Were Your Prayers Even Real? | 10 Minutes of Meaning - Tanya #56

Good morning Boca, welcome back to 10 minutes of Tanya. We're grateful to our generous sponsors Marilyn and Michael Fedak for our 10 minutes of Tanya. Please help yourself in the Rubashkin corner to some coffee slushes and the like. We are on perek bet. Of safer Tanya, we've been learning all about the beinoni. The Tanya based on the Gemara characterizes uh Jewish people fall into five categories. The tzaddik, tov lo tzaddik varalo, the two types of tzaddik, higher and lower tzaddik, two types of rasha, rasha varalo rasha betovlo, and the beinoni. The beinoni is the intermediary. The beinoni is the in-betweener. And the after of the Tanya has been describing, defining the beinoni, this in-betweener, as individual who on the outside looks exactly like the tzaddik, makes all the right choices, lives exactly the right lifestyle and the right behavior, but internally, the internal world is altogether different. Whereas the tzaddikim, the two types of tzaddik, not only do the right thing on the outside, but also on the inside, the animal soul is no longer an impulse, it's no longer an uh an an a source of influence. For the beinoni, they live still with that influence. Or put a little bit differently, the the beinoni externally, superficially, when you look at them in their lifestyle on the outside, they're doing all the right thing, because in each moment of tension, of conflict, in each battle, they're winning. Don't eat, don't look, don't say, don't go, don't do. The beinoni is winning. The beinoni is winning. Almost winning so much they're sick and tired of winning. They're winning. They're defeating the impulse, the animal soul, but it's still a battle. There's still a battle, there's still a debate, there's still a conversation, there's still a tension, there's still a conflict, so much so that the beinoni needs to muster up that energy, that courage, that clarity, that conviction, in order to battle, in order to defeat that voice. We're in the middle of perek bet. >> Because of the beinoni, the animal soul's emotional deep core of klippa, which is in the heart of the left chamber, again the Alter Rebbe described where the impulses are, the good, the bad, the left chamber, the right chamber of the heart. Did he mean it literally anatomically? Did he mean it metaphorically? The relationship of the brain, the head versus the heart. But the animal soul is still beating in the left chamber of the heart. It's not up in this place. It's not been purged. It's not been eliminated. That animal soul still burns. The animal soul is still acutely aware of the pleasures of this world. And the animal soul is arguing and fighting for it. It's trying to lure the beinoni into it. And where do you see this, says the Alter Rebbe? You see this in davening. Because after tfila after tfila she'ain rishpaisha misgalis libo b'challel y'mani So during davening, even the beinoni hopefully at shul, you hear the blowing of the shofar, you say Sh'ma Sh'ma Yisrael, person is connected and lost in their davening. So the godly soul is connecting to its source, God. And we feel our best. When you're in shul, we're not distracted. We're not tempted to look at or say or think or go or do. We're connected to the words hopefully that we're saying. We feel involved in the hug of the tallis we're wearing. And we feel strapped and bound and connected through the tfillin, the bias, the umbilical cord to our source, Hashem. So even the beinoni is in a good place and thinking good thoughts. And the beinoni is expressing and nourishing and making contact with that godly soul. But what happens after tfila? You wrap up the tfillin, you fold the tallis, you put them away. And even before you're out of shul, on the way out, you're already talking about a business deal and an opportunity. Someone tells you, "Did you check out this new Netflix series?" And someone has some good juicy lashon hara on the way out. When the fiery flaming love for Hashem is no longer awakened in the heart in the right chamber, then that dormant klipa on the left side, it was silenced, but it reawakens. During davening, we successfully silence. During davening, those fantasy temptation, that impulse, it's not there because we're occupied and preoccupied with something good called tfila, called tfila. But, what happens? What happens after we're done davening? When we close the sitter, we close the tfilin, we take off the tallis, we take off the tfilin, then all of a sudden that animal soul comes roaring back. It had been silenced. It had been starved. It now has an appetite. It now has much to say. It's reawakened. Why? Because of the beinoni, it was never purged. It was never eliminated. For the beinoni, it was silenced successfully, but it's still there. It's dormant. And it comes roaring and raging back. That