This Women's Tanya Class is our interactive spiritual journey where we investigate, discuss and apply the revolutionary ideas presented in the Tanya, a foremost work of Kabbalah and Jewish Mysticism by the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi.
Torah study is called “calling through the Torah.” To study Torah is to call G-d by His Name, turning to His very essence, asking Him to stay with us and not to leave us alone. This deep call from our inner space pulls down the very essence of Hashem over the source of our souls. Being cognizant that we draw down Hashem's essence when we study Torah allows us to experience great awe when doing so.
So much of your vital soul, and often its totality, is invested in earning a livelihood. Thus, when hard-earned money is given to charity, this one act brings the entire vital soul up to Hashem. That is why the Sages of the Land of Israel called charity simply “the mitzvah.” Because it embodies what a mitzvah is all about and is outstanding in this respect –– elevating the vital soul to holiness. So why did the Sages say that “Torah study outweighs them all?” Because there is something unique to...
The soul is perfect, requiring no rectification. What the soul had above in terms of love and fear of Hashem was way beyond anything it could achieve in this world. Even if the soul will reach the highest levels humanly possible –– that of a complete tzadik who loves Hashem with pleasurable love –– it will not experience anything remotely similar to what it experienced while above. The whole purpose of its descent is only to elevate the vital soul, the body, the world. We cannot understand this ...
When the vital soul of all of Israel is elevated to holiness, it will become a chariot for Hashem. This in turn causes the kelipat nogah life energy of the whole world to become elevated, a chariot to Hashem as well. Once the intermediate kelipah –– kelipat nogah –– ascends to holiness, all impurity and negativity will be totally obliterated, no longer having access to life energy. How does the refinement of our own vital soul bring elevation to the whole world? Because the Jewish soul is the so...
The totality of this world’s life energy is elevated to holiness when we keep all of the mitzvot. The prohibitive commands serve to prevent our animal soul’s blood vessels from attaching and drawing nurture from the totally impure kelipot. And the positive commands serve to elevate our animal soul to Hashem, uniting the life-energy of each of our limbs with the light of the Ein Sof BH. Indeed, our limbs become a chariot to the Divine in this way.
The more energy we invest in a speech-mitzvah, the more of the animal soul ascends to holiness. When the animal soul is absorbed in holiness, forgetfulness is alleviated and our Torah study is preserved. In our ambitions to elevate the entirety of this world, our mitzvah makes a huge impact. Because it is not just the things we use or the powers we invest, but everything that supports the process all the way back. Indeed, it takes the world –– and thus elevates the world.
The coming future will see “a home for Hashem” in this physical world –– total Divine revelation. This destiny is not detached from our present reality, a sudden transformation imposed from above. In fact, it is a direct product of our present reality, because the mitzvot we perform today actually generate Divine revelation. Each time we engage the physical world in the act of a mitzvah, we draw down Infinite Divine energy into the physicality of this world and elevate it to holiness.
The Revelation at Mount Sinai broke all barriers, and we beheld the Divine. That condition was only temporary -- the sin of the golden calf brought denseness back to the world. Still, with the profound revelation of the Torah, we received the strength to transform the darkness into light, and this time for good. A time is coming when the fleshly eye will perceive the Divine and every creature on this earth will perceive and know G-d.
It should be utterly impossible to remain in existence when G-d is totally and essentially manifest. And it is. No being, earthly or heavenly, can withstand total Divine exposure. Yet, there is one way to remain vested in the body and yet bear that profound revelation that is coming at the End of Days. That is the "technology" of the Torah -- the Torah is "strength."
In understanding the Divine desire, we come to examine the Kabbalistic idea of the chain-like order of worlds. And in so doing, we come to realize something utterly striking: that in our world of darkness lies the ultimate purpose of creation.
Hashem has a desire to dwell in these lowest realms. In order to understand the scope of this desire, we must first define "lower" and "higher" from a new frame of reference. With our new realization, we can come to the astounding realization that Hashem is equally present in all of the worlds, from the most lofty and spiritual to this most physical.
Yes, the animal soul at its core remains the same even during a mitzvah. But because its power is subjugated to holiness during a mitzvah –– indeed! It even powers the mitzvah –– and its essential self is rendered voiceless although unchanged, it does not prevent the Divine presence from manifesting upon the totality of the animal soul and upon the entire body. The act of a mitzvah manifests the Divine presence to varying degrees. The Divine soul and its garments, along with the power of the ani...
Even in the highest of all worlds, fusion with the Divine is only by first enmeshing within Chochmah –– the power of nothingness. This underscores the idea that only something that is utterly surrendered to the Divine has the power to manifest the Divine. What has no identity other than being pure expression of the Divine will? These are the Torah and the mitzvot. And between the two of them, the effect of the practical mitzvah, in which even the power of the animal soul is subsumed within the D...
A mitzvah is different from everything else in our experience. In a world of concealment, the mitzvah represents the total manifestation of the Divine will. In contrast to rapturous feelings of love, or deep feelings of awe for Hashem, a mitzvah is not an outgrowth of the human experience. It is rather pure revelation of the Divine will. The only thing that can manifest the Divine presence is something that is completely dissolved in the Divine light. And that means anything with an identity and...
