Welcome to Emotional Wellness Daily. A while ago, before we our focus shifted to the challenges in Eretz Yisrael, we were talking about a concept that we have certain Kochot/ energies or instincts, that were built into our system.
For example, we have the need and desire to protect ourselves and other things like that, that come naturally. We explained how those tendencies, or instincts are blind. They don't think, they just act naturally. They're not intellectual, they're animal instincts. The person doesn't think when there's a stampede in a nightclub, that he might step on his wife or his child even, because there are natural tendencies and instincts that just act blindly.
Rav Wolbe has a chiddush in Alei Shur (vol 2, page 152), which we’ve mentioned before, that there's an instinct for a person to connect to his Creator or to a higher force.
He used the term instinct because most instincts are animal instincts. He says, the pasuk in Tehilim says, “The lions roar for the food, to ask God for food. God gives bread to the animals, to the children of the raven that call out.” This he says, is not poetic. Animals have a natural instinct that there's a higher force that takes care of their food.
This instinct works in people also, but obviously on a higher level.
This natural instinct of spirituality or connection to a higher force, helps us in our service to Hashem. Without this natural tendency, our service to Hashem would be quite heavy. This need for spirituality is like any other instinct, as we said, in that it's egoistic by nature. Therefore, the spiritual drive usually drives what's good for the person. But it works more in areas of Godly connections than between man and his fellow man.
If a person only uses this instinct for spirituality as the foundation of his service to Hashem, than it remains egoistic. He might have a keep of stringencies, but it's not going to bring him to acts of kindness. That's why we have to base our service to Hashem on our Da’at/our wisdom, our knowledge. If a person doesn't use his Da’at and just allows it to happen instinctively, he's going to get into trouble.
He says that people who are what we call spiritual people, are always taking their spiritual pulse. Do I feel close to God? Do I feel distanced from God? They try to push themselves to feel this connection. But he quotes from Rav Yerucham Levovitz who says, Don't jump to the heavens. You always have to keep your feet on the ground. How do you keep your feet on the ground? By doing actions.
Of course, we want to connect to God. There's no question about it. But the way to connect is by being grounded in action, not just to be constantly looking at your feelings. For example, somebody has a choice between two places to pray on the high holidays and one is very uplifting, but his father likes to pray in a different shul that might not be as uplifting for him (we'll assume it’s a kosher, good orthodox shul and there are no issues there). He just doesn't feel it, but his father wants him to pray with him. Of course, at times if your father says, it's okay, great.. But this father wants to pray with his son. The son many do not feel as spiritual, because he doesn't have those feelings that he feels someplace else. But we can't base our religion on feelings. Rav Wolbe says that is a spirituality instinct, that's not necessarily always correct.
So this is an emotional wellness/spirituality lesson. A lot of times when people say spiritual, it's more about feelings. Feelings are good. But we can't just base our approach to service of Hashem on instinctive feelings, without using our sechel.
To be continued…