Small tidbits and Sparks of wisdom

The Torah demands joy, yet life often brings sadness, melancholy, and even crushing depression. How are we to understand this tension? Is depression a sin, or is it an illness? Our tradition and the teachings of Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski z”l offer a framework that separates behavioral sadness from medical depression, allowing us to serve Hashem with clarity and compassion.

1. Torah’s Command of Joy

The Torah states: “Because you did not serve Hashem your G-d with joy” (Devarim 28:47). Rambam teaches that simcha shel mitzvah is itself an avodah (Hilchot Lulav 8:15). Mussar and Chassidut warn that atzvut (melancholy) is spiritually destructive. Tanya (ch. 26) calls it a tool of the yetzer hara that paralyzes a Jew’s service of Hashem.

From this perspective, indulging in sadness is a behavioral failure. One is commanded to cultivate joy and not allow oneself to be consumed by gloom or self-pity.

2. Depression as Affliction

Yet the Torah also recognizes sadness as an illness, not a sin:

• King Shaul was afflicted by a ruach ra’ah, soothed only by David’s music (Shmuel I 16). His servants sought therapy, not rebuke.
• Iyov cried out in despair, cursing the day of his birth. His suffering was treated as affliction, not sin.
• Mishlei 18:14 teaches: “A man’s spirit can sustain his illness, but a broken spirit — who can bear it?” A broken spirit is described as worse than bodily disease.
• Shulchan Aruch (O.C. 328) rules that mental anguish may classify a person as a choleh (ill person), permitting certain leniencies on Shabbat. This is clear halachic recognition of depression as illness.

3. Rambam’s Bridge

Rambam (Hilchot De’ot 1:4) describes destructive moods as machalot hanefesh — illnesses of the soul. Just as physical disease requires a doctor, so too do spiritual and emotional imbalances require healing. Here the line blurs: sometimes sadness is moral weakness; sometimes it is illness.

4. Rabbi Dr. Twerski’s Clarification

Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski, z”l, a Hasidic rabbi and world-renowned psychiatrist, brought modern clarity to this ancient discussion. He insisted that:

• Behavioral Sadness: When sadness is a matter of attitude, habit, or negativity, Torah demands that we fight it. This is a matter of bechirah (free will).
• Medical Depression: When sadness is clinical, it is a disease of the brain, like diabetes or hypertension. One cannot simply “snap out of it.” In his words: “You cannot guilt a sick person into health. Depression is an illness, not a weakness of character.”

Twerski compared antidepressants to insulin: taking medication for depression so one can serve Hashem is no different than taking insulin to live a healthy life. Both are tools Hashem provided for healing.

5. The Integrated Framework

When we put Torah and psychiatry together, a balanced picture emerges:

• Behavioral Sadness → a moral failure if indulged; overcome with joy in mitzvot, gratitude, and Mussar.
• Medical Depression → not sin but affliction; requires therapy, medication, support, alongside spiritual strength.
• Overlap → sometimes habits of gloom evolve into clinical depression, or clinical depression worsens sinful attitudes. Discernment is required.

Conclusion

The Torah obligates joy, but it also recognizes affliction. Rabbi Dr. Twerski’s legacy is the clear separation: do not excuse laziness or negativity, but also do not condemn the clinically depressed. Each must be treated according to its nature. When sadness is behavioral, fight it. When it is medical, heal it. In both, Hashem provides the tools for recovery, whether through Torah, Mussar, or modern medicine.