Standard advice: Try harder. Or stop praying until you can focus.
Tanya 157’s advice:
He argues that the entire edifice of divine service—Torah study, mitzvot, meditation, even structured prayer—operates within the realm of “the revealed will of God.” This realm has rules, hierarchies, and gates. To enter, you must be ritually pure, focused, and intellectually sincere. Your prayers ascend through celestial chambers, angels, and sefirot. tanya 157
Why? Because tears are not a language of intellect or even emotion. Tears are the language of the essence of the soul ( etzem haneshamah ), which is beyond intellect, beyond sin, beyond the body. When a person weeps out of genuine existential helplessness—not theatrical self-pity—they are not speaking from their animal or divine soul. They are speaking from the core of their being, which is literally “a part of God above.” Standard advice: Try harder
The chapter’s core subject is . But not ordinary prayer. This is the prayer of one who feels utterly trapped—trapped by their own body, their past sins, their low spiritual rank. How can such a person speak to an infinite God? The answer in Tanya 157 will change how you understand divine mercy. II. The Problem: The “Obstacle of the Body” To grasp the revolution of Chapter 157, you must first understand the dilemma facing the Beinoni. Unlike a Tzaddik, who has fully sublimated their animal soul, the Beinoni never truly vanquishes their dark side. Evil is perpetually present, always equally attractive, yet never actualized in action. The Beinoni’s life is an endless, exhausting war of attrition. To enter, you must be ritually pure, focused,