וַאֲפִילּוּ אִם נוֹפְלִים לוֹ הִרְהוּרֵי תַּאֲווֹת וּשְׁאָר מַחֲשָׁבוֹת זָרוֹת בִּשְׁעַת הָעֲבוֹדָה בַּתּוֹרָה אוֹ בִּתְפִלָּה בְּכַוָּונָה,

Even if lustful musings and other foreign thoughts suddenly occur to someone during his divine service, while he is engaged in Torah study or while praying with concentration, Whereas the previous chapter explored unwanted thoughts that occur to someone while engaged in mundane affairs, the foreign thoughts discussed here beset a person while engaged in Torah study and prayer. These thoughts concern us for two reasons: They interrupt a person's service of God, and they occur even though he is engaged in a holy endeavor. That alone can dishearten a person and cast him down from the spiritual level he has already achieved.

אַל יָשִׁית לֵב אֲלֵיהֶן, אֶלָּא יַסִּיחַ דַּעְתּוֹ מֵהֶן כְּרֶגַע.

let him pay them no attention but divert his mind from them immediately. This principle holds true whether one is engaged in one's personal affairs or in serving God. A person who handles filth gets soiled; a person who struggles with perverse instincts becomes defiled. Any contact with these drives, whether of attraction or repulsion, creates a bond through which energy flows. The only solution is to disconnect oneself immediately. To do so, one should take his mind off the negative thoughts while also, and principally, focusing on something positive, since a person cannot entertain two thoughts simultaneously. Even this technique will not prevent random foreign musings from occasionally entering one's mind, yet it will undoubtedly prevent continued focus and analysis of such thoughts.

וְגַם אַל יְהִי שׁוֹטֶה לַעֲסוֹק בְּהַעֲלָאַת הַמִּדּוֹת שֶׁל הַמַּחֲשָׁבָה זָרָה כַּנּוֹדָע.

Also, one should not be so foolish as to engage in elevating the attributes of the foreign thought, as is known, The early works of Hasidism speak at length of serving God by elevating foreign thoughts. This approach, based on the notion of paying specific attention to a foreign thought with the aim of rectifying and elevating it, seemingly stands in direct opposition to the advice offered here by the author of the Tanya. Yet since this is a generally accepted fundamental approach in hasidic thought, the author of the Tanya felt it necessary to include several remarks here that are critical for a proper understanding of both his unique approach in hasidic thought and his personal conceptualization of Hasidism from which he developed this outlook.

כִּי לֹא נֶאֶמְרוּ דְּבָרִים הָהֵם, אֶלָּא לַצַּדִּיקִים שֶׁאֵין נוֹפְלִים לָהֶם מַחֲשָׁבוֹת זָרוֹת שֶׁלָּהֶם כִּי אִם מִשֶּׁל אֲחֵרִים.

for such matters apply only to the righteous, to whom do not occur foreign thoughts of their own but rather those of others. When a foreign thought occurs to a non- tzaddik as he prays or studies Torah, that thought is actually his own. But when such a thought occurs to a tzaddik, it is not his; he is sensing the mind of someone else. Because it is possible to rectify a foreign thought only if it is truly foreign, if it is not one's own, the hasidic teachings on elevating and rectifying such thoughts pertains solely to tzaddikim, or, at the very least, to one who is categorized as a righteous person with regard to that foreign thought, where at that moment the thought is not his own but is extrinsic to him. To understand a thought, desire, or fear objectively, to remove their external casings and penetrate their essence, a person must stand outside them. If he is imprisoned within them, he cannot do so and thus cannot elevate them. A person can pull his friend out of the mud, yet he cannot pull himself out by yanking at his own hair. If he is already immersed in foreign thoughts, the more he engages in them, the more he will sink down into them, rendering himself incapable of elevating them. This applies to every area of life. We can relate to the pristine essence of any object, feeling, or thought through deep contemplation only when we are not distracted by its outer image, by the way it appears to us. Imagine, for example, a work of art depicting an attack dog so realistic that it leaves us terrified. A person who is overwhelmed by the image is not able to assess the picture as a work of art. The evil inclination has an outer appearance: a thought, a desire. When a person is under its influence, he cannot step back and relate to it objectively. He can only be objective when he himself has no desire for it, when he is dealing with someone else's evil inclination and not his own. It is particularly the tzaddik, then, who has no evil inclination. who can sense the foreign thoughts of others as he leads the community and guides individuals. These thoughts appear in his mind in an abstract fashion, as experiences that are not his own. Since they are not his, he can distance himself enough to analyze them successfully and elevate them to holiness.

