Miraculous TANYA from TEHRAN (maybe it's yours?)

Um, I want to share the story of this book with you and I hope that it will give you some direction and clarity and maybe give me some direction and clarity and it's all connected to what's going on in the world right now. Um, so I guess I don't even know how to tell this as a story. It is a story. Uh, I won't tell the story in chronological order. sort of some uh postmodern twist storytelling. But um where the story begins with me uh is I got this book um back in December and it was a book that I had known about the existence of for a while and I wanted it. Uh it was significant to me, special to me. And uh around December time of December 2024, I I was able to locate and procure a copy from someone who was uh willing to to let me have it. Um I'll just tell you what it is. It's a it's a Tanya Tanya is uh the book written by Schneer Zman of Leyadi the first kabad reb uh in the 1790s it's a cotification or systemized organized um presentation of Shamv of basicidic teachings and their primarily their application to personal growth uh how to become closer to Hashem Um there are copies of Tanya that were printed all over the world. Uh the labava famously launched an initiative to print tanyas wherever Jews lived and they were printed in thousands perhaps tens of thousands of locations even sometimes on little uh laser printers on a desktop laser printer. Um this particular tanya was printed in Thran and I want to tell you about the story of it and I want to tell you um about some of the hashka protest. So I I got my copy of the tan tanya in December as I told you and I actually had planned on um using it at an event yudes. Kisv, if you don't know the 19th day of the Hebrew month of Kisv, which is the day when the aforementioned Rav Schneer Salman, the Alterb, the Balata, was released from imprisonment. He was imprisoned on false charges of treason by the um by the Tsarist government and then he was acquitted and released. And the date of his acquitt and release is the 19th day of Kislv which is celebrated until this day as a great celebration of the dissemination ofidis. Um because after he was released not only was he free to continue teaching but he taught on a much uh larger scale than ever before. Um so the there was a an event an event from um Ky Kabad. Ky Kabad is a very important charity actually it was founded by the Alterb. it uh Kabad is a charity that is over uh 230 years old and it was founded to support the the needy in the holy land and until this day kabad supports the needy in the holy land. Uh so they had an event yasis called Navi and uh I was supposed to speak there and at the event you know it's mostly it's a concert. People don't really want to hear speakers they want to hear music but I was I was one of the speakers and I was going to speak and I wanted to just you know short and sweet. I didn't want to bore anyone. So my idea was I wanted to say hey it's your test kiss. It's the anniversary of the liberation of the author of the Tanya and this is a Tanya. It's a very special Tanya. It's the tan tanya and I'm going to tell you the story of it and then I was going to basically you know uh give it away um at the event. So I did not attend the event because my father passed away um two days before the event. So um my father gamab alaw shalom for whom I'm saying kadesh presently I three three times a day I attend shul synagogue and I lead the prayers and I say kadesh um for the elevation of his soul. So I was not able to attend that event because I was sitting Shiva and so the whole idea of presenting the the Tanya um it kind of got tabled and I mean I've had it literally tabled it's on been on my table um yeah so I've been busy with uh with life with saying kadesh and with growing the soulwards platform I mean it's crazy we're reaching 10 million people a month now That's that's correct. 10 million people a month across all platforms. Um, and we opened up a new physical center, a uh a house for events, shiim gatherings on the on the on the on the ground floor. And in the basement, we have a state-of-the-art video production facility and podcast studio. This is all half a block from the aisle from the resting place of the Lava Cherba who is the uh descendant and successor of the the author of the Tanya. So a lot been going on in my life and I had the tan Tanya on my desk and didn't really get around to dealing with it again. So, uh, this morning I'm in the middle of the campaign, the fundraising campaign, and I'm like really I'm cognizant of the fact that people are kind of distracted and they're they're not the number one priority right now is not responding to me and helping me do what I need to do right now for these 48 hours. It's a 48 hour matching campaign. Every dollar is doubled. Um, yeah. So, but that's that's not the point. point is. So I'm thinking to myself, you know, what am I raising money for? I'm raising money money for soul words. Soul words is soul words. We speak the words that are from the soul to the soul. And I got to tell you, I don't normally I mean, I don't know if you know my content, you don't know my content. If you're a regular follower, an occasional follower, not at all a follower, um I don't generally speak about current events. I feel like there's a lot of rabbis who do that already. many who do it well, some who don't do it well, but plenty who do it well and and plenty who do it. And and and you don't need Chase