In his last talk, Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto referred to the phenomenon of sadness, and explained how it affects not only the person himself but also his environment. "When a person gets sad, the whole world seems black to him," said Rabbi Pinto. "Give him a candy, he'll say it gave him a toothache. Give him money, he'll say you messed him up. Sadness paralyzes the ability to see the good and be thankful for it."
Rabbi Pinto brought a case in which he helped a person, but instead of thanking for the help, the person complained that the help caused him problems with Social Security. "Instead of saying ‘Thank you so much’ for what he received, sadness took over and all he sees is bad and black," said Rabbi Pinto.
Rabbi Pinto explains that sadness is like a plague that infects others. "A sad person starts infecting people around him. Another person becomes sad, and another one, and everyone becomes discouraged. As soon as one fence is breached, all fences are breached," he said.
Rabbi Pinto warned that if complaints and sadness are not stopped in time, they may lead to serious deterioration, and even death. "When a person starts to complain out of sadness, he should be stopped immediately. You’re not just doing a favor to someone else - you’re doing a favor to yourself. If you don't stop, you'll end up at the gates of death," he added.
He emphasized that we all have moments of sadness, but it is important to deal with them and not let them control us. "We are all sad sometimes - there is no person who can say that he was never sad - but what is important is how we deal with it," Rabbi Pinto concluded his words.
This article was written in cooperation with Shuva Israel