuke or else it might come out too harsh. When we draw intellect into emotion we temper the emotion. Our mind tames our heart.

2. Or possibly you're rebuke is coming from an abstract place. From your mind. You believe it's the right thing to do, but you're not in it. A cold, rational rebuke. You've removed the sting but you don't care either. Then you've got to bring it own to the emotions. You must awaken your love for the one your rebuking. If not then they're not words that leave the heart and therefore won't penetrate the heart.

3. After you "remove the nails" you must ask yourself, why? Why am I rebuking? For what reason? And how will I make sure that my words help instead of hurt? We got to draw down common sense so the rebuke has the strongest impact