Daily "Chitas" Tanya

Questions for today:

Of all of life’s questions, today’s runs deepest. If an all-powerful, all-capable – and deeply loving Creator fashions existence into reality from pure untainted Divine imagery, where does pain come from? Why do we suffer?

Please see a link below to a talk from the Rebbe, “the question remains”

Today's Tanya is a paramount perspective for life's challenges.

This lesson is not a response to suffering.

The response to suffering is a hug, and we pray that everything from the creator is only clearly revealed good.

However, this perspective, when practiced every day, can hopefully help us be a bit like Reb Zusha.

Reb Zusha lived in dire poverty. Someone once came to him to learn how to thank the Creator even while suffering. He told him, "Please ask someone who's suffered, I’ve never suffered"!

This perspective is not like a child who appreciates schlepping luggage to a camping trip, or waiting on line in amusement park – a small stress for a larger benefit.

This is the perspective of someone you can take with you on a grueling mountain climb, because every moment, every difficult step, is appreciated as a cherished experience - time with you.

This isn't a solution - this is the creator's quintessential desire in creation: That we should see every part of life as a manifestation of G-d's innermost desire, and that every single part of life is a precious moment together.

Talk of the Rebbe: the questions remain: https://videos.jem.tv/video-player?clip=2547&produced=400

254 34 Tanya Chitas Elul 6 ~ m274 28 Elul 4

Tanya book 4, Essay 11, pt1

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=8/31/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/gAXIpEfdVY4

Questions for today:

We learned of a heartfelt humility that connects us to the Creator – infinitely. What physical tool is there for us to bring that immeasurable influx into our material reality?

We learned yesterday that when a person repents their humility opens up a spigot to the creator's true infinite kindness, and we can access every opportunity in the Torah in an instant. 

What action can we do to bring that access from heartfelt inspiration, into the physical world?

- Physical acts of charity. 

There are different levels of the Creator that relate to the world. Eg. we say, “the Creator created the world for glory”. In this context, we are referring to a level of the Creator where the glory of the world is relevant.

We also say that “the Creator created the world out of kindness”. In this context, we are discussing a level of G-dliness, where the world is completely irrelevant. 

How do we access that level of G-dliness? 

When we give charity, we are obviously not giving it for any personal benefit. However, there is a higher level. This is where we give without even looking at the level of the recipient at all.

We don’t check if they work or their life style. We give to “somebody who has nothing”. 

This act enables us to draw down the generosity of the Creator that's truly above any measurement in the world.

254 32 Tanya Chitas Elul 4 ~ m272 26 Elul 2

Tanya book 4, Essay 10, pt2 

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=8/29/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/DGph9Ko_eik

Questions for today:

We learned of the fantastic opportunity to access Infinite Divinity through the Torah. How Infinite is this? What availability is there for those that missed out?

In this letter, we are learning a lesson from Lamentations about G-d's Infinite Kindness. 

We learned that the Torah is; on the one hand an unrestrained kindness from the Creator while on the other hand, the Torah is given to us in measurable ways through the various opportunities of the Torah and Mitzvos.

This is great for when we observed those opportunities and got the full package. 

What about when we missed out? 

Here is where the Creator's Infinite Kindness comes in.

The Talmud tells us that a person that repents could 'acquire' their entire world in an instant. 

Repentance seems to be about 'removing' blemishes, where does the term 'acquire' come in?

When a person repents, they're not connecting to the Creator by expressing their personal capabilities. They are humbly walking away from where they were. 

In the first book of the Tanya we learned that the best way to absorb G-dliness is through humility.

A person who is repenting is accessing the infinite divine kindness and can now access all of those opportunities in an instant - In fact, in a way that a righteous person can't hold a candle to… .

251 31 Tanya Chitas Elul 3 ~ m272b 25b Elul 1b

Tanya book 4, Essay 10, pt3 

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=8/28/2022

See today’s video: 

https://youtu.be/huzkUpsFL44

Questions for today:

How has the limitation caused by our distance from the spiritual beauty of the Holy Temple given us a stronger connection to the Creator?

