Tanya - Title Page (5785)

00:01 No, everyone knows that the title page of Tanya is something very holy, that the Alter Rebbe himself wrote it. And as the Rebbe also discusses at length in his sichos, the whole foundation of Tanya is found on its title page. So let’s read the wording inside, the part that is the Alter Rebbe’s own words: “Sefer Likkutei Amarim, Part One, called Sefer Shel Beinonim. Collected from books and from the words of holy, exalted teachers, may their souls rest in Eden. Based on the verse, ‘For this thing is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.’ To explain thoroughly how it is very near, by a long and short path, with the help of Hashem, may He be blessed.” The Alter Rebbe wrote these words. The rest of the title page consists of additions that came later, but these are the Alter Rebbe’s main words. As explained in sichos in several places, from these words we can grasp the foundation and understand the depth of what Tanya is and what is new about it. There are several points here. I’ll touch on them briefly; I don’t want to spend too much time on them. As we said, in Tanya every word is vast beyond measure. We could talk endlessly. In any case, I’ll cover the main points, what matters for understanding and for putting it into practice. First, he speaks about the name of the book. He gives it two names: Likkutei Amarim and Sefer Shel Beinonim. We’ll get to both of these names. Now, it is well known that the name Likkutei Amarim expresses the Alter Rebbe’s humility, his bittul. Although Tanya is a wonderful book, a profound book, full of new insights, in his great humility the Alter Rebbe calls it Likkutei Amarim, as though he were merely collecting teachings, as though there were nothing new here. It is just a collection. On the other hand, the Rebbe once spoke at farbrengens in the later years

02:20 about the Alter Rebbe’s choice to call his book Likkutei Amarim, and similarly there is Likkutei Torah. This also alludes to Moshiach. After all, the final preparation for the revelation of Moshiach is “Your wellsprings shall spread outward,” and the whole purpose of Tanya was for the Alter Rebbe to prepare the world for the revelation of Moshiach. The word “Likkutei,” meaning “collected,” is connected with the Geulah, with the verse, “And you, House of Israel, shall be gathered one by one,” which alludes to the ingathering of the exiles. So just as there is a gathering of the Jewish people, there is also a gathering of the inner dimension of the Torah. Of course, when the Rebbe spoke about this, the chassidim understood that he also meant Likkutei Sichos and so on. But these are collected teachings. In other words, “Likkutei” is a word that appears often, both with the Alter Rebbe and with the Rebbe. The name Sefer Shel Beinonim expresses the book’s content. As we’ll see, the Alter Rebbe wrote the book for the beinoni. We’ll learn in Tanya what “beinoni” means. But even before we enter into all the depth of Tanya and what the beinoni means, there is also a very simple, fundamental message here, important for every one of us. The Alter Rebbe wrote his book and immediately called it Sefer Shel Beinonim. He wanted to convey a message: I did not write this book for people at the extremes. This book is written for each and every person. Beinonim. I wrote this book for the ordinary person, the average person, the regular person. There are extremes among the Jewish people. At one end is the rasha, who needs a particular kind of work to emerge from his situation. At the other end is the tzaddik, who has a special soul and a special role. But then there is the

04:22 beinoni: the Jew who is here in the world and has a task. What does Hakadosh Boruch Hu want from him? The ordinary person, the upright person, the person in the middle. This is a very important point to understand: Chabad Chassidus, the Alter Rebbe, and Tanya want to teach us what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants from the ordinary person. What does Hakadosh Boruch Hu want from the upright person? Not an extreme in one direction or the other. That is, in fact, the great majority of the Jewish people, and all of us need to be on the level of the beinoni. Of course, as the Alter Rebbe will explain later, even the rasha is, in essence, a beinoni. That is, as the Alter Rebbe says in chapter 11, after everything he goes on to explain, every Jew has within him the Moshiach and the murderer and so on. But those are details of the explanation. The fundamental point is very important for understanding the book. In the Rebbe’s notes on Tanya—the well-known work discovered after Gimmel Tammuz, containing comments and sources the Rebbe wrote on Tanya—the Rebbe relates something he heard from his father-in-law, the Frierdiker Rebbe: the Alter Rebbe also wrote a Sefer Shel Tzaddikim. There was another Tanya that the Alter Rebbe wrote, a Sefer Shel Tzaddikim. The Shpoler Zeide came in 5575. That was already toward the end of the Alter Rebbe’s life, 5575. The Shpoler Zeide came to visit the Alter Rebbe in Liadi, and there is a whole story about that visit. A number of things happened there. Hayom Yom also includes part of the story of the Shpoler Zeide’s meeting with the Alter Rebbe. They relate that the Shpoler Zeide said the world could not receive this book, the Sefer Shel Tzaddikim, and it would ascend to heaven in a blaze—as though the book would not endure; it would be burned. Yes, that is what he said: it would ascend to heaven in a blaze, “and I too will ascend in that same blaze.” That was the expression. Yes,

