We have reached chapter 31, which begins on page 39b (page 78). To follow the flow of this chapter we first need a brief review and summary of chapters 29 and 30, because already in its opening lines the Alter Rebbe is referring back to points that sum up both of those chapters together.
Review: the flow of chapters 29 and 30
At the beginning of chapter 29 we learned about a Jew with a problem that the Alter Rebbe calls timtum halev, a "dulled heart." He simply cannot get aroused; his heart is not moved and he cannot connect. During davening and Krias Shema he feels a certain blockage and deadness, because the animal side of him and his yetzer hara get in the way and will not let him move forward.
The advice the Alter Rebbe gives for ridding oneself of timtum halev is based, as we learned, on the words of the holy Zohar. The Zohar offers the analogy of a large log of wood that one wants to set alight. It will not catch fire, because it is thick and coarse; the only way is to pound it into thin, fine splinters, and then the fire catches easily. The same image, the Zohar continues, applies to the soul: when a person's nefesh habahamis (animal soul) is coarse and thick, it blocks him and will not let him become aroused, moved and connected. A person must therefore look for the way to crush, to "pound" his nefesh habahamis, and that pounding will awaken the G-dly emotional side of him during davening and the like.
How is this pounding done? Two full chapters, 29 and 30, are devoted to answering that. But why did the Alter Rebbe split it into two chapters, instead of giving one continuous run of approaches and advice on the same subject, even if the result would have been one long chapter? Because the type of hisbonenus (contemplation) of chapter 29 is entirely different from the type of hisbonenus of chapter 30. Two different approaches, with one goal: crushing the coarseness of the animal soul.
Chapter 29: Here we come to convince a person, through reflecting on himself, that his soul is in a bad state at its very core. We do not point a finger at him and say, "You committed this sin and that sin, you are wrong here and wrong there." We open with very subtle points: the very fact that he has a soul with which he is capable of sinning already places him in a lowly state. After all, the world is full of animals who never transgress G-d's will, and he is capable of transgressing G-d's will. Or we move to another stage and tell him that perhaps many years ago he did something wrong, and even though he already did teshuvah for it, perhaps a point remains for which he must do teshuvah again. The entire movement of chapter 29 deals with something hidden, concealed and very inward, convincing a person that his inner spiritual state is not good, and that is what gives him the pounding, the abrasion.
Chapter 30: The tone here is far sharper and far more explicit. We tell a person: stand in front of the mirror and see that you are not really contending at all with the challenges you face. That lowest of the low standing in the marketplace, who does not withstand the temptations in front of him, is in truth exactly like you. By him it is in sur mera (turning from evil), by you it is in asei tov (doing good): you could learn more than you usually do, do you? You could daven with greater concentration, do you? You could hold yourself back from saying something you very much want to say, do you hold back? Chapter 30 tells a person to examine himself, and very quickly he becomes convinced that his situation really is not good, and that brings him to the heading of chapter 30: "Be of humble spirit before every person," to feel himself lower even than the lowest of the low.
Now, in chapter 31, the Alter Rebbe places these two forms of hisbonenus side by side and asks: what is the feeling a person will arrive at in the end, at the end of the day, as a result of the contemplation of chapter 29 or the contemplation of chapter 30? Will it lead him to joy and dancing, or to gloom, sadness and a bad mood? Clearly it leads to a bad mood. A contemplation that shows him his soul is essentially not good (chapter 29), or that day to day he is not really contending at all (chapter 30), adds up to a bad feeling. And that is indeed its purpose.
But here a question arises. In chapters 26, 27 and 28 we learned that sadness must be removed completely, that there should not be even a trace of it. On the one hand we tell a person not to come anywhere near sadness, G-d forbid, and on the other hand we lead him through two full chapters straight into precisely that feeling. How do the two fit together? The answer comes here in chapter 31.
The words of the chapter
"והנה אף אם כשיאריך הרבה בעניינים הנ"ל כשעה או שתיים להיות בנמיכת רוח ולב נשבר, יבוא לידי עצבות גדולה - לא יחוש" - "Even if, when he dwells at length on the above matters for an hour or two, in order to attain lowliness of spirit and a broken heart, he comes to great sadness, let him not be concerned." That is, when a person dwells deeply on the matters mentioned above, meaning the entire content of chapters 29 and 30, for an hour or two, and this contemplation brings him to lowliness of spirit and a broken heart to the point of great sadness, he should not be alarmed by the conclusions he has reached.
The precision of "an hour or two"
Before we explain why "he should not be concerned," it is worth putting a finger on the precision of the Alter Rebbe's language in this chapter, both in the few lines we have just read and especially in the lines that follow, from which it is evident that he is addressing both the contemplation of chapter 29 and the contemplation of chapter 30.
Why does he write "an hour or two"? Seemingly this depends on the person: someone talented, quick and sharp of mind might need only five minutes, while someone slow, who is convinced only little by little, might need five hours. (And as is known, a "shaah" is not necessarily sixty minutes on the clock, but a measure and span of time, and "two" means double that span.) But already at the opening of the chapter the Alter Rebbe is hinting that it depends on the type of contemplation. In the contemplation of chapter 30, where the problem is pointed out with an open finger, a person is convinced quickly, and one "hour" is enough. In the contemplation of chapter 29, which deals with things more hidden, the convincing takes twice as long: "two."
As is explained in chassidus: how long did Yaakov Avinu struggle and contend with his wicked brother Esav? Not long. He did not stand facing him for much time before each one understood exactly who and what stood opposite him. And how long did he contend with Lavan the wicked? He stayed with him twenty years. The difference: both Lavan and Esav were wicked, but Lavan is the deceiver, who conceals his evil, and it cannot be identified at once; Esav's evil and wickedness are out in the open. When you stand facing open, obvious evil, you know immediately what you are up against, and it is easier to look for the way to deal with it. Facing hidden evil takes much longer. So too here: the contemplation of chapter 30 is shorter and clearer and deals with tangible evil, and within one hour a person is convinced; the contemplation of chapter 29 takes two hours, double the time, to convince a person of the inner spiritual problem he is in. That is the difference between "an hour" and "two."
"Lowliness of spirit" and "a broken heart"
And a further precision: right after the words "an hour or two," the Alter Rebbe uses two expressions, "נמיכת רוח" (lowliness of spirit) and "לב נשבר" (a broken heart). One who engages in the contemplation of chapter 29 arrives at lowliness of spirit; one who engages in the contemplation of chapter 30, and notices how tangible the evil in him is, arrives at a broken heart. The expressions here are doubled because the Alter Rebbe is addressing both chapters as one, and both of these forms of contemplation bring a person to sadness, and sadness, seemingly, is not a good thing.
In summary: in this section we reviewed the flow of chapters 29 and 30, the crushing of the nefesh habahamis as the remedy for timtum halev, based on the Zohar's analogy of the log of wood, and we identified the two different approaches: the hidden, inward contemplation of chapter 29, and the open, blunt contemplation of chapter 30 that brings a person to lowliness of spirit before every person. Both lead a person to a feeling that is not good, and hence the question: in chapters 26 to 28 we learned to remove sadness entirely. To this the Alter Rebbe responds at the opening of chapter 31 with the words "let him not be concerned." We also noted the doubled expressions in the chapter, "an hour or two" and "lowliness of spirit and a broken heart," each one referring to a different type of contemplation.
In the next section we will take up the continuation of the Alter Rebbe's words and the reason why "he should not be concerned" about the sadness to which these contemplations have led him.