Tragic-Punishment, Wondrous-Salvation

Day by Day - Kislev 30 (See today's Hayom Yom here. )
Have you seen the Hayom Yom calendar for this date? It’s fascinating!

The tragic-punishment of the sins committed by the Jews in the times of Chanukah was the
a) Destruction of the Temple (in spirit)
b) Death
c) Subjugation in exile.

The Rebbe says “tragic-punishment”. What is the difference between tragedy and punishment?

When a person sins and suffers, that suffering may be punishment or it may be the consequence of the act. Put your finger in the fire and it will hurt. Punishment or consequence?

Often the punishment is joined to the consequence and they occur simultaneously. But they are different.

The laws of Torah are also the laws of creation. Mess up Torah and you’re messing up creation. Natural consequence. Fix what is wrong in observing Torah and the consequences disappear. Naturally. Punishment is the process by which the damage caused by sin is repaired.

The incomparable Reb Yoel Kahn taught us: A boy was running around barefoot and when told he might hurt himself. His response was, “I’m not afraid”.

You’ll get a splinter. “I’m not afraid.”

It will get infected. “I’m not afraid.”

So he gets a splinter, it gets infected, gangrene, is rushed to the hospital and after being treated with painful surgery and stitches, he is released and is again running about barefoot.

He is told he’ll get a splinter. His reply is the same “I’m not afraid”

It will get infected. “I’m not afraid.”

We will have to take you tot the hospital. “Oh! I’m scared!”

When Torah tells us not to eat a cockamamie food, that’s like saying don’t run barefoot or don’t cause damage. But when Torah says that if you do you will get 39 lashes, that’s like saying you’ll have to go to the hospital! So which statement should frighten you, the damage or the cure?

Punishment in Torah is the cure that heals the wound and makes it go away. When we see the suffering that follows after sin (like exile) it is partly punishment and partly consequence.

And now we know why the Rebbe hyphenated the two words, “Punishment-tragedy.”

Then, when the Jews did Teshuvah and great sacrifice, it brought the ‘wonder-salvation’ that was the miracle of Chanukah.

Wonder means miraculous – Peleh in Hebrew. Salvation means antidote; the solution to a threatening predicament.

So when Galut – exile – ends, is it a miracle or nature restored?

Was the collapse of Soviet communism a miracle or the inevitable fate of an evil, deceitful empire? Perhaps the miracle was that it could last as long as it did and its collapse was nature finding balance, correcting itself.

In the Chanukah story, when the Jews did Teshuvah it brought a ‘miraculous-antidote’, a combination of natural and super-natural results. Natural because evil must fail and light will dispel darkness naturally. And miraculous because it caught people’s attention and shook up their beliefs. It brought a new awareness. Natural occurrence doesn’t have that effect.

Now we know why the Rebbe hyphenated the words “wonder-salvation”.

Now here’s one for you:

Riddle: Why should the words “Evil-deceitful” be hyphenated?

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Wishing you...

Wishing you Shabbat Shalom, Chodesh Tov & Happy Chanukah!

That's a mouthful...

~The BlogMaster

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Chanukah Musings

Regards from Bais Chana...
It’s not as warm as I had hoped, coming to Florida from Minnesota. But here we are, outside of Orlando on beautiful camp grounds (hey, someone has to do it…) with some thirty delightful teenagers plus the staff, for the winter session of Bais Chana - and we’re learning Tanya!

Most of the girls are attending Jewish schools of one sort of another and all have been told that Judaism is beautiful, mitzvoth are beneficial, Torah is wise, the Maccabees were brave, Yosef was handsome, etc. But no mention of Divine Will (ratzon elyon) no mention of G-d’s pleasure or displeasure. No mention of Divine Kavanah, purpose of creation or the relationship between G-d and His Mitzvot nor between G–d and His people.

Sounds like Greek to me!

The Greeks of Chanukah believed in beauty, physical and spiritual. Judaism was spiritually beautiful, they agreed, so why spoil it by insisting that it is G-d’s Torah, His Mitzvot, for His pleasure? Do the Mitzvot if it makes you a more perfect human specimen. Study Torah if it makes you more intelligent. But do a Mitzvah for G-d? Not that the Greeks didn’t worship gods, deities of all sorts, they even bowed to them and offered incense.

