Daily "Chitas" Tanya

Questions for today:

Unpacking the process of prayer as a means to connect to the Creator, what does this tell us about our emotional exercises during this process?

We learned yesterday that prayer is the ladder that gets us closer and closer to the creator, the high level of return.

This is why the Mishnah tells us that before we pray, we have to be serious.

Most of our laws of our prayer come from the Prophetess Chanah, and it says ‘vehi maras nefesh’, “she was bitter”.

This is because we learned that before becoming one with the Creator, we have to get rid of everything that's blocking us. We get rid of all the bad by being tough with it.

Of course, that's only the preparation. Once we are actually one with the Creator when we're praying, we have to be happy - The Mishnah tells us we have to pray with joy.

Even the times of the Tanya, it wasn't possible for people to do both in one sitting. The recommendation then was to get up at midnight to be bitter, and then to get up in the morning and be joyous to pray.

If people couldn't get up at midnight every night, at least once before Shabbat when the whole world becomes one with the Creator, as though the creator is inhaling.

In today's day and age, there are other recommendations for this process.

216 21 Tanya Tammuz 27 ~ m244 21 Menachem Av 2

Tanya book 3, Ch 10, pt2

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=7/30/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/7y95nkgmj0A

Questions for today:

How do we extend the connection we described yesterday to our entire being?

We learned yesterday that we express our real unity with the Creator by connecting heart and soul with the study of Torah with love and passion.

Today we learn that that's just the beginning. We have to do like it says in the Shema “bechol nafshecah” - this unity has to descend into every part of our Soul.

When our intellect is contemplating Torah thoughts, our emotions are enacting the creator's love, compassion, kindness, our mind is thinking the Creator’s thoughts, our mouth is speaking the creator's laws our hands are doing the creator's action – charity, this is the ultimate embrace and kiss with the Creator.

After this point, we answer a question we had before. Why is it that with sins related to reproduction, it can only be repaired with a high level of return?

Now we understand. This is because the reproductive process is rooted in the brain. The ‘higher level of return’ begins as an exercise of an ‘intellectual’ connection to the Creator.

214 19 Tanya Tammuz 25 ~ m242 19 Tammus 29

Tanya book 3, Ch 9

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=7/28/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/TnwRWaZZmJg

Questions for today:

Our goal is to reconnect to the Creator. If we analyze the “re” in the ‘reconnect’, how close were we? And how do we get back there?

In our understanding of the return to the Creator, today is a very powerful lesson.

We spoke about committing to the relationship in the future, we spoke about how realizing our soul is not 'spoken' from the Creator, but breathed from the Creator’s ‘inside’.

We then discussed how having mercy for taking that high level of G-dliness, and dragging it down through our thoughts and actions, we can bring it back the way it was before.

Today we go to the next level.

Where is our breath ‘before we breathe it’?

When we - specifically from the pain and urgency of having been distant - decide to commit to the Creator, we could go back to the way we were before, not just ‘as breathed’, but ‘before we were ever breathed’ - truly one with the Creator.

This is not just something we can do conceptually, we can do this with our actions.

If somebody wants to do something wrong and they avoid it, they're a 'separate' person albeit humble to the Creator. When they go past that and do a mitzvah that the Creator wants, they're thinking of the Creator, not themselves.

Even higher, when we study Torah, our mind, our perspective, is one with the Creator.

And if we do it with love and passion, there's nothing else.

213 18 Tanya Tammuz 24 ~ m241b 18b Tammuz 28b

Tanya book 3, Ch 8, pt2

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=7/27/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/cFn1IGRBL14

Questions for today:

If spirituality mirrors the approach we present, what does our mercy cause?

In our discussion about returning to the Creator we spoke about focusing on how our Soul is one with the Creator. Because of this, the Creator is chained to our thoughts and actions, and we should have mercy on that level of G-dliness.

This isn't just an emotional thing.

We discussed that our actions impact the four letters of the creator's name, and have an effect on all of the spiritual avenues that we would want to use to reconnect.

However, when we have ‘mercy’, we elicit a mirror expression of mercy from the Creator. This emenates from the thirteen divine attributes of mercy, a level where there is no sin.

