Tanya L'masse #8 - Conscious Connection

Tanya L’maaseh – Learning + Hisbonenus 

5 min discussion + 5 minutes of quiet hisbonenus – Your weekly hisbonenus gym
 Based on the writings of Reb Shlomo Chaim Kessleman z”l and the Tanya classes of Mrs. Shterna Ginsburg (“Tanya in Real Life”)

Lead by Rabbi Betzalel Bassman 

Week #7 – Hisbonenus Summary

Sit quietly and bring yourself into the moment.

You’re not using Tanya just to “improve yourself,” and not only to “serve Hashem” as something separate.
 Your inner world is your avodas Hashem. Your neshama is not separate from your life—it is the core of it.

Let the question settle:
 Am I living aligned with what’s true—or just trying to manage life?

Now shift to a deeper נקודה:
 “Bad” doesn’t mean broken or disconnected.
 It means unaware.

You are never outside of Hashem.
 אין עוד מלבדו — there is no reality separate from Him.
 The only shift is: awareness or unawareness.

Hisbonenus is the practice of becoming aware.

Gently think:
 Right now, Hashem is here.
 Right now, I am within His presence.
 Nothing is missing—only my awareness.

If it helps, choose a דרך to deepen it:

• Visual: something hidden vs revealed—nothing changed, just uncovered
• Emotional: where am I numb vs feeling present
• Audio: quietly repeat—“Hashem is here”—and let it grow stronger
• Attention: notice drifting, and softly return

No pressure to feel something dramatic.
 Just sit with the truth, and let it become a little more real.

This is the avodah:
 Not becoming something new—
 but becoming aware of what already is.

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 0:15

Good morning, good Narv Shabbas. Week seven of our Hisbainanos Gym based on the teachings of Libshlan Kesselman and on the Tanya classes of Mrs. Sterna Ginsberg, Tanya in real life. So just kind of wrapping up some of the themes of pedagoliph. So is Tanya hair as a self-help? Is Tanya hair to improve my emotional well-being? Mrs. Ginsberg thinks that yes. And one of the interesting proofs is the Alpha Deborah rights, and I thought some lockets. Anything, any questions is an answer for. So it's not just um specifically what I was a chem and you're a sham. It's about uh it's about how to become a better person. And if you keep if you separate becoming a better yid and a better um leader has improving yourself from your your mental health and your emotional well-being, um to be aligned with with Hashem's or lost in and uh and so on and so forth, I think that would that would you're cutting out a whole part of this Hashem. Obviously, we're not talking uh you know about clinical depression, we're talking about just uh bad moods and being groggy and not being the best listener and being selfish and all these things. Uh I think she's right. I think these are all very, very interconnected. Um so there was actually a an interesting discussion about the theme of Tanya's Anoid Movade. There's no reality separate from each other. Um so one of the words that was suggested by Mrs. Ginsburg was um a word that implied that you kind of have a shem in your life or you don't have a shem in your life. You're connected or you're disconnected. And she came around to clarify that that's not accurate, actually, based on some feedback. And the more accurate word would be are we aware? That really ties into what we're talking about about his mindless. It's really about um being able to tune in and be conscious, is what is mindless is. So are we aware or are we not aware? Deeply aware. I mean, are we someone that's in tune with the reality? So there's no bad versus good. So essentially, what's the definition of bad? So initially we were saying bad is disconnected, so on a different level, it's everyone's always connected, it's more awareness or unawareness. And there was a discussion about kind of various ways of illustrating awareness and unawareness. For say someone that's a visual learner, so you can describe it as hidden or revealed, nothing's changed, it's just covered or uncovered. If you're um kind of a touch touchy-feely type learner, so am I numb or am I not numb? If you're an audio-visual learner, am I tuning in or not tuning in? Am I tuned in or not tuned in? So let's sit with this these thoughts for five minutes about the definition of bad according to Tanya, is becoming less not numb, becoming more in touch, in tune. And that actually that's through one of the one of the key ways of getting there is through his weight loss really sitting with it. I like to say over and over, it's kind of marinating with it. Um that's really what is repetition. So if I use the similar words, that that that is the name of the game. Um repetition, repetition, and repetition. Okay, I'm gonna set my timer for five minutes and um try to turn off notifications and distractions, and let's let's tune in for a couple minutes with the themes of the Tanya and the Altadeba. The answer to all our questions, emotional well-being and beyond, are essentially by just tuning in. See you better show next week. Have a great shabbat.