In our lesson in Tanya today we conclude Chapter 31. The Alter Rebbe “departs” from this chapter giving us hope and encouragement on our journey in life. We should not be concerned about the animal side to ourselves that brings us down. Instead we need to focus on the fact that ultimately God has put the Godly soul into a physical body in order to uplift all of creation. We should focus on this and through serving God with our bodies as much as we do with our souls, we will bring ourselves to a state of immense joy. Indeed this is what we need to do.
CHAPTER 32 – LoVe
Chapter 32 was added to the Tanya at a later stage. It was not really a part of the Tanya itself when it was initially compiled. However, be that as it may, the Alter Rebbe added it to act as a bridge within the Tanya. In fact, not only is it a bridge point almost centralised within the Tanya itself, it is also at the very heart of Tanya – and perhaps all of Torah!
Chapter 32 – the Gematria corresponding to the Hebrew word LeiV (heart) and by no means coincidental to the English word “LoVe” instructs us in the very heart of all our service towards Hashem. Here, the Alter Rebbe tells us the greatest secret to all of of life. Based upon the famous teaching of Hillel – when a convert wished to convert while the Torah was taught to him on one foot – and Hillel told him that was is most essential is to love the other as one loves oneself. Hillel added the words that the rest of Torah is mere commentary and now – all that was left for him was to go ahead and study!
But the story is far more powerful than a simple sentence. It is even more powerful that the simply meaning of the text. Hillel was instructing the convert in perhaps the most powerful teaching of Torah. If one wishes to truly understand others and even the Torah itself, one must take with one the message gained from the previous chapters. We need to focus on the soul and not the body. Once we can focus on our souls – instead of our bodies – we stand the chance of truly getting to understand the other and loving them – simply because they are who they are. There is no need to discriminate based upon bodily things. In fact, focusing on bodily things will only detract from reaching the goal – because once those physical things all away (and they will in time) then the love we generate for them will also fall away. But one who comes to love another for the soul who they are — that love will never fall away and the closeness with be generating for all eternity.
Even though this be the case for relationships between a man and his fellow, it also holds true for our relationship with God. As we focus on our relationship with God, we also need to do away with the physical barriers that harbour our being able to connect with the Torah and its Mitzvot. If we can only internalise this teaching of Hillel, we will stand the chance of connecting in a very meaningful manner with our fellow – and so too will we connect in the most meaningful of ways with God Himself.
