Likkutei Amarim Tanya - Chapter 1 - Part 1

00:00 Why does the Tanya belong to each and every person? Because the Tanya is for “those who know and recognize me.” These are people the Alter Rebbe knows. We explained that this is like yechidus. In yechidus, he knows and recognizes the person from within and gives him advice according to his own level of avodah, according to his particular situation—the avodah of each individual. The Tanya is the same way. It is for “those who know and recognize me.” This is the well-known explanation, and there is also a sicha of the Rebbe in volume 22 that explains it this way; I don’t remember which sicha. But there is another explanation. Some of the bochurim may remember. There was a farbrengen here a few weeks ago, and Rabbi Eliezer Shemtov was here. He spoke and offered a different explanation. I asked what he had said. He quoted it in his father’s name, but actually it is written in the Reshimos. The Rebbe writes something along these lines too, at least by way of a hint. The Rebbe alludes to it in the newly published Reshimos on Tanya. That point is there as well. The Rebbe explains the plain meaning. There, in his copy of Tanya with annotations, on the words “I am speaking to those who know and recognize me,” the Rebbe writes that this is like the Talmudic expression “one who knows and recognizes him.” Look: “one who knows and recognizes him.” There, the Gemara speaks about “knowing and recognizing him”: when a person knows the other person, it has an entirely different effect. If you hear someone speak about a person you don’t know, as opposed to someone you do know—“those who know and recognize me”—it has a deeper effect. According to this, the Rebbe understands the plain meaning the other way around. “Those who know and recognize me” doesn’t mean that I know the chossid, but the reverse: the chossid knows the Rebbe. “Those who know and recognize me” means those who know me and recognize me. So on this reading, the meaning is completely different: the Alter Rebbe wrote the Tanya

02:19 “for those who know and recognize me”—for people who know and recognize the Alter Rebbe. And because they know the Alter Rebbe, they don’t need the Alter Rebbe to... No, even if they cannot see him or hear him face to face, when they study his book, since they know him, they can receive from the book as though they were receiving from him personally. The drawback of reading books is that you can make a mistake because you don’t know the person. You don’t know him face to face; you don’t know exactly what he means. So one person comes along and says he meant this, and another says he meant something else. People read all kinds of intentions into his words that don’t fit. But if you know the author of the book, if you know who he is and what he is like, then you can understand what he means from his words. It is harder to make a mistake. This is quite a novel idea, but in the Reshimos the Rebbe really does refer to that Gemara. So according to this, the distinctive point about Tanya is that the Alter Rebbe is saying that we know the Alter Rebbe. What does it mean that we know the Alter Rebbe? After all, we never saw him. Knowing the Alter Rebbe means that a chossid has an understanding of what a Rebbe is. The Alter Rebbe conveys the whole essence of what a Rebbe is and what the Rebbe wants. That is, the chossid has an inner understanding of what a Rebbe is, what the point of a Rebbe is, what the Rebbe wants. You see, he has an inner understanding of the Rebbe. So when he studies Chassidus, when he studies Tanya, he doesn’t... He can understand. Sometimes, from the words, he can understand what the Rebbe wants here, what the Alter Rebbe’s inner purpose is

04:01 in what he wrote. That is the meaning of “those who know and recognize me.” Sometimes, a person who doesn’t know or recognize who is speaking doesn’t know exactly what the speaker means deep down. He doesn’t grasp the depth of what is being taught. But when you know who it is, it is like studying a sicha or maamarim of the Rebbe. Someone who has no connection to it is not the same. He doesn’t know what a Rebbe is at all. To begin with, the very concept of a Rebbe is foreign to him. He studies a sicha the way he would study any other book, so his study is external, somewhat superficial. That can lead to mistakes. But if someone knows what a Rebbe is and knows what the Rebbe truly wants on the inside, then when he studies a sicha or a maamar, he begins to take it in more deeply, more inwardly. In any case, this reading is quite a novel idea. We never heard this explanation among chassidim, but the Reshimos seem to hint at it. Although it isn’t clear there, that does seem to be the intent. You can read it that way. Let’s come to the word Tanya. In the previous class, we spoke about two questions: why is the Tanya called Tanya, and why does it begin with the word “Tanya”? We discussed one explanation: “Tanya” refers to the force of kelipah that obstructs the study of the inner dimension of Torah, and the Tanya nullifies that kelipah. The second explanation is that “Tanya” relates to the eisan, the steadfast core of the soul, which it reveals. In the Reshimos, the Rebbe adds another explanation in his father’s name. The Rebbe’s father, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak, was a kabbalist, and he explains that Tanya is an acronym—an acronym. That is a separate idea in its own right. But the explanation is interesting:

