Tanya L'masse #4 - Chassidim also have pets

This Week’s Hisbonenus Talking Points

1. The greatness of the neshama
   “ונשמות אני עשיתי” — Hashem Himself created our neshamas. Our inner struggles reflect the depth and importance of the soul.
2. Two voices within us
   We feel pulls toward connection with Hashem and pulls away from Him. The struggle itself is normal and part of avodah.
3. What klipah means
   Klipah is a cover, not a monster. Hashem’s hiddenness creates space for choice and discovery of the good within.
4. What “ra” really means
   In Chassidus, ra means disconnection from Hashem. Avodah is noticing these impulses and returning to connection.

Tanya L'masseh - Learning + Hisbonenus 

Presenter : Rabbi Betzalel Bassman 

A project of Merkos Torah: Kviyus Itim L'Torah

Take your learning to the next level. Reach out to see which project is the best fit for you - rabbibbassman@gmail.com

Rabbanus Training - Kollel L'Rabbonei Chabad

Revolutionize your Limud haChassidus - Kollel L'lomdei Dach

Make Chassidus part of your life - Dach L'noshim

In-depth practical halacha - Kollel Aliba D'hilchisa

Transform your davening - Bais Medrash Iyun Tefilah

Master Hilchos Niddah - Kollel L'hilchos Niddah

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Okay, Baz Zasha, this is our fourth session of Tanya Lamaisa Learning Plus His Binding Us. And thank you for all the feedback and how to uh create this concept that um we're kind of trying to figure out. Excuse my voice as well. Okay, so we are in Peddock, we are in Peddock Alef, and we're getting into the important discussion of the Nefesh and the Nefesh. The the uh Patanya has some uh extremely crucial um perspective that's that can be very helpful on a very simple level. And we have to remember that the Alta Debba was coming to um provide the gentler approach to this in general was coming to provide the gentler approach to viewing how to view ourselves, and these were the struggles that everyone was coming to the Alta Debba with. So it it's kind of easy to see that in the first topic of discussion. Altadeba says, What's their identity? So last week we discussed how the the beautiful concept that the five titles and the five names that Taida puts upon people are that their names. They are descriptions, but they're not the identity of the person. And now we get into like what is the person, going deeper into what is the person, and the alpha debba has an extremely original approach to understanding what's going on under the hood inside, and it's actually contrary to the perspective of other McKabolim in the times of the Al Debba. Um, for example, the Bavama Zulai, um, late 16th century, he felt the person that won Nefish and it kind of uh vacillates. Alterebel there is saying, no, we have two nefoshists. There's two voices inside of us. And this that everyone's coming to the Alta Debo with these identity crises. One day I want to do the right thing, the next day I don't. Although saying it's two voices inside of us. I actually had a um uh someone that I knew very well when I was at Schlichas in London um about um about uh over 10 years ago, 15 years ago, so he he actually had a dog. Told me he was he was a psychoanalyst, and he had a very friendly dog, and he said the dog would sit in on sessions with his clients, and he said the reason is is because he wants people to view themselves or at least their animal side as a pet. And he said having that perspective will be much more in line with what Hasidis wants us to view ourselves. So I uh I know most don't generally have pets. We have enough children in the house to keep us busy, but the the pet analogy, the Nefosha Bahamas, it happens to be actually in in up until our generation, everyone could relate to having animals. Most people had animals in their backyard. So when you said an animal, it was you had like uh it was almost like a mushroom. Um, you know, we lost the mushroom of the melee, and to a certain degree lost the mushroom of the animal, at least for us to see them, but it is easier to relate to. So the Altadeba does something quite fascinating, and he digs up a posuk in Yeshaya Pedek Nunzayan. Over there, if you read the shoinness of the posuk, it's posuk desvelopment design. Although Debba just quotes three words from the Posuk design. The Pusuk is essentially referring to the Yiddin. He's saying, I dwell on high. Umden Vikodish Ashkoin. And he says, I'm here to give us to give support to those that are slavnitkoin, reviving the spirits of the lowly, reviving the hearts of the contrite. And then he goes on and says, Don't worry, I'm not gonna always be so angry. Um then he says, But the shamai sandy SCC. So it's just interesting the context of the posting the Altaneba brings is that they're really talking in a very openly caring and gentle and supportive voice, which I think is what the Altaneba is trying to do with the Tanya. Um the the Altaneba, then essentially in the next um towards the for the rest of Pedagalop he quotes from a lot of what we find in the Shahrahakadusha, which is a safer written by um by Rebchaim Vital, who's the one of the main Talmud of Darizel. Um, so there was the Eightz Khaim, which is basically the teachings he wrote from his Rebbe Darizel. Took him over uh 20 years to write that safer, and then the Shah Hakidusha is actually in the Eitz Khayim. Um and these are things that some of the own thoughts, some of the the the Chaim Vital's own thoughts. So anyway, over there he gets into like what is bad, what is what you refer to as um the evil side, the uh the ra. And Hasidis on the one hand says that anything which is not kiddusha is ra. But essentially, on the on the other perspective is that it's not that it's ra the way we would um simply