וכן לפאר את ה׳ ותורתו בכל מיני פאר Likewise, by exercising the attribute of Tiferet (lit., “beauty”), [a man seeks] to glorify G‑d and His Torah in all ways possible, such as by possessing a beautiful sefer Torah, beautiful tefillin and the like, ולדבקה בשבחיו בכל בחינות נפשו and to cleave to His praises [by […]

Up to this point the Alter Rebbe has explained how the seven middot exist within the Jew’s G‑dly soul. These emotive attributes are activated by the three intellective faculties — the Sefirot of ChaBaD (Chochmah, Binah and Daat), which are now to be explained. ומקור ושורש כל המדות הן מחב״ד Now, the source and root […]

לאנשי קהילת To the members of the community of . . . It has already been noted that the Alter Rebbe devoted many of the letters that comprise Iggeret HaKodesh to the theme of tzedakah, particularly when dedicated to the support of those who engage in Torah study and divine service in Eretz Yisrael. As […]

נודע דבאתערותא דלתתא, שהאדם מעורר בלבו מדת החסד ורחמנות על כל הצריכים לרחמים It is well known1 that in response to an arousal from below, when a man arouses in his heart the attribute of lovingkindness and compassion for all those in need of compassion, אתערותא דלעילא, לעורר עליו רחמים רבים ממקור הרחמים there comes […]

לפי שההארה והגילוי שבגן עדן היא בחינת ממלא כל עלמין For the manifestation and the radiation in Gan Eden are of the level called Memaleh Kol Almin13 — the light which “permeates all worlds”; i.e., the muted Divine life-force that contracts, descends and diminishes according to the receptive capacity of the particular created being which […]

אבל גילוי ההארה שבתחיית המתים יהיה מבחינת סובב כל עלמין The radiation of light at the time of the Resurrection, however, will become manifest from the level of Sovev Kol Almin, שאינה בבחינת צמצום ושיעור וגבול, אלא בלי גבול ותכלית which is not in a state of contraction, measure and limit, but is limitless and […]

The Alter Rebbe now goes on to explain why in Gan Eden, when the soul is not encumbered by a body, the light of Keter cannot be manifest, whereas — paradoxically — this revelation becomes possible only in the World to Come at the time of the Resurrection, when the soul is once again invested […]

Returning to the earlier discussion: It is now clear why in future time the righteous (and “Your people are all righteous”) will be lauded as holy: they will all have revealed to them that Divine radiance that is “holy” in the sense that it transcends apprehension. Moreover, they will become so unified with this revelation […]

As noted earlier, the overwhelming majority of the letters that the Alter Rebbe’s sons included here as part of the Tanya, were intended to encourage active divine service,1 particularly through the giving of tzedakah for the Kollel Chabad Fund. (This Fund supported fellow chassidim who had settled in the Holy Land, there to serve G‑d […]

Having spoken until now of the higher category in the love of G‑d called ahavah betaanugim, the Alter Rebbe now proceeds to consider the lesser love, ahavah zuta. והשנית היא אהבה ותאוה, שהנפש מתאוה ואוהבת וחפיצה לדבקה בה׳ The second [category] is a love and desire in which the soul desires, loves and wishes to […]