Yud-Tes Kislev: The Meaning of the Holiday, the Story of the Liberation, and a Practical Guide to Studying Tanya

00:00 Everyone knows that 19 Kislev is the Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus. But why is it the Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus? As is well known, it is the day the Alter Rebbe was released from imprisonment in 5559. It is also known that 19 Kislev is the yahrzeit, the day of the passing of the Alter Rebbe’s teacher and Rebbe, the Maggid of Mezritch, who passed away on 19 Kislev 5533. But another very significant event on 19 Kislev has to do with the Tanya. The Alter Rebbe sent the Tanya to be printed in Elul 5556. When he did so, he urged the people he had appointed—the shluchim he had sent to oversee the printing in the town of Slavita, where he had chosen to print the first edition—to have the Tanya ready on the yahrzeit of his great and holy teacher, 19 Kislev 5557. The shluchim worked and pressed and did everything they could, but in fact the first volume, the first copy to come off the press, came out on 28 Kislev. As the Frierdiker Rebbe related in his writings, when the shluchim arrived with the printed copy of the Tanya during Chanukah, they told the Alter Rebbe that, despite all their efforts, they had not managed to have it ready on the 19th. It was ready on the 28th, the next day. The Alter Rebbe entered a state of profound dveikus, and afterward he let out a pained sigh and said, “28 Kislev, 28 Kislev, 28 Kislev. Well, then it will be 28 Kislev.” It was a troubling remark, and at the time they did not understand what the Alter Rebbe meant. In fact, exactly two years later, in 5559, the Alter Rebbe was released from imprisonment on 19 Kislev, a Tuesday, the day on which “it was good” was said twice. So

02:34 he was released from prison. But as is known, when the prison officials took him out of detention, they mistakenly brought him not to the home of the chossid who lived nearby, Reb Mordechai Liepler, but to the home of someone who was strongly opposed to Chassidus. That man caused him distress for several hours, until nightfall. Only on the night of 28 Kislev was it over, when the Alter Rebbe attained complete freedom. That is why chassidim celebrate both 19 and 28 Kislev. Then they understood the meaning of the Alter Rebbe’s sigh when he said “28 Kislev”: it was as though the imprisonment had to be extended by several hours because the Tanya had come off the press on 28 Kislev. What, really, is the connection between the Tanya and the great days of 19 and 28 Kislev? Of course, the connection is obvious: the Alter Rebbe’s entire mesirus nefesh during his imprisonment was bound up with the publication of the Tanya and the spreading of Chassidus, the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov, whose central expression was the printing of the Tanya two years earlier. But there are several other points as well. As is known, the Alter Rebbe said that the fifty-three days he spent in prison, from Isru Chag after Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah until 19 Kislev, correspond to the fifty-three chapters of the Tanya. If you look in the Tanya, Likkutei Amarim has fifty-three chapters. So the Alter Rebbe connected the number of days to those chapters, and there is also a connection in their content: for every chapter, he had to give of himself with mesirus nefesh, because he had to reveal such a deep and great light to break through such great darkness. This aroused the forces of kelipah, an intensification of the darkness, and, as it were, a certain accusation: How can such wondrous things be revealed in our dark world? And that accusation meant that afterward

04:55 the Alter Rebbe had to pay a heavy price through the suffering of imprisonment. And of course, as the Rebbe Rashab also said, using the analogy of oil: it is precisely when the olive is crushed that the oil comes out. This refers to the revelation of the inner dimension of Torah that came about specifically through the suffering of imprisonment. It is also known what the Alter Rebbe said about the Tanya: that in the merit of the two years during which the Tanya had been available, when thousands of Jews had the opportunity to study it and received a path in serving Hashem, found a remedy for all the ailments of the soul, and received guidance on how to serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu with love and awe, he was able to withstand all the hardships of imprisonment and emerge completely victorious. So here we see the connection between the great day of the Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus, 19 Kislev, and the Tanya. That is also why it is the custom of chassidim, as the Frierdiker Rebbe established and publicized—and he also set out the division into daily portions—to begin studying the Tanya from the beginning on 19 Kislev, the Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus. We study a portion every day, until we finish the Tanya on the eve of 19 Kislev the following year. This is also the moment for that. In these days, as we begin studying the Tanya, this is the place to encourage everyone who does not yet do so to begin studying the daily Tanya lesson, as divided over the days of the year from 19 Kislev until the coming 19 Kislev, may it be for the good. And of course, those who already do so should study it with greater vitality, with more explanation and greater depth, going deeper and deeper. After all, the Torah is infinite, and all the more so the inner dimension of Torah: “Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea.” The inner dimension of Torah in particular is truly infinite. So we can always

