The mashpia, R’ Yair Calev, known for his lectures on Tanya, speaks with Beis Moshiach about the personal significance of Tanya for each one of us. * He explains how the learning becomes alive within us, so that our avodas Hashem becomes a workshop for life and a Torah of life, that bestows meaning and clarity on every moment of our lives. * He shows how Tanya teaches us about relationships, giving us a new perspective. * Special Yud-Tes Kislev interview, part 2 of 2.
Interview by Sholom Ber Crombie
When learning Tanya, it seems as though what is being demanded of us doesn’t always match our reality.
The study of Tanya obligates a person, and the more you delve into Tanya, the greater the responsibility to change oneself. The more a person is involved in these concepts in a sincere way, the less time he has for negative stuff. That’s the idea of the Geula, which makes peace between opposites, not in a way that they don’t clash with one another because I’ve subdued them and they still want to fight, but because they have no desire to fight.
All of Chassidus explains the idea of “pada b’shalom nafshi,” when the real redemption is from the battle over the meaning of life, in what I identify with, my G-dly soul or my animal soul. Making peace with the nefesh means that the animal soul is harnessed in service of the truth, within the normal ebb and flow of my life.
Although just being involved in the concepts of Tanya improves us, we need to do the inner work so that the light illuminates our inner faculties. The main avoda is with our own effort, to understand that each of us is a potential beinoni and has the ability to transform the potential into the actual. We need to learn to take responsibility for our actions, to restrain ourselves, and to work against our heart’s desires. This is the job of the “Soldiers of the House of Dovid” who excel in kabbalas ol, even when the heart is not thrilled about acting in a manner of k’dusha.
The Tzemach Tzedek explains in Derech Mitzvosecha the best manner of performing a mitzva, which is that even when you are motivated to act out of profound and deep desire, you set that aside and fulfill it because it’s G-d’s will. If you do that, then even when you feel weary and exhausted, you remember to do the right thing. The idea of kabbalas ol is that the body, the very physicality itself, generates light. When the tachton ((lowly being/existence) serves the revelation of the Sh’china, that is the realization of the ultimate intent of creation.
It is when the wellsprings of Chassidus spread outward that the Geula will come, because the revelation of the Sh’china down below is the Geula. The Geula is a state in which the tachton is a complete vessel to receive revelations of G-dliness within the natural world. Tanya is the tool with which to bring the Geula, for it teaches us about the subject of Geula in a clear manner. The chiddush in it is that it all begins with me. In order to bring the Geula, I need to change, not to be involved in my own personal struggles, but to be focused on drawing the Sh’china down here.
The Tanya is a work that provides guidance and advice in matters pertaining to the service of G-d. How does all that affect a change in a person’s daily life?
When a person gets angry and is involved in battles that pull him down, he is caught up in negative energy and is diverting his mind from his mission. Tanya says not to get involved in battles that fall into the category of “do not answer a fool according to his foolishness,” since we need to direct our energy towards positive things.
(A practical example): Being a father means to take responsibility as an adult. When I’m being childish, I am distracted by things that confuse me and draw me into petty involvements. Tanya gives us the ability to focus, and not to be involved in trivialities.
Does this apply to other areas of life like relationships?
The area of relationships is the most potent training ground, because if I do the work, it affects all other aspects of life. We are all familiar with situations in which there was a disagreement in the house and we said things in the heat of the moment and not necessarily in the nicest way. Then somebody calls or knocks at the door and we suddenly have a smile on our face and speak calmly and patiently. What happened? We calm down because we make a switch and decide that it’s not nice to speak to the outsider the way we were just talking to a family member.
That’s what Tanya teaches us, to make a switch in our approach towards others, towards the world, towards life’s circumstances. There is no time to sulk and to quarrel. Sometimes, a person says something in anger that he later regrets, so Tanya says, take responsibility for yourself, pay attention to what you’re doing, think things through. That’s how you bring Tanya into your daily life.
When a person does things with forethought, he creates a positive atmosphere around him. We all have the ability to create a positive atmosphere. The question is what do you choose to identify with – with anger and resentment or with your good middos? We can all have good middos. The question is whether we are willing to do the work and control ourselves. Tanya teaches us that we are responsible for our actions. We cannot blame our environment, our parents, and our difficult childhood. We should not be looking for reasons and excuses that will exempt us from the work. We need to be responsible for ourselves, regardless of what we may have experienced in the past and what circumstances Hashem decreed for our lives.
We need to apply the messages of Tanya in a personal way and diligently. Diligence is acquired by sacrificing your personal desires. It is not something that comes naturally. Not everyone has the necessary long term consciousness, and not everybody succeeds in finding the thing that speaks to him. Therefore, the commitment must be made not only in time but also as a soul commitment, because nobody is exempt from difficulties and tests in life.
The root of the word Emuna means craft. Nobody can walk this path without hardships and stumbling. If you’ve made a soul-commitment, you get up and keep going. There are difficulties from within and without, such as a lack of focus, being swept up in the day-to-day difficulties of making a living and other challenges. The avoda consists of being consistent and remembering that there are no easy conditions.
