Tanya (Judaism)

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Tanya Rabbati, a 16th-century Italian code of Jewish law, is an unrelated work with a similar name. For other uses, see Tanya (disambiguation).
Edition of the Tanya printed in Fayid from 1974. The 7th leader of Chabad encouraged new printings to be made in remote places.

The Tanya (Hebrew: תניא) is an early work of Hasidic philosophy, by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of Chabad Hasidism, first published in 1796. Its formal title is Likkutei Amarim (ליקוטי אמרים‎, Hebrew, "collection of statements"), but is more commonly known by its first Hebrew word tanya, which means "it has been taught", where he refers to a baraita section in "Niddah", at the end of chapter 3, 30b. Tanya is composed of five sections that define Hasidic mystical psychology and theology as a handbook for daily spiritual life in Jewish observance.

The Tanya is the main work of the

dveikus
(emotional fervour), in contrast to general Hasidism's creative enthusiasm in faith. As a consequence, Chabad Hasidic writings are typically characterised by their systematic intellectual structure, while other classic texts of general Hasidic mysticism are usually more compiled or anecdotal in nature.

As one of the founding figures of Hasidic mysticism, Schneur Zalman and his approach in the Tanya are venerated by other Hasidic schools, although they tend to avoid its

Written Torah of Hasidus", with the many subsequent Chabad writings being relatively "Oral Torah" explanation. In it, Schneur Zalman brings the new interpretations of Jewish mysticism by the Baal Shem Tov, founder of Hasidism, into philosophical articulation and definition. This intellectual form synthesises Hasidic Divine Omnipresence and Jewish soulfulness with other historical components of Rabbinic literature, embodied in the Talmud, Medieval philosophy, Musar (ethical) literature and Lurianic Kabbalah. The Tanya has therefore been seen in Chabad as the defining Hasidic text, and a subsequent stage of Jewish mystical evolution.[1]

Background to the Chabad approach

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The Tanya deals with

Jewish spirituality, psychology and theology from the point of view of Hasidic philosophy and its inner explanations of Kabbalah
(Jewish mysticism). It offers advice for each individual on how to serve God in their daily life.

Early Hasidic movement

The first few generations of the Hasidic movement established the various approaches of its different schools. The third generation great students of

Lithuanian Jews from nearby White Russia, and aroused the opposition of their early leaders. In this, Chabad is a separate offshoot of general Hasidism, and to its students is the profound fulfillment of systematically articulating its inner depths. Therefore, in Chabad, the Baal Shem Tov and Schneur Zalman, who share the same birthday, are called the "two great luminaries" (after Genesis 1:16, according to the Midrashic
account, before the moon was diminished), representing heart and mind.

Kabbalah and Hasidism

The historical development of

tzaddik. The inner dimension of this mystical revival of Judaism was expressed by the profound new depth of interpretation of Jewish mysticism in Hasidic philosophy. Great scholars also followed the Baal Shem Tov as they saw the profound meanings of his new teachings. The Baal Shem Tov's successor Dov Ber of Mezeritch
became the architect of the Hasidic movement, and explained to his close circle of disciples the underlying meanings of the Baal Shem Tov's explanations, parables and stories.

Chabad

Mind versus heart. Among Dov Ber's disciples, Rabbi

Dov Ber Schneuri
, would pray motionless for hours. Emotional expression was replaced with inner, hidden emotional ecstasy from his intellectual contemplation of Hasidic philosophy during prayer. At the end of praying, his hat and clothing would be soaked in perspiration. Typically, he wrote one of the most personal mystical accounts in Judaism, his "Tract on Ecstasy", that instructs the Chabad follower in the levels of contemplation. This explains his father's concept of the Chabad articulation of Hasidism. While the Baal Shem Tov stressed the heart, Schneur Zalman stressed the mind, but it was a warm, fiery mystical intellectualism.

Intellect versus faith. By giving Hasidus philosophical investigation, the Chabad school explained the inner meanings of the "Torah of the Baal Shem Tov". Its systematic investigation enables the mind to grasp and internalize the transcendent spirituality of mainstream Hasidism. If the mind can bring the soul of Hasidism into understanding and knowledge through logic, then its effects on the person can be more inward. The classic writings of other Hasidic schools also relate the inner mysticism of Hasidic philosophy to the perception of each person. The aim of the Hasidic movement is to offer the Jewish mystical tradition in a new, internal form that speaks to every person. This would awaken spiritual awareness and feeling of God, through understanding of its mystical thought. Mainstream Hasidism relates this mystical revival through charismatic leadership and understanding based faith. The path of Schneur Zalman differs from other Hasidism, as it seeks to approach the heart through the development of the mind. Chabad writings of each generation of its dynasty, develop this intellectual explanation of Hasidic mystical ideas, into successively greater and more accessible reach. In recent times the last two Rebbes expressed the spiritual warmth of Chabad in terms of daily reality, language and relevance, in the Yiddish translations and memoires of Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, and especially the Likkutei Sichos of Menachem Mendel Schneerson.

