The Hero of the Tanya: The Banuni - The Revolutionary Approach of the Alter Rebbe to Serving G-d and Understanding the Purpose of Creation. Lecture at Klurman Mesivta High School &amp; Yeshiva Gedolah of Miami Beach

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struggle

alter rebbe

divine soul

animal soul

chabad chasidut

chabad chassidus

serving g-d

serving god

banuni

tanya

purpose of creation

tension

The Revolutionary Approach of the Alter Rebbe to the Purpose of Creation

24 Teves 5773

The Hero of the Tanya: The Banuni

The Role of the Jew: The Link Between Creator and Creation -- Address to the Klurman Mesivta High School of Miami Beach

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chassidus

actualizing potential

isaac homiler

chassidut

potential

chess

creator and creation

24 teves

Address to the Klurman Mesivta High School of Miami Beach

The Role of the Jew: The Link Between Creator and Creation

Chabad Vs. Nietzsche - &lsquo;Love Thy Ego&rsquo; is at the Core of Torah. What the German Philosopher Didn&rsquo;t Understand About Judaism

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‘Love Thy Ego’ is at the Core of Torah. What the German Philosopher Didn’t Understand About Judaism

Chabad Vs. Nietzsche

The Jew and the General&nbsp;

A Jew ends up sleeping in the same cabin as a Russian General of the Czar's army. He tells the conductor to wake him up at 4:00 a.m. so he can get off at his stop. He is awakened at the proper time, yet due to the darkness he mistakenly puts on the cloth of the general instead of his own.&nbsp;&nbsp;

When he arrives home, his wife asks him if everything is all right with him. When he takes a look in the mirror and sees that he is wearing the general's uniform, he tells his wife, "It seems like the conductor woke up the general instead of me."&nbsp;

Three Arks&nbsp;

The holiest article in the Tabernacle that the Jewish people constructed in the desert was the Ark, which housed the Tablets of the Ten Commandments. In this week's portion (Terumah), the Torah commands the Ark to be made of acacia wood and to be covered within and without with gold<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_edn1" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref1')">[1]</a>.&nbsp;

To fulfill this stipulation the Jews made three boxes, tucked into each other. The larger visible box was made of pure gold. Inside it, they placed a box of acacia wood. Then a second golden box was made and it was put inside the wooden one. Thus, the middle wooden box was covered with gold inside and out<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_edn2" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref2')">[2]</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;

But why did they need to build three arks in order to fulfill this condition? Why could they not build one ark of wood and plate it inside and out with gold?&nbsp;&nbsp;

Three Layers of the Soul&nbsp;

Gold is an inanimate metal, while wood belongs to the botanic world of growth and development. Yet wood has nothing of the brilliant glitter and splendor of gold. And while wood may be developed into a magnificent structure, it can also -- unlike gold -- deteriorate and rot.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The spiritual masters teach<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_edn3" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref3')">[3]</a> that the psychological structure of every human being consists of three strata, one "beneath" the other: The deepest, often invisible, stratum is the quintessential soul that may be unknown even to a person himself or herself (even if its impact is present in some form). Then there is the conscious personality -- including all of our instinctive thoughts, feelings, moods, instincts, and desires. Finally, there is the layer of behavior -- the active thoughts, words, and deeds we express and carry out during our daily lives and interactions.&nbsp;

The three arks that the Jewish people constructed three&nbsp;millennia&nbsp;ago in the Sinai desert represented these three dimensions of the human structure. The most inner ark, made of pure gold and tucked inside the other two arks, reflected the most inner dimension of the soul, which can be defined as "pure gold." This is the Divine, spiritual essence of our identity, displaying a brilliant luster of sacredness, integrity, and love. At the core, you are a "derivative" of infinite oneness, a manifestation of G-d's light in this world.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Just as gold coming from the inorganic world is not subject to real change, so too the golden essence of the human soul cannot be altered, tarnished, tainted, or compromised.&nbsp;No matter how much we were abused or we abused ourselves&nbsp;--&nbsp;the core of our consciousness remains a piece of gold. Just as G-d is indestructible, so are you. In that Divine space, you remain fully intact, full of confidence, fortitude, joy, possibility, love, compassion, and courage.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The middle ark made of wood reflected the more visible conscious personality of the human&nbsp;soul. Just like wood, our feelings and attitudes go through many changes during our lives. We may develop and refine our "wooden" character so that it becomes exquisite and beautiful, or our personality may experience decomposition. &nbsp;

