פּוֹתְחִין בִּבְרָכָה לְבָרֵךְ וּלְהוֹדוֹת לַה' כִּי טוֹב.

We begin with a benediction, to bless and give thanks to God, for He is good. In line with letters of this kind, the author of the Tanya opens with poetic words comprised of passages from the Tanakh and the Sages. Afterward, he returns to his signature style.

שְׁמוּעָה טוֹבָה שָׁמְעָה וַתְּחִי נַפְשִׁי, אֵין טֹוב אֶלָּא תּוֹרָה (אבות פרק ו משנה ג),

My soul has heard good tidings and has been revived, and "'good' means nothing but Torah" (Mishna Avot 6:3). This expression of gratitude refers to the "good tidings" regarding Torah study, which is that it enlivens the soul.

תּוֹרַת ה' תְּמִימָה, זוֹ הַשְׁלָמַת כָּל הַשַּׁ"ס כּוּלּוֹ

Moreover, God's Torah is perfect, restoring the soul. I refer to the completion of all of Talmud in its entirety By using the Hebrew word temima, perfect, to describe the Torah, a word that also connotes that which is whole or complete, the author of the Tanya hints at the completion of the entire Talmud. To this day, it is customary among Chabad hasidim to learn the entire Talmud every year, beginning from the nineteenth of Kislev until the nineteenth of Kislev of the next year. The tractates are divided among the hasidim, each one resolving to complete the tractate that he most resonates with and that is within his capacity to study so that the entire Talmud may be completed once every year.

בְּרוֹב עֲיָירוֹת וּמִנְיָנִים מֵאַנְשֵׁי שְׁלוֹמֵנוּ.

in most towns and congregations of our community of hasidim. As these lines show, there were already entire towns of hasidim in those times in the region where the author of the Tanya was living. "Congregations of our community" refers to towns that, though not entirely hasidic, had hasidic congregations.

הוֹדָאָה עַל הֶעָבָר וּבַקָּשָׁה עַל הֶעָתִיד.

I express gratitude for the past and a plea for the future. The author of the Tanya expresses his gratitude for their completing the Talmud in the past year and makes an appeal for the future: that they accomplish the same the next year and every year thereafter.

כֹּה יִתֵּן וְכֹה יוֹסִיף ה', לְאַמֵּץ לִבָּם בַּגִּבּוֹרִים, מִדֵּי שָׁנָה בְּשָׁנָה בִּגְבוּרָה שֶׁל תּוֹרָה. וּלְהוֹדִיעַ לִבְנֵי אָדָם גְּבוּרָתָהּ שֶׁל תּוֹרָה שֶׁבְּעַל פֶּה וְכֹחָהּ עוֹז.

May God thus continue to grant and increase their ability to complete the study of the Talmud, strengthening their hearts among the mighty with the might of Torah from year to year and informing mankind of the strength of the Oral Torah and its great power. Just as God gave the hasidim the energy to complete the Talmud this year, so may He grant them the strength to complete it in the future with even greater fortitude. The author of the Tanya specifies the quality of might in relation to the Oral Torah since this aspect of the Torah is aligned with the side of Gevura, the attribute of restraint. The Oral Torah constricts and delimits the Written Torah within the parameters of the reality of this world. It also gives power and strength to those who study it to overcome the barriers of the concealment and physicality inherent in this world and in the body while experiencing divine illumination without being nullified or burned by it.

פֵּירֵשׁ שְׁלֹמֹה הַמֶּלֶךְ עָלָיו הַשָּׁלוֹם: "חָגְרָה בְעוֹז מָתְנֶיהָ כו'" (משלי לא, יז).

King Solomon, may he rest in peace, explained, "She girds her loins with might…" (Prov. 31:17). The chapter from which this verse is taken describes the woman of valor, extolling the virtues of the Jewish woman. While this can be taken at face value, its mystical underpinnings open up an entirely different dimension. The woman of valor is a metaphor for all of reality, for the sefira of Malkhut (Kingship), for the congregation of Israel, and for the unique holy soul of every individual Jew. In this light, the verse can be understood on a new level. "Might" refers to the Torah, as the Sages affirm: "There is no might besides the Torah." But it is not clear what the "loins" of the Torah refer to, and therefore the author of the Tanya goes on to explain this expression in the verse.

'מָתְנַיִם' הֵם בְּחִינַת דָּבָר הַמַּעֲמִיד כָּל הַגּוּף עִם הָרֹאשׁ הַנִּצָּב וְעוֹמֵד עֲלֵיהֶם, וְהֵם הַמּוֹלִיכִים וּמְבִיאִים אוֹתוֹ לִמְחוֹז חֶפְצוֹ.

The loins are the aspect of the body that supports the entire body, including the head, which is perched atop the body, positioned above the loins. It is the loins that carry the body and bring it to its desired destination. The loins are what we call the pelvic region, which includes the two legs that emerge from it. The pelvis has two functions: First, it provides stability for the body since it is where the body's weight is centered, and second, it gives the body the ability to move from one place to another. While the head, the center of awareness and cognition, and the heart, the emotional focal point, are loftier, they are incapable of standing alone without the support of the pelvis and unable to move from one place to another without the legs.

וּכְמוֹ שֶׁהוּא בְּגַשְׁמִיּוּת הַגּוּף, כָּךְ הוּא בִּבְחִינַת רוּחָנִיּוּת הַנֶּפֶשׁ הָאֱלֹהִית.

Just as it is with regard to the physical anatomy of the body, so it is with the spiritual structure of the divine soul. The physical structure of man reflects his spiritual composition. A person's spiritual faculties are his spiritual limbs, metaphysical mirrors of his corporeal limbs. There is, then, a spiritual faculty that fills the role of the hips within one's soul, that supports one's conscious essence (the head) and his emotions (the body), enabling him to function without losing his composure and sense of self.

הָאֱמוּנָה הָאֲמִיתִּית בַּה' אֶחָד,

The loins of the soul are true faith in the one God, The spiritual faculty called the loins of the soul is the power of faith. Before the author of the Tanya goes on to explain how faith, like the loins, holds up the rest of the soul's faculties, he says a few words about faith. The faith that he is talking about, the faith that one's entire spiritual structure stands upon, must be true faith in the one God. True faith is distinguished in two ways. The first is to believe in that which is true. Some people may harbor faith in that which is false. The second is to truly believe; one's faith must be genuine and palpable. These two facets of faith do not necessarily go hand in hand. A person once asked a rabbi, "Why are heretics so successful?" The rabbi answered, "Because they truly practice their falsity, while we superficially practice our truth." Moreover, the content of this faith must be in the one God. While faith is a spiritual faculty that transcends rationale, it is built on the basis of a particular cognitive recognition. This logic encompasses the assertion of God's oneness in detail, as will now be explained.

אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא, דְּאִיהוּ מְמַלֵּא כָּל עָלְמִין וְסוֹבֵב כָּל עָלְמִין,

Ein Sof, blessed be He, who fills all worlds and encompasses all worlds, Asserting God's oneness means affirming that He exists within everything and beyond everything and that nothing exists outside His oneness. Other sources explain that this perspective of God's unity, that He fills and surrounds every aspect of reality, is actually the definition of faith. The mitzva to believe in God does not entail abstractly believing that He exists. His existence can and must be understood, known, and even felt, with whatever degree of clarity a person can cultivate, just as a person senses the reality of His soul. The mitzva of faith relates not only to God's existence but to His essence: that it fills all worlds and encompasses all worlds.

וְלֵית אֲתָר פָּנוּי מִינֵּיהּ, לְמַעְלָה עַד אֵין קֵץ, וּלְמַטָּה עַד אֵין תַּכְלִית,

and there is no space void of Him, in the boundless heights and never-ending depths, The dimension of space in both the spiritual and physical realms has six poles: the four directions, above, and below. God fills each direction, and the infinite light is drawn from the highest of heights to the lowest of depths throughout the progressive descent of the Divine from the source above to the lowest world below.

וְכֵן לְד' סִטְרִין, בִּבְחִינַת אֵין סוֹף מַמָּשׁ.

including the four directions, in an absolutely infinite manner. Divine reality fills all the dimensions of space with infinitude. There is no vacant space, no molecule of reality that is impermeable to Him. As the liturgy known as Shir HaYiḥud declares, "There is no space empty or devoid of You."

וְכֵן בִּבְחִינַת שָׁנָה וְנֶפֶשׁ, כַּנּוֹדָע.

The same applies to the dimensions of year and soul, as is known. Reality consists of three basic dimensions: world, year, and soul, which correspond to existence as it manifests within space, time, and human beings. True faith is believing that God's infinite essence fills all three dimensions. "Year" proverbially refers to time, including its abstract spiritual form: the facilitator of change. God fills it, from its beginning until its end, past, present, and the future. There is no time devoid of Him. "Soul" refers to the conscious reality that is aware and senses the vitality that exists within time and space. In our world, we are the aware souls, while in a higher realm, the angels are the beings that perceive. Higher yet are the sentient beings called seraphim and so on. In every world, at all times, the souls in reality are permeated with pure divine light. True faith, then, is knowing that on the one hand "there is no space devoid of Him," that every atom of the universe is absolutely permeated with the Divine Presence so that there is no separation between reality and Him in any way, shape, or form. He who believes that God exists in a particular place, while other places are not privy to God's presence and control, does not have true faith. On the other hand, true faith must also include the belief that God is infinitely distant and separate, as it says, "This knowledge is too wondrous for me." In view of this, the definition of faith is the basic awareness of God's existence as absolutely separate, beyond us, while simultaneously He is intimately close. He is the "Holy One, blessed be He": "holy" because He is unfathomably distant, and "blessed" because infinitely close.

הִנֵּה אֱמוּנָה זוֹ נִקְרֵאת בְּשֵׁם בְּחִינַת ‘מָתְנַיִם׳, דָּבָר הַמַּעֲמִיד וּמְקַיֵּים אֶת הָרֹאשׁ, הוּא הַשֵּׂכֶל הַמִּתְבּוֹנֵן וּמַעֲמִיק דַּעַת

This faith is referred to by the term "loins," that which serve to support and uphold the head, which is the intellect that contemplates and deeply ponders Once there is a foundation of faith, the next stage follows, that of the rationale of the intellect. The intellect contemplates and analyzes, delving in to inquire: What does this mean for me? What is its central axis? Faith itself serves as the bedrock for every logical idea and feeling and establishes one's whole personhood. Faith constitutes an organic perception of reality, seeing things at their essence. It is not an analytic faculty that organizes and arranges ideas but rather a general outlook that informs a person how he experiences reality itself. When presented with particular concepts, it is faith that enlightens the person as to what is right and what is wrong. While this certainty is not rational nor scientifically provable, it serves as the foreground for all his thoughts and enables his entire rational functioning and being, from which stems all the faculties of the soul. This is why the author of the Tanya places an emphasis on the intellect. The main, conscious spiritual work happens in the head through one's ability to think and contemplate rationally.

בִּגְדוּלַּת אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא, בִּבְחִינַת 'עוֹלָם שָׁנָה נֶפֶשׁ',

the greatness of Ein Sof, blessed be He, in the dimensions of world, year, and soul There are two facets to this contemplation. The first is contemplation of God's infinite greatness, of His vast distance and separateness. This contemplation evokes the sense of God's might and how that immense, almost oceanic power expresses itself in each of the dimensions of "world, year, and soul." To do this, one should consciously contemplate the infinite nature of space, the infinite aspect of time, and the infinite power of the soul. Afterward, he can attempt to stretch his mind even further to ruminate on the essence of the infinite in relation to the confines of those dimensions.

ובְּרוֹב חַסְדּוֹ וְנִפְלְאוֹתָיו עִמָּנוּ לִהְיוֹת עַם קְרוֹבוֹ, וּלְדָבְקָה בּוֹ מַמָּשׁ.

and God's abounding kindness and His wonders that He performs with us, allowing us to be a people near to Him and to literally cleave to Him. The other subject of contemplation that the author of the Tanya suggests is not the abstract concept of God's exalted loftiness but rather the aspect of His closeness, that the infinitely exalted God creates a personal relationship with each and every one of us, certainly a colossal kindness and wonder. This is true not only of the past, throughout our whole national history, but even within the details of every individual's present are revelations of His kindness and wonders.

