Building a Place for Tora – Hergesh vs. Feeling

Mitzvos create a ‘hergesh’ in us.

Let us begin by differentiating between two feelings-that of a ‘hergesh’ and that of a ‘regesh’.

A hergesh is a feeling in a person which stems from his seichel. The seichel creates the feeling of ‘being touched’ by something. On the other hand, a regesh is a koach of the nefesh but has no association with the seichel. Taavah, kavod and kinah are all examples of regesh.

The koach nefesh of regesh is activated by the circumstances. For example, when a person sees nice food, it generates in the person a regesh of a taavah, similar to that of an animal. This happens without the seichel.

Reb Yisroel in michtav 10 and michtav 30 speaks about the seichel of hispaalus. The hergesh created from the seichel is very subtle, but it is made up of layers which accumulate over time into a strong koach.

Reb Yisroel might be understood to be saying that, although the hergesh is very subtle, one must not despair because it will eventually accumulate into a big koach that enables a person to withstand the opposing taavahs.

This is not the correct understanding of Reb Yisroel. Rather, he means that the seichel creates something subtle that delicately touches the person. This is not a strong feeling. But this is how the hergesh and seichel are supposed to be. The mitzvahs should gently touch us. The Mashgiach agreed with me on this understanding.

From this we can understand that taavah is thick. It opposes Torah. Why are the ‘thick’ kochos hanefesh in opposition to Torah? What about being ‘thick’ is a reason to oppose Torah?

What comes out of this?

If a person wants everything to be well articulated and not delicate, he will end up preventing the delicate hergesh, and he will not be able to build Torah within himself.

Torah does not have an accompanying regesh. It is always only a hergesh.

People tell me I need to go to daven and experience the great feeling of davening in Uman. This strong feeling will wane away over time. This is not a way to build up tefillah within ourselves. Torah and tefillah build up a hergesh but not a regesh.

A certain Rosh Yeshivah was by the grave of the Vilna Gaon. He came back and said that he had had such a hisorerus and exclaimed that he wished it would continue. I looked at him, puzzled- why should a regesh last? Regesh is not built to last. A hergesh, on the other hand, is built to last. The hergesh is from the seichel, and seichel lasts.

Our generation pursues strong feelings (regesh), even in learning Torah. This is a mistake because Torah is meant to be the seichel ‘touching’ us-a hergesh.

Seichel/hergesh versus regesh

The seichel doesn’t speak the language of the regesh. If so, a person cannot simply go with the hergesh and the seichel and overpower the regesh. However, over time the seichel builds up, and then it will prevail over the regesh.

Illustration of hergesh and regesh in the world

Take a baal melachah-a professional in a certain field, such as a carpenter. He keeps thinking about how to make furniture. The effect of his constant thinking is that he doesn’t have great emotional feelings about what he is doing. A baal melachah has a hergesh. He is touched by this many times, and it accumulates.

Vilna Gaon and Reb Chaim Vittal-creating a place for Torah within ourselves

The gemorah says that in a place where there is wine, you don’t need medicine. The Gaon explains that this means that in a place where there is Torah, you don’t need tikkun hamiddos.

Reb Chaim Vittal says that Torah without middos tovos is like a gold nose ring in the nose of a chazir. How does this fit with the Gaon?

To reconcile them, we need to understand what the Gaon means by a place of Torah. I think he refers to the place of Torah within ourselves-the place of hergesh. This is not the place of Torah itself but the place in us for Torah. This is the place of our hergesh. If Torah makes a hergesh in us, then we do not need to work on our bad middos since the hergesh is stronger than all the bad middos.

Reb Chaim Vittal is talking about when we don’t have a place of hergesh in ourselves. Rather, all we have is just taavos. In such a case, Torah doesn’t do anything for us. It is like a gold nose ring in the nose of a chazir. The regesh stops Torah from entering us. Even if such a person learns a lot of Torah, it has no place in him.

Torah needs a place within us. This is provided through the seichel making a hergesh in our kochos hanefesh. Strong feelings, which are the socially more popular option, do not create a place for Torah inside ourselves. The feelings of regesh are not sustainable and will wear away over time.

When people are caught in their taavos, hergeshim will not really be able to enter those areas.

Examples of letting the seichel and hergesh take effect

For example, a person could try to let the seichel of tefillah speak to him and make a hergesh. In my opinion, it is easiest to do this for Minchah since, for all the other tefillos, people have to get back to take the kids and do other jobs. Let the seichel of standing before Hashem speak to you. However, a person who closes his gemorah in the middle of saying ashrei, so as not to lose time from learning, will not be calm enough to allow his seichel to speak to him! It must be done calmly for the seichel to speak to us. 

Simple things touch a person, but sophisticated things, whilst they may be uplifting and interesting, do not.    

 

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Written by Rabbi Rapport