Broken Heart

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.

The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, And saveth such as are of a contrite spirit.

Who healeth the broken in heart, And bindeth up their wounds.

Because that he remembered not to do kindness, But persecuted the poor and needy man, And the broken in heart he was ready to slay.

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says: Come and see how great the lowly in spirit are before the Holy One, Blessed be He. For when the Temple was standing, a person would sacrifice a burnt-offering and the merit of a burnt-offering would be his; he would sacrifice a meal-offering and the merit of a meal-offering would be his. But with regard to one whose spirit is lowly, the verse ascribes him credit as if he had sacrificed all the sacrificial offerings, as it is stated: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit” (Psalms 51:19), indicating that one who is humble of spirit is regarded as if he offered all the “sacrifices of God.” And not only that, but his prayer is not despised by God, as it is stated at the end of that verse: “A broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”

And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi also says: When the Temple is standing, if a person sacrifices a burnt-offering, he has the reward given for bringing a burnt-offering, and if he sacrifices a meal-offering, he has the reward given for bringing a meal-offering. But as for one whose spirit is humble, the verse ascribes him credit for his prayer as though he has sacrificed all the offerings, as it is stated: “The offerings of God are a broken spirit” (Psalms 51:19), which teaches that a broken spirit is equivalent to the offerings to God, in the plural. And moreover, his prayer is not rejected, as it is stated in the continuation of that verse: “A broken and contrite heart, God, You will not despise.”

Brokenheartedness and depression are not the same thing at all. Brokenheartedness comes from the heart but depression comes from the spleen. Depression that resides in the spleen is the Sitra Achra and Hashem hates it. Brokenheartedness, however, is very beloved before Hashem, because a broken heart is very very special in the eyes of Hashem. Ideally, it would be best to have a broken heart the entire day but people like us can easily be lead from a broken heart to depression. Therefore, you need to set aside an hour a day in order to have a broken heart. That, is to seclude yourself and break your heart before Hashem, as we explained elsewhere. But the rest of the day be only happy. Rebbe Nachman warned us about this many times to strengthen ourselves that we only have a broken heart one specific hour a day. Depression however we shouldn't have at all. And the rest of the day be only happy.