Transcript
Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. *Boker tov*. Welcome back to 10 minutes of meaning. As always, a big thank you to our series sponsors, our dear friends Marilyn and Michael Fedak. Thank you for their generosity, sponsoring our learning of Tanya and so much more. Please help yourself, coffee, slushies, pastries, soon soup in our Reb Shayala corner. A couple of announcements as we dive into the sixth *perek* of Tanya together. First, a reminder this coming Monday night, you are invited to the biggest Chabad in Boca, in Boca, biggest Chabad in Florida, which is Boca Raton Synagogue *shtiebel minyan*. A very big special י\"ט כסלו התוועדות and *siyum ha'Shas*. And *siyum ha'Shas*. Including incredible guest speakers, live music. This Monday night, 7:15 p.m. Catered hot food will be served, it says on this amazing flyer. So don't miss it this Monday night, י\"ט כסלו התוועדות. Be there or be Lit-fish. Okay. Also, I want to share with you as we begin the sixth *perek* of Tanya, we're making our way over from having spoken a lot about the חלק אלוקה ממעל ממש, the godly soul, the godly spirit, the godly piece of us, not as if to God is in us, but the piece of Hashem that is in us. We've shared many times that there are so many who doubt and who question, does Hashem exist? Is he out there? Does he care? Can I find him? And they look all over. They look in universe and they look for evidence and they look for proofs, when the truth is the only place they need to look is in the mirror. If a person looks in the mirror, if a person looks into themselves, if a person looks at their own life. If you look at your own biology, if you look at your own anatomy, if you look at the unfolding of your own life, if you look at your own faculties, you don't need to look elsewhere to find evidence of Hashem's existence. The חלק אלוקה ממעל ממש, there's a piece of Hashem of the *Ribono Shel Olam*, literally inside each and every one of us, you can find him in ourselves. And we spoke all about the ten *sfiros* and the three different *levush*, the three garments that expresses itself, *dibur*, *machshava* and *maaseh*, speech, thought, and in action. And the *Baal HaTanya* walked us through in the last several *prakim*, the highest level, the greatest *yichud* is learning Hashem's Torah. Learning Hashem's Torah. The intellect and thought is higher than any other realm of emotion. Now we make our way over to the sixth *perek*. In the sixth *perek*, the *Alter Rebbe* of the *Baal HaTanya* returns to the *nefesh behami*, the animal soul that we began Tanya with, that we're made up and comprised of two competing souls. There's a piece of God inside us, but there's also an animal impulse, an animal instinct. We have so much in common anatomically, in our faculties. We eat, we eliminate what we ate, we reproduce. *Chazal* say those three things we have in common with an animal. We are an animal endowed also with a godly soul, and one can't and shouldn't deny either of those. And unlike other, unlike other *hashkafos*, unlike other philosophies, the *Alter Rebbe* introduced a very novel and powerful idea, which we'll unpack right now, that our mission and goal is not to slaughter the animal soul. It's not to eliminate the animal soul, it is to train the animal soul, elevate the animal soul. We don't kill every animal around us. In the old days, certainly the farmer needed an ox in order to plow. A person needs a dog in order to protect them. A person needs a *d'kveis*, a lizard to eat the insects. That's about my knowledge of the animal kingdom. You just heard all of it right there. So we need the animals, but we train them to work for us, we train them to serve us. The animals serve a purpose, we're not looking to purge or eliminate, and that's what we're going to get into in the sixth *perek*. But I want to share with you, my dear friend, Rabbi Moshe Wolowski shared with me this morning a letter from the Rebbe, *zatzal*, the 24th of *Shvat* 5713. And here is a letter from the Rebbe. And the Rebbe wrote, as to your complaint that you have found nothing to take out from the Tanya. Certainly somebody wrote the Rebbe saying, I'm learning Tanya, I'm not getting anything out of it. 10 minutes of meaning, Wednesday mornings with Gort, learning Tanya, maybe it's him, he doesn't even know what he's talking about, but maybe it's me. I'm not getting anything out of the Tanya. That's what the author wrote the Rebbe. So the Rebbe wrote back, I'll point out some lines which are obviously full of meaning. For example, in chapter six, page 20, the ten lines from the seventh to the 17th, you'll find enough material to occupy your mind for hours and days. Likewise, the first four lines, page 19, page 14 from the end of the fifth line. In the same way you'll find some lines on each page which will inspire you to אהבת ה' יראת ה'. And the more you'll think about these meaningful teachings, the higher you'll rise spiritually. In the course of a letter, it's impossible to say more, but the *roshei yeshiva* and senior *talmidim* will surely help if you will ask them. The important thing is not to be discouraged, for to learn Tanya is like