Our "wooden" self may vacillate between extremes. At times we may feel idealistic, virtuous, and spiritual, but at other times we find ourselves consumed by bleak emotions, negative cravings, and dark ambitions. We feel rotten and decayed inside.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Finally, the third and outer ark, conspicuous for all to see, was made of pure gold. This reflected the Torah's blueprint for the most external stratum of the human structure -- a person's behavior.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Though we may feel our personalities to be torn inside, and at times even saturated with gloom and pain,&nbsp;we need not grant them&nbsp;permission to dictate our behavior. We need to remember always that even while our conscious moods may gravitate toward decadence, our essence remains pure gold.&nbsp;

This is Judaism's fundamental code of human behavior. Even while you feel selfish, unholy, and obnoxious inside, your behavior -- what you do, how you talk, and how you consciously think -- can reflect the beauty and splendor of your innate G-dliness&nbsp;and infinite holiness. You can feel your "wood" in all of its nuanced manifestations and then choose&nbsp;the golden path.

The Gift of the Tanya&nbsp;

This was one of the primary contributions of Rabbi&nbsp;Schneur&nbsp;Zalman&nbsp;of&nbsp;Liadi, known as the Alter Rebbe (1745-1812), in his classical Chassidic&nbsp;work,&nbsp;the Tanya (published 1796 in Russia). Generally speaking, the writings of ethical Judaism before the Tanya differentiated between the&nbsp;Tzaddik&nbsp;(the righteous person) whose heart and deeds were perfectly pure and holy vs. the&nbsp;Rasha&nbsp;(the sinful individual) whose heart and deeds were blemished and wicked. Many people, of course, were situated somewhere in the middle of the two extremes, always feeling unfulfilled because they fell short of reaching the state of the ideal human being -- the spiritually perfected&nbsp;Tzaddik.&nbsp;

In the Tanya, Rabbi&nbsp;Schneur&nbsp;Zalman&nbsp;placed as his ideal human being a new spiritual model&nbsp;whom&nbsp;he called "the&nbsp;Benoni," or "the possible man." The&nbsp;Benoni&nbsp;is a person whose inner character often resembles that of the&nbsp;Rasha, consisting of the good/evil dichotomy that is the original natural state of every human. But the&nbsp;Benoni's&nbsp;behavior can be as mindful as the&nbsp;Tzaddik's.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Rabbi&nbsp;Schneur&nbsp;Zalman&nbsp;taught that there is no need, nor is it even a possibility for most people, to have all of their three "arks" turned into pure gold. It is not tragic if our middle "ark" remains dichotomized. Having bad feelings, insane feelings does not make me a bad person. It just makes me a nuanced person, who has a lot "going on" inside. My innermost ark is forever gold, and my behavior, my active thoughts, words, and deeds, can reflect my innate and primal Divine love and goodness. G-d did not desire holy people doing holy things; He desired&nbsp;unholy&nbsp;people doing holy things<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_edn4" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref4')">[4]</a>.

In beautiful prose, the Alter Rebbe teaches us that in our service of G-d there is no need to "amputate" any part of our emotional selves, to repress any part of our internal experience, in order to be a good Jew. We can embrace every part of our identity, realizing that each one of our "arks" plays an indispensable role in our emotional and spiritual growth, and that even our most challenging and painful emotions and wounds are there to help us grow, attain self-awareness, and reach our spiritual destiny. The light of G-d can be found everywhere, even in our dark moments and gloomy experiences.

(The Tanya&nbsp;<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_edn5" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_ednref5')">[5]</a> makes an important distinction between instinctive thoughts vs. conscious thoughts. While instinctive thoughts are beyond the control of a person, they are a mirror of my unconscious fears or primal needs, conscious thoughts remain under my&nbsp;"jurisdiction." While our instinctive thoughts may be painful, addictive, immoral, reflecting the good\evil dichotomy inherent in human nature, our conscious thoughts may always be fashioned of gold. It is the gift of freedom we each have to help our neural pathways construct new "highways.")&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Do not make the error of the Jew sleeping on the train. Do not confuse who you are with what you are wearing. It is a sad error to allow yourself to be defined by your external rotten mood in lieu of your inner golden self. Nothing and nobody can ever damage your gold.&nbsp;

____________

<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_ednref1" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn1')">[1]</a>&nbsp;Exodus 25:11. 
<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_ednref2" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn2')">[2]</a> Talmud&nbsp;Shekalim&nbsp;16b; Yuma 72b, quoted in&nbsp;Rashi&nbsp;to Exodus ibid. 
<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_ednref3" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn3')">[3]</a> See Tanya (by Rabbi&nbsp;Schneur&nbsp;Zalman&nbsp;of&nbsp;Liadi, 1745-1812) chapters 1-25.&nbsp; 
<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_ednref4" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn4')">[4]</a>&nbsp;See Tanya chapters 1, 12-14; 26-27; 35.Ch. 12. 
<a href="javascript: void(0);" id="_ednref5" onclick="ty.scrollTo('_edn5')">[5]</a> Ch. 12.

