Thursday 6 Adar I 5703
Torah Lessons (5703)	Chumash: T'ruma, Chamishi with Rashi. Tehillim: 35-38. Tanya: Moreover, even in (p. 119)...to a great extent. (p. 119).

From my father's Sichot:

"It is a magnificent gift of G-d to merit an innate sense - "feel" for doing kindness to another, to derive deep pleasure from it.

This can develop to the point that one cherishes the other more than one self. He may find many explanations as to why he deserves his own tribulations, G-d forbid, but to do so with regard to another's suffering - is absolutely impossible.

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Haftora: Vatishlam Kol Ham'lacha

• In the Haftora B'rachot we always say Ne'eman V'rachaman Ata, and Toshia Ut'samach (p. 187).

Shabbat Adar Sheini 6 5703
Torah Lessons (5703)	Chumash: Pekudei, Shevi'i with Rashi. Tehillim: 35-38. Tanya: The explanation of (p. 157)...Man will understand. (p. 163).

It is a tradition among the elders of Anash [1] that the Tanya is a compilation of words of counsel given by the Alter Rebbe to Anash at Yechidus during the years 5540-5550 (1780-1790).

In the summer of 5552 (1792) he began arranging the Tanya in the form it now has. A year later, there were already numerous copies, and in time, there were corruptions of the text and even falsifications. For that reason the Rebbe then moved quickly to have it printed.

Another version: For twenty years the Rebbe wrote his work, the Tanya, painstakingly examining every last word. By the year 5555 (1795) the text was pure and clarified and he granted permission to copy it. When copies became numerous and corrupted he had it printed.

The Tzemach Tzedek related that on the first Rosh Hashana of his life (in 5550, 1789) the Alter Rebbe spoke on the statement in the Talmud, "He is administered an oath, Be a tzadik"... This discourse is in fact the first three chapters of Tanya.

   

Notes:

1. (Back to text) Members of the Chabad Chassidic Community.

He will then arrive at a true joy, as follows: In order to comfort his heart in double measure, let him - in the wake of the above words of truth [concerning his lowly spiritual stature] - tell himself the following.

Let him say to his heart: "Indeed, without a doubt, I am far removed, utterly remote from G-d, and am despicable, contemptible, and so on. But all this is true only of me - that is, my body and the animating soul within it.

Yet within me there is a veritable `part' of G-d, which is present even in the most worthless of my fellows, [so that even if I am no better than he, I still have this `part' of G-d within me], namely, the divine soul and the spark of G-dliness itself clothed in it, animating it.

It is only that [when the body and animating soul are in such a lowly state], the divine soul is in exile [within them].

"If so, then, on the contrary, the further I am removed from G-d, and the more despicable and contemptible, the deeper in exile is my divine soul, and all the more is it to be pitied.

"Therefore, I will make it my entire aim and desire to extricate it from this exile, and to `return her to her father's house [i.e., to restore it to its source and its original state] as in her youth," i.e., as it was before being clothed in my body, when it was completely absorbed in G-d's light and united with Him.

[The comfort (attained by this) is dual: not only is his depression eliminated, but he will also attain a joy which he would never experience were it not for his earlier depression].

"Now too, will it [the divine soul] likewise be absorbed and united with Him once again, when I concentrate all my aspirations on the Torah and the mitzvot, [in an effort] to clothe therein all [of the soul's] ten faculties; [i.e., by applying my mental faculties to Torah study, and my emotive faculties to the performance of the mitzvot with the vitality lent them by the love and fear of G-d, as explained above in chapter 4. Thus will my divine soul be reunited with G-d].

"Especially in [fulfilling] the mitzvah of prayer [will I try to release my divine soul], by crying out to G-d because of the distress of its exile in my loathsome body, so that He release it from captivity and bind it to Himself."

This [service of G-d, in which one seeks to restore the soul to its source], is referred to as [10] "teshuvah *with* good deeds."

[This is an oft-used Talmudic expression denoting the mitzvot (as in the statement, "One hour of teshuvah with good deeds in this world is better than all the life of the World to Come").

At first glance, the juxtaposition of the two seems incongruous; teshuvah deals with atoning for one's past imperfections, while "good deeds" are performed in the present and would seem to bear no relation to one's past.

According to the Alter Rebbe's statement, however, that one's performance of the mitzvot should be motivated by a desire to return his soul to its source within G-d, the connection between the two is clear: the "good deeds" themselves actually constitute teshuvah, which means "return." As the Alter Rebbe continues]:

This denotes the "good deeds" which one does with the intention of returning the soul which is part of G-d, to the [Divine] source and root of all the worlds.

   

Notes:

10. (Back to text) Avot 4:17.

Positive Mitzvah 10: Reciting the "Shema"
Deuteronomy 6:7 "And you shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you travel on the road, and when you lie down and when you rise up"

HaShem commanded us to recite the Shema twice every day, in the morning and the evening.

When our Sages arranged the content of the Siddur, they included the Shema in the morning and evening prayers.

The Hebrew word Shema - gives us a hint about our three daily prayers.

The first letter Shin stands for Shacharit - the morning prayers.

The second letter Mem stands for Minchah -, the afternoon prayers.

The third letter Ayin stands for Arvit (Maariv) - the evening prayers.

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Positive Mitzvah 5: Worshiping G-d - "Prayer"
Exodus 23:25 "And you shall serve the L-rd, your G-d"

Imagine a magnificent palace with servants always ready to serve the king. Some stand by his throne, others bring him food, and, still others, tailor his velvet robes.

This service is fit for a king.

HaShem is the King of all kings! He does not ask us to perform these types of service, but rather instructs us to serve Him through Prayer Tefillah.

As subjects of our King, we express our dedication and loyalty by offering our praise and making our requests through prayer.

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G-d did not give you light that you may hold it up in the middle of the day. When you are given light it is in order to accomplish something, to do something difficult and novel. Go take your light and transform the darkness that it may also shine!

From: Bringing Heaven Down to Earth by Tzvi Freeman - tzvif@aol.com