But to the Greeks, all spiritual matters were part of human perfection: master the earth, master the heavens. Never merely to please a G-d who knows what He wants, we are not pawns in creation! We are not puppets to some celestial puppeteer! We aren’t wimps wanting to please! We are the captains of our fate – masters of our souls!

Only the week before I was in New York for the Shabbaton Retreat (you may have heard the live broadcast of the Saturday night talk). There I was making the argument for G-d’s needs. He needs the Mitzvah more than you do, etc.

The idea met with some resistance (as it always does): He is perfect, why would He need? The mitzvah is for our benefit on earth and in the hereafter.

Lately I have been thinking of the hereafter a lot. I guess that comes with age. I open the refrigerator and wonder, “what am I here after?” or I come into a room and think, “what am I here after. (Okay, so that’s an ‘old' joke…) But, I digress….

At that Saturday night lecture, one woman said to me, “I found myself resisting the idea of G-d needing our Mitzvot and wondering why. Then I realized that if the Mitzvah is for me I can fudge it a little. But if He really needs it then I have to do it and I have to do it right!

So, what do you think?

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The Third Dimension

Day by Day - Kislev 28 (See today's Hayom Yom here. )
Holy feelings, love and fear (or awe) of G-d or G-dliness are born out of knowledge: to know Him is to love Him.

Every soul has three mind faculties: discovery, development and relevance. Chochma is the discovery of an idea, Bina is the development of the discovery and Daat is identifying with the idea making it relevant to your life.

But discovery and development are truly objective, following the light of reason, wherever it might lead. Together they give the concept its dimensions, height and width. Chochma is height, Bina is breadth. You now have a square.

Daat, on the other hand, will not add new insight or more detail to the subject, it will add depth - what is already there will be deepened. The square becomes a cube. What is the deepening of an idea? Deep here implies internalizing or ‘personalizing.’

Think of G-d's greatness and you will have two dimensions. Think of your G-d’s greatness and you have three dimensions. Application of the information to your self, personal, that is the ‘deep’ of Daat.

In the daily reading of Tanya for this day we learn that Daat contains love and fear. Naturally, when you are personally affected by something or someone you respond with love or fear or both. We also learn that Chochma and Bina are the two ‘parents’ of the emotions.

But it’s the Daat that makes them real. Emotions of the heart are children of the mind. When parents are excited the children get excited as well, but the child’s excitement is fleeting, unreal, imagined.

When chochma and bina are inspired the heart will be stirred by their excitement. The heart will experience an emotion, love, but the ‘baby’ will not be viable, for the emotion is of the mind not of the heart.

Daat makes the emotion real by giving the heart its own excitement, this is accomplished by making the information personal, relevant.

Okay, now the Hayom Yom:

Rabbi Shneur Zalman, the first Chabad Rebbe, was the ‘discoverer’ of Chabad thought – its Chochma. The second Rebbe was its Bina and the third Rebbe gave it Daat.

The Hayom Yom reading for today says that the third Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mende, "made a latkah evening for his family, including his daughters-in-law, and so did the first Rebbe and so too the second Rebbe. "

Q. In telling us this historical tidbit, why not start from the beginning? Why not say, the first Rebbe made a latkah evening for the family and so did the second and third Rebbes?

Perhaps it is because the Tanya of the day introduces the faculty of Daat - Chocham and Bina having been introduced the previous day. The third Rebbe, Daat, is the primary focus of the day. Here the children were invited, ‘sons’ and ‘daughters’.

Which leads us to the custom of giving “gelt” to the children, particularly on the fourth or fifth night of Chanukah. Daat inspires love and awe, the fourth and fifth of the ten attributes and the first two of the 'children'.

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Intersecting Torah

Day by Day - Kislev 26 (See today's Hayom Yom here. )

It is fascinating to see how the daily portion of Torah, the daily portion of Tanya and the day's Hayom Yom calendar quote intersect!

Notice the theme of birth:

In the Torah portion of the day Pharaoh is celebrating his birthday. Rashi writes, “A child is born through others” – emotions are born from intelligence.

Tanya of the day – the different levels among souls is due to the process of birth and the refinement of a child’s mind and heart are determined by the parents’ sanctity at conception.

The Hayom Yom message of the day is about the blessing of the new month on the Shabbat preceding the birth of the new moon.

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Did You Miss It?

Note from the BlogMaster: Did you miss Rabbi Friedman's live broadcast on Saturday night? Now, the wonderful people at www.virtualyeshiva.com have made the recording available to us. You can hear it by clicking here. (If it doesn't work, try going through their website.)
Enjoy!

