אות-ב

Against all the confusions, desires, evil and alien thoughts that pursue a person and confuse him at all times — and particularly during prayer, and a person suffers greatly from them — the essential thing is the aspect of arichas apayim [patience, lit. "length of face/breath"], which is the aspect of emunah [faith], as is explained within, namely: that he have complete faith in Hashem, may He be blessed, and in the true and righteous Tzadikim, and strengthen himself in His service, and not fall for any reason, and not be troubled and not be discouraged by any confusion and weakening of the mind, by which the Ba'al Davar wants to implant in his mind as though hope is lost, G-d forbid. For one must not look at this at all, but only strengthen greatly — for there is no despair in the world at all. And however he is, even if he has already fallen in this same fall countless times — even so there is no despair in the world at all, and he must strengthen and begin anew each time. He must not fall into the ziknah d'sitra achra — the "old age of the Other Side" — at all, for all the falls in the world stem from the aspect of the old age of the sitra achra, where it appears to him that he has already grown old in his sins and accustomed deeds, such that it is impossible for him to ever emerge from them in any way, G-d forbid. But in truth he must know and believe that every single day, at every moment and every hour, a person has the power to be renewed and to become, literally, a new creation — for Hashem, may He be blessed, makes new things every day, and no hour resembles its neighbor. Therefore he must strengthen himself and begin anew each time, and sometimes even on a single day one must begin several times. And even if such a situation persists for a long time — however things are — he must remind himself of Hashem, may He be blessed, at every time and every hour, and forget completely everything that has passed up until then, and from now begin truly fresh in whatever way he can, and not look at any confusion or weakening of mind at all. And all of this is the aspect of arichas apayim — that he must extend his breath and pass over all the confusions and obstacles, and not look at anything, and his spirit must not be shortened by whatever passes over him. Rather, let him strengthen himself in Hashem, may He be blessed, with all he can — for Hashem, may He be blessed, is full of mercy at every time: "The mercies of Hashem have not ceased, His compassion has not been exhausted" [Lamentations 3:22]. (Halachos of Tefillin, Halacha 5, Ois 6) Every person in the world — even one who is at a very low level, even one who is literally in the depths of the earth — when he wishes to enter into the service of Hashem, he must certainly go and ascend from level to level. And each and every time he exits from one level to another according to his own aspect, the k'lipos [husks, evil forces] — which are the desires, fantasies, thoughts, confusions, obstacles — renew their attack against him with great force and do not allow him to enter the gates of holiness. And in this, many sincere and upright chassidim err: when they see that suddenly desires and confusions and obstacles overpower them and it seems to them that they have fallen from their level — since in the previous period these desires and confusions did not overpower them as much, and they were somewhat at rest — they therefore think they have fallen, G-d forbid. But in truth this is no fall at all; rather it is because they need to ascend from level to level according to their aspect, and because of this, all the desires and confusions and obstacles and crookedness of heart renew their attack with even greater force. And each time one must strengthen oneself greatly and not fall in one's mind from this at all, until one overpowers them and breaks them anew. (ibid., Ois 24) Sometimes it seems to a person that he is far from meriting the World to Come, because of the great extent of his distancing from Hashem — yet let him be strong and courageous in his resolve, to draw and yearn and long always toward Him, may He be blessed, and to do with joy whatever he can in the service of Hashem, and to be willing to serve Hashem always all the days of his life, even without the World to Come. And even if it appears to him that he will have Gehinnom [purgatory] as well, G-d forbid — however things are, he is obligated to do what is his, always, and to engage in the service of Hashem as much as he can — to seize and do some mitzvah or Torah or prayer and the like. And Hashem, the Good, will do as He sees fit. (ibid., Ois 48)