אֲבָל מִי שֶׁנּוֹפֵל לוֹ מִשֶּׁלּוֹ, מִבְּחִינַת הָרַע שֶׁבְּלִבּוֹ בֶּחָלָל הַשְּׂמָאלִי, אֵיךְ יַעֲלֵהוּ לְמַעְלָה, וְהוּא עַצְמוֹ מְקוּשָּׁר לְמַטָּה?

But one who is visited by a foreign thought of his own, which stems from the element of evil situated in the left chamber of his heart, how can he elevate it when he himself is still bound here below to the whims of his animal soul? A person cannot raise something higher than the spiritual rung on which he stands. The beinoni, who coexists with his animal soul, with its thoughts and impulses, should not engage these foreign thoughts at all. The best he can do is ignore and disavow them. Should he attempt to raise them to holiness, even if he begins with the purest intentions, he is liable to be drawn into the maelstrom of impurity. The author of the Tanya now returns to the central theme of this chapter: not to become depressed on account of these foreign thoughts.

אַךְ אַף עַל פִּי כֵן אַל יִפּוֹל לִבּוֹ בְּקִרְבּוֹ, לִהְיוֹת מִזֶּה עָצֵב נִבְזֶה בִּשְׁעַת הָעֲבוֹדָה, שֶׁצָרִיךְ לִהְיוֹת בְּשִׂמְחָה רַבָּה.

Nevertheless, he should not be downhearted nor feel dejected or degraded because of this occurrence of foreign thoughts during his divine service, when he should be very joyous. Assailed by foreign thoughts while praying or studying Torah, a person may be disappointed in himself and sink into sadness and depression. That sadness constitutes a more serious problem than the foreign thoughts themselves. A person stands and prays in a holy place on a holy day, and everything seems so beautiful, so holy, and so promising. Suddenly a thought enters his mind that is so abominable that he himself is ashamed. At that moment, he may come to think that whatever he felt before, the closeness and the holiness, was completely in vain, a lie and a sham. He may fall into despair, feeling enervated and unable to go on. The author of the Tanya says that such a person should not be discouraged. He should remain buoyant and positive, particularly in his worship of God.

אֶלָּא אַדְּרַבָּה, יִתְחַזֵּק יוֹתֵר וְיוֹסִיף אוֹמֶץ בְּכָל כֹּחוֹ בְּכַוָּונַת הַתְּפִלָּה בְּחֶדְוָה וְשִׂמְחָה יְתֵירָה, בְּשׂוּמוֹ אֶל לִבּוֹ כִּי נְפִילַת הַמַּחֲשָׁבָה זָרָה הִיא מֵהַקְּלִיפָּה שֶׁבֶּחָלָל הַשְּׂמָאלִי, הָעוֹשָׂה מִלְחָמָה בַּבֵּינוֹנִי עִם נֶפֶשׁ אֱלוֹקִית שֶׁבּוֹ.

On the contrary, he should strengthen himself even more and exert all his might to intensify his concentration in prayer with even greater joy and happiness. This is accomplished when he realizes that the sudden occurrence of the foreign thought stems from the kelippa in the left chamber of his heart, which wages war in the beinoni against the divine soul within him. It is precisely when a person's divine soul is elevated through the study of Torah or through prayer that an opposing reaction is triggered in his animal soul. A beinoni must recognize that the other side will be ever present within him, and he will never succeed in completely vanquishing the essence of the evil epitomized by this sitra aḥara. Its counterattack is not a proof that his Torah study and prayer have been in vain. Rather, the sitra aḥara reflects his inner struggle. He has succeeded so well in his spiritual work that the forces of evil have been awakened to wage a renewed battle. This is not cause for sadness. Instead, it should be a reason for joy and a renewed commitment to prayer and Torah study so that he can maintain, and even transcend, the level he has already attained. The true battle is not about one or another thought but about one's way of life in general. The purpose of a foreign thought, in particular when it comes during Torah study or prayer, is to hold back or halt a person's spiritual progress. Every such thought is an obstacle on the path, yet it is also a part of the path. It is part of the life of a beinoni to confront and overcome impediments. The greatest danger is to be dismayed by obstacles and see them as signs of defeat. If such a reaction leads a person to fall into sadness, despair, and inactivity, he leaves the path of serving God and spirals downward so that one sin leads to another, and his descent grows ever more precipitous.

וְנוֹדָע דֶּרֶךְ הַנִּלְחָמִים וְכֵן הַנֶּאֱבָקִים יַחַד, כְּשֶׁאֶחָד מִתְגַּבֵּר אֲזַי הַשֵּׁנִי מִתְאַמֵּץ לְהִתְגַּבֵּר גַּם כֵּן, בְּכָל מַאֲמַצֵּי כֹּחוֹ.

