M020 016 Teves 4 ~ Teves 8
Questions for today:
“good” and “bad” are easy; we’re told exactly what to do with them. Money, wine, nuclear energy expect something from us. Are they good? Are they bad? The answer is in the toughest place: the mirror.
Today’s Tanya Thought:
We've spoken about things that are completely good, such as the human soul which is an actual part of G-d. We spoke about things that are completely bad and no matter how much you want to use them as a vehicle get closer to G-d it's impossible.
Today we discuss ‘Noga’, which is in the middle. It has a little bit of bad and can be used entirely for bad. It has a little bit of good, and could be used entirely for good.
Most importantly, it's a conduit that we can use to go from one to the other.
This entity, “Klipas Noga”, is in the middle, not just because it has a little bit of both, but also because of the intensity of either.
Take a glass of wine. It has in it the potential for ‘bad’ but not so intense that it would veto the possibility of being used for good. It has inside of it the potential for ‘good’ but not so intense so as to veto the possibility being used for bad.
If so, which one is it?
That depends are the most dynamic of all of G-d's creation – you - and the way that you use it.
Study today’s Tanya in full:
https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=12/12/2021
See today’s video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg-gZPNjyv8&list=PLFZQPK6u-zSBls9Hwx3P5vKI_BRnjBvHe&index=16
Additional thoughts:
We are using the Term “Klipa” to describe a non-positive G-dly creative source, as well as the resulting non-positive Creations that result.
This word literally means “peel” or, “shell”.
Think of the peel of a fruit, or the shell of an egg. We remove it and throw it out. We don’t eat it.
However, it despite being non-edible, it is important for the actual fruit.
In this same way, the non-G-d-positive elements that we are describing, whether the natural ones we are learning about today, or the negative ones we learned about yesterday, are all created as an important aspect of the world that G-d intended.
This understanding of all worldly material leads to two important types of work that are constantly necessary; “separation” and, “elevation”.
Considering that all of the potential for good and bad are completely blended as one, this job is not easy.
We need to first differentiate eg. between the taste of meat or wine, that we are experiencing for pleasure, and distinguish that from the energy or impact that it can make on us.
It is then up to us to use the good for the potential that it has, to make the world a better place.