06:28 and that is indeed what happened. That very day, or around that time, there was a fire in Liadi, and a number of things were burned. The Alter Rebbe lost part of his Shulchan Aruch and other writings, and the Sefer Shel Tzaddikim was burned too. It was on that day, or in those days, that the Shpoler Zeide also passed away. That is the story the Rebbe relates hearing from the Frierdiker Rebbe. So we know that the Alter Rebbe wrote a Sefer Shel Tzaddikim, and there is also a story about it. The story continues: when the book was burned, the Alter Rebbe was deeply distressed. He went to the Mitteler Rebbe and asked him whether he remembered what was written in it. The Mitteler Rebbe said he had not looked at it. “Why didn’t you look at it?” the Alter Rebbe cried. “Why didn’t you study it?” The Mitteler Rebbe said that the title page bore a ban of Rabbeinu Gershom, in this world and the next. In other words, there were very severe words of excommunication directed at anyone who looked at the book without permission. “So how could I look at it?” The Alter Rebbe cried out to the Mitteler Rebbe and said, “Where is your self-sacrifice for Chassidus? You should have given up everything to see another teaching of Chassidus.” That is a story chassidim tell about this book. There is an addition to it. I don’t know the source for this, but chassidim say that although we do not have the Sefer Shel Tzaddikim, we do have Noam Elimelech, which contains some of the ideas connected with the Sefer Shel Tzaddikim. That is what chassidim would add. I don’t know whether it was said in the name of a Rebbe or in the name of chassidim, but there is such a saying. On the other hand, if we come to a Sefer Shel Resha’im, I also heard from Reb Mordechai Rozov, who said in the name of chassidim that they used to say that although we do not have a Sefer Shel Resha’im, of course

08:10 So he would say that chapter 17 of Tanya—the Alter Rebbe wrote it—speaks about what a rasha’s avodah should be: how to leave the state of a rasha and become a beinoni. There, in a short chapter, the Alter Rebbe also gave the rasha a direction. Of course, there is also Igeres Hateshuvah, which the Alter Rebbe printed later. And this brings us to the Alter Rebbe’s statement that Tanya was “compiled from books and from teachers.” As is well known, “books” means that there are books and there are teachers. The books are works written by tzaddikim, and large parts of Tanya are based on them. There are several traditions and views about which books he meant. Sometimes it says the Rambam’s works, the works of the holy Shelah, and Reishis Chochmah. Some add other books, but in any case, those are the main ones mentioned. Sometimes the Maharal of Prague is mentioned too, of course. These were books that we see were important to the Alter Rebbe. As for the Maharal, the Alter Rebbe was a descendant of the Maharal, of the line of the House of David, and was connected to him. As for the holy Shelah, it is known that the Alter Rebbe said that until he came to the Maggid in Mezritch, the Shelah was his Rebbe. He considered himself a chossid of the Shelah and would daven from the Shelah’s siddur, and so on. So we see that a large part of the teachings of Chassidus in Tanya is based on the Shelah. Similarly, Reishis Chochmah is cited many times in Tanya, as is the Rambam. “Teachers” refers to the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid, who did not write books. The Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid did not write down their teachings; chassidim wrote them down. The books Kesser Shem Tov and Maggid Devarav LeYaakov were written by chassidim, but they themselves did not

10:17 write them, and that is why they are called “teachers.” In Chassidus there is a whole discussion of the distinction between a teacher and a book, and how the level of teachers is higher than that of books, but this is not the place to go into it. Elsewhere, the Alter Rebbe also adds “our teachers in the Holy Land.” In one version of the introduction to Tanya, in an early edition, the Alter Rebbe writes about our teachers in the Holy Land. That means “teachers” refers not only to the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid, but also to Reb Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk. Reb Menachem Mendel was a luminary of his generation. The Alter Rebbe considered himself his student and learned a number of things from him, so he also had him in mind when he wrote “teachers.” What is the verse that forms the foundation of all of Tanya? Here we come to the verse: “For this matter is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.” We all know that Tanya as a whole explains this verse. What is so special about this verse that the Alter Rebbe bases all of Tanya on it? There is a teaching of our Sages. How does it go? The Gemara discusses which one verse contains most of the Torah. I do not remember the exact wording. Several views are cited, including “Love your fellow as yourself,” and one view says it is the verse “For this matter is very near to you.” In other words, this is not an innovation of the Alter Rebbe. It already appears in the teachings of our Sages. The view of one of the Tannaim is cited—I cannot remember exactly who it was right now—but one of the Tannaim said, I think, that the verse “For this matter is very near to you” is the foundation of the entire Torah. Why, in fact, is it the foundation of the entire Torah? In connection with what we will learn in Tanya, we can identify two general points here, perhaps three.