The lower letter Hei, which is giving us life, is not only cleared of any sin, it's able to go up, reconnect with the other three letters of the creator's name, and become part of the whole name of the Creator.

212 17 Tanya Tammuz 23 ~ m241 18 Tammuz 28

Tanya book 3, Ch 8, pt1

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=7/27/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/pOYEEPh5ZE4

Questions for today:

What does our understanding of our relationship with the Creator tell us about the impact of many seemingly small sins?

When we work to understand the impact of our actions in our relationship with the creator, there is an interesting law.

If a person is sick on Shabbos, and they have a choice; food that's not kosher, or slaughtering an animal.

The law is you do a much graver sin, slaughtering the animal on Shabbos, rather than eating bite after bite of food that's not kosher – even if the kosher concern might be a smaller prohibition.

This is because when we're talking about the relationship between us and the Creator, it doesn't matter if we're being blocked by an opaque wall - a grave sin - or by thousands of tiny semi-translucent curtains.

This is especially when we think that some of the seeming small sins, eg. ignoring a poor person/not giving them charity, or getting angry which the rabbis said we should be extremely careful about.

Similarly, the Zohar says that some seemingly small sins; having a problem putting on tefillin, not saying the Shema properly, can impact the very letters of the creator's name.

211 16 Tanya Tammuz 22 ~ m240 17 Tammuz 27

Tanya book 3, Ch 7, pt3

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=7/26/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/NVfQogkHbLU

Questions for today:

If I’m working to stare-down my body’s grip on my choices, what can I think of, to put my choices into perspective?

We learned that to loosen the body’s grip on the Soul, so that the Soul could be truly one with the Creator, we have to be tough with it.

How do we do that?

King David did it with fasting, but we learned that in our day and age that's going to weaken our ability to serve the Creator, and we shouldn't do it.

Yet sometimes the toughest beating is looking in the mirror. When we see ourselves for who we are, we lose our entire misconception of ourselves, and the soul is free to be what it could be.

This is especially when we realize that, when I do something that I love you could see my life in it. When I'm doing something that I 'have' to do, but I don't like it, it's the opposite.

The same is true with the Creator.

We have the choice to get our life and our energy directly from the source of all life - from the Creator.

Yet sometimes, we find ourselves blindly following and getting our energy from things that the Creator doesn't like.

Instead of getting our life from the source of all life - from the Creator, we're getting it from the opposite.

210 15 Tanya Tammuz 21 ~ m239 16 Tammuz 26

Tanya book 3, Ch 7, pt2

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=7/25/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/PryJV29Thzw

Questions for today:

How do we get our body and Soul back on track?

We learned yesterday that the Soul is one with the creator. Therefore, the Creator is participating in, and suffering through, every negative thing that we do.

Our job is to bring that aspect of the Creator back to its comfort zone.

How do we do this?

A person has a body and a Soul. The effort that we make with the Soul, is having mercy on it.

We do this by thinking to ourselves: the creator of heaven and earth is participating in, and suffering through, every negative thing that we do! The Creator is chained by every negative thought that we have!

The way that we loosen the grip of the body, well, sometimes a good yelling is in order.

If a person’s stomach hurts because they ate too many doughnuts, yelling is not going to help. But if they want to eat doughnuts for no good reason, a good yell might help.

So if we have a mercy on the Soul, and act tough with the body, we'll be able to bring that aspect of the Creator back to its proper place

209 14 Tanya Tammuz 20 ~ m238 15 Tammuz 25

Tanya book 3, Ch 7, pt1

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=7/24/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/vUjbI0Cj5-U

Questions for today:

If G-d is indeed always one with me, what does that mean about the Divine ‘experience’ within my distasteful acts?

Now that we understand that it's possible for a person to sin, and not sever the relationship with the Creator, let's go back to the analogy of the rope.

Regarding a person’s Soul, which is on a high level. Had it been that when we sin, it severs the relationship with the Creator, that would be a tragedy.

But when we don't sever the rope that also has its problems.

This means that if a person below is living off the 'negative' Divine energy, the soul above is as well.

The person is high enough to be representative of the Divine Presence, but low enough to imbue it with negative G-dliness.

