Listening to Life's Messages - Part 8

00:01 The hemsech and continuation to the earlier installments where we discussed that one can and needs to derive lessons in life by listening to life's messages and incorporating or internalizing them in one's personal service to the Creator. We now continue and begin a new series of titles which are included in medical science. The first title is Cardiologist. The Alter Rebbe in the fourth section of Tanya, chapter thirty-one, writes the following, as it is translated here in English. The body's state of health depends on the constant flow of the, quote-unquote, lifeblood which is pumped from the heart to all the limbs. When the circulation of this, quote-unquote, spirit of life is as it should be, a person is perfectly healthy, for his limbs are bound together and receive their proper vitality from the heart. However, if there is a blockage that restricts, reduces, restrains, or hinders the circulation of the blood and the spirit of life vested in it, then the bond linking the limbs to the heart is broken, and the person becomes ill or dies, God forbid. Metaphorically spir-- speaking, all the souls of the Jewish people are as limbs of the Shechinah's, the, the dwelling place, the dwelling... Metaphorically speaking, all the souls of Am Yisrael are as limbs of the Shechinah, the dwelling for the divine light which gives life to all of creation. The Shechinah is also referred to as the heart. This teaches us when souls are bound together and express concern for one another, the circulation and flow of the

02:18 vivifying divine energy turns around and around. Our sages relate that the destruction of the Second Temple was due to the sin of causeless hatred and divisiveness. Accordingly, the healing of this illness will come about through unbounded love and acceptance of one fellow for another, thus paving the way for the building of the third and eternal Beis Hamikdash. The second title is Disease. It is stated in the works of the Rambam, Maimonides, that just as there are sicknesses and remedies for the body, so too there are sicknesses and remedies for the soul. By observing conditions that affect the body, we can make certain inferences about their effect on the soul. A state of illness generally implies either a deficiency or a weakness in some part of the body. There is, however, a certain disease in which the body is not lacking anything. On the contrary, something new is added, such as a growth. At first glance, it appears that this extra lump of flesh should not cause any harm. Nevertheless, this is a condition that can be even more problematic than when something is lacking. The extra protuberance is detrimental to the organ on which it grows and may even spread to harm other parts of the body. The treatment for this disease differs greatly from the remedies used to cure other illnesses. Whereas most treatments add something to the body, the remedy for this particular disease is to remove the superfluous growth, allowing the person to become healthy once again. In the past, this disease

04:26 was not as prevalent as it is today. Therefore, a cure was not actively pursued. Unfortunately, in spite of the tremendous advances in many areas of medicine, this illness occurs with alarming frequency these days. As a result, many new treatments have been devised to combat it. Rebbe spoke this sicha in the early 1950s. In the spiritual realms, we are now living in an age where the footsteps of Mashiach can be heard, heralding, heralding an end to the darkness which is symptomatic of the period of exile. In anticipation of the, of libe-liberation of evil, there is a last-minute surge in some negative ways, particularly insolence and arrogance. These afflictions reflect their equivalents in the physical realm, where cancerous growth, growths that take over the body can give the impression that the afflicted person exists only for the sake of the diseased tissue. Although these negative traits existed before, they were never as prevalent as they are today. Hashem provides us with new therapies in the form of Chassidus, revealed only in the past two centuries. The study of Chassidus teaches us how to remove the diseased portion that manifests itself as arrogance. For this reason, the study of Chassidus is more important now than ever before. Although its dissemination was not necessary in earlier times, the increasing darkness in the world today requires a corresponding increase in light. However, the analogy is not perfect. In the physical realm, if one continues with a treatment for an extended time, it can have a detrimental effect on healthy parts

06:43 of the body. In the spiritual realm, however, one can engage in the study of Chassidus for a lifetime without harm. In fact, such constant study will have a positive outcome, the continuing refinement of beneficial traits. This is a sicha from the Kute Sichas, Volume One, page one fifty, and from the Rebbe's letters in Igrus Kodesh, Volume Eighteen, page three thirty-two. We will, Im Yirtze Hashem, continue in the next installment.