12:15 First, “it is near.” The new point Moshe Rabbeinu tells the Jewish people is that they should know that serving Hashem is near to them. An ordinary person who begins to learn, to daven, to serve Hashem thinks it is not near at all. “What do you mean? I cannot serve Hashem. It is very hard. Why are you telling me it is near?” Moshe Rabbeinu comes and tells the Jewish people—and to whom does he say it? He says it specifically to that generation, the generation that entered the Land. One might think he was speaking to the Generation of Knowledge, to people on a lofty level. On the contrary, Moshe Rabbeinu is speaking to the Jewish people for all generations and stating an eternal teaching of the Torah. As the Rebbe says about it in Tanya, he tells them: Know that “this matter is very near to you”—serving Hashem is something near, and not just near, but very near. That is one new point. The second is “in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.” There are two main points here. One is that the primary goal is actual avodah, doing something. The last word is “to do it.” Moshe Rabbeinu reveals to the Jewish people that the ultimate purpose of Torah and mitzvos is actual practice: action is the main thing. Yet at the same time he also asks for the heart, for feeling—“in your heart.” And he says “it is near to you” about both of them: both “in your heart” and “to do it.” “In your mouth” simply refers to learning. The mouth is what a person learns with. As it says in one of the Frierdiker Rebbe’s maamarim, where he explains Tanya, or explains the verse: What does “in your mouth and in your heart, to do it” mean? There is a well-known question: the order seems wrong. It starts with speech, then goes to the heart, which is

14:12 thought, and ends with action. That is not the order. If the order is thought, speech, and action, it should say, “in your heart and in your mouth, to do it.” And if it meant to list action, speech, and thought, it should start with action and then say “your mouth.” The order in the verse is neither from above down nor from below up. The Frierdiker Rebbe explains that “in your mouth” means learning. If you do not learn, there is nothing to talk about. If you do not learn, neither “in your heart” nor “to do it” is possible. First of all, you have to learn. That is why “in your mouth” comes first, and that learning must bring a person to both ends: serving Hashem with love and awe “in your heart,” and, most importantly, to actual action. All of this applies to every Jew. And that raises the question: How can you ask an ordinary person—a beinoni, a simple person, someone without a lofty soul—to have “it is near to you” apply to “in your mouth,” “in your heart,” and “to do it”? These are the main questions the Alter Rebbe comes to explain. He says he explains it “by a long and short way.” What does “long and short” mean? Here too, there are well-known interpretations given by chassidim. There are two interpretations, and both appear in the Rebbe’s sichos. In some places the Rebbe gives one interpretation, and in other places another. One interpretation goes back to earlier chassidim, though the Rebbe also cites it in one of his sichos. The second interpretation is primarily the Rebbe’s own insight. The well-known interpretation that chassidim gave throughout the generations is that “by a long and short way” means two ways: there is a long way and there is a short way. That is how they always learned it among

16:06 The elder chassidim—and you can see this in the Tanya commentaries that drew on the early chassidim. There are the explanations of Rabbi Greinyo[?] and Chaytsber[?]. The early chassidim explained “the long and short way” as follows: the Alter Rebbe presents two paths in serving Hashem in Tanya. And that really is what you see when you look at Tanya: the Alter Rebbe gives two answers, two explanations. How is it close to you? One explanation is through contemplation. The Alter Rebbe says that a person can contemplate. Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave you an intellect, and with your intellect you can contemplate. The mind rules over the heart; through contemplation, you can come to love and awe of Hashem and to action. That is the whole idea the Alter Rebbe explains in chapters 16 and 17 of Tanya. It is called the long way because it involves contemplation. You have to learn and contemplate. In chapter 18, the Alter Rebbe explains the short way. What is the short way? The hidden love. Every Jew, as a descendant of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, has a hidden love. It is something intrinsic, something natural. Every Jew has a love for Hakadosh Boruch Hu. It is something inherited. You only have to reveal it. So naturally, it is a short way: since it is already there, all the work is just to bring it from concealment into the open. The Alter Rebbe explains in Tanya how to reveal it. That is how “long and short” was always understood. At a 19 Kislev farbrengen in the early years—if I’m not mistaken, it was at a 19 Kislev farbrengen—the Rebbe explains this very delightfully and at length. The Rebbe offers a new explanation: “long and short” means one way that is both long and short. The Rebbe bases this on a Midrash. The Midrash tells of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya, who was on his way to Jerusalem and did not know how to continue. There were two roads, so he asked which road led