07:07 add to our learning, delve more deeply, broaden our understanding, and take guidance from it for our daily lives. So today we’re going to devote our lesson to the Tanya and how to study it. I want to talk a little about different ways to study the Tanya, explain its division into parts and a little of the order of topics within each part, and perhaps offer a few tips, some practical advice on how best to study it. First, regarding the Tanya as a whole: the book is divided into five parts—Likkutei Amarim, Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah, Igeres Hateshuvah, Igeres Hakodesh, and Kuntres Acharon. As is known, the Alter Rebbe printed only the first two parts in the first edition. The original Tanya contained only Likkutei Amarim and Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah. Only several years later did he print it together with the third part, Igeres Hateshuvah. Igeres Hateshuvah was already circulating among the chassidim; there were copies of the booklet, not printed but handwritten. But a few years after the Tanya had been printed, the Alter Rebbe decided to include Igeres Hateshuvah as well, and it came out in a three-part edition. Only after the Alter Rebbe’s passing in 5574 did the Mitteler Rebbe and his brothers, the Alter Rebbe’s three holy sons, undertake to gather a number of letters the Alter Rebbe had written to Anash communities in various places in Russia and elsewhere. They collected them and made them into Igeres Hakodesh. Most of the letters concerned sending tzedakah to Eretz Yisroel for the chassidim who had moved there in those years, as is known from the details of the story. So most of the letters discuss tzedakah, particularly tzedakah for Eretz Yisroel, but they also address other subjects, including several important and profound matters in the service of Hashem. And afterward

09:31 Then there is Igeres Hakodesh, and finally Kuntres Acharon. Kuntres Acharon consists mainly of several chapters that the Alter Rebbe apparently wrote for himself: deep study and exploration based on Kabbalah and the hidden dimension of Torah. These are extremely profound teachings that explain and shed light on the depth and roots of what he wrote in Likkutei Amarim, in Tanya. The Alter Rebbe’s sons, led by the Mitteler Rebbe, also added this to Tanya. So today, Tanya consists of five parts. As the Rebbe once said at a farbrengen, this too is by Divine Providence. The Tzemach Tzedek is known to have said that Tanya is like the Written Torah of Chassidus, of the Baal Shem Tov’s teachings. So just as the Written Torah, written by Moshe Rabbeinu, is divided into five parts, Tanya too consists of five parts. As for the content of these parts, which we’ll discuss at least briefly: Likkutei Amarim is the main part in terms of length, with fifty-three chapters. In this part, the Alter Rebbe gives us a path for serving Hashem. The Alter Rebbe himself calls it Sefer Shel Beinonim, the Book of the Intermediate. In these fifty-three chapters, he teaches us how to serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu according to the Baal Shem Tov’s teachings. The foundation, as the Alter Rebbe himself writes in the book’s introduction, is the verse Moshe Rabbeinu said toward the end of his life, in Parshas Nitzavim: “For the matter is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.” Moshe Rabbeinu says to every Jew—and as the Gemara says, this verse is fundamental to serving Hashem—that it is close to you both “in your mouth,” in speech, and “in your heart,” in thought, and “to do it,” in action. Thought, speech, and action are very close to every Jew. The question is: How are they very close? So here the Alter Rebbe comes and explains to us

11:53 based on the Baal Shem Tov’s teachings and principles, how every single Jew, without exception, has the strength and the ability. He also gives us the advice and guidance for how a Jew can reach that level: to serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu in thought, speech, and action, with a whole heart. Serving Hashem through action is the main thing, but together with that, the heart must be involved as well. “In your heart” means the feelings of the heart, with love and awe of Hashem. The Baal Shem Tov is known to have emphasized both of these things. On the one hand, the Baal Shem Tov held up the power of a person’s actions: how precious to Hakadosh Boruch Hu are the simple deeds of an ordinary person, the simple words that come from the heart when any Jew says Tehillim, prays, or learns Torah. And in addition, the Baal Shem Tov revealed a way of serving Hashem through the work of the heart—serving Hakadosh Boruch Hu with joy, vitality, love, and awe. So in Likkutei Amarim, the Alter Rebbe gives each of us detailed guidance, chapter after chapter, on how a Jew can and must serve Hashem. There is a well-known saying of the great chassidim, cited by the Frierdiker Rebbe in his sichos and explained by the Rebbe, that the Baal Shem Tov revealed how every single Jew can serve Hashem, and the Alter Rebbe revealed how every Jew has the ability to serve Hashem. The saying is: The Baal Shem Tov revealed how everyone must, and the Alter Rebbe revealed how everyone can. The Baal Shem Tov revealed the inner way of serving Hashem, and the Alter Rebbe placed the ladder, as the Frierdiker Rebbe put it, showing how to climb up there, how to reach it. And that, essentially, is Tanya. As