Chabad Hasidus and other dimensions of Jewish thought. Because the approach of Chabad explains Hasidus in intellectual form, it can incorporate into its explanation the other aspects of historical Jewish thought. Complimentary or initially contradictory explanations of Jewish thought from

Greek philosophy. Their explanations of the nature of the Divine, are related from man's independent understanding from first principles. Hasidic thought looks to the inner meaning of Kabbalah, a conceptual system of metaphysics from mystical encounters with revelation. The insights it brings to theological questions, brought out in its Chabad explanation, are related from a mystical, higher reality "from above". When Hasidic thought addresses traditional questions, such as Divine Providence, immanence and transcendence, it offers "Inner Torah" explanations of spirituality, that can also be harmonised with the explanations of the "Revealed Torah". It is the ability of Hasidic thought to bring the abstract, esoteric systems of Kabbalah into conscious perception and mystical faith, by relating them to man's inner psychological awareness. The ideal of the Chabad approach is to articulate this spiritual perception in terms of man's understanding and knowledge.[3]

Structure

According to legend, Rabbi Shneur Zalman published his Likkutei Amarim anonymously in 1797. Later editions incorporated additional writings by Shneur Zalman. The latest version of this work, dating from 1814,[citation needed] consists of five parts:

  1. Sefer shel Beinonim ("The Book of the Average Men"). This book is a Hasidic guide to the psychological drama of daily Jewish spiritual life. It describes how contemplating the mystical greatness of the Creator and the union that a Jew has with Him through the Torah's commandments, can achieve the love and fear of God necessary for sincere worship. This approach is the fundamental theme of Chabad teaching: to achieve emotional refinement during prayer and Jewish observance. However, in the path offered, this emotion must stem from intellectual understanding of Hasidic mysticism. That is why this approach and the movement are called Chabad, after the three intellectual
    tzaddik
    in mystical thought is transcendent and only involved with holiness.
  2. Sha'ar ha-Yichud ve'ha'Emunah ("The Gateway of Unity and Belief"). This book outlines the theological background to the first section's Hasidic life. It is an investigation of the meaning of God's Unity in Hasidism. The Panentheism (all creation takes place "within God") taught by the Baal Shem Tov is systematically articulated in Kabbalistic philosophy. God is all, but all is not God. Two levels of God's Unity are both paradoxically true, based on the Kabbalistic doctrine of the Tzimtzum. In the "Lower Unity" all Creation is nullified to God. In the "Higher Unity", Creation is an acosmic illusion as only God truly exists. The apparent plurality in Creation is only an effect of the concealments of Divinity. The origin of everything is nullification within the Divine Unity.
  3. Iggeret HaTeshuvah ("Letter of Repentance"). This gives the Hasidic interpretation and Chabad method of
    Teshuvah (Return to God). This section is also known as the "Tanya Katan" ("Brief Tanya") as it is the gateway to all personal spiritual redemption. It describes the mystical return that not only leads to forgiveness for the sins but can fully enable the repenting person to be elevated to a spiritual place that is higher than where they were before the sin. In Hasidism any spiritual descent is only a preparation for a higher ascent. Two levels of Teshuvah are described, based on their meanings in Kabbalah. The "Lower Teshuvah" redeems sin. The "Higher Teshuvah" brings constant elevation unconnected to sin. Because of this, the founder of Hasidism taught that even saintly tzadikim
    are able to be inspired to do Teshuvah.
  4. Iggeret HaKodesh ("Letter of Holiness"). This section was not published until 1814, after Rabbi Shneur Zalman's passing. It is a collection of letters which the author wrote to his disciples and different Hasidic communities, in which he talked about mystical aspects of certain commandments, such as charity, Torah study, or in general all commandments concerned with physical deed. Today it is used as a source of certain in-depth concepts of the "Written Hasidism" not concerned specifically with emotion felt during service or repentance. It is a more esoteric and detailed work of Kabbalistic commentary than the previous sections. Schematically it would relate to a person who had internalised the fundamental first three sections, and could progress higher.
  5. Kuntres Acharon ("Last Thesis"). This section was not published until 1814, after Rabbi Shneur Zalman's passing. It is also a series of letters in which the author resolved certain seeming controversies in Kabbalah. This section is an even more in-depth investigation of profound mystical notions than the previous one. Like the fourth section, it can be seen as an addition to the first three fundamental sections.

In general, the first book is a universal Jewish guidebook to avodah, everyday Divine service, through Schneur Zalman's innovative system, applying

Kabbalistic
concepts, the author uniting abstract ideas with the importance of everyday service and an emotion that must accompany it. These discourses are similar to the exegetical commentaries of Schneur Zalman in his other works, though here they sometimes take the form of letters to his followers, with more direct advice.

Subject matter

Most of the work's first part, "The Book of the Average Man", the beinoni, serves as a fundamental and basic guide to the spiritual service of God.

Unlike other early Hasidic works, this book is not a collection of sermons or stories, but rather a

Tehillim
and Tanya. The Rebbes of Chabad taught that it is a sacred duty to publish and distribute this book as widely as possible.