We are discussing a worldview based on the idea that everything in the world is an undeserved kindness from the Creator, and everything that we do is humbly reciprocal, out of appreciation.

We are therefore constantly thinking what we can do for others, [and caring for family comes first].

Historically, the core touch point between us and the Creator was the study of Torah, but that changed for two reasons;

Firstly, through exile divinity was lowered into a much more physical realm. Because of this, our method to connect to the Creator is mainly through physical acts of charity.

Secondly, this caused a positive change. One of the core goals and outcomes of all of our work is "Ayin be'Ayin", to see the Creator ‘Eye to Eye’.

Our goal is for the physical eye to see what our soul always perceived. This is remarkable because our physical eyesight is much more concrete than our spiritual perception.

Therefore, the result of our physical acts of charity - which is a perception of the Creator in the physical world - will have a tremendous benefit for the entire world.

248 28 Tanya Chitas Menachem Av 30 ~ m270 23 Menachem Av 29

Tanya book 4, Essay 9, pt2

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=8/26/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/EEeSW8wMdkI

Questions for today:

How can our understanding of a truly singular Creator help our overall persona; our loyalty and love?

When we think of a great person, a loving husband and devoted father, we tend to think of their loyalties as being “family before anything”. 

However, we have to be careful how we structure this.

If the reason why I support my family is because “I” love my family, what would happen if my family gets in the way of something else that I love? What if something else that I love that gets in the way of my family?

A fundamental aspect of the Jewish faith is that, even though we close our eyes when we say the shema, declaring that G-d is One, we're not excluding anything else.

On the contrary, the Oneness of the creator includes everything; our work, our entertainment, our love - and G-d says ‘family comes first’.

With this approach, our core faith, our beliefs, our loyalties, and our generosity to others are all seamless.

247 27 Tanya Chitas Menachem Av 29 ~ m269 22 Menachem Av 28

Tanya book 4, Essay 9, pt1 

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=8/25/2022

See today’s video: 

https://youtu.be/1-DwzuqsL9E 

Questions for today:

We asked earlier, how can our actions possibly result in a deep, intimate connection between us and the Creator?

We asked yesterday how it's possible that the charity that we give elicits a relationship with the Creator - as though the Creator is inhaling, and we're inside ‘one with the Creator’?

Here is where the analogy of planting comes in.

Where does an enormous tree come from? Where does a field with millions of stalks of grain come from?

It's not the seed that's inflating or earning interest. The seed doesn't have the power to create an enormous tree. It's the nutrition inside the mineral - it's the blessing that the Creator gave “Let the earth sprout forth” that makes the tree.

It's just that that blessing is hidden, and also, it's very broad.

The seed reveals G-d’s blessing and also punches in a code for a specific plant .

Similarly, when we give charity the blessing we're getting is the Creator's blessing, it's not our charity that earned interest.

It's just that with our mitzvah, we're ‘punching in a code’

245 25 Tanya Chitas Menachem Av 27 ~ m268c 21c Menachem Av 27c

Tanya book 4, Essay 8, pt3

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=8/24/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/o-N-6LlGAao

Questions for today:

We are continuing our understanding of the ‘yield’ from our effort. How can we understand on the one hand the importance of our participation, yet on the other hand the vast incomparable revenue?

We are discussing a revelation from the creator which is coming from a great level of kindness. If that’s the case, why do I have to do my part, giving charity?

When the creator creates this world, it's not just Created with kindness. Another foundational attribute necessary is ‘strictness’ which limits G-d's infinity so that we could exist.

Because of this, if I want to get from the creator's kindness I have to do something to elicit this specifically, measure for measure.

When we say ‘measure for measure’ we're usually referring to two things on the same plane.

However, when we pray the connection to the Creator is as though the Creator stops ‘exhaling’ us as separate beings, and inhales - we're one with the creator!

What can we possibly do that will be able to elicit that gift/connection?