13:56 the Alter Rebbe himself writes, Tanya was “gathered from books and from teachers.” By this he means, primarily, the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid, the teachers from whom he learned. It was on the basis of the teachings he received from them that he established Tanya. The part called Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah is just what its name says: it explains the subject of Divine unity and the subject of faith. In other words, the Alter Rebbe teaches us one of the foundations of Chassidus: for a Jew to truly serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu with love, awe, joy, and a whole heart, he must engage the mind, because the mind rules over the heart. This is one of Tanya’s foundations, originating in the Zohar on Parshas Pinchas: it is human nature for the mind to rule over the heart. On that basis, the Alter Rebbe develops his entire approach, the approach of Chabad Chassidus. To awaken the feelings of the heart, so that a Jew can truly serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu also “in your heart,” with feelings of complete love and awe, his mind and intellect must be in the right place. He needs what the Alter Rebbe calls hisbonenus, contemplation. Studying and contemplating the greatness of Hashem is what enables a person to awaken the two principal feelings, the middos he calls love and awe of Hashem. These are the roots of all the other feelings of the heart that a Jew needs in order to serve Hashem. So in Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah, the Alter Rebbe explains the foundations of Divine unity and faith through the remarkable insight of Chabad Chassidus, using chochmah, binah, and daas. It was the Baal Shem Tov who revealed the secret of the unity of existence, the unity of creation. That is, the Baal Shem Tov revealed in a remarkable way the great secret that when we speak of Divine unity—“Hear, O Israel, Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is One,” or “Know this day and take it to heart that Hashem is G-d in the heavens

16:04 above and on the earth below; there is nothing else”—we are not merely being told, and the Torah is not merely telling us or commanding us to believe, that there is only one G-d and not two. Rather, this is a much deeper unity: all of creation, down to its every last detail, is completely united with the Divine power, to the point that there is no existence in the world apart from the Divine power. Thus, “there is nothing besides Him” means exactly what it says: there is no existence apart from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. These things are foundations of every Jew’s simple faith. We say them in davening; we say them in various verses. But the Alter Rebbe sets out the explanation of this in the twelve chapters of Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah. They are remarkable, profound chapters, with fundamental explanations of the foundations of Chabad Chassidus: understanding the nature of existence, how things come into being, creation, and the Divine unity within creation. It is known among chassidim—and the Rebbe spoke about this many times as well—that the Alter Rebbe originally wanted to print Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah first, and Likkutei Amarim afterward, because that is the logical order. First come faith, intellect, and understanding, and afterward come the feelings of the heart and inner work. That is the order: first Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah, and then Likkutei Amarim, where he explains how to put these things into practice. Nevertheless, at the last moment, the Alter Rebbe changed the order and placed Likkutei Amarim before Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah, to teach us that the ultimate purpose is action. Serving Hashem in practice is the goal; that is where a person must devote his energies and place the emphasis, rather than remaining with intellectual understanding alone. So those are the first two parts. In Igeres Hateshuvah, as its name suggests, the Alter Rebbe teaches us the paths of teshuvah, the way of teshuvah. This too is one of the innovations

18:05 One of the great, foundational teachings of the Baal Shem Tov is what he revealed about teshuvah: the work of teshuvah is not just that when a person sins, he needs to erase the sin. Teshuvah is not only for people who have sinned. It is an entire way of life. “And the spirit shall return to G-d, Who gave it”—to return and draw closer to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is the way of life for every Jew, throughout his life. Here the Alter Rebbe explains, according to halachah, according to the mystical teachings, and of course in practical service, what this path of teshuvah involves. He divides teshuvah into two stages: teshuvah tata’ah and teshuvah ila’ah, in the language of the Zohar—the lower teshuvah, the fundamental, basic teshuvah, and the higher teshuvah, which comes specifically from love and joy. The Alter Rebbe details and explains how to reach it, what to do, and what work of teshuvah is expected of a person. And Igeres Hakodesh, as we said earlier, consists of letters—many letters guiding chassidim in how to serve Hashem and how to study, and especially, as we said, on the subject of tzedakah, which was famously one of the main things the Alter Rebbe devoted himself to during his life. And Kuntres Acharon, as we discussed, goes into the inner depths of understanding the roots of the fundamental ideas in Likkutei Amarim. So that gives us a sense of the scope of this book. There is a well-known remark by Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev when he received the Tanya. The Rebbe also related it once at a farbrengen: when the Tanya reached Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, the holy Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, he was deeply moved and impressed. As was his holy way, he was a person of great enthusiasm, but the contents of the book especially stirred him. In his excitement and wonder he said, “It is simply moving to see how this author managed to put such a great G-d into such a small book.” The Rebbe once commented that this is