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fyi: Rabbi Friedman in the Keys

Rabbi Friedman is currently in Florida and will be lecturing at the Bais Chana programs in Key Largo. The program for college age women is Jan. 2-8, regular program is Jan 6-12 and a Couples' Retreat Jan 12-15.

For more information on these and other Bais Chana programs go to http://www.baischana.org/.

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Are Jews Normal?

BlogMaster's Note: The following piece is an excerpt from a talk by Rabbi Friedman. It has been printed and reprinted many times and has appeared on many websites. In short - it is a Rabbi Friedman Classic! Enjoy!

The image is from this article posted on www.chabad.org, under the title, "Cold Soup".

If you ask someone coming out of church on a Sunday, "Do you believe in G-d?" the worshipper is shocked. "What type of question is that? Of course I do!" If you then ask him, "Do you consider yourself religious?" what will the answer be? "Certainly. That's why I'm here!"

If you go to a mosque on Friday and you ask the average person there, "Do you believe in G-d?" what will the answer be? "Definitely." "Do you consider yourself religious?" "Well, obviously."

This is normal. These conversations make sense.

Now go to synagogue on Yom Kippur. Ask the Jew sitting in the synagogue on Yom Kippur, fasting, "Do you believe in G-d?"

You cannot get a straight answer. "Umm, it depends on what you mean by 'G-d'." That's if they're the philosophical type. Otherwise they'll simply say, "What am I? A rabbi? I don't know."

So then ask them, "Do you consider yourself religious?" Have you ever asked an American Jew if they're religious? They crack up laughing. And they assure you that they're the furthest things from religious. "Are you kidding? Do you know what I eat for breakfast?"

Then every one of them will say, "I had a grandfather, on my mother's side, oh, that was a religious man. But me...?"

So you ask what appears to be a logical question. "Then why are you here?"
For some reason, this average Jew, who doesn't believe in G-d and is very not religious, will look at you like you're crazy and say, "What do you mean? It's Yom Kippur!"

This is not normal.

Let's analyze this for a moment. What is this Jew actually saying?

You asked him if he believes in G-d and he said "No." Or "When I was younger I used to." Or "When I get older I'll start to."
"So you don't believe in G-d?"
"No. I don't."
"Are you religious?"
"Furthest thing from it."
"So why are you here?"
"Because it's Yom Kippur!"

What he's saying is this: "Why am I here? Because G-d wants a Jew to be in the synagogue on Yom Kippur. So where else should I be?"

So you say: "But you don't believe in G-d."

He says, "So what?" and he doesn't understand your problem.

He is saying: "Today is Yom Kippur even if I don't have a calendar. This is a synagogue even if I don't like it. I am a Jew even if I'm not religious, and G-d is G-d even when I don't believe in Him. So what's your problem?"

Now that can be dismissed, and unfortunately many of us do dismiss it, as sheer hypocrisy. We say, "You don't believe in G-d and you're not religious--don't come to the synagogue. Don't come here just to show how Jewish you are."

The Lubavitcher Rebbe has a different approach. This insanity is what makes us Jewish. This is what shows how special we are in our relationship with G-d.

That's called truth. It's not about me. I don't want to be religious. I don't want to believe in G-d, I don't want to hear about this. But He wants me here, so here I am.

The same thing happens on Passover. Every Jew sits by a Seder. Ask the average Jew at a Seder, do you believe in G-d? Leave me alone. Are you religious? He chokes on the matzo laughing. So you're celebrating the Exodus from Egypt 3300 years ago? History is not my subject. Then why are you here? Where should I be? It's Passover! That's what's so magnificent about the Jew.

Now let's put it all in context. Three thousand, three hundred and twelve years ago G-d asked us if we would marry him. We had an extraordinary wedding ceremony, with great special effects--we were wowed. After the wedding He said, "I have a few things I'd like you to take care of for me so, please... I'll be right back." He hasn't been heard from since. For three thousand, three hundred and twelve years. He has sent messengers, messages, postcards--you know, writing on the walls... but we haven't heard a word from Him in all this time.

Imagine, a couple gets married, and the man says to his new wife, "Would you make me something to eat, please? I'll be right back." She begins preparing. The guy comes back 3300 years later, walks into the house, up to the table, straight to his favorite chair, sits down and tastes the soup that is on the table. The soup is cold.
What will his reaction be? If he's a wise man, he won't complain. Rather he'll think it's a miracle that the house is still there, that his table and favorite chair are still there. He'll be delighted to see a bowl of soup at his place. The soup is cold? Well, yes, over 3300 years, soup can get cold.