05:37 Tanya is an acronym for “pure, liquid, eleven.” That is what the Rebbe says in the name of his father, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak: Tanya stands for “pure, liquid, eleven.” What are “pure, liquid, eleven”? It is an expression in a Mishnah or Gemara somewhere—I don’t know exactly where. It gives a halachah about the laws of purity, a halachah concerning liquid, and another halachah connected with eleven days, in the laws of... It has to do with the laws of zivah and the eleven days. The Gemara says that all three are halachah given to Moshe at Sinai—certain matters and laws connected with those three things: purity, liquid, and eleven days. That’s what it is. The Gemara says they are halachah given to Moshe at Sinai. So the Rebbe’s father says that Tanya is an acronym for “pure, liquid, eleven.” What is the connection? What does this have to do with Tanya? The explanation is that these three things relate to avodah and seder hishtalshelus. Purity relates to avodah and seder hishtalshelus. Purity is the matter of [unclear]. Liquid, too, is a matter of... of... of liquid. The whole concept of liquid is also a matter of [unclear]. That is why it is called liquid, because it is brief. It is a matter of giving, giving [unclear]. The flow of liquid is above seder hishtalshelus, and eleven, too, is the concept of eleven. It is also a number connected with what is above seder hishtalshelus. Seder hishtalshelus, eleven, above seder hishtalshelus. Do you understand what this means? That is why the Gemara says that “pure, liquid, eleven” are halachah given to Moshe at Sinai. It means that this is a matter of avodah and daas, along the lines of [unclear]. According to Rabbi Yitzchak Hertz [unclear], the point is that Tanya itself

07:28 is above seder hishtalshelus. The concept of Tanya—the inner dimension of Torah and the strength to serve Hashem—comes from a point above seder hishtalshelus. In other words, it is as though something new is being revealed. The Tanya is a new revelation of the inner dimension of Torah, from above seder hishtalshelus, on a higher level that is beyond seder hishtalshelus, and it gave strength for a new form of avodah. Now the Rebbe revealed a way for every person to serve Hashem in the way of Chassidus. Chabad Chassidus is connected with what is explained in a number of places: the revelation of Chassidus is a new revelation, above seder hishtalshelus. I also remember a sicha of the Rebbe, but I can’t find it now. If anyone knows where it is, I would be very grateful. I remember there was a sicha of the Rebbe, one of the... The Rebbe also spoke about... He connected the Tanya with the Shulchan Aruch. The Rebbe spoke about how the Shulchan Aruch begins: “Yehudah ben Teima says: Be bold as a leopard, light as an eagle, swift as a deer, and strong as a lion.” The Rebbe said that, by way of allusion, these ideas are also present in the word “Tanya.” The Taz said that the word “Tanya” contains the names Yehudah and Teima, and the names lion and eagle—and lion, eagle, and lion, eagle. And, well, what’s the third one? Swift as a deer, and a lion. Leopard, leopard, eagle—but deer isn’t there. So the Rebbe explained it in a sicha he cited. Why? Why isn’t there an initial for deer? Why is that? I really don’t remember the explanation. I only remember that there was once a sicha in which the Rebbe explained that the matters mentioned there are alluded to in the word “Tanya.” The Chasam Sofer also explained why the deer is missing. In any case, I don’t remember the explanation now. And in practice, then, then, then that...

09:25 It says—the Rebbe began with the word “Tanya,” even though the word “Tanya” does not appear in the Gemara. The Rebbe chose that word to allude to all these matters. So the Rebbe begins here: “It was taught at the end of chapter three of Niddah.” There is something here too. In the Rebbe’s Reshimos, he cites the Frierdiker Rebbe on why the Rebbe began the Tanya with the words “at the end of chapter three of Niddah.” He says in the Frierdiker Rebbe’s name that this alludes to the time when the Tanya was revealed. When was the Tanya revealed? The Tanya was revealed at the end of the period of exile. Niddah refers to exile. How so? Why did he say “Niddah”? He explained that before the Geulah, the Jewish people are considered like a niddah—a woman who is forbidden to her husband. In the same way, the Jewish people, who are married to Hashem, are like a niddah before the Geulah: there is a separation between the Jewish people and Hakadosh Boruch Hu. So Niddah refers to exile. “Chapter three of Niddah” means the third exile. There have been exiles: the exile in Egypt, the Babylonian exile, and the exile of Edom. Broadly speaking, these are three exiles. So the third exile is our exile. That is “chapter three,” and the end of chapter three is the end of the period of exile. “Tanya, at the end of chapter three of Niddah”: the Tanya would be revealed at the end of the third exile—“chapter three,” the third exile, “of Niddah.” Niddah refers to exile. So the Tanya was revealed specifically at the end of the period of exile. As we explained, this is for two reasons: both because the darkness grows stronger at the end of exile and because the Geulah is beginning and its light is already shining. For both these reasons, the Tanya was revealed in the world specifically “at the end of chapter three of Niddah,” at the end of the period of exile. He cites this in the Frierdiker Rebbe’s name as an explanation of why the Rebbe began with those words, “at the end of chapter three of Niddah.” After that, the Rebbe

