T10 (Tinyana) PNC - HaOlam Rechokim MeHaShem Mipnei SheChaserim Yishuv HaDa'as (The World is Distant from HaShem Because They Lack Settlement of Mind)

That the world is distant from HaShem and does not draw near to Him is only because they lack yishuv hada'as — settled mind — and do not calm their da'as. The reason for human spiritual exile is not theological complexity but mental restlessness: a da'as that cannot sit still cannot grasp HaShem's nearness. The cure is not more thinking but settled-thinking.

Joy is the world of freedom — 'For with joy you shall go out' (Yeshayahu 55:12) — through joy one becomes free and goes out from exile. When one binds joy to the brain (mo'ach) and to da'as, then da'as is liberated, free from the exile of agitation. Yishuv hada'as cannot be commanded directly; it arrives as a byproduct of joy bound to mind.

Moav's da'as was settled because they did not go into exile — 'Moav has been at ease from his youth, and has not gone into exile, therefore his taste has remained in him' (Yirmiyahu 48:11; Megillah 12b). And to come to joy is through finding in oneself some good point in any service one has performed. Even a single found-good-point ignites joy; joy unfreezes the mind; the unfrozen mind discovers HaShem already nearby.