Question:
What is the relationship between the middos (character traits) which the Rav elaborates upon in Getting To Know Your Feelings and in Getting To Know Your Soul, with the emotions that we recognize, such as anger, sadness, joy, fear, etc.?
Answer:
The middos described in “Getting To Know Your Feelings” and in “Getting To Know Your Soul” are the core middos of the soul. All other middos are a product of various integrated forces in the soul. For example, anger is a product of a desire (ratzon) which hasn’t been actualized. Ratzon (desire) is an actual character trait of the soul, whereas anger is a result of a ratzon that hasn’t been actualized. The opposite of anger is joy, and joy is a result of something that has been actualized. Joy is a product of binah (contemplation), when a person understands something based on something else, which actualizes the potential of the raw knowledge. So joy can only result from contemplation. Worry is also a product of a desire that hasn’t been actualized. Fear is called pachad, but it is also called yirah, and yirah is synonomous with gevurah (strength). Fear places some restraint on yirah. All of the emotions are a “branch” of something else in the soul, and we need to see the root of each particular emotion.
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