But tears? Tears do not go through the gates.
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. tanya 157
And that, according to Chapter 157 of the Tanya , is the only prayer that God truly cannot refuse. But tears
Rabbi Schneur Zalman radicalizes this.
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.” But not ordinary prayer
In other words, you cannot pre-meditate tears. You cannot manufacture them. They are the spontaneous shattering of the ego when it realizes its helplessness within the structure of divine service. For a Lubavitcher Hasid, Tanya 157 is not just theory. It is performed. During the silent Amidah —the peak of Jewish prayer—Hasidim go through intense intellectual preparations (the hisbonenus ). They meditate on God’s greatness and their own nothingness.