Now we are expecting Moshiach. The Rebbe introduced this radical notion that Moshiach is going to come now. What makes that so radical? It means he's going to come without a two-week notice. We always thought there was going to be some warning, so that we could get our act together before he comes. Moshiach, coming now? But now I'm not ready. I don't want to be judged the way I am. I need a little bit of a notice.

If Moshiach comes now, and wants to judge, what's he going to find? Cold soup?
If Moshiach comes now, the Rebbe tells us, he will find an incredibly healthy Jewish people. After 3300 years we are concerned about being Jewish, which means we are concerned about our relationship with G-d.

Moshiach comes today, he'll find that our soup is cold. We suffer from separation anxiety. We suffer from a loss of connection to our ancestors. We suffer a loss of connection even to our immediate family. The soup is cold. The soup is very cold. But whose fault is that? And who gets the credit for the fact that there is soup altogether?

We are a miracle. All we need to do is tap into it. We are the cure. Not only for ourselves, but also for the whole world. Through us the healing is holistic, it's natural, it's organic. Our relationship with G-d is organic. It's not a religion that we practice--it's us, it's who we are, it's what we are.

So the Rebbe tells us that the way to go is straight to G-d. Skip all the steps, skip the Kabbalah, go straight to G-d and be in touch with your purpose. The purpose is not Kabalistic. The purpose is personal. G-d needs you to do a mitzvah. He sent you into this world to be who you are, because only you can do this particular kind of mitzvah. True, the mitzvot are the same for all of us. But when you do it, it's different, because it's holistic. It's with your emotions, with your past problems, with your family background, with your knowledge and with your ignorance. All that comes together and makes your mitzvah holistically unique.

So let Moshiach come now and catch us here with our cold soup because we have nothing to be ashamed of. We are truly incredible. When G-d decided to marry us, He knew He was getting a really good deal.

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Surrender and Merge

Day by Day - Kislev 25 (See today's Hayom Yom here. )
Friday is the quality of Yesod - complete surrender of identity as in intimacy, where it’s not me, it’s we. Hayom Yom turns its attention to Chanukah, leaving only a hint of the nature of Friday. In the daily Tanya reading for that day, we are introduced to the fact that every Jew, righteous and sinful, has two souls- a holy soul and an animal soul.

How apt for Friday: On the Friday of creation, G-d saw all He had made and it was “very good.” The good inclination was good, the evil inclination, very good. (Inclining man towards evil forces him to try harder, thus making him “very good.”) Friday introduces the tension between two inclinations. Tanya introduces the tension between two souls.

Now the choice we must make is which soul will be our mate? With which soul will we identify to the point of intimacy? And that is the quality of Friday, Yesod. Mutual love does not make two people one. Only when they rise beyond love to intimacy, “Yesod,” do they surrender and merge into one.

And here’s the hint in the Hayom Yom. There are many laws and customs in the kindling of the Menorah. The Rebbe mentions only a select few. One of them is the concern for which direction the Menorah faces. But, he writes, “The Menorah can be placed facing either east to west or north to south.” There’s the link to intimacy: This very same spiritual concern also exists in Jewish law regarding the placement of the marital beds.

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Never the Twain Shall Part

Day by Day - Kislev 24 (See today's Hayom Yom here. )
The fourth, fifth and sixth days of the week express the qualities Netzach, Hod, and Yesod. Netzach means victory or “perseverance into victory” – getting the job done. Hod means ‘acknowledgement’ recognizing another’s importance above your own. Yesod means ‘foundation’ or ‘rock bottom’; complete surrender as in intimacy.

All three qualities are called ‘humble’ because they don’t have the excitement of Kindness, nor the drama of Severity, nor again, the beauty of Compassion- they are modest and humble. The humility comes from their objectivity; Netzach is the feeling that ‘you gotta do what you gotta do’. The objective reality demands certain actions so you surrender to the facts and do what must be done even if it involves personal sacrifice. That’s the positive side of Netzach.

Netzach can also be destructive. Just last week a married woman complained to me about her husband, “I don’t mind sacrificing my pleasures and preferences to keep peace in the home. What bothers me is that my husband doesn’t do the same. Why should I sacrifice if he won’t? This is the negative side of Netzach- “I’m willing to go to war for the cause but everyone must come with me.” If you get to stay home I won’t go either- it’s not fair!”

