FROM "TEIKU" TO "TIKKUN"

My closest friend used to learn the Talmud in her youth. Then she came to the conclusion that Hashem wanted something very different from her, so she got married and had quite a few children. Yet, of course, she's continued to be a very deep person, so we often exchange deep and profound ideas.

Recently she shared something very interesting. In the Talmud, the discussion sometimes ends with the word "תיקו" ("teiku"), which means that no answer has been found to that particular question. So my friend said that this "תיקו" is "תיקון" ("tikkun" - "correction") without the letter ""ן" ("nun"). Since we were discussing not the Talmud but our personal lives. she said that whenever a person feels stuck in "teiku", being unable to find any answers to their life dilemmas, all they need to do is find that missing "nun", and then they'll be able to turn "teiku" into "tikkun" and resolve their crisis.

But what is this missing "nun"? What is it exactly that a person needs to find? At that point in our discussion (we correspond on Skype), something in my friend's very busy life demanded her immediate attention, and I was left to contemplate that question alone.

Baruch Hashem, very soon I found my answer! (Or, rather, as I was to discover later, one of the several possible answers). The letter "nun" has the numerical value of 50, so it can be said to symbolize the fiftieth gate of holiness. What's more, it's written in Chapter 75 of the sefer "Hishtapkus HaNefesh" by R' Alter Tepliker that this fiftieth gate can be accessed through hisbodedus and saying Tehillim. Getting inside that gate can be compared to receiving a personal letter from Hashem, containing all the advice and guidance a person needs at that point in their life. With that, they will certainly find a way to get unstuck and move on!

I have to say, I got very inspired. So, in addition to hisbodedus, I started saying ten chapters of Tehillim every day, as R' Yitzchok Breiter recommends in his "Seder HaYom". And, baruch Hashem, I've seen that this really works! I've started getting more and more missing pieces of the puzzle that are all leading me in the way of my particular tikkun.

Stay tuned. I've also found several other ways of getting from  "teiku" to "tikkun", and I really want to share them,