Daily Tanya

This chapter discusses the entryway to true love of G-d, and sustaining it.

The type of love necessary for the completion of the Mitzvah must be infused with selflessness. In the Shechina all of our sous are one. When learning Torah or fulfilling a commandment, one should recite the intention of uniting G-d with the souls of all of Israel.

The great Talmudical sage, Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai, told his students "I wish that, at the very least, the fear of heaven should be at the level of fear you have from another human being. Therefore, if I just think to myself that G-d is present, and it keeps me from doing wrong, that is sufficient. "

Love alone is not enough. Love alone is about me. If love is the only experience, the lines can be blurred regarding for whom we are fulfilling this commandment. Therefore, commandments must be first and foremost fulfilled with G-d in mind. Otherwise, a passion-filled Mitzvah may be completely consumed with a sense of self

Why should my intent be so essential? Being that a Mitzvah is a physical act, it can not conduct spiritual G-dly energy. However, with intent, we can vivify the Mitzvah to reflect G-d's will.

Both awe and love are necessary to infuse the Mitzvah with spiritual content. Awe for G-d is a constant obligation. At the foundation of G-dly service, one must have reverence for G-d. Before the fulfillment of each commandment, one must contemplate the Omnipresence of G-d.

After crushing our animal soul, it can be helpful to awaken compassion for the exiled soul.

Redirecting depression into soul-searching, and into anger at the evil inclination, will dispel the mundane depression.

A person who is not fighting his/her own inclination at his/her battle point- be it in resisting (even subtle) evil or doing good (beyond one's comfort zone)- does not understand the sinner (who fails their own inner) temptation (even if on a different scale).

Don't compare your journey to others. You don't know his obstacles or his victories. You need to focus on your journey, is your "today" better than your "yesterday"?

Remember, you are essentially connected to G-d. Your divine soul would naturally outshine all your animalistic urges. G-d gave your urges a voice just that you overcome them.

COntemplation to "break" self-centeredness of the animal soul: You, evil inclination, are a horrible influence, you are meaningless and void. For how long will you conceal from me the infinite light of the Eternal G-d. Stop trying to distract me from obvious truths.

The Alter Rebbe now proceeds to suggest various lines of reasoning that the beinoni may use in order to humble and crush his spirit—and thereby the sitra achara of his animal soul.

Contemplation to "break" self-centeredness of the animal soul: My thoughts, speech and action, which I thought to be neutral, were most likely self-serving. THey did not make me a vehicle for the Divine.

This chapter expounds on the "Stone-like" heart- apathy and indifference. It includes explanations to help with awareness, and then in the coming chapter; how to address this.

Understand how you work- a mistake or negativity doesn't mean your soul is weak, it means your soul is strong, and therefore your evil inclination is challenging it more. Tune in to your soul and push away the inclination.

The toolbox for success in divine service: Understand the source of temptations and negative thoughts while doing something good. It is your evil inclination trying to stop you, and is really an opportunity for you to show your strength, that you will not be slowed down.

The toolbox for success in divine service: Don't let urges, temptation, and evil thoughts drag you down. Your divine purpose is to display your strength and overcome these temptations.

Suppressing a material temptation and urge, even something simple like not eating the moment the thought of food enters your mind, or not speaking desirable gossip, has a cosmic effect of making the world a better place. A place for G-d.

The toolbox for success in divine service: Tzadikim (in the true definition) do not have tempations, the rest of us struggle with temptation and challenges. Understand this and you will be empowered to push away the thoughts and rise to the occasion.

The toolbox for success in divine service: Is your spiritual standing dragging you down? Do you feel like you should be better? This is the way to becoming better: Do not entertain those negative thoughts at this moment; it is the work of the evil inclination.

We see from all the above the importance of serving G-d joyfully. Yet, many things in one’s life, both physical and spiritual, may cause him sadness. The Alter Rebbe now goes on to propose means of combating this sadness so that one may always be joyful.

The Alter Rebbe has thus demonstrated how being aware of one’s willingness to sacrifice his life for G-d affects both the areas of “turning away from evil” and “doing good,” i.e., the observance of the negative and positive commandments, respectively. It follows that this awareness should constantly be on one’s mind so that he will always be ready to apply it to his performance of the mitzvot .

In the coming chapters, the Alter Rebbe will discuss means of overcoming possible obstacles in the path of one’s service to G-d. In the first instance, he shows how one may overcome the sadness and dullness of heart, whereby the heart becomes insensitive to feelings of love and fear of G-d.

The discussion until now centered on the category of “turning away from evil.” The Alter Rebbe showed how one could utilize his hidden love of G-d in refraining from sin. He now goes on to the category of “doing good,” discussing the use of the hidden love in leading one to perform all the positive commandments.