doesn't mean the beinoni's divine soul doesn't retain some of what it accomplished during tfila. The beinoni's davening was real. It was authentic. It transformed. Hopefully, it lasts. It lasts. But, it means that after davening, it comes back. Kimtocho ratzuf ahavah mesuteres. Because after tfila during the rest of the day, the beinoni's heart is tocho ratzuf ahavah mesuteres. Where's that language? Tocho ratzuf ahavah. Yeshurun baruch hashem in the shabbos. It's a beautiful Yeshurun baruch song. He didn't write the words. Tocho ratzuf ahavah is a possuk in the third perek of Shir Hashirim, the Kabbalistic song. But, Hamelech wrote the original version. It comes from Shir Hashirim. Inlaid inside with love, but mesuteres. But, it's an ahavah mesuteres. Ahavah mesuteres means it's a dormant love. It's a hidden love. It's a concealed love. Shey ahavah tivish benefesh Elokus kemo shey is barur lekol adam. The innate love of divine soul, which everyone naturally experiences. The Alter Rebbe has a premise, which is that never Yid, never Jew, there is a natural love of Hashem. Sometimes that natural love is buried deep inside. Sometimes there are layers and layers and layers on top of it. So much so it's hard to find and it's hard to expose and it's hard to express, but it's in there, deep inside for everyone and deep inside for all. Jews are redeemable and Jews we have hope and Jews we have faith and inside every Jew is a pure heart and is a love. For some it's an obvious love of Hashem. It's a dormant love, it's a hidden love, it's an innate love. For others it's on the surface, it's expressed and you can see it and you can perceive it and you experience it and for others you got to dig deep in order to be able to find it. But every divine soul possesses this natural love for Hashem, sometimes obscured and hidden. Ego is the enemy, ego gets in the way, ego buries it deeper because ego and Hashem are like oil and water and they don't mix. They don't coexist. So if ego is at the surface then the Hashem and the godly soul is buried deeper. And if there is no ego then the ego then the godliness can rise to the surface and express itself there. Express itself there. And then after prayer when the more intense love subsides, it becomes possible for the stupidity of the fool and the evil of the animal soul to be expressed in left chamber of the heart. During davening, I don't know if you've ever had this experience. During davening you're so moved, you're so connected, you're so transformed that you make all kinds of promises and pledges. I'll never speak lashon hara again. I'll never look at the wrong thing again. I'll never be late again. I'll never talk during davening again. I'll never be impatient again. I'll never be angry. I'll never be jealous again. And it doesn't take 2 minutes, 5 minutes, you're out of shul and you revert back. That dormant animal soul, that impulse, that drive, that temptation, it captures you. The fool, the evil of the animal soul and the stupidity of the fool, they're expressed there right back. Because when we're davening, we're in the next world. When we daven, we're transported to another place. But when we close that sitter, we come back into this world with all its temptation, all its desire, all its challenge, all its confusion. And that's not a fair fight. It's hard to battle in that world. And often we revert back. And the animal soul, if it's still there, and the animal soul, if it's still fighting, is going to battle. It's going to try to capture us. Key low is follow claw. It'll be like we never davened at all. That's why from Shacharit, you have to have Mincha. From Mincha, you have to have Maariv. And Maariv, the end of the day, start again next day with the Shacharit. Cuz it grounds us. It calibrates us. It's a compass. That feeler is the anchor. The anchor, it grounds us. It reminds us who we are, who we want to be, a best and better version of ourselves. And then unfortunately, we're challenged and we often win, we don't always. And so davening comes us back brings us back. And it's another anger anchor and it grounds us. But all of this is the roller coaster life of the baynoni, the ups and downs. The tzaddik the tzaddik the high the tzaddik achieves during tfillah sticks with him or her the rest of the day. Because they don't struggle, they don't battle. There is no ego. There is no this world. There is no temptation. They not only make the right choices, but in their inner world, they're not even having a difficult conversation as opposed to the baynoni. What the rest of this perek is going to be about is the Alter Rebbe's suggestions, his formula. So, halavai we're baynonim. In some way, and to some degree, the baynoni is even higher than the tzaddik. The tzaddik doesn't battle. It's no big deal to be perfect. If you're the goody two shoes and everything comes