244 24 Tanya Chitas Menachem Av 26 ~ m268b 21b Menachem Av 27b

Tanya book 4, Essay 8, pt2 

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=8/24/2022

See today’s video:

 https://youtu.be/EpoODOQe6YY 

Questions for today:

The Creator set up this world where everything is tied to our work. Yet, where can we find a reward for our work which is nevertheless a true kindness?

We are again going to learn about charity, this time from a prayer that compares it to the abundant yield from planting - where the Divine revelation that results is a huge ‘kindness’ from the creator.

Let’s examine the revelation we get from the Creator, typically when we pray. Now, everything we get in life is from the Creator, so why is this concept, revelation, uniquely called kindness?

What is kindness?

If I pay somebody money that I owe, that's not kindness. 

Even if I give a poor person food - or even if I give a wealthy person down on their luck a mansion because they are ‘lacking’ the standard they are accustomed to, I have a Torah/social responsibility to sustain them, so it's not uniquely classified as ‘kindness’.

Imagine a person walking into a museum and staring at a beautiful painting for an hour. The first five minutes, they're taking in the details.

The next fifty-five minutes they're being drawn in by something out of this world.

When the Creator reveals Himself to us during prayer the revelations is kind of like that. It's not only something beyond anything we earned, it's above and beyond any expectation.

243 23 Tanya Chitas Menachem Av 25 ~ m268 21 Menachem Av 27

Tanya book 4, Essay 8, pt1 

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=8/24/2022

See today’s video:

 https://youtu.be/Ama3H3AhoDY

Questions for today:

We asked how we can speak about a ‘portion’ of the Creator, and why something described as a portion can also be described as a lottery. Most importantly, how do I feel and connect to this?

We learned that we are all part of a collective human soul whose specifics – the individual souls - parallel the 613 aspects of the creator's desire. Now, we can understand what it means a ‘portion’ of the Creator.

Even though individually we're all obligated to complete ourselves by fulfilling all 613 commandments, there will be one – the mitzvah whose detail we embody - that we're more particularly in tune with.

The mishnah says "Mai havo zohir tfei?" what was your father more particular about? Or, another way to translate it, which specific mitzvah made your father shine?

How do we each find which mitzvah we embody?

There might be one thing that really inspires us. Or, the opposite - there might be something that we find uniquely difficult, because that commandment is our core mission and goal.

This portion is called a ‘lottery’.

This is because when you have something that's given out, not because of a skill or a measurement, but from deep within the Creator's desire - above and beyond any logic, we call that a lottery.

242 22 Tanya Chitas Menachem Av 24 ~ m267 20 Menachem Av 26

Tanya book 4, Essay 7, pt4

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=8/23/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/T0WdyEwACcs 

Questions for today:

How do we use the term ‘portion’ with regards to our spiritual Soul?

We mentioned how the structure and the design of the universe is framed around G-d's desire to have a relationship with a human being that has 613 parts and infinite detail.

This is seen in the name of mankind, "Adam" - adameh loelyon – a reflection of the above.

The human is patterned off of the Torah and the Divine structure within it.

The same way we see this on an individual level, we see it on a global level.

Adam the first human being and Jacob our forefather had collective souls. Their Souls contained the Souls of every human being that would be born afterwards and were in the image of the Torah that our collective Soul represents.

The same way each individual Soul has 613 parts with infinite detail, each of us now represents one of those 613 parts or tiny details of their original collective souls.

241 21 Tanya Chitas Menachem Av 23 ~ m266 19 Menachem Av 25

Tanya book 4, Essay 7, pt3

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=8/22/2022

See today’s video:

 https://youtu.be/6KzpqnbiKJ8

Questions for today:

If everything physical is measured by its limits, how can it have true value? How can something measured by number or on a scale be appreciated on a level that is immeasurable?

We're discussing how we can have a 'portion' of an 'infinite' Creator.

We spoke how the creator is "hakadosh" “Baruch Hu” – both in every detail of the world, but also aloof, so we can't grab on to any detail.

