Arousal works for someone who is alive except that he is asleep. Such a person can be roused from his slumber, and we tell him, “Why are you sleeping? Wake up!” He can then wake from his slumber and do his duty. But someone who is dead, no arousal can help. The lesson of this for our topic is that someone who has fear of God in his heart except that his Inclination got the better of him and induced him to lose sight of himself and of his Creator to the point that over the course of time he became so accustomed to that inappropriate behavior that it seems to him that he is doing nothing wrong — when an awakening comes to such a person by learning works of Mussar-morals his heart will be aroused and he will be filled with remorse. He will then seek a remedy for his spiritual ailment, he will repent, and he will be forgiven. Not so the wicked who have sunk so low in the quagmire of sin that they are devoid of any fear of Hashem — not only will such a person never be aroused on his own, but even if on occasion he hears some inspirational thought from a sefer or those who teach, he remains unmoved. The words go in one ear and out the other. There is hardly any hope for such people.
One remedy we know of for such a person is if he bends his yetzer ha-ra to learn Torah and or to listen to Torah constantly, day after day and night after night — even if he was forced to listen — then it is “a tree of life for those who cling to it” and whoever is becomes involved in it is “resurrected” by the dew of the Torah. It is written, May my teaching drop like the rain (Devarim 32:2) — just as the shower of rain eventually pierces the stone, so too the Torah can eventually pierce a heart of stone, and “a steadfast spirit will be renewed within him” (based on Tehillim 51:12). Though this takes much diligence, eventually, after many days, he will find the cure and he will feel himself how he brought his soul back to life.
There is another remedy for such a person: If Heaven assists him and he takes an opportunity to do a great mitzvah, then the mitzvah of Hashem will come to his aid and will make a conduit for him beneath the Throne of Glory to help bring him back to complete Teshuvah. Suddenly, a new spirit will be renewed within him and his soul will be rekindled. He will repent thoroughly and he will walk upon a new path, to the point that all those who knew him will say that he is like a different person. The Mussar masters have already said that when a person feels an arousal to do some spiritual matter, he should immediately seize it and act on it quickly before his excitement wears off. One mitzvah will lead to another mitzvah that will leave its mark, and Hashem will be with him.