With this possibility, we understand why the Zohar says that the word ‘teshuva’, return, means ‘returning the G-dly 'Hey' back to its original source’.

This is also why when the Talmud describes G-d returning the captives, it translates it "returning 'with' the captives". This is because when we return to live directly with G-d's inner desire, the Divine Presence which we pulled down, is returning with us.

208 13 Tanya Tammuz 19 ~ m237 14 Tammuz 24

Tanya book 3, Ch 6, pt2

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=7/23/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/1kL6Pwc43pY

Questions for today:

We now see how the Soul an actual part of the creator breathed into us, and that is what gets impacted through a sin. What about those of us living far from the standards during the time of the temple, how would a sin impact us?

Now we understand how a sin can impact the Soul’s relationship with the Creator. This is not because of how low it is through sin, but because of how high the Soul is.

The soul has been breathed directly into a person by the Creator. This is done with the formula of the four letters of creator's name.

The beginning and the very tip of the Creator’s name implies the creator's desire - and a sin goes against the creator's desire, cutting off the creative flow.

So now we also understand why after the destruction of the temple, even a capital offense won't affect the soul, because we're no longer at that level.

Look around, we see animals and trees, living perfectly without mitzvos.

We aren’t comparing a person that does a sin to an animal or vegetation, but we can learn the idea from them.

The Creator put G-dly energy into the world and we can choose.

We could use that G-dly energy and live directly off of the creator's desire. Or, we can take the energy of the Creator put into the world and use that Divine energy, specifically for negativity.

207 12 Tanya Tammuz 18 ~ m236 13 Tammuz 23

Tanya book 3, Ch 6, pt1

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=7/22/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/OQAwbVtoznY

Questions for today:

We now see how the Soul is entirely distinct from all of creation. How does this impact what can get between us and the Creator, and what can remove that block?

In this book about our return to the Creator, we're learning about what could impact our relationship with the Creator, and what could repair it.

Now that we understand that the human soul is 'breathed' into the human being, unlike the rest of the universe that's 'spoken' into existence, we could understand what could get in the way.

Because when we speak, those words could be heard behind closed doors. But when we breathe, a piece of paper can get in the way.

Our soul is like a rope - one with the Creator. What could sever this rope or get in the way?

Nothing. The Creator is everywhere.

Nothing can get in the way, except for a sin.

This is not because a sin is so strong or so big, rather, it’s based on the model of existence.

With creation emanating from the four letters of the Creator's name, the dot at the very top of the letter yud represents the creator's desire - and a sin goes against the Creator's desire, so it negates the whole origin of our existence!

However, obviously it's only negating it from our perspective. From the Creator's perspective, nothing gets in the way.

206 11 Tanya Tammuz 17 ~ m235 12 Tammuz 22

Tanya book 3, Ch 5, pt1

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=7/21/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/WIbsXblkbms 

Questions for today:

We learned that existence is a result of, and therefore a parallel to, G-d’s emanation in the world. How do we see this?

Yesterday we learned how the four-letter name of the Creator shows us how the physical world is formed. Today we see how that's exactly parallel to the human experience.

The person begins not by thinking - but with 'the capacity' to think. This is hinted to, with a tiny letter ‘Yud’.

Then you have the letter ‘Hei’ which has a linear area which implies the expansion of thinking internally. It also has depth, which implies how that thought descends to create love and fear - the ability to have an impact in the world around us.

Then you have the 'vov' and the 'hey' which imply the actual study of Torah and the observance of physical Commandments

205 10 Tanya Tammuz 16 ~ m234b 11b Tammuz 21b

Tanya book 3, Ch 4, pt4b

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=7/20/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/TOFM1mS960M

Questions for today:

How is it that our actions can impact the Divine? And what does that teach us about our potential to reconnect?

Today we expand on the concept of the unity of the soul with the Creator.

We point out that the four-letter name of the Creator which implies the formation of existence is parallel to the human experience.

The letter ‘yud’, which is tiny, implies the flash of wisdom which is the beginning of creation - and the dot on top of it, is the desire that precedes it.

Then you have the expansion and the descent of the letter 'hei', which implies the bina form of 'intellect'.

Then you have the shape and the number of the letter 'vov' which implies the six aspects of divine emotion.