Ta who chimes in on every current event. This is not Twitter or X or whatever. You know, I don't have to have a hot take on every news item. I feel like most of what people turn to Soulwords for is spiritual guidance and clarity in their in their personal lives. And um yeah, so anyways, sort of slightly out of character, but I'm I I just want to address what's going on in the world, but not from like a political standpoint. It's not my thing. That's not my training or expertise, and it's not my I don't believe my soul's mission in this world. I want to talk about it from a spiritual perspective, and I'll and I'll do that by telling you the story. Okay? Okay. So, I'm going to tell you the story. Um, the story about this Tanya, the story is like this. Um, I told you that the lab was involved in printing Tanyas all over the world. Literally in every place where Jews lived, even small towns, like little little towns where a few Jews live. And if it was possible to print the Tanya there, the Ebbe wanted it done. Okay. So um the the Reba had a Tanya printed in Thran right before the revolution and apparently it was not so simple. There were a lot of uh I think they they it was in in 1977 they started they they there were a couple of Baham who went uh yeshiva students rabbitic students uh to start the process but things were there was such upheaval and the end of the story is it took them a year to get the printing done and uh understandably things were very you know up in the there. So what happened is from but from the time they started the printing until they finished there was the revolution and they had this box big box in the shul full of these Tanyas and they were like just disheveled like this this box of of Tanyas were not really organized. people had other things going on. I mean obviously understandably. Um so this story is like this. Um and and this story was told by the one to whom it happened firsthand a uh a rabbi by the name of Rabidya who uh I believe still uh he he left Thran and he came to great neck which is the location of a very thriving Persian Jewish community. I believe he's still there. He's in his 90s. May he uh Hashem give him good health. So he was the rabbi of the shul and uh anyways after the reol revolution. So the uh the ayatollah came out with a proclamation that there should be no remnant or remembrance of the sha. anything that had any type of mention of the sha, it it it has to be uh destroyed. Now, the Jewish community has been in Persia for thousands of years, and certainly they had many historical artifacts, documents, books that had the imprint of the Sha. I mean, basically everything that's printed in a in a monarchy there has some type of official government imprint where it mentions the the sha, you know, like you look on look on your money and it it mentions who's the president, right? The secretary of the treasury or whatever it is. Like having the the name of the government on a on official items is just like a very common thing. So bottom line, the the Jewish community had a lot of items that had the Sha's name or a mention of the Sha, the family of the Sha. And a lot of the these things were like priceless, irreplaceable artifacts of historical significance. They they didn't want to destroy it. So they started slowly uh smuggling it out of of the country. Um but a lot of the items were still in the country and they were kept in the shul. The shul had a lot of these uh artifacts and books, a lot of books. Uh at any rate, the deadline came for this purge of anything that had any remnant of the sha and there was an inspection and it was announced that anyone who was in violation, anyone who still had something that belonged or had any mention of the sha um that uh they'll that that if that whether they do it on purpose or not, they're immediately going to be arrested. And if it's thought to be that they did it on purpose, that's punishable by death. So the shul was inspected. One fateful day. Two uh members of the the government police force, the revolutionary uh guard come to the shul and they said, "We're here to inspect the premises to make sure you're in compliance with this purge." And uh the receptionist got Rabbi Yazrain and he he understood that there were so many things in the shaw that were in violation that it was only a matter of them looking at a few different things and they'll eventually pretty quickly find something that would be in violation and they're probably going to shoot whoever um whoever they're dealing with. So he understood as the rabbi as the leader that that's got to be him. So he told them, "Yeah, I'm I'm I'm the rabbi. I can I can show you around. So, uh, he he said, "Where do you want to begin?" For whatever reason, they said, "Let's begin in the library." Now, the library is like the worst place to look cuz like I told you, a lot of the books had old imprints of the sha. Um, the basement was where the library was, so they actually had to walk downstairs. And Rabbi Azraian says as he's walking down the steps basically knew he's probably in all likelihood going to be executed very soon. Um they're going to find he's in violation. The the synagogue is in violation. They're going to they're not going to ask questions. They're probably going to execute him on the spot. And so as he's walking down the steps, he's saying the confession prayer, the vidi that um you know the confession of sin shamanu and he's asking forgiveness from Hashem for any