THERE IS NOTHING AS WHOLE AS "HALF A PERSON"

In Torah 14 Rabbeinu calls geirim and baalei teshuvah who have yet to reach true holiness by the name "palga", from the word "half". So while they are probably not halfwits, still, since they are lacking so much, they are more like "half a person" then a complete human being. They need a whole process of rectification to really become the people they so much want and need to be.

Being a baalas teshuvah, I've always connected to this and even imagined that, if ever I found and joined a Breslov online chat, I'd call myself "palga".  Personally, I find  this idea very reassuring. It means that, if you feel whole and perfect already, chances are you're deluding yourself. After all, if you were really so perfect, you probably wouldn't be here in this world. Of course, in that Torah Rabbeinu does speak about talmidei chachamim and their children as being "whole" people, but I'm not sure such perfection even exists anymore. Like I said, nowadays feeling whole is more likely to be wishful thinking than one's true reality.

But if you feel broken, imperfect, lacking and you're following Rabbeinu, then you're well on your way to being totally rectified.

The Kotzker Rebbe famously remarked that there is nothing as whole as a broken heart. I would rephrase this and say that, in this world, there can be nothing as whole (and possibly even as holy) as "half a person" undergoing their tikkun.