But there is variability in the world with importance. In fact, more so than anything else.

If I want a hundred of something that ‘has value’, then each of those things will have some value - if I get 99 of them, that's great.

But if I want a hundred of something that has ‘no intrinsic value’, eg. I want a hundred toothpicks on display, if I get 99 I didn’t get what I want, and I have nothing.

The variability in this world came because the creator has a desire for a human being made up of 613 parts. Around that are 613 commandments with infinite detail in the torah.

Their value is only because "the Creator wanted it".

Because of this, every detail shares a core intrinsic critical value.

240 20 Tanya Chitas Menachem Av 22 ~ m265 18 Menachem Av 24

Tanya book 4, Essay 7, pt2

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=8/21/2022

See today’s video:

 https://youtu.be/JAot62lxy0s

Questions for today:

A relationship demands a bridge, a connection. How do we connect to the Creator?

There's a beautiful prayer, and King David also mentions in psalms, that seems to imply two opposites. The Creator is our 'portion' - so 'measured' for us - and also our 'lottery' - entirely luck.

To understand these two but more importantly what do we even mean a 'portion' of the Creator?

In order to explain, let's do some mental calisthenics.

We're used to things being either one of two opposites; either two plus two equals four - it's simple, I can grasp it. Or, something is above my head because it's too deep.

However, the Creator is both: the name of the Creator, "Hakadosh", "Boruch Hu" means both; The Creator is drawn down into every specificity of existence while at the same time the creator is completely aloof.

On the one hand, it’s true that the very essence of the Creator is everywhere. However, in order for me to live a measured intellectual life I don't get to see even a ‘ray’ of even the ‘name - which is normally an external part of something - of the Creator,

I just get spoon-fed tiny measured condensed aspects of this existence.

239 19 Tanya Chitas Menachem Av 21 ~ m264 17 Menachem Av 23

Tanya book 4, Essay 7, pt1

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=8/20/2022

See today’s video:

 https://youtu.be/MtCKMMhnizs

Qesions for today:

What can we learn about the impact of our mitzvos in the physical world from the ultimate measure of all - truth? pt1

One way to try to understand something properly is to look at the result or the reward of the thing we are trying to understand. 

The Torah says that when you 'plant' charity, you're going to be guaranteed or blessed with 'truth'  

What's the connection? 

The Torah says that G-d will 'give' Jacob truth. Does Jacob not have truth that he needs it as a gift?

Truth is not the absence of falsehood. Truth is when every tiny detail is in line with the essence. 

Ask a genius to think of something. Then, have them spell it out in words. Next, take one letter of that lesson and compare that to the scholar as a whole. 

Way beyond that ratio is the distance between the Essence of the Creator compared to the specificity of a person in time and space.

Abraham's job was to take the greatness of the Creator - with kindness - irrespective of the recipient.

Isaac's role involved strictness - all about, and therefore judging, the specificity of the recipient.

Jacob's role combines both. To take the greatness and the essence of the Creator as it were, down to the specificity of each person, even if their entire temptation and persona is completely distant from the Creator. 

237 17 Tanya Chitas Menachem Av 19 ~ m262 15 Menachem Av 21

Tanya book 4, Essay 6, pt1 

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=8/18/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/8O9FkQ4Kffg 

Questions for today:

How does the distinction between infinite spiritual worlds, and finite physical worlds, teach me about the impact of my influence on the world around me?

This concept that we've been discussing, regarding supernal and physical worlds, also applies to Souls.

In existence, supernal worlds reflect the inner 'soulful' origins of speech, and the physical world is an expression of the actual 'substance' - the breath, the words, of speech

In people we have a similar distinction.

You have people that are academic; they're nice, they give, they're kind - but it's academic, they help people ‘understand’ things.

And then there are people that are ‘impactful’; they give physical charity.

Because the Creator's desire for creating the world was to have a 'physical impact' it's that ‘physical charity’ that elicits from the Creator a desire to condense Himself to make a physical world.

