Q:
The Gemara (Brachos 61a) says that הכליות יועצות, that the kidneys of a person give us counsel. What does that mean? Isn’t it true that kidneys don’t play a role in the thinking process? So what does the Gemara mean?
A:
This was explained already but I’ll repeat it. What does it mean hakelayos yoatzos, that the kidneys give counsel. How do kidneys give counsel?
So it was explained as follows. When we talk about counsel, we are talking about the stimulus, should we or shouldn’t we do something. That’s counsel.
There are two kinds of counsel. One is what comes from the calm deliberation of your mind. But it results in inaction anyhow. It’s like a computer; it tells you what to do but you have no interest in doing it.
But there’s a second kind of counsel and that’s the push – “Go ahead and do it.”
Now, the kidneys have certain glands, the adrenal glands, on them and these glands squirt into your bloodstream certain secretions; and they increase the energy level, the sugar level, in your blood and they give you other chemicals that give you energy to do things. That’s called the counsel of the kidneys. They provide a burst of energy and they give you the push to be active and follow the counsel of your calm deliberations.
TAPE # 243 (October 1978)
