Breaking One's Nature: Forty Days against Each Trait
What is a person in the world for? R’ Elimelech answers in one short line, then turns to the stubborn, the lazy, the shy, the halting speaker and the one who cannot keep at his learning. What exactly should each of them do, and for how long?
16aMan was created in the world only to break his nature. So let him spur himself to correct his middos, his character traits, specifically in his eighteenth year,1 in the way I shall explain. For example, one born with a stubborn nature should break it for forty consecutive days by doing the very opposite of whatever comes to his mind. Likewise, one who is lazy by nature should accustom himself for forty consecutive days to do everything with alacrity: going to bed, getting up from his bed in the morning, dressing quickly, washing his hands, cleaning his body, going quickly to the synagogue the moment he gets up from his sefer, and the like.
Editor's note: The Hebrew is בשנת י״ח, “in the year eighteen”; it seems to mean the eighteenth year of his life. What he goes on to explain is the forty-day practice for each trait; he says nothing more about the year. ↩
In shortMan exists to break his nature: the stubborn do the opposite of each impulse, the lazy act with alacrity, each for forty days in a row.
16bLikewise, one who is shy by nature, with the bad kind of shame, should accustom himself for forty days to make a point of praying in a loud voice, moving his limbs with strength, so as to fulfill “All my bones shall say,”2 and to say the blessings over the Torah aloud, until Heaven helps him remove the bad shame from himself. Likewise, one whose speech does not come out clear and orderly, because of the habit of his nature and his organs of speech, should accustom himself for forty days to listen closely to the words that come out of him unbidden, in worldly talk, in talk of Heaven and while learning; for in anything, habit gains the upper hand. Likewise, one whose nature is not to persevere in his learning should also accustom himself for forty days to learn more than he is used to, and each time before learning he should look at my Tzetel Katan, the “little note.” From then on Heaven will help him to go on breaking his bad middos, more and more, until they are wholly gone.
In shortShyness, disordered speech and slackness in learning each yield to forty days of their opposite, and then Heaven helps him keep breaking his bad middos.
The maamar as a whole
Item 16 opens with a principle: man was created only to break his nature. So a person should spur himself to correct his middos, specifically, he says, “in the year eighteen,” it seems his eighteenth year. The method is the same for every trait: forty consecutive days of its opposite. The stubborn do the opposite of whatever comes to mind; the lazy do everything with alacrity, from going to bed to going to the synagogue; the wrongly shy pray and bless the Torah aloud, with their whole body, until Heaven removes the bad shame; the halting speaker listens to his own words, since habit gains mastery in everything; the slack learner learns more than he is used to, looking at the little note first. After the effort, Heaven helps him go on until the bad middos are wholly gone.
Takeaway
Take the trait your nature pulls you toward and practice its opposite in plain daily acts for forty days in a row, for R' Elimelech teaches that breaking one's nature is what a person was created for, and that after the effort Heaven helps the work go on.
Related learning
Sources he cites
Translated with AI assistance. Sources and summaries were checked by a separate AI review; not yet reviewed by a human editor.