And then you have the breeding technique, and the number, of the letter ‘hei’ which implies the five forms of phonetic speech.

This symbiosis between the human and the Creator teaches us how the human experience could cause a 'blemish' in the Divine.

However, we quote Elijah where he precedes all divine variability with the word 'ant', 'You'.

You the Creator are in anything. And if we could just access that through our repentance, we could supersede any blemish.

204b 9b Tanya Tammuz 15b ~ m234 11 Tammuz 21

Tanya book 3, Ch 4, pt4

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=7/20/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/ap7-xmh2Ph0

Questions for today:

If everything comes from one singular Creator, how do we distinguish between our Soul, and all of material creation?

If you see me running passionately down the street, it's not because I really want to catch the bus - I just want to get to work on time.

Although that's only because I want to earn a salary.

Although ultimately, that is all only because I want to spend pleasurable time with my family.

That distinction between “the things I'm passionately involved in”, and “what I really ultimately want inside”, helps us understand what the Tanya is teaching about the distinction between our soul, and everything else in existence.

Ultimately, everything comes from the infinite Creator. At the same time everything, including our Soul, is defined into existence by the Creator's capacity to contract and to create finite.

But here is the difference: Our Soul is G-d's ultimate desire.

Therefore even now, our Soul an actual part of the Creator.

Everything else in existence is created with a finite mission, just to ‘help’.

This distinction is absolute. However, the Tanya does mention that it is only perceivable with a supernal perception, or, when Moshiach comes, when our Soul is actually going to be called by the name of the creator.

204 9 Tanya Tammuz 15 ~ m233 10 Tammuz 20

Tanya book 3, Ch 4, pt3

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=7/19/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/z34kC1xy3fQ

Questions for today:

What is the scientific description of ‘teshuva’, return, and what are some things that we can look at to better understand it?

We are working to understand the idea of repentance, how we could negatively affect our relationship with the creator and how we could rekindle it.

The Zohar illuminates this by saying that the word teshuva has the hebrew word "toshuv", which means 'return', and then the letter "Hei" which appears two times in the Creator's name.

What we are doing is returning the letter 'Hei' to the Creator's name; the lower level 'Hei' through the mundane level of teshuva, and then we return the higher Hei with a more supernal level of teshuva.

To understand this better, they say a Jew answers every question with a question. All jokes aside, if we want to delve into something deeply in order to answer it, we dig in with questions.

So let’s ask; there are some sins they say a person could never be forgiven for, yet then it says there's nothing that stands in the way of repentance?

On a deeper level we find sins that the Torah says a person is going to die from, yet we see people doing them and living for long years?

As we delve into these questions to answer them, hopefully we'll get a great idea of the bond of a Soul with the Creator and how we could solidify this, always.

202 7 Tanya Tammuz 13 ~ m231 8 Tammuz 18

Tanya book 3, Ch 4, pt1

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=7/17/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/_eSMFbmNH-I

Questions for today:

What is an appropriate attitude, in our attempt to reconnect with the Creator, to reflect the attitude we would want the Creator to express to us?

We are discussing a relationship-repairing gift after a person does a sin.

In times of the temple this was done by bringing an offering. After the destruction, the rabbis instituted a series of fasts for every type of sin. In later years this was switched to charity.

Even though today's Tanya suggests to do one cycle of fasting for every sin with a capital offense - or similar serious sins that the Rabbis compared - for example, getting angry without purpose.

Nevertheless, because this is guidance based on an individual's health and strength, the Lubavitcher Rebbe in our generation suggests to switch it over entirely to helping other people.

Either physically with charity, or by helping people spiritually.

This still leaves us with a lot of charity we have to give! Not because of 'all the sins that we've done' and we now have to calculate all the meals, and all the fasting, and then find the value of the meals...

Rather, it’s because we're looking to the Creator and we're asking: Please act with us with kindness, judge us without a microscope. Therefore our method of giving should be without a calculator.

201 6 Tanya Tammuz 12 ~ m229 6 Tammuz 16

Tanya book 3, Ch 3, pt3

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=7/15/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/nuD58D9gvjE

Questions for today:

What impact does one part of me, or one part of the community, have on the rest?

