Daily Tanya

After one has acquired a love and fear of G-d as a result of his own contemplation, he is then granted from Above a heightened measure of love and fear.

Abraham epitomizes chesed , the attribute of kindness; Isaac epitomizes gevurah , the attribute of severity; the predominant attribute of Jacob is tiferet , or rachamim , compassion. The inward aspect of the soul’s Divine service when motivated by chesed is—the love of G-d; the inward aspect of the soul’s Divine service when motivated by gevurah is—the awe of G-d; so, too, Divine service when moti...

Good deeds draw down Divine influence from the yud of the Divine Name, from the level of chochmah , to the final hey of the Name, the level of malchut . In this way, then, good deeds bring together and “make” the Name of G-d and draw it downward in its entirety.

We learned above that the Zohar teaches: “Who makes the Holy Name every day? He who gives charity to the poor.” The relevance of this answer, however, remained obscure. Now, therefore, equipped with the foregoing insights, we revert to the question with which this epistle opened: How does giving tzedakah to the poor “make a Name” for G-d?

The radiance emanating from the “form” of the letters—a radiance that emanates from G-d’s attributes, wisdom, and will—is merely found בְּתוֹכוֹ, within the internality of the Divine utterance that creates and vitalizes this world; it is not manifest. That which serves as the source of the creation and vitality of this world is the externality or “body” of the letters, the “breath” of Divine speec...

The Alter Rebbe now goes on to explain that the letters of speech are composed of “matter” and “form” the “body” and “soul” (or: the external and internal aspects) of the letters. While the “form” of the letters does indeed derive from chochmah , the “matter” of the letters of speech merely derives from the heart.

Spiritual life-force finds its way down into this world in so concealed a manner that all we know of it is the mere fact of its existence ( yediat hametziut ). In Gan Eden , by contrast, the spiritual life-force issues forth in such a manner that its very essence is apprehended ( hasagat hamahut ),

The Alter Rebbe wrote this letter, like most of the letters that comprise Iggeret Hakodesh , in connection with the charitable fund of Kollel Chabad in the Land of Israel.

A man’s soul is stimulated from above only in response to the spiritual service that he initiates here below. Even an effusion of Divine benevolence that comes exclusively from above, and can neither be brought into being nor drawn down by man’s service alone, also awaits a previous arousal from below,

Inasmuch as the additional measure of infinite radiance and effluence far transcends Atzilut so much so that in comparison to it, the World of Atzilut and our grossly corporeal World of Asiyah are equally distant; it enables the radiation of Atzilut to find its way into this world.

The Alter Rebbe now anticipates a question: What is gained by this analogy? Surely it is just as obvious that “all the individual coins [given to charity] add up to a great amount” as it is that “all the individual scales add up to form a large coat of mail.”

The kindness that G-d showed Abraham motivated him to attain the ultimate degree of humility that this statement expresses. Just as in the heavenly realms, “the right arm of Divine chesed ” causes recipients of the chesed to lose their independent identity in the identity of the Bestower of lovingkindness, so, too, does it affect mortals upon whom it is bestowed, making them likewise humble and se...

Torah may indeed be said to be the revelation of G-d’s Will, a level that transcends His wisdom, notwithstanding the fact that “Torah proceeds from chochmah ,” 41 i.e., from Divine wisdom.

The Alter Rebbe explains here that the study of the laws set out in the Oral Torah elevates the soul of the Jew and assists him in his spiritual service of meditating upon G-d’s greatness and arousing within himself a love and awe of Him.

In this, the concluding chapter of Iggeret Hateshuvah , the Alter Rebbe explains why afflictions cause the penitent joy.

One should always retain an awareness of his having sinned—but “at a distance,” i.e., at the back of his mind.

Just as in former times, atonement was secured by the regular altar offerings, nowadays, too, our prayers and repentance bring about forgiveness.

Difficulties notwithstanding, it is possible for the heart to simultaneously harbor two opposite emotions—the anguished soul of teshuvah tataah and the joy that immediately precedes and accompanies prayer.

Torah study thus accomplishes much more than what man could attain on his own. Similarly, every act of lovingkindness draws down Divine benevolence. Meditating in this fashion gives birth to a love for G-d, which is translated into the study of the Torah and the performance of mitzvot .

The Alter Rebbe will now explain that the love and fear discussed in the present chapter are generated intellectually: they result from meditation upon G-d’s greatness and are thus the offspring of binah . It is specifically this kind of love and fear that unites the hey with the vav —the intellect with the resulting emotions.

When one arouses the supreme mercies of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, which emanate from the level of the supreme will that transcends the letters of the Tetragrammaton, he is then able to rectify the letters and redirect their flow into his soul.

The Alter Rebbe now goes on to say that even sins which do not carry so harsh a penalty may still have the same effect.

Q: How is the heart to be broken and humbled? A: It is achieved through being a “master of accounting” with all the profundity of one’s mind.

Since the soul is rooted in the Tetragrammaton, its degradation—brought about by sin—correspondingly causes the flow of holiness that emanates from the Tetragrammaton to descend into the chambers of the kelipot and sitra achara . Hence, not only the soul, but its Source too, is to be pitied.

In this, the sixth chapter, the Alter Rebbe goes on to explain that this applied only during the time when the Divine Presence dwelt among Israel, for then, each Jew’s spiritual sustenance reached him only from the “side” of holiness—from the Four-Letter Name of the Infinite One. In times of exile, however, when the Divine Presence too is (so to speak) in exile, even the life-force of holiness can...