This is why one of the descriptions of charity is 'maaseh hatzedaka' the construction, the creation, through tzedaka.

When King David gave charity he 'made' the Creator's name. Of course there was a Creator's name before, but he brought it into the physical world so you can see it and touch it.

236 16 Tanya Chitas Menachem Av 18 ~ m261 14 Menachem Av 20

Tanya book 4, Essay 5, pt6

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=8/17/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/LBPR6FaYOW4

Questions for today:

What compels an unordinary attention to the tiniest detail?

We are learning of the impact of our action.

We discussed how this physical world is formulated through speech, which is expressed by the letter ‘Hey’ in the Creator's name.

Now think of a true genius and imagine their capacity to think. Now, boil that vast capacity down into one idea. Now, ask them to express that as a single letter.

It's an enormous challenge, something we only do for something very cherished and for a compelling reason.

The creation is described as 'be’hi’baram' - with the letter 'Hey' G-d created the world.

One letter.

Jumble the letters of behibaram and you have 'Abraham' who was known for his kindness.

This is because of the tremendous kindness necessary for the Creator to condense Himself into creating this entire world through one letter.

The original creation was unsolicited however, ever since then it is us who elicit that kindness for G-d to create the world.

We do this through our acts of kindness

234 15 Tanya Menachem Av 17 ~ m260 13 Menachem Av 19

Tanya book 4, Essay 5, pt5

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=8/16/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/BS1TG2jt_FQ  

Questions for today:

In our pursuit of understanding how the world emanates from the Creator’s name, how would the infinite, and finite, come into being?

We are explaining how this physical world is formulated by the expansive letter Hey of the Creator's name, similar to the way speech expresses what's hidden inside.

But wouldn't the supernal worlds also have that type of speech-expressiveness?

There's a lesson in the talmud that takes two seemingly contradictory verses; one which says that there are 'infinite' worlds, and one says there are 'thousands'.

The Talmud explains that there are infinite levels, in each level there are thousands of worlds.

How does that fit with the rule that you can't have an infinite number of finite things? [if you would double an infinite measurement you can't have 'two infinite'. Similarly, you can’t have an infinite of ones or twos]

However, speech is both; an expression from the soul, and substantive words.

The supernal worlds are expressions of the 'soulful' aspect of speech and they can be infinite. This physical world is an expression of the 'substantive' aspects of speech.

This is similar to how in kohelet it uses the word 'hevel' which is normally understood as 'nothingness' but it also means 'breath' of speech.

234 14 Tanya Menachem Av 16 ~ m259 11 Menachem Av 17

Tanya book 4, Essay 5, pt4

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=8/14/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/EnatNaH113A

Questions for today:

We learned about the power of our actions as they relate to the Creator’s eminence in this world. What can we learn about the worlds Creative process that can help us undersand the impact of our actions?

The Torah says: “King David ‘made’ a name”.

Some commentators explain that he made a name for himself, or for the Jewish people.

However the Zohar teaches that it’s connected to the verse that says that King David was doing charity and through that he ‘made the Creator's name’.

Sounds incredible.

Let’s begin to understand what this means.

The Torah teaches us that the creator's name, with the letters ‘Yud’ and ‘Hey’, created; the world to come, and this world, respectively.

If you show a child two apples and two apples, they connect to that. They don't understand the intellect of two plus two equals four.

That difference is similar to what we just learned.

The little letter Yud represents a level of G-dliness we're going to see in the world to come that's beyond our grasp in this world, created by the expanded letter Hey.

Let’s expand this example, to understand deeper.

When you teach a little child how to speak, you don't tell them how to shape their mouth. That specificity comes from their soul.

Similarly, the variability in this world is from the letter Hey, the expansion that's comes from inside, from the Creator.

231 11 Tanya Menachem Av 13 ~ m257 09 Menachem Av 15

Tanya book 4, Essay 5, pt1

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=8/12/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/NAr5D6mqFNU

Questions for today:

We learned of a fabulous gift from the Creator, the ability to access and reset our deepest inner misdirection. Since everything from the Creator is tied to our input, what in out toolbox can elicit that gift?