We learned that to rebuild the relationship with the Creator after the destruction of the temple, the rabbis instituted a certain amount of fast for each sin.

This is not as a way of suffering, but rather as a makeup gift to the Creator.

What if somebody sinned multiple times? There are different opinions and these each teach us about the interconnectedness of mitzvos.

Every mitzvah is like a limb on the body and every limb has a unique function.

When we think of that unique function on its own, we would fast that number related to that mitzvah. Fast one time and that limb-mitzvah is elevated.

Separately, every limb is also a partnership made up of every part of the body. If we fast one time it has some impact. Fast a second time, that impact spreads. Then, like the Zohara says, when you fast the third time it spreads across the entire ‘partnership’.

However, we can look at the partnership differently. Every limb and every mitzvah also permeates the rest of the body. if a person sinned five times, that permeation, that energy, went five times all over.

A person would have to fast five times to elevate all of that energy from wherever it is.

199 4 Tanya Tammuz 10 ~ m227 4 Tammuz 14

Tanya book 3, Ch 2

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=7/13/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/2qRySZSV7Fk

Questions for today:

Where in the pattern of reconnecting with the Creator do we see a parallel to our origin, our birth?

We are learning about repentance, or 'returning' to the creator.

Our ability to return is an expression of the essential bond that we have with the Creator that's higher than anything good or bad that we could do.

Let's take a look at life.

Life starts with a moment of conception: the person wasn't there and now they begin.

Then you have gestation where every detail is created to perfection.

Then you have life itself: each moment is vital and you can't pause it for a second.

Now let's go back to the 'return'. We said that the core of the Teshuva, return, is the moment when a person says "I want to connect to the Creator".

Then you have concepts such as confession where you make sure that every detail on life is in line with the new person that I want to be, and nothing is getting in the way.

Then you have the expression of re-connection, the relationship, the passion.

In the time of the temple that was expressed through bringing sacrificial offerings.

The Talmud describes how after the destruction the Rabbis would fast, giving of our own flesh and blood to connect to the Creator.

Today this aspect of connecting is done through selfless acts of charity and kindness.

198 3 Tanya Tammuz 09 ~ m226 3 Tammuz 13

Tanya book 3, Ch 2

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=7/12/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/RE9gCJhbK98

Questions for today:

Why are there such stark differences in the instructions for returning to the Creator, in different Torah sources?

Yesterday we explained that the idea of repentance or, 'returning' to the Creator is fundamentally an expression of the essential bond that we have with the Creator.

With that, we can now understand the seemingly fragmented concepts on the topic.

The Talmud says that all you need to do is make a commitment for the future, but the laws on the topic say you have to confess the past.

None of the laws mention anything about fasting, but in the Torah it does.

Now we can understand it.

The core component of the returning to the Creator is just that, we return to the Creator. We say Creator, all I care about is you. I will do everything that you asked.

However, since part of that relationship is to have a clean slate and have a passionate relationship, so therefore there is a - not integral but a connected – component.

This component involves; confessing the past sins or bringing an offering in the temple. We don't have a temple now, so we can fast, or we can do acts of kindness.

197 2 Tanya Tammuz 08 ~ m225 2 Tammuz 12

Tanya book 3, Ch 1, Pt 2

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=7/11/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/rTiRbTVNKgk

Questions for today:

What does G-d’s forgiveness tell us about our relationship?

Today, we begin the third book of Tanya.

This book describes how our relationship with the Creator is such that we could never sever it.

By way of introduction. The conclusion to the Passover Haggada is a statement that God created a ‘house of ‘choice’’, the Holy Temple, that forgives all of our sins.

Because the culmination of this loving story, of how G-d took us out of slavery is that our relationship is not based on any contract, it’s a Choice. Nothing that we do will ever turn it off.

At the same time, our relationship with the Creator is very personal. Therefore, there are different ways that we express it.

If someone violates a positive commandment, the process of repairing that is quick, but we'll never have that opportunity again.

If someone violates a negative commandment - our soul is also on high. Even though we're forgiven right away, the blemish is also in the heavenly aspect of our Soul. It will take Yom Kippur, when we're on that level, to be able to fix it.

