Likutei Moharan 65:5/ליקוטי מוהר"ן ס״ה:ה׳

15. Afterwards, however, the suffering is lightened and one is consoled as a result of the enhanced insight into Torah that one merits by virtue of the suffering. This is because the suffering brings one to the state of self-transcendence, as explained above. Then afterwards, even though one returns from the state of self-transcendence, the trace that remains from this state produces enhanced Torah insight. The reason for this is that while one is in the state of self-transcendence, totally absorbed in the ultimate goal, one realizes that all suffering is very great good. This [realization] fills one with joy.

2Joy is the vessel for receiving enhanced Torah insights. As our Sages, of blessed memory, taught (Shabbat 88a): At the time that the Jewish people declared “We will do and we will hear” (Exodus 24:7), 600,000 angels descended and placed two crowns on the head of each one, and when they sinned…. But in the future the Holy One, blessed be He, will return [the crowns] to us, as it is written (Isaiah 35:10), “an eternal joy on their heads.” Thus we see that joy corresponds to “We will do and we will hear,” which relates to receiving the Torah.

3It is through this enhanced insight into Torah, which one merits from the trace of the transcendent state, that the suffering is later alleviated. The reason for this is that [Torah insights] quench the thirst of the soul. The soul’s thirst corresponds to experiencing suffering. Salt makes one thirsty, and salt is the aspect of suffering, as our Sages, of blessed memory, taught: Covenant is mentioned in connection with salt, and covenant is mentioned in connection with suffering (Berakhot 5a) .

4The soul is the daughter of the intellect. This is because one’s soul is raised primarily by one’s intellect, which nurtures and improves it, as it is written (Proverbs 19:2), “Also, it is not good for the soul to be without awareness.” When the intellect is perfected, [the soul] bears fruit. But when one’s intellect is blemished, it is then the aspect of “a fruitful land became a salty waste” (Psalms 107:34). This saltiness is the suffering a person experiences when his intellect is imperfect; it corresponds to the thirst of the soul. Yet the abovementioned enhanced insight into Torah alleviates the suffering and quenches the thirst, as in “Let all who are thirsty come to the water” (Isaiah 55:1) .

5This is the meaning of “Happy is the man whom You chasten, O God, and whom You instruct from Your Torah” (Psalms 94:12). Through the suffering one merits enhanced insight into Torah. And when a person merits Torah insights, it is a sign that he has achieved something on account of the afflictions and dealt with them in the proper way. It is a sign that by means of the suffering he has attained a state of total absorption in the ultimate goal, whose trace has made him worthy of enhanced Torah insights, as explained above.