We mentioned yesterday that the ability to get rid of any self-serving or divisive perspective from our ‘urge’, from our life force, is a gift from above.

The gifts we get from the Creator are typically a mirror of our work - what could we do that would elicit that gift from the Creator?

There is only one commandment that fits the bill: Charity.

As mundane as money is, we could use it to buy everything that we need, or want in life.

In fact, if a person is living off of their work day by day, it's possible that a few times in the year they put their entire life force into the money that they bring home.

If that’s the case, then when we take our money and put it into G-d's bank account - by giving it to someone else for charity - we're showing that our entire life is one with the creator.

230 10 Tanya Menachem Av 12 ~ m256 08 Menachem Av 14

Tanya book 4, Essay 4, pt4

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=8/11/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtube.com/shorts/3NGiiMXJC1A

Questions for today:

I feel like I know myself, but is there more? Am I truly the sum total of the ideas, dreams and emotions that course through my consciousness?

King David teaches that charity is the key to the redemption. In order to understand this, we're going to spend a few days to understand the inner workings of a person, and which part could be ‘captured’.

Tragically there are so many people that attempted suicide off of the golden gate bridge that there's a whole group of people that survived. When they met they found that nineteen of them had an identical thought.

As soon as their feet left the surface they all thought, nobody is going to know that I really wanted to live.

How could that be? they just worked so hard to do the opposite!

However, just like in the temple there is an inner altar and an outer altar, there is also an inner consciousness and an outer consciousness within each person.

The love, the happiness, that we get because of our contemplation, our thoughts, are not our ‘self’, that love isn't who we are.

There is an entirely different level of consciousness which on the one hand, we all share equally no matter how we think or how much we work, but on the flip side we only access it rarely.

This is a love that is an expression of who we are - the fact that our soul is one with the creator.

227 07 Tanya Menachem Av 9 ~ m255 07 Menachem Av 13

Tanya book 4, Essay 4, pt1

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=8/10/2022

See today’s video:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/i5Jp029W82o

Questions for today:

What is it about mitzvos that are not ‘rewarded’ with salvation, but actually ‘cause’ salvation?

We're discussing charity in the context of protection, so let's understand what this means.

The Hebrew word for salvation, is “y’shua”. We find this word used in the context of the Creator 'turning towards' Hevel, Abel, and his sacrifice: "vayesha... el hevel v'el minchaso".

When I give you something, I'm giving you a 'thing', not 'me'. But if you call my name and I turn towards you, you're getting all of me.

How do we get this from the Creator?

The Creator made the world by ‘condensing’ G-dliness into tiny limited physical measurements.

When we, in this limited physical world, do a mitzvah - which is the Creator's ‘infinite’ desire - we're evoking the Creator's infinite desire to unite with us.

In essence the Creator is 'turning towards us'.

The Creator ‘turning toward us’ is the underlying mechanism of salvation.

226 06 Tanya Menachem Av 8 ~ m254 06 Menachem Av 12

Tanya book 4, Essay 3, pt2

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=8/9/2022

See today’s video:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/PwK5tLq0FBM

Questions for today:

We can only tolerate a certain amount of anything - even Divine blessing. Is there a way to overcome this limit? 

The Torah compares charity to an armor, with every coin acting like a metal tile protecting us from harm. 

This analogy isn't semantic. It's a very specific illustration of clothing in relation to our need for protection. 

When we compare food to clothing in their Divine parallel, food represents G-dliness that's small enough to come 'into our body' and give sustenance to every part 'specifically'. 

Clothing represents G-dliness that's too high to be regulated within us. However, because of this, it has the extra benefit to protect us from cold or from harm. 

This is similar to the contrast between Torah, that we can understand personally and individually, versus commandments, which are G-d's desire, and much higher than our understanding.

