The author of the Tanya’s private study was lined with pillows so that he would not hurt himself as he ran back and forth in his fervent devotions.
He prayed at such length that more than once, he would be left alone for an extended period in the synagogue.
It is told that one time when those who had left the synagogue returned, they did not find him there.
They searched for him until they finally found him outside the city, far from the synagogue.
In his fervent prayer, he had broken off a piece of the bimah (“central dais in the synagogue sanctuary”) railing and, holding it in his hand while still immersed in his prayer and d’veikut, he had wandered from the synagogue.
Even though this aspect of the author’s personality is not visible in his writings, it is important for our understanding.
In a sense, the challenge of such a person is not to reach a state of exalted inspiration but to prevent his soul from leaving his body—to remain in the world and not, like Elijah the prophet, leave it in a storm wind.
For a person of this type, life in the world is a constant struggle to be grounded, not a struggle to be elevated.
—Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz