Likutei Moharan 69:3/ליקוטי מוהר"ן ס״ט:ג׳

13. And know, there are times when even if [a robber] takes a person’s money, he does not harm his children or diminish the light of [his wife’s] soul. This is because the soul spiritually senses the great pain and suffering she has when this robber, who is literally like a murderer, comes to diminish her light and rob the souls of her children. She therefore contracts her light. She retracts and shrivels up, and she gathers to herself the parts of her soul so that this robber cannot leech off her and diminish her light. Thus it happens that the robber cannot overpower her and benefit from her light. Although he robbed and took [her husband’s] money, she has strengthened her soul—she contracted and drew back and gathered up her light, and did not allow him to benefit from it.

2As for the money that the robber took, it is not money at all, but mere dust, since it contains no light whatsoever. This money is the aspect of “gold dust” (Job 28:6), and the aspect of “silver was considered valueless” (2 Chronicles 9:20). There is no light at all in the silver and gold, since she was strong and prevented him from benefiting from her light. We have an example of this in this world. In Hungary there are trees that when a person attempts to uproot them, they retract and contract themselves, and so prevent their being taken.