כַּנּוֹדָע מִמַּאֲמַר "יָפָה שָׁעָה אַחַת בִּתְשׁוּבָה וּמַעֲשִׂים טוֹבִים בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה מִכָּל חַיֵּי עוֹלָם הַבָּא" (אבות פרק ד משנה יז),

This is known from the Sages' statement "One hour of repentance and good deeds in this world is more precious than an entire lifetime in the World to Come" (Mishna Avot 4:17), This axiom from the Sages expresses this very idea of a person's intimate closeness to God against the backdrop of His infinity. The reference here to life in the World to Come refers to life in the Garden of Eden after death. Edenic experience is a very high level of spiritual experience. Every person, commensurate with his spiritual standing and deeds, has his own World to Come, his own level of divine revelation that his soul experiences after it is divested from all its bonds to the materiality of this world. There are, in truth, levels upon levels of revelation, endless progressive phases of bonding with the supernal wisdom and delighting in the radiance of the Divine Presence to which a soul can aspire when it is divested of its ties to this material world. The gradations of the World to Come not only vary from person to person, but each individual may have countless rungs of revelation to climb in his own portion of the World to Come. "All the life of the World to Come," then, refers to all the levels of the World to Come. The Mishna is telling us that every movement toward repentance, every good deed, is loftier, deeper, and more powerful than all the achievements, levels, and potential for attachment to the Divine that one could attain in the World to Come.

שֶׁהוּא רַק זִיו וְהֶאָרָה מִבְּחִינָה הַנִּקְרֵאת שְׁכִינָה, ״הַשּׁוֹכֵן״ כו' (ויקרא טז, טז).

which is but a glimmer and illumination of the level called Shekhina , Divine Presence, whose name is derived from the verse "that dwells [hashokhen ] with them…" (Lev. 16:16). The Divine Presence is but a glimmer of the totality of God's essence, the manifestation of the Divine that has been clothed within the confines and parameters of reality, enlivening every minutia in existence. Yet the World to Come in its entirety is merely an illumination of the Godly revelation experienced in this world called the Divine Presence.

וְנִבְרָא בְּיוּ"ד אַחַת מִשְּׁמוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ כו'.

The Word to Come was created with the single letter yod of God's name and so on, The Sages point out that the name of God that appears in the verse "For God the Lord is an everlasting rock" (Isa. 26:4) is spelled yod-heh. They explain that the Hebrew word for "everlasting," olamim, literally means "worlds," and the Hebrew word for "rock" that is used in the verse, tzur, shares root letters with the word yatzar, created. The verse may then read, "God created the [two] worlds [this world and the World to Come] with the letters yod and heh." A name is a particular manner of manifestation that reflects the relationship between the self and the outside world. The name of Havaya, which is the name that refers to the divine essence itself, is the name through which God enlivens all the worlds. More specifically, God used the yod from the name of Havaya to create the World to Come. The smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet, the yod resembles nothing more than a point and is the embodiment of the most minimal degree of independent existence that one could fathom. It follows that the World to Come is nothing but a glimmer of the smallest letter of God's name, a mere spark of the divine light. The essence of the World to Come can be summed up as the most reduced experience of God's name, of the divine essence, that the soul can receive commensurate with its spiritual capacity at that time.

אֲבָל תְּשׁוּבָה וּמַעֲשִׂים טוֹבִים מְקָרְבִין יִשְׂרָאֵל לַאֲבִיהֶם שֶׁבַּשָּׁמַיִם מַמָּשׁ, לְמַהוּתוֹ וְעַצְמוּתוֹ כִּבְיָכוֹל, בְּחִינַת אֵין סוֹף מַמָּשׁ,

but repentance and good deeds bring the Jewish people close to their actual Father in Heaven, to His essence and being, as it were, the level of Ein Sof itself, Repentance and good deeds are not merely instruments through which a person acquires the World to Come. The Torah study and mitzvot that a person performs in his daily life are in and of themselves points of contact with God's infinite essence, opportunities for a genuine connection with God Himself. The closeness attained in the performance of a mitzva is not just a feeling of spiritual positivity from a faint glimmer of the divine light but literal attachment to God's actual infinite essence.

וּכְמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: "הוֹדוֹ עַל אֶרֶץ וְשָׁמָיִם וַיָּרֶם קֶרֶן לְעַמּוֹ כו'״ (תהלים קמא, יג-יד),

as it is written, "For His name alone is exalted, His glory across earth and heaven; He raises a horn for His people…" (Ps. 148:13–14), for His people cleave to God's very essence. This virtue of Torah study and mitzvot is expressed by this verse, which signifies that God is so exalted and singularly separate from all the revealed worlds that merely the glory and illumination from His name alone is sufficient to enliven and sustain all of reality. Yet, despite His unimaginable exalted essence, He raises a beam of His divine essence to His nation of Israel through the Torah and mitzvot so that they may literally cleave to Him.

"אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו כו'",

Similarly, in the blessings recited upon the performance of a mitzva, we address God "who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us.…" God imbues us with holiness through our performance of mitzvot, elevating us to His holy essence, which far transcends the aspect of His being called "His glory" that shines throughout the heavenly spheres and the entire universe. The whole purpose of the mitzvot is to forge a connection with the Divine. The word mitzva itself is etymologically connected to the word tzavta, which means connection. The wording of the blessing recited upon performing a mitzva, "who has sanctified us with His commandments," conveys that not only did we receive the commandments in order to perform them, but every commandment kindles the light of holiness within its doer. It hoists a person beyond the realm of corporeal man and into the dimension of the sacred, the inner sphere of the Divine.

וְ"כַּמַּיִם הַפָּנִים כו'״ (משלי כז, כט).

"As water reflects a face to the face, so does the heart of a person to a person" (Prov. 27:19). When a person gazes into water, it reflects back to him the same expression that he shows it. The Sages say that the heart is like water. When a person thinks about how another person feels toward him, those same feelings are evoked in his own heart. The same is true when a person contemplates God's immeasurable, infinite greatness on the one hand and His outstanding closeness on the other. When a person ponders how God is absolutely separate from anything physical yet provides us with bread to eat and clothes to wear, how He is totally beyond our finite world yet endows us with the most wondrous gift of attachment to Him by imbuing us with holiness through His mitzvot, offering us His outstretched hand through each one, inviting us to approach Him, to literally be with Him, at that moment a corresponding feeling of love burgeons forth, "as water reflects a face to the face," and the person wells up with desire to draw close to God.

