Someone asked Rav Pinchas of Koretz, zt”l, “Why am I having more trouble with one child than my other children? This one seems so much more sensitive and takes everything to heart. What does this signify?”
The tzaddik replied, “The more potential invested in one’s neshamah, the more nervous and confused one is liable to become. Even the minor disturbances which most people hardly notice can throw a person with a more sensitive nature. A more material-oriented neshamah can be in a place that is filled with distractions and not become at all confused by them. Such a person can be in a house full of non-Jews and still be able to pray and learn with his usual level of devotion, while a higher neshamah may feel that this seals his lips completely. This neshamah which is distracted easily and harder to deal with is actually closer to higher things, and this is why lower things confuse it.
Rav Pinchas continued, “We see this from the Gemara in Chagigah 18b which states that even the clothing of Kohanim which must be guarded from defilement so that they may eat terumah can defile one who wears these same garments and render him unable to eat from the korbanos. The garments of one who guards from defilement so that he can eat from the korbanos can defile one who then seeks to deal with the water that has been sanctified by the ashes of a parah adumah. There are levels upon levels, and the more sanctified the neshamah, the more it must be guarded from impurity. Impurity on the personal level refers to confused thoughts.
2 comments:
Thank You so much for posting. This story clarified some questions i had. I was searching for answers and I found it in the Rav Pinchas'l Koritzers response.
My pleasure. Thank you for sharing how this helped you.
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