easy, and you're not even tempted by the bad, so it's not impressive that you're good. But if you're tempted by the bad, if you have that impulse and that urge, and you nevertheless always make the right choices, now that's impressive. So, in some ways, the baynoni is even higher than the tzaddik. But there's an expression. The Alter Rebbe himself, halavai baynoni. Halavai I been only how love I been only how love I we can get to the level of the been only who on the outside at least is doing all the right things. But how do we get there? If in the inner world there's still a battle and still the struggle, how do we get there? The been only wins or succeeds based on mind control. The been only has to work not in the arena of action cuz there they will lose. The immediate gratification and the immediate pleasure is too good. So the been only is trying to win in the world on the battlefield of action it's over. The been only has to control the mind. Has to be disciplined and regulate from the head. It doesn't cross his mind to actually violate. Every year we are there are kosher and a better. They remain thoughts of sin which are worse than sinning itself. The good morning Yuma the good morning Yuma does have test tells us that here we are there are fantasizing, picturing, longing, craving desiring, imagining is all worse than doing the action. Cuz the action is an impulse. The action is a reaction to that temptation. But dwell and marinate and stew in the thought in the fantasy in many ways that's worse than the act. So the been only can't stop thoughts of mistakes from popping in his mind even though the notion of transgression is far from him. He'll never indulge, he'll never get in them, never do it. But he can't stop thinking about it. She can't stop fantasizing about it. And even when such thoughts do arise so the been only successful cuz the been only pushes them away. The total of all of these thoughts can cross his mind and that becomes challenging. You're trying to dive in but it pops in. You're trying to do cassette it pops in. Trying to live your life, you're having food, trying to have a conversation and these thoughts you're trying to listen to a tiny share, but the impulse is getting you to eat or say or look at or go or watch or do. And he quotes the Gamora in Baba Basra and of course the tells us there are three of errors everyone does every day. Three things nobody's spared from. The Gamora is a discussion. Mamish, literally you do it? Not exactly, but some form of something adjacent to them we all do. And then the after ever quotes two of them. Here are the three of errors of you and Sefila. One is the Hurrah of error. Nobody can say they got through the entire day and didn't have one thought. Doesn't mean they acted on the thought. But even the thought itself is dangerous and destructive. And nobody can say that they made it through an entire day unless they were comatose and even then when they wake up maybe they had a dream. But nobody can say they made it through an entire day and and didn't have one thought. One fantasy, one idea, one temptation, one craving for something they shouldn't do. That's the Hurrah of error. And number two is you and Sefila. You and Sefila. Rashi gives us different explanations. Doesn't mean there's nobody who can say they made it from the beginning of Davening all the way to the end and they weren't distracted at one for one moment. Everybody's distracted. Or according to Tosis, they weren't overly confident. Now there's a third. The after ever just quotes the two. Even though he acknowledges Gamora of errors in a minute so there are three. What's the third? Lashon Hara. Gamora says Lashon Hara of act Lashon Hara. Borderline. Borderline Lashon Hara. Why didn't the after ever quote this? Rabbi Miller explains cuz it's an activity of speech. A faculty over which the Benini has indeed achieved full mastery. The other two are internal in the internal world the Benini is still struggling. But Lashon Hara is in the world of action, the external world, not the internal world. In the external world the Benini never gives in, never loses. So that's why the after ever only quotes two out of the three, but the point is that we all struggle. We all struggle. So we'll pick up with next time is how can the benei successfully deflect all these negative urges? How? Halavai we're benei. Halavai. Halavai on the outside we're doing everything right and we're only battling on the inside. But, we are battling on the inside. So, how if you're still battling on the inside can you win the battles on the outside we're doing what's right and not only on the outside doing what's right, try to get to a point that we purge and eliminate even that internal struggle. And what we'll pick up is some excellent, of course, sage advice from the Alter Rebbe. We'll pick up with next time.