Hod comes to the rescue; Hod is the feeling that you are more important than me. Hence I will go to war but you must stay safe at home. I not only surrender to the facts ‘gotta do what you gotta do’ I also surrender to you “I will do the dirty work so you won’t have to.”

In holiness, Netzach and Hod are never separated; you don’t have one without the other. (In the body, Netzach and Hod are the right and left legs. The angels described in Yecheskel's -Ezekiel's - vision have “two legs as one”. And when standing in prayer our legs are together as one.)

Hayom Yom says that on Wednesday we surrender to the fact that Shabbos is coming and we need to prepare. For Thursday, Hayom Yom says, we feel humbled before G-d. How appropriate that Thursday is the Hemshech, a continuation, of Wednesday. A rare occurrence in the calendar, but Netzach and Hod must not be separated!

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Chanukah Special: Wise Love

We all know that the Chanukah candles radiate extraordinary light. But did you know that they also exude wisdom?

Eight candles - eight wisdoms on any given subject. Everyone loves Chanukah, so let’s take LOVE for example. Every candle offers a deep and practical insight into this most ethereal emotion. Listen carefully each night of Chanukah and you can hear the nuances of love that the flames reflect.

First Night: Love is not important; love is appropriate. It is appropriate to love that which is important. There are people in your life who are important; love them. But know that loving someone will not make them important. (The pet you love is not more important than a brother you hate.)

Second Night: You always hurt the ones you love for love can be selfish. But if you also feared the ones you love, you would be more careful about hurting them. You may buy gifts out of love but you could never hurt out of fear or respect, i.e. every life is sacred; this is G-d’s creation; this is the apple of His eye, etc.

Third Night: Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Familiarity breeds contempt. Know the difference between the two. (Love is the desire for added closeness in order to bridge the distance between you. Don't become too familiar and complacent.)

Fourth Night: Don't confuse love with intimacy. Intimacy makes babies; love does not. Love may be indiscriminate; intimacy may not.

Fifth Night: Heart reflects heart. When someone loves you, your heart naturally loves back. If you don't deserve the love, you will love back even more. Treasure the love you are receiving and let your heart respond.

Sixth Night: Love begins with attraction. You find something attractive in a person: glamour, drama, fantasy, challenge, humor, values... and you want more. What is attractive about your spouse? He or she wants a good life, a family, children and all with you! That's a lot to love.

Seventh Night: No one has done more for you than your parents; no one will do more for you than your children. Teach your children to love your parents and everyone benefits. For part of loving someone is to endear them to others. Bridging the generations is beneficial to all.

Eighth Night: You don't give to the person you love; you love the person you give to. Investing time, money, energy and heart in another person makes for a strong and meaningful bond. Be generous.

In conclusion: In our relationship with G-d doing His mitzvoth makes you love Him more. Proclaiming His miracle endears Him to others.

Happy Chanukah!

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Don't Just Do Something - Stand There!

Day by Day - Kislev 23
"You’re only as happy as your unhappiest child”. Parents can not be completely happy if their child is not.

Wednesday begins the second half of the week and preparations for Shabbat.

Q. Why three days preparation just to stop working? I can stop working at a moment’s notice.
A. Shabbat is more than cessation of work.

On Shabbat G-d feels content with His world, He rests. Goodness and holiness must always grow and increase, “No rest for the righteous”. But with creation, G-d is content on Shabbat. But He needs us, His children, to be content as well. This translates into thirty nine types of labor that are forbidden on Shabbat for they show discontentment: Cooking food because I don’t like it raw; Doing business because I need more money; washing cloths because I need a change, etc.
When I violate Shabbat it disturbs G-d’s contentment for a father is only as happy as his unhappiest child.

And so, to reach a state of contentment with our world; to like it just the way it is, sing praise to G-d.

Six days of the week we must not be satisfied with the way things are. We must harness nature’s powers to make life more livable. But on the seventh day we must stand back and adore the world as it is and see no need to change a thing.

Family has this pattern as well. There is a time to notice your child’s shortcoming; to agonize over their character flaws, bad habits and lack of knowledge – and then to do something about it all.

There is also a time when you must adore them: Stand back, be content with them as they are – it don’t get any better than this!