learning any other profound subject. In the same way as when you began *Gemara*, *Chumash*, you cannot expect to delve deeply as you will years later, so too with Tanya, you'll gain depth as the time goes on, your mind will grasp more and more. I'm giving that as a preview as the ultimate endorsement for what we're about to start, the sixth *perek*. of *Tanya*. Because if the *Rebbe's* response is, *Tanya* is not speaking to you, you got to check out the sixth *perek*. Look at these lines and those lines and the other lines in the sixth *perek*, you got to check out *perek vav*. So *chevra*, that's what we're about to do. We're checking out *perek vav*. So with that, let's let's dive in. So the *Alter Rebbe* begins *perek vav*. In the four previous chapters we've talked about, as I said, the divine soul, the mental and emotional powers, the garments, and so on. וזה לעומת זה עשה אלוקים. And now that we have defined, now that we have seen the architecture of the divine soul, the *nefesh elokus*, so now know that equal and opposite וזה לעומת זה עשה אלוקים. Where did the *Rebbe Alter Rebbe* get that line from? It's a *pasuk* in *Koheles*. *Pasuk* in the seventh *perek* of *Koheles*. וזה לעומת זה עשה אלוקים. *Hashem* has made one opposite the other. In other words, one of the axioms of our faith is to know that *Hashem* created a universe, he set up the world where in order to preserve our our free will, which is the essence and purpose of creation, they have to be equal alternatives that present themselves. If it was obvious that if you do what's right and what's good, you'll be rewarded, and you'll live a beautiful, long, and healthy and happy life, and if you do what's bad and what's wrong, and you neglect and you're disobedient to *Hashem*, then you'll be sick and poor and miserable, then would one have free will which to do? Of course not. Free will doesn't mean physically the capacity to do it. Free will means that the options and alternatives present themselves to me equally. And now it's my free will which is choosing what to do. Whenever I speak about this, I always give the *mashal*. Person's on the highway, they're driving. Some people are known, not me *chas v'shalom*, but some people have a heavy foot, as they say. The speed limit's a suggestion, you can go a little bit above it, not me and I'm not endorsing this, but some people go a little fast. Even the person who speeds and goes fast, if there's a policeman, a police person, I guess you have to say now, a policeman on the highway in front of them, will they zip around them and fly past them? Do they have free will to go so fast, to press the accelerator and to fly around the policeman? Well, if you define free will as the ability to push on the gas pedal, of course they do. Of course they do. Gas pedal works, you can push on it, you can go 20 miles over the speed limit, you can fly around the cop. But I would argue that they don't have free will. Any healthy, normal person would not go around a policeman to speed. In that moment your free will is essentially suspended. Which is why *Hakadosh Baruch Hu*, the *Ribono shel Olam*, who's not a policeman, far from it, he's a loving father, but doesn't reveal himself explicitly to us in this world, because if he were to reveal himself explicitly to us, then we wouldn't have free will. And the whole purpose and essence of life is to have free will. It's through the choices that we make that we either come closer or further away from *Hashem*. But we wouldn't be making a choice if one saw undeniably *Hashem*. So *Hashem* lives with a certain hiddenness. He conceals himself. There is the option, invitation, opportunity to deny his existence. And it's only through free will, it's choosing and opting in to a relationship with him that life in itself has meaning. Free will is the essence and purpose of life. There is only free will when he allows himself to be hidden, and there's only free will when we have equal alternatives presenting themselves. All of that is in this *pasuk* in *Koheles*. So far the *Alter Rebbe* hasn't said one word. All he's done is quoted a *pasuk* in *Koheles*. But what he's setting up this *perek* to teach us and tell us is, therefore, if we understand the architecture of the godly divine soul, of who naturally we are drawn to the above, drawn to the good, to *Hashem*, then we need to know that it must be in this world and in life to have free will, there must be an equal and opposite architecture of an animal soul. There must be an impulse and an instinct and a drive not to do the right thing, but the wrong thing. There must be an impulse and a drive not to connect to what is above us, but to be drawn to what is below us. וזה לעומת זה עשה אלוקים. כי כמו שהנפש האלוקית כלולה מעשר ספירות קדושות. Just as the divine soul is comprised of ten holy *sfiros* or energies, we saw three of the intellect, seven of emotion. ומתלבשת בשלושה לבושים קדושים. These ten energies are dressed in three holy garments, namely, the garments are the external manifestation of our internal selves. What are the three garments again? *Machshava, dibbur, u'maaseh*. Thought, speech, and action. And again, I don't want