Opposites that Coexist

3 Adar II 5782

“All the specific types of joy enumerated above do not preclude one from being shamed and despised in his own eyes or from having a broken heart and a humble spirit, even at the very time of his joy. For the shame and so on is prompted by one’s awareness of the lowliness of his body and animal soul, while his joy is felt on account of his divine soul and the animating spark of G‑dliness clothed within it” (Lessons in Tanya, Likutei Amarim, end of Chapter 34)

The Alter Rebbe explains here that all forms of joy do not conflict with the bitter remorse and sadness that one experiences over one’s spiritual failings. For, although joy and sadness are opposites, they can nonetheless coexist when each has its own, distinct cause.

“With the kindhearted You act kindly, with the upright man You act uprightly. With the pure You act purely, but with the crooked You act cunningly.” (Tehillim 18:26-27)

The same idea can be found in today’s Tehillim reading. With the crooked you must act cunningly. You must break the yetzer hara with his own weapons, those of profound depression and bitter remorse, as the Alter Rebbe explains in Chapter 31. But at the same time you must act uprightly and purely with the kindhearted and pure, your G‑dly soul, giving it free reign to serve Hashem with outward joy.

“A man (adam) who shall bring near of you an offering to G‑d” (Vayikra 1:2)

Rashi brings from Midrash Tanchuma, “Why does G‑d use the word adam for ‘man’ (instead of the more common synonym ish)? To teach us that a person cannot offer to G‑d what has not been honestly obtained by him. G‑d is saying: When you bring an offering to Me, be like Adam the first man, who could not have stolen from anyone, since he was alone in the world.”

The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains further how this relates to our G‑dly soul and its pristine nature, which should fill us with constant joy as explained above: “When we speak of Adam as one who ‘was alone in the world,’ we are speaking of the very first hours of his life. Thus we are speaking of Adam before he partook of the Tree of Knowledge—of man still unsullied by sin.

This is the deeper significance of the Torah’s reference to the bearer of a korban—which has the power to obtain atonement for a transgression—as an ‘Adam.’ Every man, the Torah is saying, harbors in the pith of his soul a pristine ‘Adam,’ a primordial man untouched by sin. Even at the very moment when his external self was transgressing the Divine will, his inner essence remained loyal to G‑d; it was only silenced and suppressed by his baser instincts. It is by accessing this core of purity, by unearthing that part of himself that did not sin in the first place and restoring it to its rightful place as the sovereign of his life, that man attains the state of teshuvah—return to his original state of perfection.”