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Words of Compassion

Day by Day - Kislev 22 (See today's Hayom Yom here. )
For many centuries Jews have been repeating the words of King David’s Psalms. In times of joy, in time of trouble, in regular daily prayer - The Tehillim (Psalms) is a staple of Jewish life.

You can read Tehillim as a book of Torah, you can read it as a song of praise or as a desperate plea for Divine mercy.

At one and the same time it expresses G-d’s feelings (towards us) and our feelings (towards Him) making it a blend of Heaven and earth.

The same can be said of the third day of creation, which the Torah describes as “good for Heaven and good for earth.”

Here’s the idea: The kindness of Sunday, “Let there be light”, will not produce “Tikun Olam”. Like a friend who, with his unconditional love for you, will not correct your faults because he’s not bothered by them.

The judgment of Monday will not bring “Tikun Olam”, like the friend who is bothered by your faults and must reject you because of them.

Compassion is a compound of kindness and judgment. Like the friend who recognizes your faults, knows you’re guilty, but is moved to be kind even though you are undeserving. He will help you ‘fix’ your faults: Tikun Olam.

Reciting words of Tehillim arouses the Divine compassion that enables us to purify the unholy and turn darkness into light, thereby repairing the world.

In the Hayom Yom calendar for today, the Rebbe tells us of the practice of daily recitation of Tehillim and attributes the custom to a “Takkana of the Rebbe” (his father in-law).

This is the calendar’s first Tuesday. It’s about saying the words of Tehillim and the Rebbe calls it Takkana! As in, “Tikun (Olam).”

What do you think?

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fyi:

If you want to read more by Rabbi Friedman on the little digression in the last post, "A Kinder Severity", you can use this link. Enjoy. ~ The Blogmaster

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A Kinder Severity

Day by Day - Kislev 21 (See today's Hayom Yom here. )

Right, left and center… right, left and center… It seems everything in Judaism follows this pattern of threes.

Even the days of the week are divided into threes. The first half – Sunday, Monday, Tuesday; second half – Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and then it is Shabbat.

In some places in Torah Shabbat is placed in the center: Prepare for Shabbat for three days, have Shabbat, then keep its blessings for three days.

The triad of the week puts Sunday on the right corresponding to kindness (hence the creation of light) and Monday on the left corresponding to severity (the separation of the waters and the creation of purgatory.)

FYI – the first millennium was an extension of the first day – one thousand years of indiscriminate kindness and endless light. People lived too long, animals grew too big, sin went unpunished. The second millennium is an extension of the second day – a thousand years of severity and judgment. Man’s life span was reduced, animals were no longer huge and sin was punished by a deluge – punishment by water… but I digress…

The first Monday in the Hayom Yom calendar, or the Kislev 21, urges the study of Mishna in the streets and committing Mishna to memory. Possibly because Mishna memorized protects the soul from the discomforts of purgatory and reciting Mishna in the streets clears away the un-holiness created on the primordial Monday.

The study of Chassidic thought goes a step further and clears away heavenly sources of judgment leaving perfect kindness.

Note: True kindness is distilled from judgment. But where there is no judgment there can be no kindness, only permissiveness. Kindness and permissiveness should never be confused!

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Let There Be Light

Day by Day - 20 Kislev
There are some days in the Hayom Yom calendar in which the Rebbe writes information which seem like simple statements upon the first reading. I’ve always found the comments on those days to be even more intriguing that the more obvious ones.

The first such example is Kislev 20. There the Rebbe tells us the exact dates on which the Tanya was first printed.

What’s the teaching in that? Here’s a thought:

In 1943, when the Rebbe first compiled the Hayom Yom, the 20th of Kislev was on a Sunday. Sunday is the day of light, as in “Let there be light” on day 1 of creation. That statement by the Creator was far more significant than merely the creation of one of many commodities. Creating light was G-d bringing order to the “world of chaos.”

Rabbi Shneur Zalman’s publishing the Tanya was his way of repeating that statement, “let there be light”, thus bringing order to a world in chaos.

Back in the early 80’s, the Rebbe enigmatically urged us to have an addition of the Tanya printed in every town or city where Jews live or visit.

In the years that followed, and particularly the past several years, with the global exporting of evil in the name of religion, it seems now that the Rebbe wanted then to claim the world for holiness before the “axis of evil” laid its claim.