If somebody uses their G-d given ability to affect our very life force by violating a capital offence, all that will work, but there will also need to be a cleansing process.

196 1 Tanya Tammuz 07 ~ m224 1 Tammuz 11

Tanya book 3, Ch 1, Pt 1

Today, Today we begin the third book of the Tanya that explains returning to the Creator - an expression of the fact that nothing that we do can G-d forbid sever our unity with the Creator.

This is because our connection to the Creator is an essential connection.

At the same time, the relationship permeates us internally. Therefore, there are different ways to reveal it, depending on if a person violates; a positive commandment, a negative commandment, or a capital offense.

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=7/10/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/SFBTPVs8QYI

Questions for today:

Our objective in this book is to see the Creator’s unity despite the existence of a physical world. In conclusion, how can we see the Singular Creator within the farthest division of the finite world?

Today, we conclude the second book of Tanya, the book that describes how a singular, infinite Creator is one with a physical, finite world.

We conclude with a deep thought. Go ask a scientist what will happen when will we finish studying all the data that exists?

This is a ridiculous question because even though the world is inherently finite, we are never going to discover everything when we study the universe in depth!

The Tanya discusses that from one utterance of “let there be heavens,” an infinite amount of creatures were created.

There are 22 Hebrew letters. Even if you take into account all the factorial mathematics and the fact that the letters can change and switch their order, there should be some limit.

But there isn’t!

This book has been describing how by looking at the details of the physical world itself and at the infinite amount of variety that exists, we can clearly see that the world is one with the infinite Creator.

195 33 Tanya Tammuz 06 ~ m223 Tammuz 10

Tanya book 2, Ch 12, Pt 2

Today, we conclude the book regarding the Creator's unity by seeing it visibly from the variety of the world itself.

The world should inherently be limited. The fact that there is no limit to the world’s details makes it clear that the world is one with the infinite Creator.

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=7/9/2022

See today’s video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJvY_8T9_Oo&list=PLFZQPK6u-zSC7FvXJfcTF6vOd_JEAABrJ&index=33

Questions for today:

Where can we find the Oneness of the Creator even in the minutia of the detailed, created, world?

As we learn how the infinite, undivided, Creator is one with the physical, divided worlds, we go a step further today.

We learned how the Creator is one with the Divine characteristics, even as they take on physical form, and with the ten utterances, even as they create the variety of the physical experience.

Today we go farther. Even as the ten utterances subdivide to create infinite minutia by combining different letters to form unique words, they are still one with the Creator.

Think about how a word works. Each letter has its own unique, divine energy, but then unites with other letters to form productive, meaningful words.

This unity of diverse letters works because even as they are subdivided into small, physical self-identifying objects, they are humbled to, and one with, a higher, infinite Creator.

194 32 Tanya Tammuz 05 ~ m222 Tammuz 9

Tanya book 2, Ch 12, Pt 1

Today we describe G-d's unity with an even lower level of divided physicality.

Even as the ten utterances sub-divide to create infinite physical minutiae, the fact that unique letters can unite with other letters to form productive words shows a humility and unity with the Creator.

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=7/8/2022

See today’s video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1hm0Nii-W8&list=PLFZQPK6u-zSC7FvXJfcTF6vOd_JEAABrJ&index=32

Questions for today:

We learned yesterday that speech is a portal between the Creator and defined existence. How does this fit in our understanding of a world still singular after creation?

Yesterday, we mentioned that characteristics on their own can’t accomplish much. If I want to share a warm feeling, I must find the words to express it.

This concept applies to creation too. The divine characteristics did not create the world. Rather, G-d used speech, the Ten Utterances, to create all the variety that we see in the world around us.

We tend to think of speech as a creation of the mouth. However, as a defining aspect of human beings,language is actually the expression of our ‘soul’. The mouth just acts as the instrument that allows the sound to be heard.

The same thing is true with the written word. The variability that we see on paper is only an expression of the variability within our soul.

We learned regarding the Divine characteristics, that their distinctive definition, or their humble lack of a definition, depends on perspective.

We see divine characteristics as defined and distinct from one another, but they are all one from the divine perspective.