It is well known that the way of combatants and, likewise, wrestlers is that when one begins to overpower his opponent, the other also uses all his strength and exerts effort to gain the upper hand. In all struggles, when one side grows stronger, the adversary exerts a corresponding upsurge of strength.

וְלָכֵן כְּשֶׁנֶּפֶשׁ הָאֱלוֹקִית מִתְאַמֶּצֶת וּמִתְגַּבֶּרֶת לְהִתְפַּלֵּל, אֲזַי גַּם הַקְּלִיפָּה מִתְגַּבֶּרֶת כְּנֶגְדָּהּ לְבַלְבְּלָהּ וּלְהַפִּילָהּ בְּמַחֲשָׁבָה זָרָה שֶׁלָּהּ.

Therefore, when the divine soul exerts effort and strengthens itself to pray with concentration, the kelippa also strengthens itself in opposition to confuse and topple it with a foreign thought of its own. When someone experiences a random foreign thought while involved in mundane affairs, it is readily understood that this thought is a direct consequence of this involvement. On the other hand, a foreign thought that arises while one is serving God is a natural reaction of the kelippa to a holy action that breaks free of the former status quo set in place by the limitations of the kelippa. When a person strives toward holiness, the sitra aḥara is thus awakened and orchestrates a counterattack. The fact that one's holiness has increased does not lessen the strength of the sitra aḥara's reaction. On the contrary, its reaction grows more forceful and intense.

וְלֹא כְּטָעוּת הָעוֹלָם שֶׁטּוֹעִים לְהוֹכִיחַ מִנְּפִילַת הַמַּחֲשָׁבָה זָרָה, מִכְּלָל שֶׁאֵין תְּפִלָּתָם כְּלוּם, שֶׁאִילּוּ הִתְפַּלֵּל כָּרָאוּי וְנָכוֹן לֹא הָיוּ נוֹפְלִים לוֹ מַחֲשָׁבוֹת זָרוֹת. וְהָאֱמֶת הָיָה כְּדִבְרֵיהֶם אִם הָיְתָה נֶפֶשׁ אַחַת לְבַדָּהּ, הִיא הַמִּתְפַּלֶּלֶת וְהִיא הַמְּחַשֶּׁבֶת וּמְהַרְהֶרֶת הַמַּחֲשָׁבוֹת זָרוֹת.

This refutes a common misconception, where people mistakenly attempt to prove that the occurrence of a foreign thought during prayer, for instance, implies that their prayer is worthless. These people claim that if one were to pray properly and correctly, no foreign thoughts would have occurred to him. Their assertion would be true if there were only one soul that both prays and thinks and reflects upon foreign thoughts. If a person were one-dimensional, all the qualities of his soul would be in harmony and his actions open to only one interpretation. Then he would be right to believe that foreign thoughts during or after prayer reflect badly on him and his prayers. But man is multidimensional. When one aspect within him grows stronger, another reacts to redress the imbalance. This is something that the beinoni cannot control. The more he struggles to intensify his prayer and the higher he reaches, the more other forces within him are awakened. The greater his struggle to study Torah with pure intent and exclusive focus, the greater the temptations of the sitra aḥara become. Some say that this was Rebecca's concern when she went to seek God. At the time, she was pregnant and could feel a struggle within her womb. She thought that she was carrying a single child and that this struggle was a bad omen, signaling that her child would be unable to control his baser instincts. Once told that she was carrying twins, she was relieved. She realized that this struggle was a sign of a battle between two separate beings.

אֲבָל בֶּאֱמֶת לַאֲמִיתּוֹ הֵן שְׁתֵּי נְפָשׁוֹת הַנִּלְחָמוֹת זוֹ עִם זוֹ בְּמוֹחוֹ שֶׁל אָדָם, כָּל אַחַת חֶפְצָהּ וּרְצוֹנָהּ לִמְשׁוֹל בּוֹ וְלִהְיוֹת הַמּוֹחַ מְמוּלָּא מִמֶּנָּה לְבַדָּהּ. וְכָל הִרְהוּרֵי תוֹרָה וְיִרְאַת שָׁמַיִם – מִנֶּפֶשׁ הָאֱלוֹקִית, וְכָל מִילֵּי דְּעָלְמָא – מִנֶּפֶשׁ הַבַּהֲמִית, רַק שֶׁהָאֱלוֹקִית מְלוּבֶּשֶׁת בָּהּ.