view it as like you know, big ugly horns and monster-like ra doesn't mean ra just means it covers up. Ra essentially means everything which is on the other side, Kil of the Neprash of Bahamas, that's from the sada situa, doesn't mean it's the side of the monster, and the Alpha Debbie talks about this more in Pedik Vov and Pedic Tess, how the idea of Sitra Akhra is not a stir tachheshem, but the cut is that like you know, let's say you're preparing for Pesach, you're peeling potatoes. So the clip actually can have some positive side. So essentially you have to work to get through to the potato that protects the potato. So the part is that is that even this our side that ilu covers up on Hashem and is not necessarily excited about serving Hashem, it's not an it's not a it's not that we're it's that we're that part of us is not fully openly connected with Hashem. But it's not it's not that it's it's not that it's um essentially um something disgusting. Okay, so I am going to um first review some of the points that we discussed in the last three Sheotem kind of from a His Buenos perspective, and then gonna highlight four points that we discussed this week, and then we can get straight into his bainus. But before I do that, I just want to share a vert about his buenos. Normally I share from Kessel, and this week I'll share from this week's Title R to the first Mime Vir. Um says a Reif of Vart about his Bainanus. This is an Duff, the Yakil Duff pays Ion with Dalit. So that I was talking about answering the question that we all what does it mean you have an ashama yaseira on Shabbos? You have an extra nishama on Shabbos. Seemingly we don't feel anything. He says the gilu of the Nishama Yaseda on Shabbos is even higher than the gilui that a person has while saying Kiryashma during the week. So it's it's a very powerful, potent Nishambh. But he says, how does a person tap into this? It's through his baitanos. He said, his baitanos is hard work. He says, um you really need to work hard to get his bindless to sit for the next five minutes, which we're gonna sit for. It's not easy, it takes a certain level of practice. Like uh like we said, I'm calling this the his bindless gym. You really need to train that muscle. Um shakasabam is butcher callamentes malachas. You need all the 39 Malachas in order to really get his bindless right. So we're obviously doing this on a very elementary level. We're gonna do five minutes of his bitonus after we have this little uh some bit of talking points, but don't be intimidated because it is challenging. And when you're trying to sit on something for five minutes, um your mind will wander. And then the goal is not to say, uh, you know, how dare you? It's just to bring it back almost like let's go back to the mushroom of the pet. We're viewing our ourselves as trying to get the Nefisha Bahamas to be able to catch a ball with its mouth. So it doesn't it it doesn't spit of us for 20 seconds and then gets distracted. You bring it back again, you don't smack it with a stick. If you smack it with a stick, uh you know, you can get arrested in certain countries. Um so we need to be gentle with our Nefesha Bahamas and gentle with ourselves as we're trying to do this challenging his bitomas. Okay, let me share the screen here um for a review of the Hispanic talking points from the last four sessions, and then we'll go to this week's and then we'll have our setup timer. I think we're actually still on video. Well, we're doing four minutes now. Okay. Um, okay, so this is the review, four points from the last um sessions. So we talked about how a person's sitting in front of a tanya, this buttonless side of it is experiential. We're sitting with the altaneba, we're sitting in his presence, and Tanya awakens the inner depth of our Nishama, the Aeson, which is our unwavering strength of Nishama. And the Altaneba starts off Tanya saying that any sort of thoughts that are going to lead you to being depressed is not the goal. The goal, in order to serve Hashem, you have to serve Hashem from a perspective of Simfa and connection and seeing our inner goodness. All the various titles, the Alpha Democrat Ghost of Sokim and Zal about Roshadik, all those are identifying our actions. It's not our identity. What is our identity? That's what we just started discussing last week, and that's what we're going to discuss this week. Um, Bruce Bainus person can tap into that, but the goal is to remove the negative ladle. Labels discover the true mission of art and shama. Um, this boy's binding us talking points that we discussed this week um were how there really is an inner struggle going on, and it's two voices were not essentially um a an inherent contradiction. It's just two, it's two, it's two, it's two two two different voices. Um and the other voice, the Nefesha Muhammad's voice from Klipa, Klipa does not mean we're bad. Even that second voice is just not connected in a revealed way, and it's just a cover, it's covering up a shame. It's an apparent cover. And that voice is also good. As Alpha explains in Tanya Petik test, really its intentions are good. Its intentions are to make us work a little harder to peel that potato to be able to get to the potato. Um, an evil does not mean an ugly monster, rah, just means something which isn't fully connected to Hashem in a revealed way. Okay, I will set a timer for five minutes. And uh one should try to remove the various distractions that you have. You can put off your uh um your um put your phone at do not disturb and let us try to have five minutes of quiet reflection at his bite and us, um, and you can think about whatever you want, or you can use some of the points we discussed to help guide your his bite and us. Okay, I put on the timer.