In this same way, all types of communicated ‘language’, and all of creation born out from them, are one from the divine perspective.

193 31 Tanya Tammuz 04 ~ m 221 Tammuz 8

Tanya book 2, Ch 11, Pt 2

We mentioned yesterday that characteristics on their own don't do anything; they need to be formulated into specifics.

We use words to express and formulate our feelings, G-d uses words to formulate all of creation.

Words are an expression of the soul, not of the mouth.

While we see the variety of the different forms of speech within the physical world, it’s all truly one from the truthful divine perspective.

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=7/7/2022

See today’s video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1_eXJdG6KA&list=PLFZQPK6u-zSC7FvXJfcTF6vOd_JEAABrJ&index=31

Questions for today:

What are some steps that are used for a singular Creator to bring about a divided world?

Today in a regular year cycle is the third of Tammuz, the day to commemorate the Rebbe’s life and mission, which in many ways was about showing how every individual is totally one with the Creator.

We have been speaking about how the Creator’s characteristics of kindness and strictness are totally one with the Creator. As we describe the Creator's unity within a divided world, we delve even lower into more defined, physical, aspects.

Today, we go to the next level: speech.

When we talk about creation, we talk about the ten utterances. Speech is necessary for the different attributes to manifest in action. The ‘characteristic’ of kindness can't pour somebody coffee!

We need to formulate words both practically and metaphorically.

Practically, if I love another person, I have to find words to express it for the love to come out from within my internal world.

Metaphorically, words, letters, and formulations are necessary for the Creator's desire to take shape as a physical world.

Tomorrow we will learn how these letters and words are completely one with the Creator.

192 30 Tanya Tammuz 03 ~ M220 Tammuz 7

Tanya book 2, Ch 11, Pt 1

Today is the 3rd of Tammuz, an auspicious day commemorating the Rebbe's life and mission.

As we describe the Creator's unity within a divided world, we delve even lower into more defined, physical, aspects.

We have discussed the Creator's characteristics, now we discuss speech.

For the Creator's characteristics to formulate a world, the Torah describes ten utterances- speech. For a characteristic to become an action, it needs to be formulated into words.

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=7/6/2022

See today’s video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktMZxZo8hTU&list=PLFZQPK6u-zSC7FvXJfcTF6vOd_JEAABrJ&index=29

Questions for today:

We may be aware of an Infinite, Singular, Creator. We may even realize that the limitations and definitions within the physical world remain one with the Creator. However, can we ‘see’ this, within the limited world that we live in?

We have been learning how a physical and divided world could be one with a singular, undivided Creator. Usually, we study this by looking above and beyond the limitations of the physical.

Today we're going to find this within the definitions of the physical world itself.

We learned that the first day of creation is parallel to the Creator's kindness. Divine Generosity doesn't mean giving a donation of a million or a trillion. No matter what number we use, the fact that you can ‘measure’ it implies that there has to be some limit. Without that ‘limit’, kindness can’t exist.

On the flip side, on the second day we see the divine attribute of limitation. This attribute of limitation ‘gives’ rise to all the productivity and good in the physical world.

We see that divine attributes that are opposite in nature work together in harmony to create our world.

This concept, of the attributes acting opposite their inherent properties, is a vivid testimony to the fact that even while they are defined in the physical state, they are one with the singular and undivided Creator.

191 29 Tanya Tammuz 02~ M219 Tammuz 6

Tanya book 2, Ch 10, Pt 3

We can see that the attributes that G-d uses to create our world are one with the Creator.

Kindness, the divine attribute of pure giving, can only give within measure, when paired with G-d's attribute of limitation.

In turn, divine strictness and limitation gives rise to all the productive and positive aspects of creation.

The fact that defined characteristics act in tandem with attributes that go against their nature is proof that all the attributes remain one with the singular G-d that supersedes their nature.

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=7/5/2022

See today’s video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktMZxZo8hTU&list=PLFZQPK6u-zSC7FvXJfcTF6vOd_JEAABrJ&index=29

Questions for today:

How can the world be both One, and Divided? 

Today's Tanya is a crucial lesson in our objective here.

Yesterday and several times we used the example of light, that when it's outside the source you can see it, yet when it's inside its source, it's not just invisible but it's completely humbled and undefined.

