Merirut (Bitterness)

Merirut is a feeling of a person toward a given situation in which they find themselves. The advantage this feeling has over sadness is the movement of vitality that comes after the merirut, which brings about action to change the situation.

Its Essence and Virtue

Merirut in divine service occurs when a person feels the fact of being distant from holiness, and consequently finds themselves in a state of dejection. Although in sadness there is a similar movement of spiritual dejection - Atzvus there is a fundamental difference between them: while Atzvus - Sadness comes from the element of earth in a person, which makes them heavy like earth and unable to do anything to improve their situation; merirut, on the other hand, contains within itself energies of positive action to change the situation.

This is also the reason why merirut leads afterward to joy, since the person sees the future - that the situation is about to change (through their future work).

For this reason, although Chassidut completely rejects the feeling of sadness, it encourages the feeling of merirut, as in the saying of the Alter Rebbe: "Sadness and melancholy are forbidden things; merirut is a proven and tested remedy for success in learning and in the ways of divine service."

As explained in the Tanya, the feeling of sadness regarding matters of this world or general sadness - should be "transformed" into the feeling of merirut - which affects the person and causes them to work - regarding their spiritual state, which will also eliminate their sadness in worldly matters and bring them to joy.

Merirut is characterized as smallness and contraction in divine service, unlike contemplation of G-d's greatness, which is characterized as greatness and expansion.

Combining Merirut with Joy

The Rebbe explains in one of his talks that there are two ways of working with merirut:

• On Friday night to work with the matter of merirut, and on Shabbat with joy.
• To work with both matters together.

In Kuntres HaAvodah, the Rebbe Rashab wrote that there are two types of divine service - general service and particular service. General service is concerned with joy; particular service is concerned with merirut. General service, for example, is contemplation of a general picture, that is, without contemplating the details of the picture but the general picture. Particular service is contemplation of the details of the picture.

Merirut in Chassidic History

Many Chassidim practiced their divine service in a manner of merirut, among them can be found Reb Hillel of Paritch

Among Chabad melodies (niggunim), there are some that combine bitter movements with joy, such as: the Dveikus niggun attributed to the Tzemach Tzedek, the Walach niggun by Rabbi Meir Shlomo Yanovsky (whose first part is bitter and second part joyful), and the niggun for Birkas Kohanim.

There are niggunim that contain specifically bitterness alone, such as the niggun from Eretz Yisroel and the niggun attributed to the chassidim of the Alter Rebbe.

Bitterness in Our Time

In our current time, the Rebbe notes that "the concept of bitterness in teshuvah is not relevant in this final generation, the generation of ikvesa d'meshicha (the footsteps of Moshiach), since in our generation we don't have the strength for the matter of bitterness, etc., and we need extra strengthening and encouragement, etc. Therefore, in our generation, the service of teshuvah is specifically through joy, and there doesn't need to be any matter of bitterness at all."

The Rebbe emphasizes that even in previous generations, bitterness was required only for a brief moment, and immediately afterward they returned to serving in a joyful manner. But in our generation, it is not so necessary: "Furthermore, it is explained in Iggeres HaTeshuvah that teshuvah through bitterness is teshuvah tata'ah (lower level of repentance), and teshuvah through joy is teshuvah ila'ah (higher level of repentance), and in our generation, in the footsteps of Moshiach, after all the troubles and sufferings, etc... all of Israel are in the highest and most elevated state, and they relate specifically to teshuvah ila'ah, which is through joy."

The Rebbe once said that the Rebbe Rayatz testified about himself that his natural soul-movement was joy, therefore, he worked on himself against this trait, until he hated frivolity and mockery with all his heart. And the Rebbe said that for him it was the opposite - his natural soul-movement was bitterness, and since he worked on himself, he hates bitterness and sadness.

See Also

• Simcha
• Atzvus

External Links

• The Rebbe in 5752: One should strengthen the feeling of bitterness and inspire others in this, on the website 'Lachluches Geulatis'
• A fascinating farbrengen of the Rebbe Rashab on engaging with bitterness in Divine service, on the website 'Lachluches Geulatis'