By Rav Avraham Greenman
Translated by Moshe Neveloff
In these days which are ‘after the holidays’ we have the custom of wishing to ourselves and all our friends and loved ones a healthy winter. However despite the fact that the path to a healthy body is usually clear and known, the path to a healthy soul is elusive and vague.
What does it mean to have a healthy soul? How does a person who is healthy in his soul appear? Is it somebody that doesn’t need medicine or hospitalization due to mental or emotional difficulties? Is it a person who isn’t attacked by outbursts of anger or periods of depression? Is it someone who always has a smile on his face?
At the beginning of his book “Faith and Trust” the Chazon Ish[1] states: “If the person has a strong soul and he has a time of quiet…” Also here we need to ask who is a person with a strong soul? Is there someone who doesn’t have a strong soul?
So it’s true, we all have soul, however not everyone is a master over their souls. In order to be in command of my soul I need to rise above and look at it from above. Just as the head of the home has free choice and full willpower how to conduct his home, if the home forces me to do something in a certain way then I’m not the head of the home; so to only if I have the full power of choice and willpower how to conduct myself, then I rule over my soul. However if I’m forced to act in a certain way, or to think in a certain way, then I don’t have command over my soul.
Someone who merits to be a master over his soul is called a person with a healthy soul.
He who says what he wants to say, and only what he wants to say.
He who does what he wants to do, and only what he wants to do.
He who thinks what he wants to think, and only what he wants to think.
However, if I want to say something, and I don’t say it because I’m afraid of…
If I want to do a certain action, and I don’t do it because…
If I think a certain thought because… or I don’t think a certain thought because…
Then I’m not healthy in my soul!!!
Healthiness of the soul is when I clearly identify what’s happening with me at this moment, and I have a open heart to choose how to behave, to speak, to act and to think.
A gut vinter!
[1] One of the leading Rabbis in the land of Israel in the 20th century
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