T176 PNC - Hurry to Expel Ruach Shtut — Through Soul-Level Love for Tzaddik (1 seg)

A person must act swiftly to expel the spirit of folly (ruach shtut) that fills his heart and clings to him. The ruach shtut is not merely foolishness in the intellectual sense — it is a spiritual force of confusion and misorientation that makes the person unable to see things clearly, unable to distinguish between what truly matters and what is trivial. It fills the heart with noise and makes clear perception impossible. The way to expel it: attach oneself to the true tzaddik through soul-level love (ahavat nefesh). This love is not merely admiration or respect — it is a deep, essential attachment, a bonding of one's soul to the tzaddik's soul, such that the tzaddik's clarity begins to flow into the attached person and displace the ruach shtut. The urgency ('must hurry greatly') reflects the fact that the ruach shtut actively works against clarity — the longer it remains, the more entrenched it becomes. Do not delay in seeking this attachment.