Rabbis' Blog - Chabad Lubavitch

“Tanya has brought an amazing calmness to my life”

Friday, April 28, 2023 - 12:40 PM

This Shabbat will mark 91 years from the birth of my grandfather, Rabbi Gershon Mendel Garelik obm. His birthday reminds me of our wonderful conversations and I’d like to share an episode he repeated often. Just before my grandparents departed Chabad headquarters in Brooklyn to set up a permanent Chabad presence in Italy in 1958, they had an audience with the Rebbe.

In addition to important instructions regarding their arrival in Milan, the Rebbe gifted my grandmother a brand new prayer book, my grandfather a new edition of the book “Tanya” for himself, and a few more Tanyas for several key figures in the Milan community. Then, as if by an afterthought, the Rebbe handed him another Tanya and said, “Perhaps you will find a fellow Jew on the flight to share this Tanya with him.”

Tanya was authored in the 18th century by the founder of the Chabad movement, Rabbi Schneur Zalman, known as the Alter Rebbe. It is the foundational text of Chabad philosophy which compacts four millennia of Jewish wisdom to answer the great personal and existential questions of life.

Immediately upon boarding the flight they were disappointed when they could not find another Jew to pass on the “extra” Tanya, but shortly after takeoff a fellow approached them and said “You look like Chassidim. Perhaps you have a Tanya I can study during the flight?” My grandfather ceremoniously handed him the book saying, “In fact, this Tanya is a gift for you from the Rebbe!”

The man was shocked at the unexpected gift and shared with them that days earlier, in a private audience with the Rebbe, he discussed matters pertaining to his overseas business trips. The Rebbe gave him a Tanya and suggested he study it during his long flights. This was his first trip since then and after takeoff, he was devastated to discover that he had forgotten the Rebbe’s Tanya. The Rebbe’s “afterthought” turned out to be a prophetic gift for a Jew that needed it most.

Several years ago we started a weekly Tanya class at Chabad and here are impressions from some participants.

“G-d’s wisdom is in all creation, yet HE is hidden from us physically. Tanya has given me the tools to be closer to G-d by understanding this concept. Tanya teaches us how to have a relationship with G-d. Tanya has brought an amazing calmness to my life.” - Monica Rubin

“Tanya is the connecting piece that makes the mitzvah circuit complete. It's the deep meaning of the "why we do the mitzvahs, not just "do the mitzvah because I say so". G-d loves that we physically and spiritually elevate the wonderful world he gave us. Doing a mitzvah shakes up the entire universe for good and brings us closer to G-d.” - Marvin Rubin

“It’s a clarifying type of study and I got answers to questions. Sometimes the answers were demanding, but it sure explains things and gave me more understanding and meaning in the mitzvot I do and in general daily Jewish living.” - Amit Toren

“Besides the Torah, the Tanya has been the most important work I have studied. The main reason I say this is threefold: the Tanya encompasses virtually all fields of knowledge, all means of endeavor, and all modes of transmission. Along with Torah, it is the one work that I am convinced I could study every year of my life and not complete. Yet, along with Torah, I find that studying the Tanya helps me feel more completed.” - Rachelle Gomolsky

“Studying Tanya helps me fight my daily identity crisis, a contemporary concept, through the lenses of the mystical tradition of Chabad, in order to feel Judaism and become a better person. Although it was written over 200 years ago, the Tanya is a manual that applies to our often chaotic 21st Century existence. Through the study of Tanya, the central text of the Chabad Chassidus, I found out that I am not alone in my quest to become a better Jew.” - Emanuel Velez

On Sunday, April 30 we are starting Tanya again from the beginning and I invite the entire Jewish community to join us for this soul-nourishing and wonderful learning experience. No need for Hebrew language skills or prior Jewish knowledge. Classes will be held on Sundays at 8:00am in-person at Chabad and on Zoom at chabadelpaso.com/zoom

Give yourself the gift of Tanya!

Gps for the soul - Tanya Class.jpg

The Newly Discovered Sermon

Friday, April 14, 2023 - 2:48 PM

Two weeks ago a manuscript of a 1916 sermon delivered by the Rebbe’s father, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, Chief Rabbi of Yekatrinislav (now Dnipro, Ukraine), was discovered and published for the first time. The content is both painful and uplifting and, most importantly, contains an empowering message for us here and now.

In 1916 Russia was fighting the first world war and every military-aged man from 18 to 45 was forcibly conscripted. Serving in the army was a veritable death sentence for Jewish men at the time, as anti-semitism in the Czar’s army was a matter of course and the threat of being killed by a fellow Russian soldier was greater than being killed by enemy bullets. Evading the draft was punishable by death. Throughout the kingdom hundreds of thousands of Jewish men went into hiding for months, causing irreversible chaos and disruption to Jewish communal and family life.

On the Shabbat before Pesach Rabbi Levi Yitzchok spoke about the paragraph of the Haggadah which discusses the obligation to commemorate Exodus every day. With his brilliant ability to extract relevant meaning from even often overlooked details such as the names of the sages quoted, he inspired his flock to celebrate Pesach that year with hope for a better future.

Rabbi Eleazar ben Azaryah said: "I am like a man of seventy years old, yet I did not succeed in proving that the exodus from Egypt must be mentioned at night until Ben Zoma explained it: "It is said, `That you may remember the day you left Egypt all the days of your life;' now `the days of your life' refers to the days, [and the additional word] `all' indicates the inclusion of the nights!" The sages, however, said: "`The days of your life' refers to the present-day world; and `all' indicates the inclusion of the days of Moshiach."

The two Hebrew names “Eleazar” and “Azarya” both mean “the help of G-d.” Any surviving Jewish man able to celebrate Pesach together with his family was only due to G-d’s help. However, because of their harrowing experiences of hiding from the Czar’s soldiers over the long winter months to evade the draft, everyone can say “I am like a man of seventy years old.” The tremendous trauma and suffering are etched in the wrinkled faces of even eighteen-year-old boys. Hence, they ask themselves, “Will I succeed in mentioning the exodus during the night?” How can we celebrate the Exodus from Egpyt this Pesach as a genuine experience of freedom during this unbearable darkness?

The answer to this can be found in the name “Ben Zoma” and his teaching. “Zoma” is etymologically linked to “deep thought” and the sage Ben Zoma was known for his exceptional meditative abilities. One should “meditate” and “remember the day you left Egypt.” The exile our ancestors endured in Egypt was so suffocating and debilitating that until the very end, redemption seemed like an impossibility. Yet, G-d’s salvation came in the blink of an eye and the darkness of night turned into brilliant daylight. Likewise, don’t allow the darkness of war and persecution to extinguish your hope for a bright and better future.

This paragraph in the Haggadah concludes with a quote from “the sages.” One who is truly wise will realize that we are not merely tormented victims awaiting G-d’s salvation, rather “all the days of your life - in the present day world” is an opportunity to “welcome in the days of Moshiach.” When we appreciate that every mitzvah we do brings the world closer to the realization of the divine promise of Moshiach, we can celebrate the festival of freedom with an attitude of genuine freedom that transcends all the limitations imposed upon us by our circumstances, and bring the gift of freedom to all of humanity.

Although today we can hardly relate to the realities of Jewish persecution in Czarist Russia during World War One, the spirit of Rabbi Levi Yitzchok’s sermon enables us to apply the spirit of Pesach to the rest of the year, empowered by the knowledge that we are active players in actualizing the biblical prophecies of Moshiach, when peace and tranquility will reign for all.