to go backwards, but we saw this was to me a huge *chiddush* of the *Baal HaTanya*, of the *Alter Rebbe*. I would have put thought in the world of my inner world, not my outer world. I would have placed and categorized *machshava*, thought, action, external, speech, external. It's happening inside here, my thought, I would have put in my inner world. I wouldn't have said is *levush*. I wouldn't have said it's a garment. I would have put it my inner world. We unpacked that a couple prakim ago, why he said that. But no, it's external. It's external and separate still and apart and apart. It's a levush. כך נפש דסטרא אחרא. So too the soul, the animal soul of the sitra achra. The architecture of the animal soul also has 10 energies and three garments. The sitra achra, the animal impulse, the animal instinct, the animal soul, that animal drive, also manifests, it wears the garments of speech, thought, and action. And the architecture of it is equal and opposite, also the 10, not sviros, but here he'll categorize it as the kisrin based on a Zohar. A keser. What does keser mean? A crown. The sviros are internal. They're essential. A crown is not who you are, a crown is what you wear. A crown is placed on your head, and in this way the animal soul is different. The godly soul are sviros. The animal soul is a crown. The crown is placed on the head, the crown can be placed, and the crown can be removed. So the soul of, and here the Alter Rebbe uses the term, sitra achra. What is sitra achra? The dark side, the other side, the side of self-serving ego energy. It's like what we spoke about in if you could remember that far back, Shabbos Shuva. Shabbos Shuva we spoke about ego versus elokus. There's ego, ego. My name, my honor, my glory, ego. Oh, shkoyach. Ego, ego versus elokus. Right, we we posed that, we developed it over a long time, Shabbos Shuva, that we should analyze everything through the prism of, why? Why do I want this? Why do I feel this? Why do I want to do this? Is that my ego or is that elokus? Sitra achra is ego. The nefesh, elokus is elokus. What in, what am I making contact with inside me? Which impulse do I want to listen to? What am I trying to elevate? My ego or my elokus? Sitra achra, the other side. Why is it called the other side? Why is it called the other side? The Alter Rebbe just said, זה לעומת זה עשה אלקים. There's two sides. And the sides present themselves equally. In order to have free will, in order to have choice, we have two options. And the options are this side and the other side. The godly soul is this side, and the animal soul is the other side, or the dark side. From klipas noga, specifically its power is from the force known as klipas noga. Klipas noga, we'll get much more into in the next perek. And in the next perek, he talks about the the klipa of noga. How do you define klipas noga? The bright klipa, whose negativity is not irredeemable. Klipas noga can be transformed. It's malleable, it can be molded. It's unlike the klipa of the other side. It's more, can potentially be shaped as neutral. המלובשת בדם האדם. While the animal soul is spiritual, cannot be confined to a particular place, where is it? It's in the blood. The animal soul, just like the godly soul, is not, you can't dissect the body and find where it is. There's no hard drive to take out. You can't plug in a USB drive and download it. Neither the godly soul nor the animal soul. But yet, if you had to associate the animal soul with any part of your biology or anatomy of who you are, where would the animal soul be placed? In the dam, in the blood. כי הדם הוא הנפש. In the blood, b'dam ha'adam. It's in the blood. It's the source of our physical vitality. Right, person says, my blood is flowing. You know, somebody who's energized, maybe somebody who's energized towards the animal impulse and soul, their blood is flowing, their blood is boiling, their blood, we use it in our vernacular. When we talk about, when we describe the word blood, because the blood is that animal soul. כלולה מעשר כתרין דמסאבותא. The ten powers within the animal soul are referred to as by the Zohar as the עשרה כתרין דמסאבותא, the ten crowns of impurity. Again, not svira, but when it comes to the animal soul they're crowns because crowns can be put on and taken off and the animal soul is not intrinsic and essential to who we are. שבע מדות רעות הבאות מארבע יסודות רעים. These powers of the animal soul are made up of seven negative emotional powers that come from negative elements, haniskarim l'el. What are the four negative elements that we spoke about before? What are the four elements of earth of the world? Fire, water, air, and earth. Those are the four elements. And those four elements are associated with four behaviors, all negative, namely, anger, indulgence, shallowness, and laziness. The divine soul has the same architecture, three intellectual, seven, and seven emotional, and seven emotional. Okay. B'sechel hamolid. בשכל המולידן הנחלק לשלוש. The intellect of the animal soul which produces negative emotions mirrors the divine soul and is divided into three: chochmah binah v'daas, makor ha'midos. So just like, just like the Godly soul is, has an