I came across this line in Tanya: “Even one who is wise and knowledgeable in the greatness of the Infinite One, if he does not ground his thoughts in a strong and consistent way, the awe and love of Hashem that he experiences will not be authentic, but rather a product of his imagination (dimyonos shov). What does the Baal Hatanya mean to say? Does this mean that there is no value to emotions of love or awe towards Hashem?”
No! Obviously every single feeling and emotion that a Yid has is very precious to Hashem! Feelings and emotions are a basic part of human nature. Some people feel it more, and some less. Often women and children are more emotional. This human trait is very precious when it is channeled towards avodas Hashem. Our Tzadikim have taught us how precious are the tears and tefillos of a Yiddishe mamma!
But when a feeling is based purely on human emotion, it is fleeting; as soon as the person’s mood changes, those emotions disappear. But if the emotion is an expression of a deeply held, concrete belief and understanding, it will stay with a person even when things are difficult.
An example of this concept is in the relationship of a couple getting married. The process of getting engaged, and during the engagement itself, are full of feelings and emotions, but because the couple does not yet know each other so well, the emotions are raw and do not run so deep. Once they get married they start to build a real and deep relationship. They start to learn more about each other, what the other’s worldviews are, what they like and don’t like, and so on. The deeper the connection and the relationship is, the deeper the emotional connection will be as well, and such a connection will remain even when things get tough.
The Baal Hatanya is teaching us that our emotional connection to Hashem should be an expression of the deep relationship we have with Hashem, and not merely a product of human emotion. Then our awe and love of Hashem will remain with us, even in a time of katnus (spiritual disconnect).
There are three levels in our avodah: actions, emotions, and deep understanding. Our job is to climb that ladder, and then come back down, incorporating what we’ve attained at the higher level down to our most basic avodah.
The most basic level of serving Hashem is in the world of action — to learn Torah and do all the mitzvos. Then build your emotional connection to Yiddishkeit. Then we aim for the higher levels of deeper understanding. Once we’ve achieved that, we bring what we’ve attained down to the lower levels, and then our emotions and actions will be infused with our deeper understanding and relationship with Hashem.
The Bottom Line
When the Baal Hatanya wrote “dimyonos shov,” he does not mean they are worthless. He means they are fleeting. So the ultimate goal is to then continue to deepen your understanding, and then the emotions you express will be much deeper than just “fleeting human emotions.” They will be long lasting kirvas Elokim (closeness to Hashem) that can remain through all of our ups and downs.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Nekuda Tova Listing.