But the truth of the matter is that there are two souls that engage in battle with one another in a person's mind. The wish and desire of each one is to control the mind and permeate it exclusively. All thoughts of Torah and fear of Heaven derive from the divine soul, while all mundane matters derive from the animal soul, except that the divine soul is clothed within it, the animal soul. The soul of the beinoni has two parts, two different souls stemming from separate sources and acting independently. One soul is involved with mundane desires, fears, and foreign thoughts, and the other soul is filled with holy longing, with the love and fear of God. These two souls, with their diametrically opposed sensibilities, can coexist only in the realm of the subconscious. In the realm of the conscious, the two souls are engaged in a never-ending struggle. Only the tzaddik can prevent thoughts, whether good or evil, from entering his mind. Though the beinoni may have the appearance of a tzaddik, he still suffers from foreign thoughts and evil desires. A rasha, on the other hand, who is under the influence of evil, is beset by foreign thoughts of his own: thoughts that stem from the side of holiness that evoke in him regret for his misdeeds and the desire to repent. We may conclude that a person who has foreign thoughts while he is studying Torah or praying intently should not view this as a crisis of his human existence. Rather, the thoughts are the reaction of his animal soul to the growing strength of his divine soul.

וְהוּא כִּמְשַׁל אָדָם הַמִּתְפַּלֵּל בְּכַוָּונָה וְעוֹמֵד לְנֶגְדּוֹ עָרֵל רָשָׁע וּמֵשִׂיחַ וּמְדַבֵּר עִמּוֹ כְּדֵי לְבַלְבְּלוֹ,

This is like a person who is praying with concentration, and in front of him stands a wicked gentile who chatters incessantly and speaks to him in order to distract him. A person must reframe a foreign thought so that it is something outside himself, as though it were introduced by an uninvited stranger whom he cannot dismiss, someone standing in front of him and pestering him. Of course, the stranger does not literally stand outside but within, because the thought comes from one's own animal soul. But since it is not part of the divine soul, the thought should be treated as a disturbance from outside.

שֶׁזֹּאת עֲצָתוֹ בְּוַדַּאי, שֶׁלֹּא לְהָשִׁיב לוֹ מִטּוֹב וְעַד רָע, וְלַעֲשׂוֹת עַצְמוֹ כְּחֵרֵשׁ לֹא יִשְׁמַע, וּלְקַיֵּים מַה שֶּׁכָּתוּב: "אַל תַּעַן כְּסִיל כְּאִוַּלְתּוֹ פֶּן תִּשְׁוֶה לוֹ גַם אָתָּה״ (משלי כו, ד). כָּךְ אַל יָשִׁיב מְאוּמָה, וְשׁוּם טַעֲנָה וּמַעֲנֶה נֶגֶד הַמַּחֲשָׁבָה זָרָה,

In this case, the advice to the one praying would certainly be not to respond to him either good or bad but rather to pretend as though one were deaf, unable to hear, in fulfillment of the verse "Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you too resemble him" (Prov. 26:4). Likewise, he should neither answer at all nor should he offer any counterclaim or response to the foreign thought, If a wicked gentile were trying to keep a person from praying, the best advice would be for him to pay him no heed. Just as a beinoni cannot successfully argue with a malicious heathen by telling him how to act or how not to act, so he cannot influence a distracting foreign thought. There is simply no point in trying to give a response. If he argues, that will only distract him from his Torah study and prayer. If he pretends to agree, that is false and serves no benefit. The only proper response is not to react, to act as though he is deaf, as though he hears nothing and thus has no need to respond. The more a person ignores such disturbances, the sooner they will fade away. Paying them attention will only cause them to persist. Even if a confrontation succeeds this time, the next foreign thought may react more strongly, with a different strategy, under different circumstances, and then he might not be adequately prepared. A person may enjoy a long period of tranquility, perhaps even for years, either because he has achieved spiritual success or because he is living a life of spiritual mediocrity where evil has succeeded and he is not even conscious of the fact. Yet when it seems to him that he has overcome all his internal conflicts and personal obstacles, a wave of challenges engulfs him. This is particularly likely to happen if he imagines himself to be a tzaddik, if he believes that he has removed his evil inclination once and for all. But that is not realistic. A beinoni will never eradicate the evil within himself. It will remain with him forever and will at most change form. As a beinoni rises from level to level, as he overcomes the evil in one arena, he may for a limited time enjoy a tranquil period, released from his usual conflicts. But it is only a matter of time before his temptations and foreign thoughts return. Then he will discover a new form of the evil inclination, one that he does not yet know how to handle and overcome.

