“Is struggling enough? Chassidus teaches us to grow, not just cope. The courage to be a chossid includes struggle, but only as a step. With joy and effort, we’re meant to rise and move forward – not stay stuck in the fight.“
By Mrs. SB Shaw
In an opinion piece on Anash.org, Rabbi Shimon Posner wrote:
“A chosid is someone who has not attained and has little hope of attaining his/her goal. Of becoming selfless and purpose-driven. Until a certain point, the chosid thought that he is really attaining: I’m frum! I’m Shomer Shabbos! I’m gezhe! I’m yichus! And let’s not forget: I’m a baal tshuva! And then he begins Tanya and well no, he hasn’t arrived, he hasn’t plateaued at all, he hasn’t achieved, he has far to go and that dose of reality comes as a surprise, a shock, and, if not handled carefully, a disappointment.”
“Will I ever have full control over thought, speech, and deed? Honestly, I’m still in an intimate relationship with my other side, and I’m not ready or able to really call it off. So I look at myself with real humility, perhaps for the first time in my life, and see that all I can do is struggle.”
While that reflection is genuine and sincere, I’d like to offer another perspective.
Imagine a Litvak who knows and strongly values the importance of Shmiras HaLashon, not even from a Chassidic view, just basic halacha. And he says, “I’m not able or willing to really guard my speech, so all I can do is struggle.”
Or picture a Williamsburg chassidishe woman traditionally raised with the values of chessed, but she finds herself too distracted to organize her home in a way that allows her to help others. A Chabad House attendee who admires Torah and mitzvos but won’t make the effort to change his life, only to “struggle.” Or someone overweight who has a dietitian and a trainer, but it’s too hard – so he just… struggles.
To all of the above, we would lovingly but firmly say: struggling alone isn’t enough. You need to start working. And once you do – even before reaching the end goal – you’ll begin to feel the benefits.
The Litvak who holds back from gossip once, then twice, begins to taste the inner strength and freedom that come with self-control. Over time, he not only delays speaking but chooses not to speak at all – finding deep satisfaction in being in charge of his words and free from the shame and regret that gossip brings.
The woman who gives chessed despite personal chaos will feel greater satisfaction than the fleeting comfort of wasted time. Many baalei teshuvah have turned their entire lives around, not by admiring yiddishkeit from afar, but by doing the work. As for the overweight person – the one who makes consistent effort, even if imperfect, earns admiration.
This is true in Chassidus as well. Tanya (Perek 14) says that beinoni is midas kol adam – the measure of every person. The Rebbe, in Emor 5751, went even further saying that not only can we strive to be a beinoni, but we can even reach toward tzaddik, because we’re standing on the shoulders of earlier generations. We’re not stuck at the bottom. We’re empowered to go higher.
Yes, the Yetzer Hara will try to sell you despair. His most powerful weapon is the lie that “you’re too far gone – struggle is all you’ve got.” But Chassidus teaches the opposite: we serve Hashem with joy, and that joy itself becomes a powerful tool to grow and overcome the struggle.
So what’s the plan? As the Hayom Yom says, start with action (maaseh), then speech (dibbur), then thought (machshava). Make Hashem’s will so real to you through regular learning that you begin to reject – and eventually despise – anything that isn’t aligned with Him.
I’ve been on this path since high school. Progress isn’t always instant, but over time, with effort, you hit milestones. You look back and realize you’ve actually climbed. And that brings deep joy both in the accomplishments, and even in the struggle, because you know you are constantly climbing to an even greater place.
Even tzaddikim stumble – Sheva yipol tzaddik vekam. There’s no shame in falling as long as you keep climbing. And as the Rebbe emphasized in the Twelve Pesukim, if you are working – you will succeed.
As we approach Matan Torah, this is our personal kabbalas haTorah: to refine our own levushim (garments of thought, speech, and action). That’s what allows us to internalize more kedusha and prepare the world for Geulah.
Wishing every Jew a Kabolas HaTorah B’simcha U’b’pnimiyus—with joy and with depth and true freedom from the Yetzer Hara.
P.S. Women can enjoy the Jewish Joyous Journeys podcast (currently on Spotify) dedicated to celebrating the milestones of our journey towards Geula (as per The Baal Shem Tov that each stop in the Desert was a different challenge overcome, and similarly our lives until we get to Eretz Yisroel with Moshiach).
