044 Tanya Shvat 3 ~ m49b Shvat 10b
Questions for today:
How does putting aside myself, impact my wellbeing?
There is a statement in the Zohar that says that strength of the body weakens the soul, and strengthen of the soul weakens the body.
This seems to run contrary to everything we learned, about how the Torah tells us to take care of our body?
In fact, there is a strong statement of the Magid of Mezritch that says, “a small hole in the body is a big hole in the soul”.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains, that when we speak about ‘strength of the body’, we don't mean the person is eating their Wheaties. On the contrary, it means that the body is ‘strong’ in doing whatever it wants.
The body is eating terrible food, sitting on the couch, and that is why the person is physically weak - and also spiritually weak.
This concept that we see in the world around us, helps us to understand today's Tanya.
Today’s Tanya discusses yesterday's Tanya, where it describes a person who is completely humble, and cleaves only to the Creator. The Tanya tells us that not only will the person be connected to spirituality and to goodness - but also to life.
By contrast, if a person is trapped and enslaved to their body, not only will they be distant from spirituality and from goodness - but from life itself.
Tanya book 1, ch19 pt 2
Our connection to the Creator, connects us to life.
We can see this in the health visible in someone who's soul is in control, vs someone who is a slave to their body.
Study today’s Tanya in full: https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=1/12/2022
See today’s video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQL7-Xu11rQ&list=PLFZQPK6u-zSBls9Hwx3P5vKI_BRnjBvHe&index=44