There’s another meaning to light. Light is wisdom. In this, too, the Tanya is exceptional. The popularity of the Tanya, two hundred years after it first appeared, and its relevance to modern life mark it as an extraordinary work worthy of serious study.

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Wrestling with Angels

Day by Day - 19 Kislev
On the 19th of Kislev, two hundred seven years ago, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi was released from his imprisonment in Czarist Russia, where he was held for 52 days on charges that his Torah teachings threatened the imperial authority of the Czar. This was a watershed event in the history of Chassidism heralding a new era in the revelation of the "inner soul" of Torah, and is celebrated to this day. (Read more...)

Sometimes you have to fight - with an angel.

Yaakov, (Jacob) was the younger twin, yet he was the chosen one. To get his due he had to come in the back door, “steal” the blessings.

Heaven had not approved the notion of “one people” on earth. Yaakov wrestled with the angel and won. Heaven would now permit the establishment of the Chosen People- his name was changed to Israel and we have the “Children of Israel” – G-d’s people.

Sometimes you have to fight with an angel. Moses went up to Mt. Sinai to receive the Torah but the angels would not allow it. “Torah is Divine and belongs in heaven!” Moses would need to convince heaven that Torah could properly belong to earth. He “wrestled” with the angels and won. Torah is no longer the property of heaven, it belongs on earth.

Sometimes you have to fight with an angel. The Rebbe, Rabbi Shneur Zalman, would bring G-d Himself down to earth, making Him known to His creatures through human knowledge. The angels were adamant. “That’s going too far. That must not be allowed!”

The Rebbe’s life was in danger as he wrestled with the angels. On the 19th of Kislev he won. Heaven would support the spreading of the wells of Chasidut making the knowledge of god available to man. We now have Israel, Torah and G-d together on earth.

Hence “Yisroel, Orayta V’Kudesha Berich Hu Kulo Chad.” ~ The Zohar

Hence Tanya is a “great G-d in a little book.” ~Rabbi Zusia of Anipoli

Hence Torat Hachasidut sheds a whole new light on:
-- What is a Jew? "A piece of G-d from above", and
-- What is torah? “I give you Myself in Writing”, and
-- What is G-d about? Having a dwelling place in the lowest world, which will be filled with the knowledge of G-d as water fills the oceans.

Tanya enlightens the mind and enthuses the heart, and that’s Chabad.

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Day by Day - Introduction

Life is sacred. Thus, simple logic dictates that a moment of life must be sacred as well. The truly great can account for every minute - they make every minute count.

For the rest of us making every day count would be more realistic, and to help us with this task we have the "Hayom Yom" calendar which the Rebbe composed with a thought appropriate to each day.

Any thought of holiness at any time is, of course, precious. But "for everything there is a season under the heavens". So a good thought at the "right" time is even better.

I can't say I understand all the messages in Hayom Yom and we don't always know what makes a given idea relevant to a given day. However, this is only a blog (I don't know what that means either!) with no intention of offering a commentary on the work. Just some daily reflections, free association, a rant now and then, and some random thoughts. I hope you can join me every day.

(Hayom Yom is available with English translation from Kehot.com)

I hope you enjoy this series and welcome you along for the journey.

~Rabbi M. Friedman

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Come on... Be a Mentch!

"Obeying the law makes you a decent person; going beyond the letter of the law makes you a mentsch..."

Do you know about the ItsGoodToKnow CD-of-the-month club? It has been running for over ten years now and this year's series is called "How To Be A Mentch". In this series Rabbi Friedman teaches selections of Ethics of Out Fathers (Pirkei Avot) with unique insights from the Lubavitcher Rebbe.

And the best news is, it's not too late to join! Click on the image to the right and it'll take you right there. Enjoy!

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Welcome!

It is with gratitude to the Almighty for His many blessings that we bring to you this website. Together, we will learn, explore and grow with the guidance of one of today's most incredible teachers.

Rabbi Manis Friedman has inspired tens of thousands of Jews and non-Jews with his deeply sagacious yet entirely practical teachings.

With his students and 'fans' spread around the globe, this site will serve as a virtual community center for the "Rabbi Friedman community." Visitors will be able to post comments to, ask questions of and keep in touch with Rabbi Friedman

Rabbi Friedman will be posting just about every day (except Shabbat and major Jewish holidays) and you are encouraged to visit often and help spread the word!

Rabbi Friedman's first post is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 20 - the nineteenth of Kislev.

We'll see you then.

-The BlogMaster

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