How can we successfully apply the principles in our daily lives?
When you learn Tanya, you are living what you learn and not just learning theories. Upon leaving a shiur, you encounter what you learn in the simple tests of life. Life is always presenting us with challenges. The avoda is to apply what you learned. The avoda of Tanya is self-education, and if you are consistent about it, you have the ability to pick up the pieces when you fall and get up. Each time ought to be better than the previous time.
This is also the way of hiskashrus to the Rebbe, to constantly hold on, and it makes no difference what state of mind I’m in.
The first step is to acquire self-knowledge, not to set goals for yourself that are beyond your reach. You don’t want to crash and burn. Avodas Hashem requires refining one’s very sense of self, setting aside the ego, and translating each thing in terms of every day life, so that the learning becomes practical and not merely intellectual. Putting what you learn into practice is the ultimate self-work, after you leave a shiur and immediately encounter all the troubles and challenges of life which make you forget what you learned in the shiur. If Torah isn’t an eisek (an occupation, business), then it’s possible that what you learned in the shiur won’t be applied to your life.
Tanya teaches us how to serve Hashem according to the rules of life in this world, where progress is made from easy to hard. First, we need to get out of mochin d’katnus (small-minded thinking), out of self-love and subjectivity. Then we go to a “good and spacious land,” which is avoda acquired through effort. A person is constantly moving from the highs of learning to the reality of life and the goal is to elevate daily life, to take something from the learning and live with it.
What tools does Tanya provide?
When you live with what you learned, it becomes part of your life. At first, you remember what you learned only after you make a mistake, but with time, we become more aware and catch ourselves and are able to apply what we learned to life situations as they arise.
The Alter Rebbe teaches each of us to reveal the personal savior, the Moshe Rabbeinu within us. That is the goal: to extend the point of cognitive awareness so as not to be involved in what is not truly important. Whatever life presents us with is the playing field on which we put what we learn to the test. We can’t allow ourselves to be shattered by life’s circumstances; rather, we need to work with them. Chassidus teaches how to elevate the circumstances of life.
Only someone who admits that he’s needy, that he has problems, seeks help. This is why Tanya begins with knowing your place in avodas Hashem, knowing where you are at and bringing light there. Chassidus teaches us how to serve Hashem with our weaknesses, as we are, without fighting against what we are.
It says, “He stands to the right of the pauper” – someone who admits to his problems is helped by Hashem. When someone asks Hashem for help and employs positive thinking, he is able to achieve the main thing which is action. When a person lives with the proper mindset, he is able to anticipate his weaknesses before they are manifested in the three garments of the soul: thought, speech, action.
Within each one of us, there is a conflict and a courthouse. The yetzer ha’ra wants to take everything for himself. These thoughts rise to the brain and the yetzer tov disagrees. This argument will be decided by the judge, who is man himself, who is judge over the “small city.” In order for the decision to be in line with the wishes of the G-dly soul, one needs to be highly aware and this is accomplished through learning Chassidus.
How do we reach a point where it is the G-dly soul that decides – does it happen as a matter of course?
We are guaranteed that Hashem helps, since a little bit of light expels a lot of darkness, and a little wisdom pushes aside a lot of foolishness. This is what Chabad Chassidus demands of those who learn it; to produce light, to think positively, to be immersed in Chassidus, so that when a thought is presented in the courtroom of your mind and is debated by the G-dly soul and animal soul, the G-dly soul will be the one to immediately make the decision.
This is our life’s work. To be involved in the subject matter of Tanya in an inner way means to create light. Conversely, if I think negatively, I am not in a good place. When there is a disagreement between the G-dly soul and animal soul, the correct decision comes down in a way that transcends the limits of nature, and only due to the fact that the beinoni is actively engaged in serving G-d.
The practical lesson of Yud-Tes Kislev is to concentrate one’s powers to spreading light. Training oneself properly means being immersed in that which doesn’t come naturally to me and to rise above weakness. When you live with Chassidus, you see that it is possible to transform every weakness into a powerful motivator and every nisayon (challenge/test) into a neis (miracle that rises above nature).
It says on the words, “For G-d your G-d tests you to know” that the nisayon is meant to reveal a person’s daas/knowledge. We saw many times at “dollars,” that when people complained to the Rebbe about hardships, the Rebbe told them to transform the difficulties into something positive. Chassidus reaches into every person’s very innards, even those who think that it has no practical meaning in his life, because when you are involved in learning Chassidus, you discover how it all applies to you.
In conclusion:
When you learn Chassidus you must understand that achdus is the key to everything. It makes no sense for Chassidim, who are completely invested in the Rebbe’s inyanim, to fight with one another. We must emulate the Rebbe who received every person graciously, no matter who he was and what his views were. There is no difference among the Rebbe’s Chassidim and there cannot be a barrier between Jews. We must rise above nature when it comes to machlokes and live together in harmony and peace, despite our differences of opinion. This is an issue which bothers the Rebbe and we cannot be quiet about it. Every Chassid can retain his opinion – nobody is asking you to be a “loser” – but you cannot allow differences of opinion to affect your love for others.