20:15 not just a clever turn of phrase, as they say, a play on words—using the expression “a small book with a great G-d.” There is a very profound meaning to it. The tzaddik of Berditchev was a very close friend of the Alter Rebbe; their grandchildren married into each other’s families several times. They had an exceptionally close relationship, and he held the Alter Rebbe in very high regard. His remark reflects a profound understanding of the essence of the Tanya: the Tanya took the loftiest subjects—the greatness of Hashem, faith in Hashem, things that are essentially beyond the intellect—and brought them down to our level. The Alter Rebbe had the remarkable ability to bring them into the limited human mind, to condense and concentrate them there. That is what is meant by “such a great G-d in such a small book.” It does not just mean that the book is small in its number of pages or its physical form. It also refers to its content. “A small book” points to the smallness of man, the limited capacity of the human mind: within that small mind, the human intellect can connect with and understand the deepest, most wondrous things, which are beyond reason. Now, a few words about how to study the Tanya. As is well known, the Rebbe Rashab writes in one of his letters that when studying the Tanya, the emphasis must be on bringing it into practical service. We must always remember that this was the Alter Rebbe’s main purpose. Although the Tanya is an exceedingly profound book—and, as the Rebbe Rashab writes in that letter, however deeply we delve into the Tanya, we always discover still deeper layers. Our Rebbeim have also famously said that the Tanya resembles the Chumash in this respect: on the one hand, any child can study it; on the other, however much a great Torah scholar studies it, he always finds that it is deeper than he thought. Exactly the same is true of

22:20 the Tanya. Everyone can find guidance and instructions in serving Hashem in the Tanya, according to their own level. But even the greatest scholars, however much they have studied the Tanya, will always find deeper layers—new insights into its meaning and into its depth. Yet in his letter, the Rebbe Rashab asks—he pleads—that when you study Tanya, you place the emphasis on taking from everything you learn a lesson in serving Hashem: guidance, instruction, a direction to follow, milestones that will bring you more yiras Shamayim and more love of Hashem, that will have an effect on a person. That is why he asks us not merely to look for novel insights and engage in intricate arguments, but to study the Tanya with the aim of finding in it a path in serving Hashem. So when we study the Tanya, we must always ask, in every passage, every chapter, every subject: What is the Tanya teaching me? What do I take from this for my service of Hashem? This is a basic, fundamental point in studying the Tanya. Now, as for the actual method of study: as the Gemara always teaches, even regarding the revealed part of Torah, one must first learn to understand the straightforward meaning and only afterward reach the deeper meaning. So if a person really wants to understand the Tanya, there is no need to rush straight into searching for novel insights, analyzing each line—what it says, what it adds, what I learn from it—and trying to get to the depths of the subject. To begin with, it is worthwhile to study the chapters in a fairly simple, basic way: just understand the meaning of the words and the content, and try to go through the Tanya in a way that gives you a general, basic picture and understanding of what the book says and what it is about. Only afterward should you study it again more deeply. Once a person becomes accustomed to it and gets a feel for its style—as with anything, there is a style. Every great Torah scholar has his own distinctive style, just as

24:31 the Mishnah, the Gemara, and the works of halachah each have their own distinctive style. There is the particular style of the Rambam, the style of the Shulchan Aruch, the style of the Tur, the Magen Avraham, and the Shach. Each of the great Torah scholars has his own style. We see that a person needs a little time to get used to the phrasing and language of a particular scholar, and only after some time, once you have absorbed the style, does it flow more easily. It becomes easier to understand the depth. So the first thing is to go through the Tanya, learn what it is talking about, and accustom ourselves to the distinctive style of the author of the Tanya in his book. Then comes the stage of trying to understand things a little more deeply. As for understanding the Tanya, there are some basic books I could recommend. Today, baruch Hashem, there is an abundance of them. Before I talk about books, though, I want to say that it is very, very important for everyone who wants to study the Tanya to find a local rabbi, a mashpia, or a Jew who already knows it well and is familiar with it—as the Alter Rebbe himself writes. In his introduction to the Tanya, he asks and pleads that there be mashpi’im everywhere, so people can turn to them for advice drawn from the Tanya and learn how to understand it, how to grasp its ideas, and how to take a path in serving Hashem from what is written in the Tanya. So that is something very important for everyone to find. “Make for yourself a rav and acquire for yourself a friend,” so that you can understand the Tanya. On the other hand, for those who want to use them, today, baruch Hashem, the market is full of sefarim—works of explanation and commentary. There is, baruch Hashem, an abundance. I am not going to survey the vast range of books, which anyone can of course look for and find. But among the commentaries on the Tanya, there are books with more basic explanations,