לְהוֹלִיד מִתְּבוּנָה זוֹ דְּחִילוּ וּרְחִימוּ

Similarly, such contemplation serves to generate fear and love of God, This reflective contemplation that encompasses both facets of our relationship to the Divine, the loftiness and the closeness, creates a bifurcation of emotion. Fear is the feeling that stems from the realization of God's exaltedness and distance, while love arises from feeling how close God is and the desire to bond with Him.

שִׂכְלִיִּים אוֹ טִבְעִיִּים,

whether intellectual or innate, There are actually two types of love and fear, though the author of the Tanya does not elaborate on them here but only gives them a mention. Intellectual love and fear are engendered from intellectual awareness. The deeper and wider one's awareness, the more the emotions will develop. On the flip side, innate love and fear are not created from conscious awareness and are not even bound to it in the same way. Consciousness merely opens a gate for the innate love or fear to burst outward. While these emotions are woven into the fabric of a person's soul, they are lying latent deep within, unable to manifest on their own in this world of obscurity and concealment. Contemplation, in this context, unleashes that emotion. This natural love can also be released in ways other than intellectual contemplation. A person can hear a song that makes his heart brim with love or tremble with fear. The lyrics of the song may not even directly relate to the feeling that arises in the heart of the listener, yet they penetrate the depth of a person's soul, opening a channel to a more subtle, holy divine love or fear.

לִהְיוֹת בְּחִינַת "צָעַק לִבָּם אֶל ה'" (איכה ב, יח) אוֹ בְּחִינַת רִשְׁפֵּי אֵשׁ וְשַׁלְהֶבֶת עַזָּה (שיר השירים ח, ו), בִּבְחִינַת ‘רָצוֹא׳, וְאַחַר כָּךְ בִּבְחִינַת 'שׁוֹב'.

giving rise to the level of love that can be described as "Their hearts cried to the Lord" (Lam. 2:18), due to their feeling of distance from God, or the level described as sparks of fire, a great conflagration (see Song 8:6), which is characterized by an advance followed by a retreat. These are the two essential movements of life, like the beating of the heart, like inhaling and exhaling, outward and inward, advancing and retreating, running and returning. Love and fear beat to the rhythm of advance and retreat as well. Love is generally the movement of drawing close, of desire and yearning to leave one's place to run to the beloved. The height of love of God is yearning to leave the world to just be with God. Yet afterward, if the awakening was real, that feeling manifests itself in another way, in retreat. One is struck with the awareness of who it is before whom he is standing, that one is in the presence of the Divine. This awareness engenders fear and trembling and results in retreat and distance, in returning to the place where one originally stood.

לִהְיוֹת פַּחַד ה' בְּלִבּוֹ, וְלִיבוֹשׁ מִגְּדוּלָּתוֹ כו'.

The retreat is the outcome of when there is fear of God in one's heart and when one feels ashamed before God's greatness, and so on. Retreat entails a feeling of shame, of smallness compared to God, as in the verse "For who is it whose heart dared to approach Me?" (Jer. 20:21).

וְהוּא בְּחִינַת "שְׂמֹאל דּוֹחָה",

This fear and shame comes from the left side that pushes away, This is followed by the "right hand that draws close." The right hand is the symbol of love, the embodiment of the attribute of Ḥesed and the desire to be close, while the left is the side of distancing, the attribute of Gevura, the expression of one's awareness of God's exaltedness and the subsequent feeling of fear that necessarily follows coming close.

כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בְּמַתַּן תּוֹרָה: "וַיַּרְא הָעָם וַיָּנוּעוּ וַיַּעַמְדוּ מֵרָחוֹק כו׳" (שמות כ, יח).

as it is written regarding the giving of the Torah, "The people saw, and trembled, and stood at a distance…" (Ex. 20:15). During the revelation of the giving of the Torah, the nation responded with that same movement of advance and retreat. On the one hand, they were propelled forward, drawn like magnets to God's supernal infinite being. Yet, upon encountering that intimidating sight, intense fear sent them recoiling backward.

וְהֵן בְּחִינַת הַזְּרוֹעוֹת וְהַגּוּף שֶׁבַּנֶּפֶשׁ.

These feelings of love and fear are the arms and the body of the soul. The Tikkunei Zohar explains that love and fear, the attributes of Ḥesed and Gevura, are the right and left arms of the soul's faculties. The attribute of Tiferet, compassion, which is the synthesis of love and fear, comprises the "body," or torso, of the soul's faculties. As previously mentioned, the aspect of the soul represented by the head is the faculty of thought and contemplation, which gives power and direction to the arms. The aspect that corresponds to the hips, faith, upholds them all. When there is a weakness in faith, a person lacks content on which to contemplate and necessarily lacks love and fear. But when a person has faith that penetrates the depths of his soul, he has something to contemplate and can arrive at the emotions of love and fear. This concludes the first part of the letter, which stands, in a certain sense, on its own. It actually comprised one letter in the early years of the author of the Tanya's leadership, as corroborated by the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzḥak Schneerson. This section discussed the cultivation of the faculties of the soul – the head, body, and arms, which correspond to the intellect and the emotions that are engendered by it – all of which are supported by the hips, the power of faith. The author of the Tanya explained how faith is that point of absolute certainty in God's existence and underlies a person's understanding and emotions. While the intellect is higher, responsible for cultivating a conceptual relationship with God through contemplation and emotional connection, something that is required of a person in his service of God, the contemplation and emotional connection are, at the end of the day, outgrowths of the soul's experiences. The nucleus of faith, on the other hand, is the essential foundation upon which all these faculties must stand and move. Without faith, one has no framework in which to interpret the soul's experiences and cultivate them through contemplation and emotion to develop one's relationship with God. The author of the Tanya now addresses how to develop and fortify one's faith.

אַךְ מִי הוּא הַנּוֹתֵן כֹּחַ וָעוֹז לִבְחִינַת מָתְנַיִם לְהַעֲמִיד וּלְקַיֵּים הָרֹאשׁ וְהַזְּרוֹעוֹת?

