T261 PNC - When You Fall From Your Level — It's From Heaven, the Beginning of Drawing Near

When you fall from your level — when you suddenly find yourself spiritually empty, distant, unable to feel anything — know that it comes from heaven. The fall is engineered. Distancing is the beginning of drawing near. The reason you fell is precisely so that you would arouse yourself to draw closer to Hashem with renewed force. The advice is therefore: begin again, fresh, as if you had never even started serving Hashem in your entire life. This is a great rule in avodat Hashem — every single day a person must begin completely anew. (Reb Noson adds: Rebbe Nachman returns to this principle in many places throughout his works — the necessity of strengthening yourself in avodah and never falling from anything in the world, only beginning fresh each time. Study this idea well, and it will be sweet to you forever.)