The example of loshon horah as a mitzvah for Litvisher ruffled my feathers. Are only Litvisher obligated to follow Torah? Is Chessed a value for merely Chassidish women from Williamsburg?
As to the point of the article, despite the words of Chazal יגעתי ומצאתי תאמין as referenced in the article, the Alter Rebbe in Tanya does give value to the struggle. In perek 27 he comforts the beinuni גם אם יהיה כן כל ימיו כל ימיו במלחמה זו, כי אולי לכך נברא וזאת עבודתו. Obviously one may not suffice with that but the struggle is meaningful.
The above examples were just taken from emphasis in Avoda in the above communities. Yes The Torah is for all of us. And we may do more shlichus and others may do bikur cholim as a community. BH there are many Mitzvos and different parts of Hashems army
The Alter Rebbe is comforting the Beinoni in Avodas HaTefilla- where he may experience distracting machshovos zaros despite his efforts, which detract from the quality of his davening.
However the Alter Rebbe does not comfort the person who is unwilling or unable due to lack of effort to do the Avoda needed to serve Hashem and keep Torah and Mitzvos. He says Reshaim are controlled by their hearts (despite the nature of moach shalit al halev) as a punishment for their wickedness- that’s a strong lashon!
But I’ve also heard that The Rebbe said that that when someone starts taking on shabbos for example but they need time to learn, internalize and do it fully, they’re not considered a machallel shabbos once they’ve started.
At the end of the day- the work is what counts. And if we work we will succeed
Thank you for taking the time to share this meaningful and inspiring article!
Very well written!
Thanks for taking the time to send this feedback. We are very blessed BH to have the gifts of Chassidus and we should make its revelation worthwhile in Avoda.
The example does not really work and here’s why:
Broadly speaking there is a fundamental difference between the derech of an oilimisher Jew and a Chossid:
The approach of a litvisher Jew can be defined as goal oriented. What that means is, that he will set himself a goal of becoming a ben toirah or a baal mussar or to not be oiver on loshon hara – and while all worthwhile and holy, there is a metric by which to measure progress.
You start off at point A. as (possibly) a boor and am ha’aretz and at a certain point you reach your goal and become a lamdan (again – a very good thing). Whereas at point A. you were not a lamdan, now you are. You started off as someone engaged in gossip and you reduced it by 50%, by 75%, by 90% and ultimately by 100%. Yes, one can grow from there but there is a metric by which one can measure progress and say: Mission Accomplished.
The approach of a chossid (in a nutshell), is to integrate the principle of ein oid milvadoi into your very consciousness. We have a challenge and that is that nothing exists but for God, yet here I am with a very strong sense of autonomy. I feel very much like something that exists independently of God c”v. And as long as I feel this way I am essentially living a lie and I am being driven by my ego and sense of self, all of which stands in complete contradiction to the true existence of the RBSH”O! And therefore I have to integrate the truth of Hashem Echod into my very being and disabuse myself of the notion that I am something. We call this the avoida of bitul.
Here’s the problem: One can never ever “arrive” at bitul. You can only become a little bit less of a yesh than you were yesterday. And tomorrow (Morgen vet zein gor andersh) you can hopefully become less of a yesh than you were today. But even after a hundred years can you ever say “I achieved bitul hayesh” . Because as soon as you even say the word “I” and certainly if you say “I achieved” you already are expressing your yeshus and it is self contradictory!
Because what I am becoming botul to is endless (ein sof) so too, is my avoida endless as well. There is no arriving. there is no holding up the banner that says Mission Accomplished.
Oid yesh l’haarich badovor but in a nutshell: To be a chosid is by definition to live in struggle. For life.
Yes when it comes to spiritual emotional growth, there is endless opportunity for growth. Which is a blessing (imagine you hit bar/ bas mitzvah and need to continue at the same level, especially for the rest of your life). I don’t see that as a struggle, but as a gift of the constant opportunity to be a mehalech. Emotional growth is also shayach with the level of tzaddik. However beinoni definitely has measurable metrics- thought speech and action- how much can I control what I want to do, say and think- and make sure it’s all things that will connect me to Hashem. That’s very practical and that’s where we’re expected to put in the work. The depths of bitul ahava and yirah, past the initial stage of contemplation derived BA”Y, are a gift from Hashem in response to our practical work.