כִּי הַמִּתְאַבֵּק עִם מְנוּוָּל – מִתְנַוֵּול גַּם כֵּן.

for anyone who wrestles with a vile person becomes vile himself. Any contact between two opponents, even if it is one of struggle, forges a relationship. If a person wrestles with his foreign thoughts, he only becomes entangled in them and increases his involvement with them.

רַק יַעֲשֶׂה עַצְמוֹ כְּלֹא יוֹדֵעַ וְלֹא שׁוֹמֵעַ הַהִרְהוּרִים שֶׁנָּפְלוּ לוֹ וִיסִירֵם מִדַּעְתּוֹ, וְיוֹסִיף אוֹמֶץ בְּכֹחַ כַּוָּונָתוֹ.

Instead, he should pretend as though he neither knows nor hears the foreign thoughts that occurred to him, and he should remove them from his mind by increasing the strength and power of his concentration. The proper response to a foreign thought involves two aspects. The first is passive: Rather than dwell on the thought, one should ignore it. The second is active: One should renew and intensify his focus on his prayers. This can be achieved by focusing on the meaning of the words and increasing his concentration, in whatever manner that resonates with him and that he finds meaningful. It is all but impossible to consciously shake off a thought. When a person knows that he is forbidden to think about something, he will usually think only of that. What can be done is first and foremost to be conscious of the circular process. The more aware he is, the more easily he will deal with such challenges. Practically speaking, it is best to replace one thought with another, since a person cannot think of two matters at once. As long as a person's mind remains unoccupied, a foreign thought can enter. But when he focuses on another topic, the foreign thought will not be able to intrude, or, at the very least, it will be deprived of the ability to grow and develop. Changing the direction and quality of a thought is very difficult, almost impossible. But it is possible to change the subject of one's thought. Just as one can choose to talk exclusively about a certain topic, so can one choose to think a certain thought and nothing else.

וְאִם יִקְשֶׁה לוֹ לַהֲסִירָם מִדַּעְתּוֹ מִפְּנֵי שֶׁטּוֹרְדִים דַּעְתּוֹ מְאֹד בְּחָזְקָה,

If it is difficult for him to rid his mind of them because they disrupt his thoughts with an overwhelming intensity, When a foreign thought is clearly foolish or fleeting, a person can dismiss it by turning to something else. But if he suffers from a fixation or is impelled by an urgent desire, he may not be able to refocus his attention.

אֲזַי יַשְׁפִּיל נַפְשׁוֹ לַה׳ וְיִתְחַנֵּן לוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ בְּמַחֲשַׁבְתּוֹ לְרַחֵם עָלָיו בְּרַחֲמָיו הַמְּרוּבִּים

then he should humble himself before God and plead with Him in his thoughts to have compassion on him in His abundant mercy. When one feels that he cannot win the struggle himself, he should seek help, pleading with God to have compassion on him. The author of the Tanya emphasizes that he should do this in his thoughts since he is in the midst of praying.

כְּרַחֵם אָב עַל בָּנִים הַנִּמְשָׁכִים מִמּוֹחוֹ,

Just as a father has compassion on his children, who issue forth from his brain, A father's relationship with his children is, in a sense, with himself. The father has compassion for his children because they are a part of him. In the words of the Sages, "The son is a limb of the father" (Eiruvin 70b). Just as the limbs of the body are part of the body itself, so the son is to some extent an expression of the father's essential being.

וְכָכָה יְרַחֵם ה׳ עַל נַפְשׁוֹ הַנִּמְשֶׁכֶת מֵאִתּוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ, לְהַצִּילָהּ מִמַּיִם הַזֵּדוֹנִים, וּלְמַעֲנוֹ יַעֲשֶׂה, כִּי חֵלֶק ה׳ מַמָּשׁ עַמּוֹ.

so will God have compassion on his soul, which issues forth from Him, and rescue it from the seething waters, the illicit thoughts. God will do it for His sake because the portion of the Lord is literally His people. In the prayer of Avinu Malkenu, we ask God to help us first in the merit of our prayers, then in the merit of our children, next in the merit of our dedication and self-sacrifice, and finally as a final plea against which there is no argument: "Act for Your own sake and save us!" It is as if we are saying, "Act for Your own sake, for this is Your affair because we are a part of You!" Continuing the theme of the preceding chapters, this chapter dealt with various methods to be employed in divine service, particularly how to overcome sadness and heavyheartedness in order to emerge victorious in the battle between one's animal soul and divine soul. The sadness discussed in this chapter is one that besets a person on account of unbidden foreign thoughts that enter his mind while he is praying or studying Torah. The author of the