However, what happens when the commandment gives us internal physical sustenance? E.g. charity and kindness which give us long life and wealth. 

Wouldn't getting a blessing from a level above our understanding be like getting antibiotics without a pharmacist? 

This concern is alleviated by the term the Torah uses regarding charity giving's effect: "abundant measure", a term that contains both extremes. 

G-d is great enough to give us infinite blessing, in the correct dose.

224 05 Tanya Menachem Av 7 ~ m253 05 Menachem Av 11

Tanya book 4, Essay 3 pt 1 

Study today’s Tanya in full:

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

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/_HqBqYFrQZM 

Questions for today:

How do blessings impact me, and what does that say about who and what I am?

When something good happens to me, do I become more proud, or more humble?

This isn't a question about reaction - it's a defining question of who and what I am.

When Haman was asked who to honor he immediately thought about himself. Contrast that with our forefather Jacob who when he had all the blessings given to him in life, he said "I became small".

This is because if life is all about myself, the more that I get the bigger I am, the greater I am.

However, if I live my life appreciative - thankful to the Creator for giving me everything, and thinking what can I do to make an impact? what am I here for? In that case, the more that I'm given the more humbled and appreciative I am.

224 04 Tanya Menachem Av 6 ~ m252 04 Menachem Av 10

Tanya book 4, Essay 2, pt1

Study today’s Tanya in full:

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

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/f0CfQde0PS8

Questions for today:

In our pursuit of this direct, intimate, connection with the Creator, where will we find the most direct line?

After learning about the power of Torah study, and especially the bond of deep emotional prayer, today’s Tanya seems pretty straightforward.

During the week services should be led by somebody that's not rushing off to work. On Shabbos services should be led by somebody that during the week is a laborer, and now they have more time.

There seems to be a deep lesson here, because we say that these ordinary laborers on Shabbat, their prayer is ‘beyeser se’eis, ubeyeser oz, stronger, more powerful, than the scholars.

This is similar to the way the tribe that were merchants, that were supporting Torah scholars. They're called “Zevulun”, for the “Beis Zvul”, the permanent home of the Creator.

This is interesting. Shouldn't it be the scholars themselves that have that name?

However, the goal is not a scholarly experience. It’s not even a spiritual experience.

The goal is a divine connection.

Specifically, when we have somebody whose nature, whose pursuit is not spiritual, when they have a moment, and they take that to delve into Torah study in prayer, they show the depth and the permanence of our relationship with the Creator.

223 03 Tanya Menachem Av 5 ~ m251 03 Menachem Av 9

Tanya book 4, Essay 1, pt3

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=8/6/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/sGwjd4Qn608

Questions for today:

If our faith in fact describes a relationship and connection that supersedes logical awareness, what are the tools to express that connection?

We mentioned yesterday that "far from being weaker than intellect, faith is the foundation that our relationship to the Creator is based on.

If I'm in a room, and there's a table there, I don't need proof of the table. It's only if I don't see something, then I need proof.

What tool supersedes intellect, yet we can use to achieve the clarity of our relationship with the Creator?

When we think of the attributes of a person; thought, speech, and action, they are different ways of relating to the world outside of us.

Each of them is a bit more of an internal experience than the other.

Action is something totally outside of us. Thought is inside - but it's about something outside of me. If you and I are 'thinking' of a glass of water, we are thinking the same thing.

Desire is totally internal. My 'desire' for a glass of water is mine. It's not the same as your desire even if you are hoping for the same glass of water.

The Creator's laws of the Torah are the Creator's internal desire and they act as the  bridge between us and the creator.

On the one hand they are completely the Creator. On the other hand, they are given personally, compellingly, to us.

So the Torah is the relationship between us and the creator.

We express this relationship through deep emotional prayer.

222 02 Tanya Menachem Av 4 ~ m250 02 Menachem Av 8

Tanya book 4, Essay 1, pt2

Study today’s Tanya in full:

https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=8/5/2022

See today’s video:

https://youtu.be/XUqesA4ecSM