Daily Tanya

One proper prayer, or even a compilation of different prayers that add up to one prayer with proper intent, elevates all the other prayers of that year. With regard to Torah study, by contrast, even if one later studies with proper intent, this does not elevate his previous study; actual repentance is required. Until such time, one’s Torah study is in exile within the kelipah which spawned his ult...

The things of this world, whose source is the sefirah of malchut (which is the nukva of za ) must be elevated to their source in holiness. This can be accomplished only through mitzvot whose fulfillment requires actions performed with the material components of the world. This alone makes possible the supernal union which reveals Divinity within this world.

The Alter Rebbe’s Chasidim had organized the collection of charity for the Holy Land faithfully and efficiently, with a lively gabbai tzedakah appointed in each town or congregation to rouse his brethren to action. The Alter Rebbe, therefore, extends his blessings both to the donors and to the gabbaim , explaining meanwhile in mystical terms why generosity is at its best when it is spontaneously a...

The drawing down of Divine vitality from the Shechinah into the created worlds parallels the emanation of the spirit of life from the heart and its diffusion throughout the entire body.

This is a reasoned message of encouragement in which the Alter Rebbe urges his Chasidim not to reduce their fixed annual commitment to charity for the Holy Land, even though their circumstances may have altered. He reminds them once again (as above in Epistle 21) that what counts is not only the total of one’s contributions over a particular period but also the multiplicity of benevolent action ....

The Alter Rebbe now focuses on the distinctive quality inherent in the halachot of the Oral Torah. It is these halachot that reveal the supernal will by defining what it actually requires of us in the performance of the mitzvot in order thereby to draw down this lofty level of Divinity.

The Alter Rebbe explains there that the illumination from the supernal will that shines within the devotion that accompanies an action is likened to a “soul,” relative to the illumination that shines in the action itself, which is likened to a “body” or garment for the soul. The difference is thus only in the degree of contraction or emanation of this radiance. From the above, it is clear that eve...

The Alter Rebbe now goes on to explain that in addition to this function of mitzvot as garments for the soul, they also serve to unite the sublime spiritual level of keter , with the physical objects with which the commandments are performed. As such, they resemble pillars that connect the highest part of a house with the lowest.

The Alter Rebbe explains, the supernal will as expressed in the mitzvot derives from an even higher level of Divinity than does the chochmah (“wisdom”) of the Torah. Indeed, it is this Divine Will that furnishes the “garments” which enable the soul to absorb the Divine radiance that is manifest in the Garden of Eden.

Here, the Alter Rebbe explains how the passing of a tzaddik “effects salvations in the midst of the earth,” atoning even for intentional sins.

Here, the Alter Rebbe explains how the passing of a tzaddik “effects salvations in the midst of the earth,” atoning even for intentional sins.

The Alter Rebbe speaks of those who benefit from the gifts that a tzaddik continues to bequeath after his passing, from his ruach that remained in the Lower Garden of Eden. He adds that the extent of the spiritual bequest received by each Chasid varies “according to the level of his bond and closeness to [the tzaddik ], during his lifetime and after his passing, out of an abounding love.”

After the tzaddik’s passing, his power and his faith, his awe, and his love are not limited by his bodily vessel and by the physical world in general but are in the Garden of Eden, which is to be found in this world as well.

The Alter Rebbe will now explain in what sense it may truly be said that the departed tzaddik left his surviving disciples something of his own life.

The Alter Rebbe wrote this letter of condolence to his Chasidim in 1788 after the passing of his colleague and mentor, the saintly R. Mendele of Vitebsk (or Horodok), who had settled in the Holy Land in 1777. It concludes by rousing them to the mitzvah of tzedakah in general and particularly of maintaining the family of R. Mendel.

At the moment, until Mashiach arrives, the dominant influence in this material world is kelipat nogah , the “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.” After his arrival, however, this dominion will cease, and man’s Divine service will be directed not to extracting the sparks of holiness hidden in the material world but to bringing about ever higher supernal unions, as explained above.

The words of Torah in general, and particularly the halachic “word of G-d,” are thus exiled within the kelipot that conceal them. Accordingly, a scholar who brings to light a teaching long hidden in the Torah or who resolves a problematic query and thereby clearly articulates a particular law releases the pertinent spark of the Shechinah from the kelipot .

As the laws become vested within lower realms, they can become subject to a measure of concealment. Likewise, as the sefirah of malchut of Atzilut becomes vested in lower Worlds, it too is subject to this state of concealment. It is then called the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil because it is vested within kelipat nogah . This vestiture takes place for the sake of one of the ultimate spiritual...

The Alter Rebbe will now point out that a careful reading of the passage from Raaya Mehemna reveals that it is not the laws themselves nor the study of them that are termed the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Rather, this term is applied to the actual food or other things which are prohibited or permitted and which derive their life-force from kelipat nogah —for this is the Tree of Knowledge o...

The study of issur and hetter does not supersede the obligation to pray at fixed times, even though the prayers were arranged according to the secrets of the Zohar and the supernal unions, whereas the fact is that for those individuals whose only occupation is the study of Torah, the study of issur and hetter does indeed take precedence over the mitzvah of prayer.

After the previous letter discussed how the Shechinah can sometimes be vested in exile, the present letter explains that this state of exile brings the Torah, too, to a state of concealment, as kelipot obscure its radiance. It is the task of the Jew to remove this concealment by toiling in the study of the Torah.

The Alter Rebbe upholds that all things are sourced in the Shechina. However, untderstanding that this may be arguable contends that it " is impossible to explain this clearly in writing, only orally to an ear that hears [and understands], to uniquely qualified individuals ..."

Since everything is in G-d’s hands, there is no reason to become angry. However, with regard to matters involving the “fear of heaven,” anger does have a place.

Being that our souls are sourced in the innermost being of Hashem, the particular execution of the Mitzvot is paramount. A Mitzvah requiring speech, must then therefore be fulfilled through speech because it then connects to the supernal level of speech.

Since the entire dynamic of the holy “side” of the universe has its counterpart in the “other side,” the sitra achara , the abovementioned ten sefirot of holiness (and likewise the ten corresponding faculties of the G-dly soul) each have their unholy counterpart: