From: murray.bbs@cybernet.cse.fau.edu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
Subject: Tanya chitas for Av4
Date: 19 Aug 92 14:51:33 GMT
Organization: Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton

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  Daily dose of Tanya. - CHITAS for: Av 4(regular year) Av 8  in a
leap year
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              From SHIURIM B'SEFER HATANYA  by  Rabbi Wineberg.
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But what gives the power  and strength to the "loins" [i.e.,  faith] to
support and sustain the  "head" [i.e., the intellect  that contemplates
G-d's greatness] and the "arms" [i.e., the love and fear of G-d?] It is
one's involvement in - and  study of - the laws of the Oral Torah, [for
the Torah is the food (39) that nourishes  the soul's faith ], and [the
Oral Torah] is the manifestation of the Supreme Will.
 
[Only the Oral  Torah manifestly reveals  the Supreme  Will in all  its
ramifications;  the Written  Torah does  not elaborate on  the detailed
laws  concerning the performance of the commandments. On the mitzvah of
tefillin, for  example, the Written Torah me rely states that (40) "You
shall  bind them as  a sign upon your  hand, and they  shall serve as a
reminder between your eyes."  It is not at all clear exactly what shall
be bound, how it shall serve as a sign, and precisely where it shall be
placed  "between your eyes."  All these particulars are elaborated upon
in the Oral Torah; it is there that G-d's specific intentions regarding
tefillin are revealed.  So too  with the other  commandments: the  Oral
Torah reveals  the Supreme Will,  as will  be explained in  more detail
below, in Epistle 29.
 
The Alter Rebbe now goes on to say that Torah may indeed be said  to be
the  revelation  of G-d's  Will, a  level  that transcends  His wisdom,
notwithstanding  the fact  that  (41) "Torah  proceeds from  Chochmah,"
i.e., from Divine wisdom.  This is so because:] Torah [merely] proceeds
[i.e.,  unfolds] from Chochmah:  [it is merely  revealed through Divine
wisdom]; its  source and  root,  however, surpass  by far  the rank  of
Chochmah,  being that which is referred to as the Blessed One's Supreme
Will, [which encompasses and sustains Chochmah.]
 
Thus it is  written, - [and the  following proof text is cited  here to
illustrate the  effect of Torah  upon the soul,(42)] "As  with a shield
You  crown (43)  [the  righteous  man]  with  favor."  [The  word  here
translated `favor' is Ratzon, the  same word that has been  rendered as
`Will'.
 
So, too,  the study of Torah  encompasses and protects the  soul of the
Torah student,] like a crown which is placed above the brains which are
within the head. [Since the study of the Oral Torah  reveals G-d's Will
(i.e.,  the "crown"  that  transcends  the  level  of  wisdom),  it  is
therefore able to  strengthen the "loins" (i.e., faith),  whose purpose
it is to support the "head" (i.e., intellect) and the "arms" (i.e., the
love and  fear of G-d - the  spiritual emotions that are  the fruits of
intellect.]
 
[This teaching] parallels the familiar exposition of the verse, (44) "A
woman of valor is the crown of her husband."  [The Alter Rebbe explains
below,  in Epistle  29, that  "a woman  of valor"  alludes to  the Oral
Torah. Its  numerous laws serve  as a "crown"  for her "husband"  - the
intellective faculty of Chochmah.
 
[This  teaching] likewise  [recalls the  Rabbinic teaching,  that] (45)
"whoever studies  Torah laws every day [is assured of life in the World
to Come]," for it is the study of the Oral Torah that enables one to be
receptive to Divine revelation in the World to Come, as is explained at
greater length in Epistle 29.
 
This, then,  is the  meaning of  the verse, "She  girds her  loins with
strength":  "There (46) is  no strength but Torah,"  for it gives power
and strength  to the "loins", [i.e.,  the faith of the  soul, which are
girded  and  embodied in  it,] to  strengthen  and fortify  its "arms",
namely  the intel- lectually-generated or  innate awe and  love in each
man according to his measure.
 
[One individual  generates  a  love  or awe  of  G-d  through  his  own
intellectual  endeavor, through  study and  meditation; another  merely
draws on his  inborn reservoir of love and awe;  in all cases, however,
these spiritual emotions are  strengthened by the study of  Torah laws.
In the spirit of the above we can understand the metaphor of the verse,
"She girds her loins with strength": Just as a warrior gathers strength
by girding  his loins, so does  the soul become more  powerful by being
enveloped  with the encompassing radiance of the Divine light, which is
drawn down upon  it from the Supreme Will that is  revealed in the laws
of the Torah.]
 
((47)As regards supporting and sustaining the "head" of the soul, i.e.,
the intellect  that contemplates,  [Solomon] said: (48)  "She perceives
that her trade is good," [a metaphor which is] explained elsewhere.)
 
[What mainly concerns the Alter Rebbe  here is "girding one's loins" in
order to arouse  a love and fear of  G-d; as he will soon  explain, the
ideal time  for this is during prayer.  He therefore only briefly notes
in passing that the intellect is also strengthened through the study of
Torah laws.]
 
However, the occasion and time  for the strengthening and fortification
of the "arms" [i.e., the spiritual emotions] and the  "head" [i.e., the
intellect] is the time of morning prayer, for Above, that  is a time of
compassion, a time at which the Supreme Will is revealed. (49)
 
[Since the Supreme Will  strengthens the "arms" and "head",  it follows
that the time of  prayer - an  hour of favor when  the Supreme Will  is
manifest  - is an especially  propitious time to  strengthen both one's
intellectual grasp of G-dliness and one's spiritual emotions. Prayer is
thus the ideal opportunity to meditate upon the greatness of G-d and to
create within oneself a feeling of awe and love of Him.]
 
Therefore, [says  the Alter Rebbe], this  is what I would  ask of those
who  seek  to  draw  close  to  G-d:  Let  them  both  understand   and
contemplate, and have as a [constant] reminder between their eyes, (50)
all that  I wrote them last  year (51) in general,  and especially with
respect  to devout concentration during prayer from the depths of their
heart.
 
Day  after day let them seek G-d [and desire to cleave to Him] with all
their heart and  with all their soul;(52) let them  pour out their soul
like water (53) in the presence  of G-d.  In this spirit our  Sages, of
blessed  memory, taught in Sifrei, commenting upon the verse, "and with
all your soul" (54) -[that prayer  should be intense] "to the extent of
pressing  out  the soul...";  [i.e., until  the  soul bursts  forth and
expresses itself in an outpouring of love for G-d.
 
The wine  that is forced out  through the cracks of  an absolutely full
barrel is  no more than  a trickle. Yet  what forces it through  is the
very fullness of the entire quantity of wine within. So, too, "pressing
out the soul" refers to a state in which the entire essence of the soul
is  bursting forth with  its love for  G-d, yet only  a trickle of this
love is visible externally.
 
FOOTNOTES
 
39.  Cf. Mishlei 9:5. 
40.  Devarim 6:8. 
41.  Zohar II, 121a et passim. 
42.  Tehillim 5:13. 
43.  The Rebbe Shlita notes: "Though tzinah  generally denotes a shield
     that  protects the body from three sides, our verse concludes with
     the verb  "crowned" (rather  than "surrounded"; see  commentary of
     Rashi  here),  signifying  that  this  shield  also  serves  as  a
     "crown"." 
44.  Mishlei 12:4. 
45.  Conclusion of Niddah and loc. cit. 
46.  Sifri on Parshat Haazinu, and elsewhere. 
47.  Parentheses are in the original text. 
48.  Mishlei 31:18. 
49.  Zohar I, 247b; III, 204a. 
50.  Cf. Shmot 15:9. 
51.  In the epistle beginning "You shall reprove... that appears at the
     conclusion of Kuntres Acharon. 
52.  Cf. Devarim 4:29. 
53.  Cf. I Shmuel 1:15. 
54.  Devarim 6:5.
 
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