Video is also available – click to open Kuntres Acharon, Essay One   The contents of this Kuntres Acharon al Kamah Perakim (“Later Booklet on Several Chapters”) are not near as homoeneous as one might expect.   The ninth printing1 of the Tanya, which included Iggeret HaKodesh and Kuntres Acharon for the second time, was […]

Video is also available – click to open   ומה שכתוב בזהר, חלק ג׳ דף ק״ה, דהרהור לא עביד מידי כו׳   As to the statement in the Zohar, Vol. III, p. 105, that “thinking achieves nothing,…”   והיינו, אפילו לטב   i.e., not even a beneficial effect, if the “arousal from below” of deed […]

Video is also available – click to open עיין עץ חיים, שער הנקודות, שער ה׳, פרק ו׳   Examine the statement in Etz Chayim, Shaar HaNekudot, Shaar 8, ch. 6,   שאין החזרת פנים בפנים, כי אם על ידי מצות מעשיות דוקא   that there can be no “turning of face to face” except through […]

Video is also available – click to open   והנה הבירורים דעשיה עולין ליצירה על ידי שם ב״ן, ומיצירה לבריאה ולאצילות, כמו שכתוב בשער מ״ן, דרוש י״א, סימן ז׳   The acts of refinement of Asiyah that are accomplished through practical mitzvot ascend to Yetzirah by means of the Divine Name Ba’n, and from Yetzirah […]

Video is also available – click to open In chs. 39 and 40 of Tanya the Alter Rebbe spoke of the various worlds to which souls ascend as a result of their Torah study and spiritual service. Their level in each case is determined by the individual’s intention at the time: If the study and […]

Video is also available – click to open אלא מפני שכוונתו לשם שמים)   (5But since his intention is addressed to G‑d,   He is, after all, in a state of prayer, except that alien thoughts interpose.   לכך יש לה תיקון בקל, לחזור ולעלות   it is therefore easily corrected, so that [his prayer] […]

Video is also available – click to open והעלאת מין נוקבין במוחו ולבו של אדם, היא בחינת רשפי אש בלי גבול   The “elevation of mayin nukvin” in the mind and heart of man is [the love of G‑d] in a state of boundless flames of fire, and being boundless it relates to the infinite […]

Video is also available – click to open והנה במקום אחר כתב שרמ״ח מצות עשה הן בה׳ חסדים   Now, in one source13 it is written14 that the 248 positive commandments are [rooted] in the Five Attributes of Kindness of Za of Atzilut, for every positive command serves as a vessel to receive an expression […]

Video is also available – click to open   ומקור המוחין הוא לבנונית כו׳   The source of the [Divine] Intellect is the Lavnunit [of Keter],   הוא הענג וחפץ העליון להמשיך אור למטה, לרמ״ח אברין דז״א   which is the supreme delight and desire to draw the light below into the 248 organs of […]

Video is also available – click to open   וכל שכן באור אין סוף ברוך הוא, דלית מחשבה תפיסא ביה באורו והתפשטות החיות ממנו יתברך   This is all the more true with regard to the [infinite] Ein Sof-light, for no thought can apprehend Him in His radiance or the diffusion of the life-force issuing […]