of his transgressions so that he can leave the world a true penitant. And uh they get he's ready to leave. That's basically it. And they get to the bottom of the stairs and these two uh guys, the these police, these inspectors, whatever you want to call them, they start looking around and for whatever reason they point at this box. They say, "What's that? What's that?" And this is a box of this just disheveled books. They're not even like organized. It's the Tanyas. the Tanyas that they had printed in such a rush and they hadn't really dealt with properly. It was just this heaping pile of Tanyas in a box. So this this officer says what is that? What is that? Says um it's Tanya. He said, "What's Tanya?" Well, it's a book. It's aidic book. Uh what's what's BMP? So he's trying to explain, you know, 300 years ago there was a rabbi and and he taught uh how to serve Hashem. And the guy grabs the police officer. He grabs the Tanya. He's like, "I'm not sure what you're explaining to me, but he says, I want to know what's in it." And he randomly, we know nothing is random. Opens the book to the first chapter of the second volume. Second volume is called the gate of unity and faith. It's about the oneness of Hashem. The oneness of Hashem. How creation is not a separate existence. Creation does not uh constitute anything, God forbid, autonomous or or independent from from God's oneness. That there really is only oneness. At any rate, so this this guard grabs the book, opens randomly to this this page page that I have it open to, and he gives it to Rabbi Isra and he says, "Here, read it and translate and don't lie, cuz I'll know if you're lying." So he starts you know a little Tanya classapter one it's a verse in Deuteronomy you should know today and place it upon your heart that Hashem is the Lord in the heavens above and on the earth below. There is none none else. And it goes on to explain that the taught what does it mean inim in psalms chapter 119 that forever oh lord your word stands in the firmament. It means that when god spoke yes let there be god said let there be and there was when god spoke all of the things of creation into being during the six days of creation. those words, those words are energy uh blocks, building blocks of energy. Each letter, each letter of the 22 Hebrew letters are are different wavelengths of energy. And they are arranged in different combinations to form words. And each of those words are the life force that brings each of these things into being. And that when Hashem spoke, for instance, the raia, the firmament, the sky into being, it wasn't a one-time event, but it's an ongoing uh dynamic uh relationship where Hashem continues to infuse the uh creation with those letters of speech. And if Hashem would cease to continue to speak the creation into being, it would automatically revert to absolute nothing just as it was for eternity before it was compelled into its state of created somethingness. And he's reading this and he's explaining it. He's reading, translating, explaining. Hashem is speaking the world into being even now. And as such there's nothing really separate from Hashem because the world has no independent existence. The world is only an extension of Hashem. It's constantly being brought out of nothingness into its state of created somethingness. Um it's its default is is non-existence. It's only the power of the creator that's bringing it into existence as we know it. And therefore there is no true existence but Hashem himself. And he's explaining this and this police officer then satisfied he takes the Tanya away from Rabbi Azra. He puts it on his forehead and he kisses it as uh I believe some Muslims are accustomed to do with holy books. He gently puts it back on the pile and he says that uh the new republic of uh Iran needs more books like this and he turns around and he starts to walk out had the presence of mind, thank God, to ask him, "Is the inspection done?" because the guy's walking out and the guy says, "In a place that has a book like this, no further inspection is needed." And he wrote whatever it was, a form in writing, and basically gave them the clearance that these premises have been checked, everything is fine. Um, apparently the receptionist didn't hear from Rabbi Zrain for a few hours. She finally came down to the basement. She found him lying on the floor. He fainted. after they left, after the police left, he fainted. It was such an intense experience. And then he came too and he realized what had happened. This miracle. This I'm going to show you this. I'm going to get up and bring it over to the camera. You're not going to be able to hear me because I'm walking away from the mic. So, you're not going to hear such good sound, but hopefully you'll see this. Book of Tanya printed in high l 1978 and something fire. us is Persia. Biblical Hebrew name of Persia. So I got this book back in December and I wanted to share it to you and as he told me my father passed away so that didn't end up happening. So um I have it now and here's what I'm going to do. This just is what feels right. Of course, um you can donate to any good cause. Sedaka charity is is a is a powerful tool for invoking merit and and protection. Uh so you can give to any good cause but uh what I will say is right now we're having our campaign for soul words which allows us to spread messages of hope and faith and and and clarity and and light warmth love. Um, so if you participate in the