The Id, the Yid, and the Super-Ego - The Three Layers of Self

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aron/ark

identity

The Three Layers of Self

Essay Terumah

The Id, the Yid, and the Super-Ego

When a Chassid Ends up in Hell- On the Fundamentals of Chabad Chassidism -- Keynote Address on 19 Kislev at Chabad Shul of North Oak Park, MI

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yud tes kislev

schnuer zalman of liadi

On the Fundamentals of Chabad Chassidism -- Keynote Address on 19 Kislev at the Chabad Shul of North Oak Park, MI

Yud Tes Kislev 5771 (2010): What Happens When a Chassid Ends up in Hell? 

A Day with the Alter Rebbe (1) -- 200 Years From His Passing- 1) The Majesty of Friction. 2) How To Deal with People Who Hurt You

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anger

forgiveness

eizer kenegdo

bereishis

chaf daled teves

hurt and pain

1) The Majesty of Friction. 2) How To Deal with People Who Hurt You

24 Teves 5773 

A Day with the Alter Rebbe (1)  -- 200 Years From His Passing

At a Melavah Malkah of Heichal Menachem in Monsey, Motzaei Shabbos Vayishlach, 16 Kislev 5776 (November 28, 2015), Rabbi YY Jacobson addressed how the teachings of Chassidus addresses some of the most acute challenges of our times. 1. What place is there for religious surrender in an era of freedom and democracy? 2. How can one celebrate servitude? 3. With all of the struggles within, how can one find his place as a servant of G-d without succumbing to disillusionment, or becoming delusional. 4. Can you love the other like yourself?

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chassidus themes

The Paradigm Shift Created by Chassidus

Yiddish: The Challenge of Our Generation -- Who Am I?

What is faith? Can faith and reason co-exist? What is the distinction between blind faith and visionary faith?&nbsp;

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emunah

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What is the Meaning of Faith?

The Emunah Series

Basics of Emunah #2: Can Faith and Reason Co-Exist?

In light of the current ongoing challenges in Eretz Yisrael and around the world,&nbsp;Fresh Start invites you to a transformative webinar series&nbsp;to provide practical tips and expert guidance for self-regulation during times of crisis. Featuring Dr. Richard Schwartz, Moderated by Rabbi YY Jacobson, Tuesday, November 21, 2023.

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What is the 'Yatzer Hara?' How Do We Deal with Our Inner Critic? Is Inner Guilt and Shame Helpful?

Zoom Webinar from Fresh Start with Dr. Richard Schwartz, Moderated by Rabbi YY Jacobson

IFS and the Tanya

An ongoing series in memory of Reb Yoel ben Reb Refael Nachman HaKohen Kahn. Rabbi Shais Taub and Rabbi YY in a &quot;zoom&quot; farbrengen on learning and teaching Tanya in our times. The event is on the 24th of Teves, the yartzeit of The Alter Rebbe, the Baal HaTanya.

For more videos from Rabbi Shais Taub on YouTube go to &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/soulwords&quot;&gt;Youtube SoulWords&lt;/a&gt;&nbsp;or visit Rabbi Taub&#39;s site&nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.SoulWords.org/&quot;&gt;SoulWords.org&lt;/a&gt;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;

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reb yoel kahn

Understanding the Two Souls and Our Struggle in This World

Zoom Farbrengen #2 In Tribute to Reb Yoel Kahn

Rabbis YY & Shais Taub: How to Teach Tanya in Our Times

Rabbi YY Jacobson lead a Farbrengen for Yud-Tes/Chaf Kislev&nbsp;together with Rabbi Shais Taub, with musical accompaniment&nbsp;by Eli Marcus &amp; Yisroel Edelson. The event was on Wednesday evening, 20 Kislev, 5782,&nbsp;November 24, 2021,&nbsp;at the Ohr Chaim Shul, 20 Forshay Rd&nbsp;(Tent ג&#39;), Monsey, NY.

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Yud Tes Kislev Farbrengen with Rabbis YY & Shais Taub: Tanya for Our Times

<span style="font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">This class, presented to women, Noach 2011/5772, explores a&nbsp;peculiar story in the Midrash Rabah on Noach. Alexander the Great visiting the King of Keitza to see how he runs his country. He observes how the monarch deals with two people coming to the king because one found a treasure in a newly bought filed and wants to return it. The seller refuses to accept it. The story may serve as an allegory to appreciate the tension in the human psyche between the two souls within us.&nbsp;

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