But what gives the loins the ability and strength to support and uphold the head and the arms? It is faith that enables all of one's spiritual, intellectual, and emotional work. The question is, where does faith get its strength from? The problem is that we neither know how to reach the realm of faith nor how particular content becomes a matter of faith. We are only aware of its secondary aspects, its peripheral substructures, its outgrowths, but we are not cognizant of its essence or root. We know something about the attributes, how to develop and cultivate them. We know what to contemplate. Yet when it comes to strengthening faith, we are not clear on the mechanism. While we do not have obvious, direct paths to develop and increase faith, we do have practices that are more indirect, that we might call segulot. There is "food" that nourishes faith, that, though illogical (much like faith itself), can be used to strengthen faith.

הוּא עֵסֶק וְלִימּוּד הֲלָכוֹת בַּתּוֹרָה שֶׁבְּעַל פֶּה,

It is the occupation with and study of the laws in the Oral Torah, When a person studies halakha in the Oral Torah, whether it is the laws of ketubot (marriage contracts) in the Mishneh Torah of Rambam or the laws of forbidden mixtures, which clarify such halakhot as the status of a spoon used to eat dairy that fell into a pot that is used for cooking meat, one reveals and strengthens his faith.

שֶׁהִיא בְּחִינַת גִּילּוּי רָצוֹן הָעֶלְיוֹן,

which is the revelation of the supernal will, This strengthening of faith does not come about as a direct result of knowing the halakhot. There is no obvious connection between this study and faith in God. Furthermore, faith is essentially incomprehensible and cannot be strengthened by intellectual contemplation alone. It is only because the Oral Torah is a distillation of the will of God that its study has the power to strengthen one's faith.

דְּאוֹרַיְיתָא מֵחָכְמָה הִיא דְּנָפְקַת אֲבָל מְקוֹרָהּ וְשָׁרְשָׁהּ הִיא לְמַעְלָה מַעְלָה מִבְּחִינַת חָכְמָה, וְהוּא הַנִּקְרָא בְּשֵׁם "רָצוֹן הָעֶלְיוֹן בָּרוּךְ הוּא",

for although the Torah is derived from the sefira of Ḥokhma (Wisdom), its source and root is far higher than the level of Ḥokhma . It is from the level called "God's supernal will, blessed be He," God's will corresponds to the sefira of Keter (Crown), which transcends the level of wisdom and the intellect: Before wisdom and understanding comes the initial will. The author of the Tanya is conveying that the Oral Torah is rooted in the level of the supernal will, from Keter. Yet elsewhere it is explained that the root of the Torah lies in Ḥokhma. While it is true that the Torah, especially the Oral Torah, is expressed in rational form so that it is the attribute of Ḥokhma that is applied for apprehending Torah concepts and the way they interact, the root of the Torah is the expression of God's will. The supernal will far transcends not only every degree of human wisdom and rational understanding, but it also lies far beyond the power of the essence of divine Ḥokhma itself.

וּכְמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: "כַּצִּנָּה רָצוֹן תַּעְטְרֶנּוּ" (תהלים ה, יג), כַּעֲטָרָה שֶׁהִיא עַל הַמּוֹחִין שֶׁבָּרֹאשׁ.

as it is written, "For it is You who blesses the righteous man, Lord, surrounding him with favor, like a shield" (Ps. 5:13). The word used for "surrounding," tatrenu, is related to the word atara , crown, which sits above the brain that is in the head. The word for "favor," ratzon, used in the verse can also be rendered as "will." The will, which transcends Ḥokhma is like a crown that sits upon the head. The word for crown, atara, which also denotes "surrounding," refers not only to that which sits above but also to the dimension that lies beyond and separate from the soul's cognitive and emotional realm. This is the will, the ratzon: It crowns and encompasses the soul from without. It is not an internal faculty that lends insight and apprehension but rather a power that comes from beyond. We sense its existence, yet we are incapable of understanding or defining it. When a person performs a mitzva or studies halakha from the Oral Torah, he connects with that supernal will that surrounds and encompasses all of reality yet also penetrates and nourishes it on a deep, subconscious level. Therefore, the act of studying the Oral Torah or fulfilling a mitzva activates the soul's deep, unconscious levels, such as the soul's faculty of faith.

וְכַנּוֹדַע מִמַּה שֶּׁפֵּרְשׁוּ עַל פָּסוּק: "אֵשֶׁת חַיִל עֲטֶרֶת בַּעְלָהּ" (משלי יב, ד).

This is also known from the Sages' explanation of the verse "A woman of valor is the crown of her husband" (Prov. 12:4). The woman of valor is an analogy for the Oral Torah, which corresponds to the attribute of Bina (Understanding). "Her husband" refers to the Written Torah, which corresponds to Ḥokhma. Ḥokhma influences Bina, yet from a certain standpoint, Bina, or the Oral Torah, is higher than Ḥokhma, the Written Torah, because it is the revelation of God's supernal will, which is rooted in a higher realm than Ḥokhma. From this angle, the Oral Torah is the "crown of her husband," higher than "her husband," Ḥokhma, the Written Torah, and having an influence on it. In this vein, this verse is also understood as prophetic insight into the future, when in all the worlds that which now receives will give. The halakhot of the Oral Torah are thus the expression of God's will that transcends Ḥokhma. Yet they are manifest in their application on a level lower than Ḥokhma. Unlike the wisdom of mystical Torah teachings that we essentially are incapable of understanding, we are meant to understand halakha, the laws that instruct us what to do, in a way that enables us to perform it.

וְ״כָל הַשּׁוֹנֶה הֲלָכוֹת בְּכָל יוֹם כו׳״ (נדה עג, א).

The Sages have also taught that "anyone who studies halakhot every day is guaranteed that he is destined for the World to Come" (Nidda 73a). This idea, that "the woman of valor is the crown of her husband," will ultimately come to fruition only in the time to come. When it comes to the study of halakha, God's will is manifest through action, yet the divine rationale behind it remains utterly concealed. The level of Keter, which constitutes the divine will, fuses with the level of action yet bypasses the level of Ḥokhma, the level of wisdom, of cognitive awareness. One who studies halakhot will understand what he must do and act accordingly, but he does not see or feel the Divine there. That is simply the reality of this world. Yet anyone who studies halakhot creates vessels and soul garments through which he will be able to receive reward for his mitzva actions in the future, so that he will apprehend the divine illumination that underlies these actions, in the World to Come.

