060 Tanya Shvat 19 ~ m069 Shvat 30
Questions for today:
Practically speaking, I don’t see myself being an actual martyr. How does my Jewish nature – willing to die for the Creator – inspire my life?
We've been discussing how over thousands of years Jews were willing to sacrifice their lives by the sword, be burned at the stake, rather than separate themselves from the Creator - even for a minute.
We are discussing how this meditation helps us to overcome any urge to do something wrong, or to stop from connecting to the Creator by doing something good.
This will help us to understand the quintessential Jewish prayer. Moses tells the Jews “Shema Yisrael, HaShem Elokeinu, HaShem Echad”: remember that G-d is One.
The sages included that in the prayer day and night, so that we should constantly remember and be ready to sacrifice ourselves for G-d.
However, that message was to the Jews heading into Israel - and this is what life is like in Israel [This video was taken on a bustling Ben Yehuda Street] we are proud Jews, we're not afraid of anybody. Why do we need to remember, in good times, to sacrifice our life, who is attacking us?
Now we know the importance. Sacrificing ourselves for G-d is not about standing up to people who are attacking us. It's a way that we remember our inherent connection to the Creator, and overcome our own challenges.
Tanya book 1, ch25 pt 5
We conclude the theme of meditating on self-sacrifice to overcome our personal challenges.
We then use this to explain the quintessential Jewish prayer, Shema Yisrael, and why we meditate on it, and the self-sacrifice that it represents every day.
This is because the meditation is not about overcoming enemies outside, but rather our own personal challenges.
Study today’s Tanya in full:
https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=2/1/2022
See today’s video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScNsPJ4-DXM&list=PLFZQPK6u-zSBls9Hwx3P5vKI_BRnjBvHe&index=61