The Tanya seeks to demonstrate to the "average" Jewish man or woman that knowledge of God is there for the taking, that spiritual growth to ever higher levels is real and imminent, if one is willing to engage in the struggle.[5] Although many view the Tanya as a work of explanation on Kabbalah or Jewish mysticism, its approbations make clear that Tanya is first and foremost a book of advice in the practical service of God.

Levels of divine service

The Tanya describes five levels:

  • The complete tzaddik ("righteous person") has transformed his animal soul completely, to the point that it is able to reach intense Godly delight in its connection to Godliness, and is averse to all worldly pleasures.[6]
  • The incomplete tzaddik no longer desires evil in a way that will be externally expressed, even on the level of thought; however, a minute amount of desire for very subtle evil remains.[6]
  • The beinoni (lit. "intermediate one") possesses an animal soul that still desires evil, but he succeeds at constantly restraining himself from sin in action, speech, and even thought; this, however, requires ongoing tension and struggle. This struggle is not simply the confrontation between good and evil, but rather the ongoing encounter between one's two
    souls - the animal and the divine - the soul that draws downward toward the earth, and the soul that aspires upward toward Hashem.[7]
  • The incomplete rasha ("evil person") will commit sins, however depending on the level of good in the incomplete rasha he will either repent or merely thoughts of repentance will enter his thoughts.[8]
  • The complete rasha has sinned so frequently that none of his thought, speech, or action are controlled by the divine soul (though it remains in an "external" state of
    makkif attached to him), and he is exclusively controlled by his animal soul.[8]

Jewish criticism

Main article:
Jews as a chosen people § Alternative Kabbalistic and philosophical views

The Tanya's theory of two souls, and the statement that the souls of the Gentile populace of the world are different from those of Jewish souls (originating from the realm of evil), have been controversial. More precisely, the tanya states that Jewish people have two souls, the nefesh elokis, or divine soul, and the nefesh beheimis, or the animal soul, which is not inherently evil, but basic. It states that people who are not Jewish have one soul, the nefesh beheimis.

Various writers have asserted that this idea has the potential to either develop into or to provide support for racism [9] or that it endorses a kind of "metaphysical racism".[10]

Exposition

In Chabad, the Tanya is said to be the

Written Torah
.

In his preface to the Tanya, the author writes that anyone with questions about the meaning or application of the Tanya's guidance should approach "the great ones in his city." In Chabad Hasidic parlance such a guide is known as a Mashpia. Such a person is trained by his predecessors in correct application of the Tanya.

Many works have been written explaining the Tanya, in particular: the Lubavitcher Rebbe's Reshimos on the Tanya, HaLekach VehaLibuv, Shiu'rim BeSefer HaTanya (in its English translation, known as "Lessons in Tanya"),[12] Maskil Le'Eisan, Biurei Ha'Tanya, and "Opening The Tanya", "Learning the Tanya", and "Understanding the Tanya" by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz.

The Tanya had a great influence upon Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira of Piaseczno who quotes it many times in his works. In his "Mevo HaShearim" he contrasts the approach of the Tanya to that of Karliner Hasidism.

Aphorisms

"Our understanding in Tanya is like a goat looking at the moon"--Rabbi Sholom Dovber Schneersohn.[13]
"It is a wonder that Schneur Zalman of Liadi has managed to put such a great God into such a small book"--Rabbi
Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev
"With the Tanya the Jewish people will go to greet the Messiah"--Rabbi Zusha of Hanipol

See also

References

  1. Pardes Rimonim, Eitz Chayim
    , and Tanya) are the focus of a summary of its development over the ages". Retrieved Nov. 2009
  2. ^ Overview of Chassidut from www.inner.org. Retrieved Nov. 2009
  3. ^ Overview of recent academic study of Habad philosophy ("Contemporary Habad and the Paradox of Redemption" by Naftali Loewenthal, in Perspectives on Jewish thought and mysticism) Google books. Retrieved Nov. 2009
  4. ^ and souls [which] I have made Isaiah 57:16
  5. ^ "The Aleph Society, promoting the educational efforts of Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz. | Preface to Rabbi Steinsaltz's Commentary on Tanya". Archived from the original on September 27, 2007.
  6. ^ a b Tanya, Likkutei Amarim, ch. 10
  7. ^ Tanya, Likkutei Amarim, ch. 12
  8. ^ a b Tanya, Likkutei Amarim, ch. 11
  9. ISBN 9780838637265
    . Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  10. ISBN 9780738709055
    . Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  11. Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn
    , Vol. IV, p. 261 ff.
  12. ^ Shneur Zalman of Liadi. "Lessons in Tanya". Chabad.org.
  13. ^ Shemu'os Vesippurim, Refoel Kahn, vol. 1, p. 96

Further reading

  • HaRav Shneur Zalman of Liadi, Tanya: Likutei Amarim: Sefer Shel Benonim (It was taught, Collected Sayings: Book of Intermediates) with added notes explaining the Mystical concepts by Rabbi Nissan Mindel PH.D.& Rabbi Ya'acov Immanuel Schochet, Bi-Lingual Hebrew-English edition, Kehot Publishing.com

External links

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