Questions for today:
If our journey is to discover a love for the Creator, we need to look beyond the goal that can be described as “I love”.
A fish overhears a fisherman say that the king loves fish. It gets excited and starts to envision living in a luxurious fish tank in the palace. Instead, he ends up in the kitchen, with a knife over his head.
The fish yells out, “the king doesn't love fish, he loves himself!
We have been discussing many processes that can help us develop a love for the Creator. None of them are as extreme as the king eating the fish, but they still focus on ourselves.
We described thinking about our connection to the Creator, the way the Creator creates our world, and how much He loves us.
Love stemming from these processes can be compared to water that drips down from the Creator to us to enjoy.
However, there is another form of love where the focus is on G-d, not on us.
Our souls are like fire. Yes, anchored to a body as the fire is to a wick or to a pile of wood. However, trying to burst out to surpass its boundaries. The Soul, like the fire, just wants to leave the wick and the wood in order to connect to and love the Creator.
151 Tanya Iyar 21 ~ m180 Iyar 22
Tanya book 1, ch 50, Pt 1
All of the systems for love of the Creator that we've discussed have one thing in common - they are anchored to, and based on, us.
If those types of love can be compared to water, coming down from the Creator and benefiting us, today we speak of an entirely different type of love compared to fire.
This love is not based on how much the Creator gives us, but rather how great the Creator is, alone.
With this, we feel like a flame - wanting to leave the wick behind and become one with the Creator.
Study today’s Tanya in full:
https://www.chabadmed.com/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tdate=5/23/2022
See today’s video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwibWxJRrXo&list=PLFZQPK6u-zSBls9Hwx3P5vKIBRnjBvHe&index=148