11:24 also brings this up in a sicha. These Reshimos only became available recently, but there is a sicha of the Rebbe’s that presents it a little differently, though the substance is the same. So, in brief, the Rebbe says: “It was taught at the end of chapter three of Niddah: They make him swear, ‘Be righteous and do not be wicked.’” Before the soul descends into the world, they make it swear: “Be righteous and do not be wicked. And even if the entire world tells you, ‘You are righteous,’ regard yourself as wicked.” So there are three points here in the oath. First, they tell the person—the soul—before it descends below, “Be righteous.” Second, they tell it, “Do not be wicked,” which seems redundant. Once you are righteous, surely that already includes not being wicked. Why do they need to add “Do not be wicked”? It is not clear. The Rebbe will explain all this later, but in any case, the first point is “Be righteous.” The second is “Do not be wicked.” And then they tell it a third thing: “Even if the entire world tells you, ‘You are righteous,’ regard yourself as wicked.” You see, even if everyone tells you that you are already righteous, you have to think of yourself as wicked. The truth is that the Gemara there says more. It describes everything that happens to a baby in its mother’s womb: the baby’s eyes and mouth are closed, it eats what its mother eats, and it is enclosed there. It says that an angel comes and teaches it Torah, and before it descends into the world they make it swear, “Be righteous and do not be wicked,” and everything quoted here. Then it says more things: “Know that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is pure,” and various other things that are said to the soul. But in any case, according to what the Tanya says here, everything they tell it after

13:03 that is not part of the oath; those are just details about how it can carry it out. They may be additional details. The oath itself consists only of these things: “Be righteous and do not be wicked.” That is what it must swear—to strive to be righteous and not be wicked. And even if the entire world tells it that it is righteous, it should regard itself as wicked. What does it mean, “Even if the entire world tells you, ‘You are righteous,’ regard yourself as wicked”? What does that mean? What do those words mean? What does “You are righteous” mean? On a simple reading, it sounds like a matter of modesty: even if everyone tells a person he is righteous, he should feel, as a matter of proper conduct, that he is wicked. But that is false humility. That is falsehood; it is false humility. Either way: if he is righteous, what difference does it make that everyone tells him so? And if he is not righteous, what difference does it make what everyone says? Why say, “even if the entire world tells you that you are righteous”? Can’t I myself think that I am righteous? Why speak only about what the world says? What is going on here? One explanation is that “even if the entire world tells you that you are righteous” means that this assessment comes from the world. There are people who really are tzaddikim. It does not mean that this applies to every person, that everyone must always think of themselves as wicked. The truth is that some people really are tzaddikim. Those who are tzaddikim are not tzaddikim because people say they are. They know it because it is revealed to them from Above, on the level of their soul. They know that they have attained the level of tzaddikim. For example, we now come

14:47 to the Gemara: Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said of himself, “I am but a sign.” Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai also said, “I can exempt the entire world from judgment.” So did Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai not fulfill what is written here? He said of himself that he was on such a level, completely nullified to G-dliness, and so on. Yes, the level of a complete tzaddik, and even more than that. “I have seen the people of ascent, and they are few”—Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said this about himself. We will soon see in chapter 10 that “people of ascent” are tzaddikim. He himself said that he was a tzaddik. So the distinction is this: if his being a tzaddik is something revealed to him from Above, through his soul, from Hakadosh Boruch Hu, that is one thing. What the Gemara says here, in the baraisa, is that even if—if it comes from the world, if you think you are a tzaddik because, outwardly, you commit no transgressions and do only mitzvos, and therefore you conclude that you are on the level of a tzaddik—then they tell you, “Regard yourself as wicked.” A person must consider that, in truth, he is not a tzaddik. As for “wicked,” we need to understand that. The Rebbe will explain it later; for now, this is where we are.