וְזֶהוּ "חָגְרָה בְּעוֹז מָתְנֶיהָ" (משלי לא, יז), אֵין עוֹז אֶלָּא תּוֹרָה שֶׁהִיא נוֹתֶנֶת כֹּחַ וָעוֹז

This is the meaning of the verse "She girds her loins with might and strengthens her arms" (Prov. 31:17). "Might" means nothing but Torah,

לִבְחִינַת מָתְנַיִם, הַחֲגוּרִים וּמְלוּבָּשִׁים בָּהּ

which gives the "loins," or the faculty of faith in the soul, which are girded and clothed within it, the ability and might We know that strength refers to Torah based on the verse "The Lord gives strength to His people" (Ps. 29:11). By studying the halakhot of the Oral Torah, the embodiment of might, a person strengthens the faith within his soul, even if his wisdom, love, or fear do not increase.

לְחַזֵּק וּלְאַמֵּץ זְרוֹעוֹתֶיהָ, הֵן דְּחִילוּ וּרְחִימוּ שִׂכְלִיִּים אוֹ טִבְעִיִּים,

to strengthen and support the soul's arms, which are fear and love of God, whether intellectual or innate, The principle is that no matter their origin, whether they develop through cognitive awareness or they are rooted in one's innate love and fear, one cannot develop enduring emotions of love and fear without the foundation of faith. One must accept things as they are before one can develop an emotional response or cognitive attitude toward them.

כָּל חַד לְפוּם שִׁיעוּרָא דִּילֵיהּ.

every individual according to his capacity. Love and fear are very individual. One person's love is not like the next, neither in degree nor in type, neither in the way it is aroused nor in the way it is expressed.

(וְעַל הַעֲמָדַת וְקִיּוּם בְּחִינַת הָרֹאשׁ שֶׁבַּנֶּפֶשׁ, הוּא הַשֵּׂכֶל הַמִּתְבּוֹנֵן כו', אָמַר: "טָעֲמָה כִּי טוֹב סַחְרָהּ" כו' [משלי לא, יח]

(Regarding the support and upholding of the soul's head, the intellect that contemplates and so on, it is written , "She perceives that her merchandise is good…" [Prov. 31:18], The author of the Tanya has primarily been discussing the "arms" of the soul, love, and fear. Here the author comments that the aforementioned concepts apply to the "head" as well. The verse he quotes follows the other verse he just quoted, "She girds her loins with strength," and hints at the stage that comes after a person strengthens his spiritual loins through the study of halakha. The Hebrew word for "perceives" in the verse is ta'ama, which literally means "tastes" but can also mean "reasons." The perception mentioned in this verse refers to rational comprehension, as in the verse "Taste [i.e., comprehend] and see that the Lord is good" (Ps. 34:9). Through consciously connecting and relating to an event or concept, a person is privy to the sound reasoning behind it. Faith itself has no sense of rationale because it transcends reason and knowledge. Only when a person can perceive the rationale and the root of a given idea or experience will he taste the pleasure in it.

וּמְבוֹאָר בְּמָקוֹם אַחֵר.)

which is explained elsewhere.) This letter primarily focuses on the strengthening of the "arms," on love and fear of God, during prayer, the service of the heart. The concept of strengthening the "head," the soul's intellect, is explained elsewhere. From this point onward, the letter delves into the applicable, practical aspects of the concepts discussed herein. The purpose of the ideas explained in these letters, and in a certain sense in every hasidic discourse, is that they should be applied and not remain in the theoretical realm or be reduced to emotional surges that do not manifest in action. Rather, they should be practiced, deeply activating one's soul in his day-to-day life, whether during prayer, while performing mitzvot, or when facing the vicissitudes of life in general. Now, after having built the theoretical framework, the author of the Tanya outlines its practical application.

אַךְ עֵת וּזְמַן הַחִיזּוּק וְאִימּוּץ הַזְּרוֹעוֹת וְהָרֹאשׁ הִיא שְׁעַת תְּפִלַּת הַשַּׁחַר, שֶׁהִיא שְׁעַת רַחֲמִים וְעֵת רָצוֹן הָעֶלְיוֹן לְמַעְלָה.

In fact, the occasion and time for strengthening and fortifying the arms and the head is during the morning prayers, which is a time of mercy and a time when the supernal will is revealed above. Each part of the day has its own unique characteristics. The morning is most characterized by Ḥesed and the revelation of divine favor. As explained above, the revelation of God's will strengthens faith in the soul, which establishes and fortifies the "arms," love and fear of God, and the "head," the awareness and contemplation of God. This time of day, when the gates of Heaven are opened, is therefore the time for prayer through which one draws down the influence of Ḥesed and the supernal will. As a result of this revelation of the divine will, these faculties of the soul will be strengthened and cultivated so that one will be fortified to serve God throughout the day. The author of the Tanya explained above that in order to strengthen the "loins," or the faith within one's soul, one should be committed to learning the halakhot of the Oral Torah. This connection is not direct or obvious. When a person engages in this study, he builds the appropriate spiritual infrastructure and creates a fitting environment for his spiritual growth. To actually activate this, however, to unleash an internal effusion of love and fear, a person must pray, not only reciting the words but intensely engaging in the spiritual work of prayer.

וְלָזֹאת אוֹתָהּ אֲבַקֵּשׁ מִמְּבַקְּשֵׁי ה':

Therefore, this is what I request of those who seek God: The request that the author of the Tanya makes here is directed at those who seek to be close to God, who truly desire to pray and to strengthen their faith and love and fear of God.

יָבִינוּ וְיַשְׂכִּילוּ יַחְדָּיו, וְלִהְיוֹת לְזִכָּרוֹן בֵּין עֵינֵיהֶם כָּל מַה שֶּׁכָּתַבְתִּי אֲלֵיהֶם אֶשְׁתָּקַד בִּכְלָל, וּבִפְרָט מֵעִנְיַן כַּוָּונַת

that they understand and contemplate together and constantly bear in mind everything I wrote to them last year in general, and what

הַתְּפִלָּה מֵעוּמְקָא דְּלִבָּא.

I wrote regarding concentration during prayer from the depths of the heart in particular. This refers to another letter that appears in this book as well. In that letter, the author of the Tanya outlines general ordinances and directives that relate to communal prayer. Here, when he says "in general," he refers to the hasidic community as a whole, that they should contemplate these ideas together in groups. With the words "prayer from the depths of the heart in particular," he is urging the individual to ensure that his prayer is not insincere but rather deeply personal.

