The Heart that Never Sleeps:
Yet My Heart Is Awake

Here, "heart" does not refer to the emotive powers of the heart, such as the conscious love of G-d. These powers, along with the power of sight, are asleep, as explained above. Here, heart refers to something more essential. It refers to the innermost point of the Jewish heart, the totally irrational longing for G-d, the true source of life. The spark of inseparable connection to G-d is hidden deep in the subconscious of the exiled soul, but it can never be extinguished. Neither does it sleep, for it is ever ready to emerge from hiding in the cry of teshuvah (return to G-d). The innermost point in the heart of the Jew, unlike the other powers of the soul, is always awake in its source. There it beats in continuous motions of ratzo vashov ("run and return"--running out to the unity of G-d and returning inward, into the separate, created reality of the self, in order to fulfill the Divine Will and purpose of life). As the heart of a person sleeping continues to beat in and out, so does the heart of every Jew continue to beat during this last, most dark and painful exile.