In that same sense, with the Creator's Divine ability to contract, the creator doesn't just bring about a world but creates every single property of, and gives energy to, the world.

- However that same G-dliness, when within the creator is completely humbled and undefined.

Today we learn that this isn't a distinction of within, or G-d forbid 'outside' the creator, there is no outside the creator.

The distinction is from perspective. with our limited perception where we can't see the Creator, we see the world that G-d created and all of its details.

However, from the creator's perspective where the reality is that there is no place without the creator that all of those distinctions are completely humbled and within the oneness of the Creator.

192 30 Tanya Tammuz 03~ M220 Tammuz 5

Tanya book 2, Ch 10, Pt 2

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=7/4/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/eheSPW7PVWw

Questions for today:

We left off that the Creator’s ability for limited existence to unite with the infinite is beyond our ability to grasp. However, can G-d nevertheless give us a way to glimpse this?

We left off yesterday saying that the human mind can't understand that the divine characteristics which continue to give energy and substance to the physical world are still one with the infinite Creator.

For example, the kindness employed on the first day of creation and the strictness employed on the second, to create division – both of which operate in perpetuity - are unified within the Creator.

Though it is impossible for our minds to truly grasp this, the Torah speaks in a language that we can understand; it gives us an example to help us grasp this concept.

The sages describe these divine characteristics as light.

When a person walks away from a mirror, what happens to the person? Nothing. The mirror was always merely an expression of the person. Therefore, even when the image in the mirror is gone, the person isn’t impacted whatsoever.

We can expand this example:  Does sunlight exist before it comes down from the sun as a ray? Yes! Before it is a ray, it exists as sunlight within the sun; however, its existence is one with the sun.

This isn’t a perfect example because the Creator can’t be ‘defined’ as a luminary. However, it can still help us better understand this topic.

189 28 Tanya Tammuz 01~ M217 m27 Tammuz 4

Tanya book 2, Ch 10, Pt 1

Although we mentioned that the human mind can't grasp how the infinite Creator is one with His characteristics, the Torah speaks on our level and gives us some parables to help us understand.

It may seem like before sunlight shines down, it doesn’t exist because it is not in the form of a ray.

However, this is incorrect. The sun is defined as a luminary so the sunlight exists as part of the sun even before it comes down as a ray.

Of course, this is a remote example since the Creator has no definition, but it can still help us in our understanding.

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=7/3/2022

See today’s video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PHCn42SCb0&list=PLFZQPK6u-zSC7FvXJfcTF6vOd_JEAABrJ&index=28

Today on the leap year schedule is the 3^rd of Tammuz, the day that commemorates the pinnacle of the Rebbe’s work in the physical world.

For more information, as well as customs etc. please see here: chabadmed.com/142232

Questions for today:

What are some things we can focus on to see aspects of Creation in this world?

In our journey to understand how an infinite Creator creates and is one with a physical world, we both; touch on deep topics, and we jump through leaps.

Today we will do a little bit of both.

Let’s discuss the deep ‘but relatable’ concept of contraction of G-dliness into the physical world.

There are three different types; first there is a contraction that allows for reality to exist.

Within that, you have what's called the supernal man, a contraction that gives rise to the ten variables where all physicality take shape.

Then, there is a contraction that's called ‘hair’ because like hair, no pain is felt when it is cut. This allows divinity to express itself in the world without any visibility of G-dly life.

Then we discuss a tremendous ‘leap’, an idea that's impossible to grasp with our mind, but is a logical necessity:

The idea is that these G-dly characteristics, even after they take shape and are defined in the physical world, still maintain a oneness with the infinite Creator.

188 27 Tanya Sivan 30 ~ m216 m26 Tammuz 3

Tanya book 2, Ch 9, Pt 3

Today we touch on three types of contractions that G-d uses to formulate the diverse physical reality.

We then emphasize a point that is beyond our grasp, but fundamental to our faith:

These characteristics, even with their physical definition, remain one with the infinite Creator

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=7/2/2022

See today’s video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3X8wfc3BU&list=PLFZQPK6u-zSC7FvXJfcTF6vOd_JEAABrJ&index=27