יוֹם יוֹם יִדְרְשׁוּן ה'

Day after day they should seek God Using language from the prophet Isaiah, "Day after day they seek Me" (Isa. 58:2), the author of the Tanya appeals to his hasidim not to suffice with the level of relationship that they have with God. Rather, let them harness the power of their daily prayers to truly seek out God by searching for that which is hidden and asking that the Divine, which is concealed from us, should become perceptible and palpable.

בְּכָל לִבָּם וּבְכָל נַפְשָׁם.

with all their heart and all their soul. This wording echoes the words of the Shema and comes along with their manifold layers of meaning. "With all their heart" implies investing all of one's heartfelt desires and love, and "with all their soul" means with all the faculties of one's soul and the willingness to sacrifice one's soul, as the Sages say, "Even if [God] takes your soul" (Berakhot 61b).

וְנַפְשָׁם תִּשְׁתַּפֵּךְ כַּמַּיִם נוֹכַח פְּנֵי ה'. וּכְמַאֲמַר רַבּוֹתֵינוּ זַ"ל בְּ"סִפְרֵי" (דברים ו, ה): עַד מִיצּוּי הַנֶּפֶשׁ כו'.

They should pour out their souls like water before God. As the Rabbis state in Sifrei (Deut. 6:5), "To the extent of wringing out the soul…." A person must do this inner work until he is able to pour out his heart like water before God. When he prays, he must harness all the energies of his soul until he cannot eke out any more, as the Sifrei comments on the words "with all of your soul." A person must exhaust his soul of all its energy, of every ounce of spiritual vigor that draws, excites, and enlivens him, like a person drains a vessel of the liquid within it, until the soul becomes stripped of all its faculties, and its essence becomes manifest and pours out like water before God.

וְעַתָּה הַפַּעַם הִנְנִי יוֹסִיף שֵׁנִית יָדִי, בְּתוֹסֶפֶת בֵּיאוּר וּבַקָּשָׁה כְּפוּלָה, שְׁטוּחָה וּפְרוּשָׂה לִפְנֵי כָּל אַנְשֵׁי שְׁלוֹמִים, הַקְּרוֹבִים

Now once more I put forth my hand a second time, with additional explanation and a twofold request, extended and put forth before all the members of our community, those near and far,

וְהָרְחוֹקִים, לְקַיֵּים עֲלֵיהֶם שֶׁכָּל יְמֵי הַחוֹל לֹא יֵרְדוּ לִפְנֵי הַתֵּיבָה הַבַּעֲלֵי עֲסָקִים שֶׁאֵין לָהֶם פְּנַאי כָּל כָּךְ.

to take upon themselves that on all weekdays businessmen should not lead the prayers, for they do not have much time to devote to prayer. Here begins the third section of the letter, which was written at a later time, when the hasidic movement had grown and had become more established around the author of the Tanya. A need arose to formulate specific practices and ordinances, and the first of these related to communal prayer. The author of the Tanya knew that it is impossible for a person with limited time to forget everything and immerse himself in the service of prayer with a composed mind. Although there were certainly hasidim who were capable of doing this, devotees who were able to pray as if they had all the time in the world even though they would be imminently delving into business matters and money concerns, this was surely not a common phenomenon. Most people need a great deal of time to attain a mindset of intense connection, a luxury that businessmen do not have.

רַק אוֹתָם שֶׁיֵּשׁ לָהֶם פְּנַאי

Only those who have time, Those who do not run a business or occupy high-pressure positions can clear space in their souls and free themselves of commonplace matters. The service of prayer that the author of the Tanya expects of his hasidim demands more time than simply mouthing the words of prayer. He instructs them to give sufficient time to each word, to allow themselves the mental space to contemplate each one, and imbue them with the light of the hasidic teachings that they learned. They must strive to tap into the depths of their souls, to truly feel and be free to ascend from the mundane concerns of daily living to contemplate and immerse themselves in matters of the Divine, all through the daily morning prayer.

אוֹ הַמְלַמְּדִים אוֹ הַסְּמוּכִים עַל שׁוּלְחַן אֲבִיהֶם,

whether teachers or those who are supported financially by their father, Teachers are included here since elementary-school classes started later in the morning, so they could devote time to their prayers. In addition, those supported by their parents could devote all their time to the study of Torah rather than dedicating some of their time to earning a livelihood and also had more time to spend in prayer.

שֶׁיְּכוֹלִים לְהַאֲרִיךְ בִּתְפִלַּת הַשַּׁחַר עֵרֶךְ שָׁעָה וּמֶחֱצָה לְפָחוֹת כָּל יְמוֹת הַחוֹל, מֵהֶם יִהְיֶה הַיּוֹרֵד לִפְנֵי הַתֵּיבָה עַל פִּי הַגּוֹרָל אוֹ עַל פִּי רִיצּוּי הָרוֹב, וְהוּא יֶאֱסוֹף אֵלָיו בְּסָבִיב לוֹ כָּל הַסְּמוּכִים עַל שׁוּלְחַן אֲבִיהֶם אוֹ מְלַמְּדִים שֶׁיּוּכְלוּ לְהַאֲרִיךְ כָּמוֹהוּ.

who can devote at least about an hour and half to the morning prayers every weekday, one of them should lead the prayers, selected by a lot or by consent of the majority. The designated leader should gather around him all those who are supported by their father or the teachers, who can spend as much time on the prayers as he can. The leader of the prayer service should be someone accepted by most of the congregation, but unlike the custom in other places, where the person who leads the prayers is the one who is most in a rush, or where the entire congregation prays in order to accommodate those who are in a hurry, so that those who want to pray slowly have to essentially pray on their own, the author of the Tanya proposes that it is precisely those who are not pressed for time, who can set aside plenty of time for prayer, should be considered the main part of the quorum, while the rest should be peripheral. In general, there is a certain basic assumption at play here regarding the foundation of the community, what it considers important and what is secondary. Setting the norm for the correct way to choose the prayer leader highlights the community's values. The community is undoubtedly composed of a plethora of people of all types, each with his own unique place in it, but the axis upon which the whole community stands must be the service of God, and all must recognize this and find their place accordingly.

בְּבַל יְשׁוּנֶּה, נָא וְנָא.