intellect, that's the driver, that's the engine, and the intellect is the higher part, and the intellect is made up of three parts, chochmah binah and daas. The animal soul also has an intellect and is made up of three parts which are the makor of the emotions. In other words, in other words, even the animal soul which is much more base and lowly and shallow, and is an animal impulse and animal instinct, but has a level of intellect. Because how does the animal know what to crave? How does the animal know what to want, what to be drawn to? There is an intellect. Rabbi Chaim Miller in this commentary writes for example, you know ice cream tastes good and therefore you crave it and want it. But first you have to know that ice cream tastes good. If you didn't know the flavor and the taste, you wouldn't be drawn. So there is a chochmah binah and daas, there is an intellect to the animal soul. Years ago when I first learned, tried to learn Tanya, I wrote a note here on the side that the nefesh bahamas is middos to seichel, whereas the nefesh elokus is seichel to middos. Which one is the leader or driver of the other? Does the intellect lead to the behavior or does the behavior lead to the, lead to the intellect? Lead to the intellect. כי המדות הן לפי ערך השכל. The emotions are relative to the intellect. כי הקטן חושק ואוהב דברים קטנים פחותי הערך. A child desires and loves small trivial things. Right, the adult who is more sophisticated, more knowledgeable, more intellectually, intellectually developed, craves bigger things and more dangerous things. And the child just wants a tchotchke, just wants a little toy. לפי ששכלו קטן מלהשיג דברים יקרים יותר מהם, his intellect is too small and immature to appreciate anything more valuable. וכן מתכעס ומתקצף מדברים קטנים. A child is angered and infuriated by small things. v'chein b'shaar ha'middos. Okay, all that is section one of perek vav. perek vav that we read the Rebbe's own endorsement that if you're not connecting to Tanya, wait for perek vav. That's the perek. All of this was the introduction, and the summary of the introduction is that זה לעומת זה עשה אלקים, that the essential meaning of life is to have free will. To have free will, there have to be equal and opposite alternatives, and if there's a Godly soul with the architecture of three of intellect, seven of emotion, ten sfiros in total, dressed in the three garments of speech, thought, and action. So equal and opposite it, creating our alternatives that drive our free will and choice, is the architecture of the animal soul. The animal soul also has an intellect, chochmah binah and daas. The animal soul also has the equivalent of ten sfiros, only their keser, their crown that's put on and be taken off, like the ten, three and seven. And the animal soul is equal and opposite. And the animal soul has an intellect, knowledge that then drives us, that is our impulse. And then he gets into the heart of it, which is section two, which we'll pick up with next week, but I'll just give you the one word introduction. Because this is a big chiddush and an amazing contribution of the Alter Rebbe. In halacha, and even in hashkafa beforehand, most people saw the world as divided into three categories, three categories: assur, mutar, and sorry, assur, mitzva, and reshus. Assur means it's forbidden. Can't eat non-kosher food, can't do a melacha on Shabbos, assur, assur. Mitzva means there's an inherent intrinsic value. It's a mitzva to put on tefillin. It's a mitzva, it's a mitzva. And breakfast this morning, is that, is that an aveira or a mitzva? Neither. You're going to go to the mall and go shopping, you're going to go buy a new suit. Aveira or mitzva? So there was a whole category, Rebenu Bachya others have, called reshus. Reshus means neither. It's a third category, it's called neutral. It's called neutral. It's like a kitchen. You have milchiks, you have fleishiks and you have... The Alter Rebbe illuminated parve. Happens to be I hold in the world of kashrus it's easier to not have parve. Parve confuses things, but I don't want to confuse you, so that's not for now. But the Alter Rebbe said, there is no parve. There is no parve. He came along and said in this paradigm, in this model, there's this side and the sitra achra, the other side. There's only two sides, not three. You can't have three. There's this side and the other side, which means there is no neutral. There is no parve. You're going to buy a suit? Where you buying it? Why are you buying it? How are you buying it? How do you behave while you buy it? What are you going to wear it for? What's your intention and your kavana as you buy it? Where'd you earn the money for while you buy it? You're buying it is either adding and contributing to your holiness, to your Godly soul, it's an expression of your elokus or it's an expression of your ego. The world and your life is divided into ego and elokus, this side and the other side, there is no neutral. There is no parve. And there is no parve, there is no neutral, there is no in between. That's what he's gonna get to, that's what we're gonna pick up with. We're off next week, I'm traveling. im yirtze Hashem the week after.
