M021 017 Teves 5 ~ Teves 9
Questions for today:
Are the bad things that I’ve done a waste of that part of my life?
Today's Tanya touches on something that's at the forefront of current mental health.
The gist of the Tanya discusses what if we did something that we described as negative in the previous chapters.
If a person took something intermediate* and used it for bad, since it was permitted then, now we could turn around after the fact and use that energy for good.
What about the no-nos? We said they can't be used for good?
Today's mental health teaches that if a person is a true alcoholic how do you fix it? You take away the safety net. You don't call the boss and say they can't make it to work, you let them get fired.
Why? The Tanya explaines why the Talmud says that with repentance our “sins become merits”. This is because when a person is running ‘towards good’ they're not just running ‘a little slower’ than they're capable, it's a different ‘type’ of running than what they are able to do when they ‘run away from danger’.
Since it was hitting rock bottom, or it was the travesty of the sin, that gives a person that ability to run ‘that type of running’ therefore the the sin is a partner in the running and it becomes a merit.
Study today’s Tanya in full:
https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=12/13/2021
See today’s video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzaIhwbBqQ8&list=PLFZQPK6u-zSBls9Hwx3P5vKI_BRnjBvHe&index=17
*As described yesterday, the ‘intermediate’ level is “klipas noga”.
This is where good and bad are seamlessly blended in a thing or action that is ‘permitted’, but not commanded.
It is our actions which either define and elevate the good, or bring out and drag down the bad, in that thing or action.