Tanya classes – Rabbi Krasnianski: The Book of the Intermediates (Likutei Amarim) ch. 31-40

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Having stated that love and fear of G‑d elevate one’s Torah and mitzvot on high, the Alter Rebbe continues:ובזה יובן היטב הא דדחילו ורחימו נקראים גדפין, דרך משל, כדכתיב: ובשתים יעופףThis explains clearly why The post Chapter 40 – Part 4 – video podcast appeared first on TanyaClass.com.

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ואף דאורייתא וקודשא בריך הוא כולא חד, שהוא ורצונו אחדAlthough the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are altogether one, for He and His Will are one, and the Torah represents His Will, nevertheless the Torah will not The post Chapter 40 – Part 3 – video podcast appeared first on TanyaClass.com.

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In ch. 39 the Alter Rebbe explained that the ascent of one’s Torah and mitzvot is commensurate with the level of kavanah that one invests in study and performance. If one’s kavanah stems from love The post Chapter 40 – Part 1 – video podcast appeared first on TanyaClass.com.

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וכשעוסק שלא לשמה ממש, לשום איזו פניה לכבוד עצמוHowever, when one engages in divine service explicitly not lishmah but for an ulterior motive of self-glorification, The post Chapter 39 – Part 5 – video podcast appeared first on TanyaClass.com.

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Having discussed the various “abodes” of souls — three Worlds in which the souls receive a reward commensurate with the level of their divine service during their life on earth — the Alter Rebbe now returns to the theme begun in ch. 38. There he noted that kavanah in mitzvot (which is the “soul The post Chapter 39 – Part 4 – video podcast appeared first on TanyaClass.com.

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In fact, the soul’s reward in the Garden of Eden, described before as the pleasure of “basking in the radiance of the Shechinah,” is actually the radiance of the Torah and mitzvot that the person observed while in this physical world, which have ascended to the supernal Sefirot. The post Chapter 39 – Part 3 – video podcast appeared first on TanyaClass.com.

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At this point the Alter Rebbe qualifies his earlier statement: Only those tzaddikim whose souls are on the level of Neshamah (i.e., the highest of the three soul-levels — Nefesh, Ruach and Neshamah The post Chapter 39 – Part 2 – video podcast appeared first on TanyaClass.com.

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In the previous chapter the Alter Rebbe explained why our Sages compare the performance of a mitzvah to a body, and one’s kavanah in performing the mitzvah to a soul. He stated that The post Chapter 39 – Part 1 – video podcast appeared first on TanyaClass.com.

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ואף שבשתיהן, במצוה ובכוונתה, מלובש רצון אחד, פשוט בתכלית הפשיטות בלי שום שינוי וריבוי, חס ושלום, ומיוחד במהותו ועצמותו יתברך בתכלית היחודTrue, although both the actual mitzvah and its kavanah contain the same [Supernal] Will, which is perfectly simple, The post Chapter 38 – Part 4 – video podcast appeared first on TanyaClass.com.

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The Alter Rebbe now distinguishes between permitted and forbidden objects. The former receive their life-force directly through kelipat nogah; for the latter to receive the G‑dly life-force clothed in kelipat nogah, it must first descend still further, to be veiled in the three completely impure kelipot. The post Chapter 38 – Part 3 – video podcast appeared first on TanyaClass.com.

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ואף שבשניהם אור אחד שוה בבחינת הסתר פניםTrue, in terms of the “concealment of Countenance” i.e., the degree to which the “Countenance,” the inner aspect of the divine life-force, is concealed, the light The post Chapter 38 – Part 2 – video podcast appeared first on TanyaClass.com.

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In the previous chapters the Alter Rebbe discussed the distinctive merit of mitzvot performed by speech and action, for by means of them the vitalizing soul is elevated to holiness. The mitzvot have this ability for they are performed with the power The post Chapter 38 – Part 1 – video podcast appeared first on TanyaClass.com.

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ואף על פי כן אמרו רז״ל: לא המדרש עיקר אלא המעשהNevertheless, notwithstanding the superior level of unity with G‑dliness attained only by Torah, our Sages have said: 11 “The essential thing The post Chapter 37 – Part 6 – video podcast appeared first on TanyaClass.com.

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ובזה יובן מה שהפליגו רז״ל במאד מאד במעלת הצדקה, ואמרו ששקולה כנגד כל המצותIn light of the above, where it was explained that the advantage of the “active” mitzvot lies in their elevating effect on the body The post Chapter 37 – Part 5 – video podcast appeared first on TanyaClass.com.

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But surely there are more than 600,000 souls; besides, it is quite impossible for one person to use a six-hundred-thousandth of the entire world.אלא שששים רבוא נשמות פרטיות אלו הן שרשים, וכל שרש מתחלק לששים רבוא ניצוצות, שכל ניצוץ הוא נשמה אחת The post Chapter 37 – Part 4 – video podcast appeared first on TanyaClass.com.

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This, in summary, is the subject of the following discussion. זאת ועוד אחרתAn additional [virtue] in mitzvot involving action (aside from their function in elevating The post Chapter 37 – Part 3 – video podcast appeared first on TanyaClass.com.

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Thus far, the Alter Rebbe has discussed the effect of a mitzvah on the objects used in its performance (e.g., the etrog, the parchment used for tefillin, etc.). He now discusses its effect on the power of a Jew’s animal soul that is applied to the mitzvah. This The post Chapter 37 – Part 2 – video podcast appeared first on TanyaClass.com.

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In the previous chapter, the Alter Rebbe explained that the statement of the Sages that “G‑d desired an abode in the lower realms” refers to our physical world. This is the lowest of worlds in terms of the degree of revelation of the divine creative power The post Chapter 37 – Part 1 – video podcast appeared first on TanyaClass.com.

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ולכן היו בטלים במציאות ממש, כמאמר רז״ל, שעל כל דיבור פרחה נשמתן כו׳Therefore, they the Jews who stood at Sinai were nullified out of existence, as our Rabbis have said: The post Chapter 36 – Part 4 – video podcast appeared first on TanyaClass.com.

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וגם כבר היה לעולמים מעין זה, בשעת מתן תורהA glimmer of this revelation which will take place in the future has already been experienced — at the time of the Giving of the Torah at Sinai The post Chapter 36 – Part 3 – video podcast appeared first on TanyaClass.com.

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A question arises, however. How is it possible (even upon subjugating the kelipot and transforming them into holiness) that we in this world should experience a revelation of the Ein Sof-light without veil or concealment, when even the higher worlds cannot receive such revelation without dissolving into nothingness? The post Chapter 36 – Part 2 – video podcast appeared first on TanyaClass.com.

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In the previous chapter, the Alter Rebbe began to explain why the observance of the practical mitzvot is the ultimate purpose of Torah and of one’s spiritual service to G‑d. (This practical aspect is The post Chapter 36 – Part 1 – video podcast appeared first on TanyaClass.com.

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ואף שמהותה ועצמותה של נפש הבהמית שבלבו, שהן מדותיה הרעות, עדיין לא נכללו בקדושהAlthough the substance and essence of the animal soul, in his heart, i.e., its evil middot (its evil emotional character The post Chapter 35 – Part 3 – video podcast appeared first on TanyaClass.com.

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The Alter Rebbe will now proceed to explain why good deeds can serve as oil for the light of the Shechinah, whereas the divine soul cannot. The explanation in brief: Man’s soul is not, after all, completely nullified before G‑d and one with Him to the extent The post Chapter 35 – Part 2 – video podcast appeared first on TanyaClass.com.

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