campaign, what I want to do is raffle off this Tanya, the tan Tanya to one of the participants in the campaign. Okay, I'll put the link below. And um, I want everyone to have a chance, but of course I want to sort of incentivize also people who uh, who want to give more, if they're able to give more. So, what we'll do is um for every $50, I don't want to set the bar so high because I don't want to exclude a lot of people, but for every $50 uh amount that you do, um we'll we'll make a raffle after we reach the goal. We have to reach the goal. I want to kind of incentivize you. We're trying to reach a goal right now of $600,000. So, after we reach that goal, what I'll do is we'll put it into an app that does this pretty easily. For every $50 um that you donate, you'll have one chance at the raffle and then we'll have it randomly picked. Although nothing is random, like I said before, which is why um you know, whoever wins the raffle, we we'll know that there was a reason why they needed to have this Tanya. Um, so if you'll donate, yeah, for every $50, we'll we'll give you one chance for the uh for this Tanya and we'll do that after we reach the goal. Again, after we reach the goal, uh, we'll do that, God willing. And we'll see where this Tanya belongs. And the main thing is this, and I and I want to say this very very very unamig unambiguously. We know what happens. We know the end. There is prosperity, peace, security for all. Not because human beings get together and are so smart and figure it out, but because in the end, Hashem has his way. He has the perfect world that he envisioned when he created the world. And when people come together and recognize that Hashem is the true king, people will be united under that truth and then automatically there will be peace and prosperity for for all humanity. And that's that's what happens. You know, Msiah is coming. That's uh that's the reality. And we know one of the things that brings Msiah is the teachings of the Balsham. Famously, the Balsham had an experience where he went to heaven while he was still alive and he met the soul of Messiah and he said, "When is the master arriving? When will you come to redeem the world?" And he said, "When your wellsp springs," he referred to the baltov's teachings as wellsp springs are spread forth everywhere. Um, so the teachings of the Balsham, the teachings of the Balsham, which we just learned a little bit from the Tehran Tanya, the idea that the world is constantly spoken into being, the concept that creation does not have autonomous independent existence, but rather there's only one absolute existence, and that is Hashem. So those teachings when they are spread out over the entire world, that will bring Msiah. So I want everyone to get ready and and and to know this if you've already started learning the teachings of the Balsham and Tanya, we're going to be very very busy soon because I promise you um the world is going to be thirsting for this information. The entire world will suddenly abandon all other interests and become absolutely thirsty for all information about the truth of God's oneness. All nations, all people, all countries will all be yearning for this information. So our job is to hold on to this truth, to teach this truth. And like I was told when I was a yeshiva bakar, when I was a student in in in in the rabbitic school and interesting current events would be happening. Our teachers would tell us if you want to help whatever it is that's going on in the world, the best thing you can do is focus on learning Torah. Hashem runs the world. You're reading the news. I mean, when I was in yeshiva, that was it was like going out and like turning on 1010 winds, you know, listening to the news radio. Now it's, you know, refreshing the the Twitter app every 10 seconds to see whatever misinformation or disinformation or whatever is out there. So, it's not our job to uh constantly expose ourselves to all the the news, which half of it, who knows if it's even true. It's our job to focus on what we do know is true, and that is that Hashem created the world for a purpose. He created the world to be a beautiful garden, a place of peace, of prosperity, where ultimately the the occupation of the entire world will be simply to know Hashem, to have a direct relationship with Hashem, to know the oneness, to the capacity that the finite human mind can know the absolute reality of God. That's the purpose of everything. So, thank you for being part of this virtual community called Soul Words. Thank you for being part of my personal journey. It's been a interesting year. Yesterday was my birthday. I turned 51. And um on your birthday, you're supposed to sort of contemplate and think about life. I I did I usually do that religiously, but I didn't do it yesterday so much because I was so busy with the fundraising campaign. I just didn't do it. But um you know, I stop for a moment and I think about life and I think about my past year and I think about where my journey has taken me. I I just want to share one part of it and that is I'm so grateful for all the people that I'm connected with through the study of Torah and and thank you for letting me be a part of your life. Thank you for trusting me as a as a source of of truth and um may we see the fullest revelation of the ultimate truth, Hashem's oneness all throughout the world, recognized by the entire world. Okay, thank you so much and uh yeah, that's it. I'm going to sign off here.