26:27 Some explain it more simply, while others take us deeper, beyond the surface. I’ll point to just a few of these, and I apologize if I don’t mention them all, because that isn’t the purpose of today’s class. This is just to offer a little help and guidance. There’s Lessons in Tanya, originally written in Yiddish by Rabbi Yosef HaLevi Weinberg. He had the great privilege of teaching Tanya classes on the radio, and the Rebbe himself would review his lessons and add notes. The lessons were later published in Yiddish as Lessons in Tanya, and then translated into Hebrew, English, and several other languages. It’s a basic book, good for understanding the straightforward meaning. The Rebbe stressed to him that, since it was being broadcast on the radio for people who were just beginning, it should focus primarily on the simple, basic explanation of Tanya. At a deeper, more advanced level, there’s Tanya with explanations and commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz, a"h. It’s a wonderful, distinctive book, with his characteristic way of explaining things. There’s also Tanya with commentary by Rabbi Ginsburgh, who wrote Peninei HaTanya. Recently, it was published in a different format, somewhat more concise, as El Toch HaTanya. It’s a very clear, well-explained book that also gives you greater depth and clarity, in a distinctive style. There’s also HaMaor ShebaTorah, in which Tanya was published together with the well-known classes of Rabbi Yoel Kahn. He was also the Rebbe’s chozer, and he had a special way with words—pearls literally flowed from his mouth—and a wonderful way of explaining Tanya, based especially on the teachings of the Rebbe, the leader of our generation. His classes were published in a fairly accessible, concise style that makes learning easier. And recently, something was also published in much greater detail,

28:47 Tanya by Chassidus Mevueres. They, too, have done holy, wonderful work. This is for someone who wants to sit down, take the time, and broaden and deepen their understanding of Tanya. They’ve provided both explanations and in-depth discussions, so you can study Tanya’s words closely if you want to. And finally, I have to point to the unique book that came out just in the last few days: Tanya with the explanations of our Rebbeim, Sefer HaTanya HaShalem. This was a wonderful project that the Rebbe initiated, spoke about, and wrote about more than seventy years ago. The Rebbe himself worked on it in a remarkable way during the short time available, the Rebbe [unclear], investing tremendous effort in laying the foundations for this book. He wanted it to contain a brief commentary on Tanya and, at the same time, to gather explanations from all our Rebbeim—from the inexhaustible wellspring of thousands of Chassidus manuscripts—and distill them into a commentary on Tanya. And just in the last few days, we had the great news that Likkutei Amarim has appeared in two volumes, in a beautiful, substantial edition. They’ve done holy work there. For those who are already more familiar with the material—on the one hand, there’s the brief commentary, which is really suitable for anyone; but there’s also the collection of all the explanations of our Rebbeim, for someone who wants to delve deeper, study the material in depth, and learn what each of the Rebbeim said about the different parts of Tanya. To close, I want to mention something well known that the Rebbe spoke about so often in connection with Tanya: what Reb Zusha of Anipoli said when he received Tanya, and Reb Yehudah Leib HaKohen. They were two tzaddikim, students of the Maggid of Mezritch and friends of the Alter Rebbe, who gave their approbations to Tanya. As is known, one

31:02 of them said that Tanya is “incense for the soul and spirit.” In other words, Tanya is, so to speak, the remedy—the incense that brings healing in the face of all the decrees, illnesses, accusations, and all kinds of difficulties, G-d forbid, at the end of the time of exile. Today, through learning Tanya, we receive healing for every illness, and we can see this tangibly: how Tanya is a healing book for every soul amid the upheavals of our generation. And along with that, there’s what Reb Zusha said: with Tanya, we will go out and dance to greet our righteous Moshiach. We see how Tanya brings about an inner Geulah within the soul and prepares us for the great Geulah, the complete Geulah. May we already merit the true and complete Geulah with our righteous Moshiach, as our teacher the Baal Shem Tov was promised by King Moshiach: when “your wellsprings spread outward,” then, with Hashem’s help, the Master—King Moshiach—will come. May we merit the revelation of Moshiach speedily in our days, amen.