18:04 to Jerusalem. Someone there—a clever child—told him there were two roads: one was short and long, and the other was long and short. In the end, the difference became clear. One road was shorter and quicker, but in practice he could not enter Jerusalem. There were various things along the way that he could not get past. He could not get in; he could not pass through the wall. He was stuck outside. The other road was longer—he had farther to walk—but in practice it was a clear road. He arrived and could enter Jerusalem itself. The Rebbe explains that this is what the Alter Rebbe meant by the Midrash’s phrase, “long and short,” as opposed to “short and long.” It expresses the difference between the approach known as Chagas and the approach of Chabad: general Chassidus and Chabad Chassidus. Tanya is the foundation of Chabad Chassidus, and the Alter Rebbe revealed a path in serving Hashem through Chabad Chassidus that differed from the path of general Chassidus. What is the difference? As is well known, general Chassidus places the emphasis on faith: “The righteous person shall live by his faith.” Faith in Hashem, faith in the tzaddik—and with faith, you can cross the sea. The Baal Shem Tov writes that a Jew with simple faith can even split the sea. In other words, faith knows no limits. So when a Jew believes—he believes in the Rebbe, believes in the tzaddik, believes in the tzaddik’s soul, and is connected to him—the tzaddik will give him the way to reach every level without working for it himself. The tzaddik will get there through his own power. The Alter Rebbe demands a different path. The Alter Rebbe demands the path of chochmah, binah and daas, of patience, application and toil—everything in the fifty-three chapters of

20:05 Tanya. That is called the long and short way. The path of faith is very short. It requires no contemplation, no toil—just awaken your faith and you are inside. But you are not inside. You think you are inside, but you are not, because your inner faculties have not connected with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. So in truth, you remain outside. You have not entered Jerusalem. Your inner faculties, your very being, remain outside of serving Hashem. By contrast, the path of Tanya is longer. You have to learn, contemplate and work hard. There is a whole path of fifty-three chapters. Nevertheless, it is a short way. It is a sure way. It is the way in which a person brings along all the faculties of his soul, and he truly knows where he is going, what he is doing, what direction he is taking and what his goal is. In any case, the Alter Rebbe ends with the words “with the help of Hashem, may He be blessed.” The Rebbe says that this wording, too, is precise. “With the help of Hashem” means that, as the Alter Rebbe himself says in chapter 13, the beinoni’s success in serving Hashem ultimately requires help from Heaven. As the Alter Rebbe quotes the verse: “For He stands at the right hand of the needy, to save him from those who judge his soul.” Incidentally, in later years, two new explanations from the Rebbe on this subject came to light. That was in the ’10s, but in the ’40s and ’50s, in the very last years, the Rebbe revealed two more explanations of “the long and short way.” I’ll just mention them briefly. One is in Likkutei Sichos, volume 34, on Parshas Nitzavim-Vayeilech—Nitzavim. There the Rebbe says that “long and short” refers to the service of baalei teshuvah. The Rebbe discusses the difference between the service of tzaddikim and that of baalei teshuvah. The explanation there is also interesting; you have to look it up inside. This is not the time to go into it at length.

22:10 And the last explanation the Rebbe revealed—I heard it directly from the Rebbe. It was probably Elul 5749, I think, or Elul 5748 or 5749. It was at the end of Elul, right before Rosh Hashanah, a day or two before Rosh Hashanah. A new Tanya had been printed, and the Rebbe made a great stir about it in one of the sichos, very close to Rosh Hashanah. The Rebbe said then that the meaning of “the long and short way” is the concept of kefitzas haderech, the shortening of a journey. He explained that there are several ways this can happen: the entire journey is there, yet at the same time it happens in a leap. The Rebbe said that this is the meaning of “long and short,” and this is the innovation of the Alter Rebbe’s Chabad Chassidus. The Alter Rebbe gives us a path that includes the entire long journey, the whole path that an ordinary person would have to work through for years and years. But through studying Tanya there is kefitzas haderech: within that long path, everything proceeds in a shortened way, without requiring such a long time. You have to understand the words. In any case, I only wanted to mention this for the sake of completeness, that there is another explanation of the matter. So that is our lesson for now. With Hashem’s help, in the next lesson we will begin the first chapter of Tanya.