King Solomon taught, “a wise man’s eyes are in his head.” But isn’t that where every person’s eyes are? The wise man stands out in that his eyes are focused on the Shechina that rests upon his head, mindful to supply oil for the light. Just as physically, there needs to be oil to fuel a wick and sustain a fire, so too spiritually: The body is only the wick, and to fuel the light of the Shechina, there needs to be oil, which are mitzvos and good deeds. Why can’t the Divine soul serve as the oil f...
Isn’t our life’s journey about refining ourselves spiritually, so that we reach ever higher in our relationship with the Divine? And consider this: The beinoni –– the average person –– can never transform their animal soul, being unable to banish the evil from within it. So then why did their soul come down to be clothed within an animal soul that it can never completely vanquish? The Alter Rebbe offers comfort to the ever-struggling person.
We are privileged to host the Al-mighty whenever we study His will and wisdom –– the Torah. But much of the time we cannot study Torah, being occupied with worldly matters. Here we explore different ways to bring the experience of manifesting the Divine unity into the rest of our day. We can do this by resolving to study more if we will have more time, and by emulating the Divine attribute of kindness, and by using the energy and health we gain through our material resources to serve Hashem. In ...
The Patriarchs were the Divine chariot, never breaking focus from the Divine unity. And this was true to varying degrees about each of the prophets, most notably our teacher Moses. As a whole, the Jewish people experienced something of this Divine revelation at the giving of the Torah, but they did not have the mental and soul capacity to bear it; their souls left them. Instead, Hashem told them to build a physical space in this world where the Divine would be totally manifest –– the Sanctuary. ...
When we attain awareness of the Divine unity, aside from the joy that we feel in the intimate closeness to Hashem, we become an abode for Him. And that is actually our purpose! This faith in G-d's unity is so transformational that it breathes new reviving life into us, taking us high above all obstacles. The joy is doubled and redoubled when we consider that our awareness of the Divine intimate presence brings joy to the Creator Himself! So we rejoice together with Him, as He rejoices in the abo...
When we bring the idea of Hashem’s true unity home until it pervades our mind and heart, the joy is enormous! This actually constitutes an experience of the closeness of Hashem. Our realization brings us greater joy than that of the commoner with whom the king shows extra closeness, and in whose home he even comes to dwell. This immense fortune is not something that we worked to acquire, it is an inheritance. It is our secret and our treasure, to directly experience the Divine most deeply and ge...
If you are feeling weary and need extra joy, think about this: the idea of Hashem's true unity. Hashem fills all worlds, spiritual and physical. Indeed, this entire world is filled with His glory, and everything has no value at all relative to Him. Let us picture how letters have no existence of their own within the essence of the soul, and how light has no existence at all while still within the sun. With this, we can understand how the world and everything in it, being contained with the Infin...
It sounds good to love and hate the same person. But how to act towards this individual, practically speaking? This is the time to employ compassion, which banishes hatred and arouses love. But what about King David's “consummate hatred” towards certain sinners, to those who are aware of the Creator and choose to deny Him? Don’t they have a soul too? Goodness to be loved, no matter their sins? Yes, but their Divine spark is hidden into obscurity, so that not even a glimmer of soul is revealed. W...
The mitzvah of love applies to each and every Jewish person -- from great to small. But is this so? Isn't there a Talmudic statement urging us to hate certain fellow Jews? Examining the statement, we come to realize that there is a specific set of very narrow criteria to be met in which one would be qualified to be hated. But everyone else -- no matter how small, no matter how low, must be loved. And what about the person who must be hated? He too, must be loved.
Hillel meant it quite literally –– love for our fellow really is the entirety of the Torah. Let’s examine the two-fold spiritual dynamic of the Torah. One aspect is about transcending the body and identifying with the soul. And another aspect is about drawing down the infinite light of the Divine, bringing it to be manifestly expressed within the world. Looking at the mitzvah of love, we can see that these two dynamics are most perfectly expressed right here in this mitzvah. In order to truly lo...
Following the advice of the previous chapters to consider our soul of primary importance and our body of secondary importance, we effectively re-focus the center of our being. We escape the grasp of our ego and instead center ourselves within the essence of our soul. From this space, we have an entirely different system in the way we value others and a unique advantage in coming to love our fellow as we love our own self, which is seemingly impossible. It now becomes all about the soul. And if l...
Dedicating life to reuniting the soul with Hashem is a source of incredible happiness. And the joy grows greater still! Aside from the soul being restored to its former unity with Hashem through Torah and Mitzvos, there is something original in this life's journey that the soul didn't experience before. It is the unique opportunity to satisfy the Divine purpose in creation. When we realize what we accomplish in bringing our body and animal soul along in our holy pursuits, our lifelong teshuva ga...
Once we truly realize the enormity of the Divine soul's exile, we are prompted to action. Our agenda now becomes to free the soul from captivity and restore her to being totally united and absorbed within the Divine reality. This is achieved through an incredible space where no darkness exists, where the Divine is totally manifest, where the truth of reality is completely exposed. Torah and Mitzvot. This type of mindset, of focused intention to free the soul from captivity, is one of "teshuva" -...
The best time to stir up holy bitterness is when you are anyway sad because of mundane problems. Or, when you are sad for no apparent reason. Grab that moment of sadness and redirect it to become the holy emotion of bitterness. This will alleviate your worldly sadness, and unbelievably enough, transition to into joy! It is not about brushing the issues under the rug and making light of them. It is about continuing to honestly recognizing the dark space of our body and animal soul. But bringing s...
