„All the traits can be elevated, because they have a root in holiness—…”
„All the traits can be elevated, because they have a root in holiness—except for sadness, which has no root at all, for 'strength and joy are in His place.' And one must elevate its cause, and since the root is elevated, it too is elevated. And the root of sadness is either arrogance or anger, or worry that comes from them, and the like.”From Orot HaKodesh III, 243
Every trait has a root that it rectifies. When a person is angry, he can use the intensity of his anger for certain things, to channel it toward good. The same is true of arrogance, and likewise with every single trait. Everything has a good root.
There is one trait that has no good root: the trait of sadness. It receives its power from other traits—from a place of arrogance that leads to sadness, or from a place of anger that leads to it. This does not refer, of course, to the sadness caused as a result of tragedies, but to a sadness that we adopt as a trait. Rabbi Nachman literally waged war against sadness and wrote of it in Likutei Moharan, 'Sadness is a great transgression, and the Holy One, blessed be He, hates it.'
When we find ourselves in this trait, we must clarify to ourselves its cause—to see the factor that brings the sadness, and to try to rectify the matter from the root. When we act against sadness in a world of rectification, which is a purposeful world, we will succeed in hearing our emotions on the one hand, and on the other hand truly advancing ourselves to a better place.
For the recovery of Roza bat Bova
From the community archive of Mishpetei HaRav Kook — studying Rav Kook's teachings since 2011.