THE STRENGTH TO COPE WITH WHAT IS

Torah 8 begins with Rabbeinu stating that a sigh of a Jewish person is very precious because through this sigh, they receive shleimus hachesronos (a filling of their lacks). This is how this idea is explained in the "Mesivta" commentary, "through a sigh, he receives the things that he is missing."

I realized today that this explanation is not necessarily the right one. In the next sentence, Rabbeinu explains that the lack is filled through a person receiving ruach chaiim from the tzaddik. But ruach chaim is something intangible; the way I see it, more often than not it manifests itself not in the person receiving what they lack (or what they perceive they lack), but in their getting the strength to cope with the situation exactly as it is.

Of course, not all lacks are subjective. If someone is starving, then they really do need food. If someone is getting evicted from their apartment because they can't pay the rent, then, of course, they do need to come up with the money. Yet such extreme situations are less common then a person simply lacking the strength to cope with the challenge they have been given.

This reminds me of a vort I once heard. When a person is in a difficult situation, they shouldn't say, "Hashem, please make it easier!" Instead, they should pray, "Hashem, please give me koach (strength)!" Ruach chaim is precisely this koach.

After reaching this conclusion, I decided to look into my favorite BRI edition of "Likutei Moharan" and, of course, it didn't disappoint. It gave the following English translation of this idea, "See how precious is the sigh and groan of a Jewish person. It provides wholeness in place of the lack."

This is exactly the way I see it, and it shows that what is being filled is the inside of a person and not the outside. Wholeness is achieved not when we receive what we lack (or what we think or feel we lack). This is a mistaken assumption. Real wholeness is when we are able to rise to the challenge and to cope with our situation exactly as it has been presented to us.

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