Video is also available – click to open To resume the discussion of R. Shimon bar Yochai: וגם פלפול הקושיות ותירוצים, דמסטרא דרע ורוח הטומאה, אשכחן ברבי שמעון בר יוחאי, דעסק ביה טובא Moreover, we find that R. Shimon bar Yochai dealt considerably (not only with the mere statements of law in the Mishnayot, but) […]
app_tanya04_Chapter21_32
Epistle 26 – Part 3
Video is also available – click to open The Alter Rebbe will now point out that a careful reading of the passage from Ra’aya Mehemna reveals that it is not the laws themselves nor the study of them that are termed the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Rather, this term is applied to […]
Epistle 26 – Part 4
Video is also available – click to open אבל הלימוד בתורה, אף הלכות איסור והיתר, טומאה וטהרה But the study of Torah, even the laws of issur and hetter, impurity and purity, i.e., not the objects but the laws concerning them, שהם המשניות וברייתות שבגמרא those being the Mishnayot and the Beraitot in the Gemara […]
Epistle 26 – Part 5
Video is also available – click to open The Alter Rebbe will now answer another question which he himself had posed earlier. The Ra’aya Mehemna had stated that so long as the bipolar influence of the Tree of Knowledge of [both] Good and Evil is dominant in the world, Torah scholars (who are likened to […]
Epistle 26 – Part 6
Video is also available – click to open The above applies nowadays, when the Shechinah is exiled in kelipat nogah; hence the main function of Torah study is to seek out and elevate the sparks of holiness from the kelipot. Hence, too, the current concentration on the laws of issur and hetter, kasher and passul, […]
Epistle 27 – Part 1
Video is also available – click to open Part (a) The Alter Rebbe wrote this letter of condolence to his chassidim in 1788 after the passing of his colleague and mentor, the saintly R. Mendele of Vitebsk (or Horodok), who had settled in the Holy Land in 1777. It concludes by rousing them to the […]
Epistle 27 – Part 2
Video is also available – click to open The Alter Rebbe is here addressing chassidim who in the past had benefited from their connection with the tzaddik both through his advice and blessings on material matters, and through his guidance in matters of the spirit. He comforts them, therefore, with the teaching of the Zohar […]
Epistle 27 – Part 3
Video is also available – click to open וזהו שכתוב בזהר הקדוש, דצדיקא דאתפטר אשתכח בכלהו עלמין יתיר מבחיוהי This, then, is the meaning of the statement in the sacred Zohar,23 that “When a tzaddik departs he is to be found in all the worlds more than during his lifetime.” Surely this should only apply […]
Epistle 27 – Part 4
Video is also available – click to open Part (b) ביאור על הנ״ל An Elucidation of the Above The Alter Rebbe now provides a deeper understanding of the above letter. * * * איתא בזהר הקדוש, דצדיקא דאתפטר, אשתכח בכלהו עלמין יתיר מבחיוהי כו׳ It is stated in the sacred Zohar that “When a tzaddik […]
Epistle 27 – Part 5
Video is also available – click to open והנה יש עוד בחינת הארה לתלמידיו Now, there is another kind of illumination [from the tzaddik] to his disciples. רק שאינה מתלבשת בתוך מוחם ממש, כראשונה However, it does not vest itself truly in their minds43 — as is the case with the first [kind of illumination] […]