This arrangement should not be altered, I beg and beseech you. The author of the Tanya uses this double language of "I beg and beseech you" to strengthen the intensity of his request. It is hard to institute a custom and ensure that people will not change it when it is contrary to the accepted custom. Therefore, the author of the Tanya poses his request using strong language: "I beg and beseech you."

אַךְ בְּשַׁבָּתוֹת וְיָמִים טוֹבִים, שֶׁגַּם כָּל בַּעֲלֵי עֲסָקִים יֵשׁ לָהֶם פְּנַאי וּשְׁעַת הַכּוֹשֶׁר לְהַאֲרִיךְ בִּתְפִלָּתָם בְּכַוָּונַת לִבָּם וְנַפְשָׁם לַה', וְאַדְּרַבָּה, עֲלֵיהֶם מוּטָל בְּיֶתֶר שְׂאֵת וְיֶתֶר עָז.

However, on the Sabbath and the festivals, when all the businessmen also have the time and opportunity to pray at length to God with the concentration of their hearts and souls, their responsibility is, on the contrary, much greater. Why do the people who are busy working throughout the week have a greater responsibility to pray at length on the Sabbath and festivals than those who spend all week devoted to Torah study and prayer?

כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בְּשׁוּלְחָן עָרוּךְ אוֹרַח חַיִּים (סימן רצ), וּכְמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בְּתוֹרַת מֹשֶׁה: "שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים תַּעֲבוֹד כו', וְיוֹם

As it states in Shulḥan Arukh , Oraḥ Ḥayyim (290), and as it is written in the Torah of Moses, "Six days

הַשְּׁבִיעִי שַׁבָּת לַה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ" (שמות כ, ט-י) דַּיְיקָא כּוּלּוֹ לַה'.

you shall work…and the seventh day is Sabbath for the Lord your God" (Ex. 20:9–10), specifying that the day should be devoted entirely to God. The author of the Tanya cites the Shulḥan Arukh to bolster his assertion that the Sabbath is a day when working men, who did not have the opportunity to devote all their weekdays to the study of Torah and prayer, should study more than Torah scholars who study all week long. The Sabbath is the culmination of the weekdays and is nourished from them. In light of this, the heights to which one's prayers ascend on the Sabbath hinges on the weekdays. Yet when a person who was occupied with mundane concerns during the week prays on the Sabbath with sincere intention and at length, he can elevate his prayers to even loftier heights, like a light that emerges from darkness.

וְלָזֹאת גַּם הֵם יֵרְדוּ לִפְנֵי הַתֵּיבָה בְּשַׁבָּת וְיוֹם טוֹב, עַל פִּי הַגּוֹרָל אוֹ בְּרִיצּוּי הָרוֹב, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתַבְתִּי אֶשְׁתָּקַד.

Therefore, they too should lead the services on the Sabbath and festivals, by a lot or by consent of the majority, as I wrote last year. When a person who sits and studies Torah during the week steps into the Sabbath, he does not change his routine to a significant degree. Conversely, when a person who works throughout the week, immersed in worldly matters, enters the Sabbath, he undergoes both a drastic change and brings something new with him from his workweek. During his weekly dealings with the mundane world, he met holy sparks that the one who sat and studied Torah did not encounter. These sparks come from imperfect realities that seek to be redeemed. When they encountered this businessman, they attached themselves to him and made him their messenger to elevate them to the realm of holiness. These sparks say to him, as it were, "You were with us and dealt with us. Now you must take us with you to elevate us and redeem us from the kelippot, the forces of impurity." It is therefore the businessman who should pray on the Sabbath or festival, since he must elevate and redeem the sparks. Furthermore, the roots of those sparks lie in the world of tohu, which is higher than the person who is elevating them. When a person comes to pray as an emissary for those sparks, he receives power from them, like a prayer leader who receives power to pray from the congregation for whom he is praying. They are not only sending him to pray for them, but they are giving him the power to do so.

וּכְגוֹן דָּא צָרִיךְ לְאוֹדוֹעֵי שֶׁבְּדַעְתִּי, אִם יִרְצֶה ה', לִשְׁלוֹחַ לְכָל הַמִּנְיָנִים מְרַגְּלִים בַּסֵּתֶר, לֵידַע וּלְהוֹדִיעַ כָּל מִי שֶׁאֶפְשָׁר לוֹ וְכָל מִי שֶׁיֵּשׁ לוֹ פְּנַאי לְהַאֲרִיךְ וּלְעַיֵּין בַּתְּפִלָּה, וּמִתְעַצֵּל – יִהְיֶה נִידּוֹן בְּרִיחוּק מָקוֹם, לִהְיוֹת נִדְחֶה בִּשְׁתֵּי יָדַיִם בְּבוֹאוֹ לְפֹה לִשְׁמוֹעַ 'דִּבְרֵי אֱלֹקִים חַיִּים'.

Moreover, be notified that I intend, God willing, to send covert observers to all the congregations to identify and notify me about anyone who is able and anyone who has time to pray at length and in depth yet is lazy and refrains from doing so. Any such person will be punished by disassociation, being pushed away with two hands when he comes here to hear the words of the living God. The "words of the living God" was a description for the Rebbe's hasidic teachings. Since this person is not implementing the hasidic teachings that he heard from the Rebbe, he does not deserve to hear them.

וּמִכְּלַל לָאו אַתָּה שׁוֹמֵעַ הֵן, וְלַשּׁוֹמְעִים יוּנְעַם, וְתָבֹא עֲלֵיהֶם בִּרְכַּת טוֹב, וְאֵין טוֹב אֶלָּא תּוֹרָה וכו'.

From the negative you can infer the positive. May it be pleasant for those who adhere to this message, and may blessings of good come upon them, and "'good' means nothing but Torah…." The author of the Tanya does not leave it at that, but "from the negative you can infer the positive." The author of the Tanya promises that whoever invests substantial time in the service of prayer and relates seriously to the hasidic discourses that he has heard will be privileged to acquire further hasidic teachings, or, as the author puts it, "the words of the living God." The author of the Tanya concludes as he began, stating that "good" is synonymous with the Torah. He began with gratitude for the conclusion of the study of the entire Talmud, a study that strengthens a person's faith, and concludes with a blessing directed at one who implements the lessons he has learned from hasidic teachings in his prayer service. By doing this, his newly strengthened faith supports the "head" and "arms," promoting the conscious awareness of the Divine and the love and fear of God.