Tanya By Rabbi Yitzchok Minkowicz Chapter 35 Mitzvot allows us to connect to ninternal will of G-D

all right welcome to tonight's Tania class tonight we're studying chapter 35 para glamour hey in Tania today's chapter and tanya is a very very important chapter in panjaa and I always say it every chapter is important because every chapters laying down a important foundation in karbala this is called the Bible of mysticism so the Bible miss ism every chapter is important every chapter is a unique and every chapter is revolutionary what's unique about this chapter in tanya is the outerwear presents the case about the power of action the power of doing MIT's vote not thinking not speaking not having this tremendous love not having this tremendous Oh for god literally MIT's volt doing the actions whether it is doing the 248 positive Commandments whether it is staying away in action from the 365 negative Commandments and MIT's vote action are extremely powerful again obviously there's a place for love and there's a place for all and there's a place for meditation and prayer everything has its place but today's chapter is focusing in on highlighting the power of MIT's vote and we'll see today how extremely powerful it is in other words the case the Alpha presenter altar is presenting in Chapter lawmen hey impaired in the chapter 35 of ten years that Mitzvahed are more powerful than love and all four god so in other words I paint you two pictures and again when that's about it's not about comparing or putting one down over the other but it's about bringing out the concept about the power of metal you have a person that is dedicated to God committed to God has a tremendous yearning for God loves God is in all of God and you see him as he praying and you see him praying and you can see and feel the connection very very strong and you oh my gosh that man is in love with god all right he's a love of God he's an awe of God and you see it very very powerful now obviously when you're in love with God your emotions obviously are connected with god you're feeling is connected with god but the altar ever says and we'll soon see inside we as we go through the chapter that a person that has tremendous love at all of god who is having it love I know for God is human being now verse says if you have another picture a human being that is just doing MIT's vote whatever the Metro Todd is this 613 total these 365 negative there's 200 positive he's busy doing a mitzvah whether it could be any Mitzvah it could be giving charity it could be Keyshia bah they're kosher whatever the mature a mezuzah feeling a person is doing a mitzvah right now what does it matter for me just to clarify a mitzvah is one of the commandments and as we know every mitzvah is a connection that we have to God so you see two people who you more inspired from natural reaction from an emotional perspective let's talk from your heart who you more who you more like CEO this person is a holy man the person standing in love and all other person was doing a simple matter who we more excited about what I think we should ask you ask you your heart who you naturally emotionally move who you more impressed with a move by the holy man right the holy man which makes it which makes sense from the heart perspective but the author of it says that the reality is this holy man and yeah we're not knocking it's not critical but just defining this holy man that's in love and or of God had he attained this tremendous love in Oregon from his mind from his heart so who was expressed in this lovin or it's really all about him true he's in love adore of God but he got inspired it's and he hear her is connected to this powerful energy of God so in other words the source of this inspiration is human human finite tools that this person has however when a person goes ahead and doesn't Mitzvah why are you doing them as fuh was your idea I don't think so right we didn't write the Torah why ultimately doing this much for whatever the midst maybe I asked you why you're doing it you get down to the bottom why are you doing the mitzvot there you go cuz God's will the only reason why ultimately your do you're doing I didn't because you could be excited about something you got excited you're excited but when you're doing a mitzvah doing again we're focusing on the doing getting down to the nitty-gritty nuts and bolts of getting up there early for example and praying and putting on tefillin and keeping kosher doing them its vault if you ask you why are you doing it just the action it says on the Torah so when you're doing a midst of the altar says you are connecting to who to God and that's we're going to be discussing today in chapter 35 so y alterna starts off the chapter by saying that we're going to explain more in depth more in depth the word that it says that it's very easy for you near for you to do the midst vote your mouth your heart but specifically which word an adverse we talkin about Lotso so we are going to be talking to in depth about the part of doing them its vote part of the action and the Alturas begins with a very very strong and direct and powerful question which gets you thinking for a minute it's almost like a question that you would be surprised at the or even be asking because you know a lot of times you don't to shake people's faith and you don't want to like you know you want to shake people up a little bit you want to get them motivated but you don't want a motivating to the point where you can like shake up their the you know their their essence so the algebra task is simple question like this I mean it's simple but it's deep he says as follows we know that a person comes down to this world what does that mean a person comes down to the world that are the summer the godly soul comes down to this world and when this neshama comes down to the world it comes down on it an emission cut it down on a mission what's the mission of the summer goes down comes down to this world for neshama comes down to this world dumet salt to play study told you miss old now God in His infinite wisdom and only God can do this took the neshamah took the godly soul and placed it we're into the physical body the body that has an animal soul has clip oh sit Rock doesn't have necessarily godly energy and one of the purposes is to elevate the animal soul now so we already learnt in Tanya thats a dick doesn't have an issue with the animal soul why it just does what God wants that's what godless the the wicked person does what he does what he or she wants the bay noni which we're defining as the middle of the road person that has a godly soul animal soul and the baton e as we described and explained the vainly in thought speech in action does everything what God wants there's all the actions God wants says everything God wants things are like God wants us to think does everything however his thought is his heart and his mental stirrings still is pushing for what to be selfish to live a life that he or she wants to live and it's a constant day to day our tower and possibly moment to moment struggle of doing what God wants versus doing what the animal soul wants the capital I wants and the other one gave in the past chapter spoke about you know about the tremendous day two days real struggle that goes on between the two forces and the bane early as long as he remains I mainly and it's usually most in your life it's a constant struggle you're an animal soul will remain an animal soul the godly soul remains an animal soul the only power you have is the only saving grace is that an action you still do all the midsole you don't transgress them it's not in action in speech you say all the right things in thought you think all the right things and every time there's like one of these pop-ups you know that come into your head or come into your heart and by the way pop-ups are free you can get punished for a pop-up so I get virus like a problem comes up that's okay no one's gonna but when you push on the link now you get the virus so the so it is could someone be part penalized for having popups on this computer no but could you be penalized for pushing it absolutely who asked you to push the button bringing on the virus in your computer so we are not accountable for the popups because that's the life of the mainly you're going to have them all day long some more than others the problem we run into is what we click on it when we obsess on it and think about it and the bane Ernie his whole life it's like the game here we go to the park and they have this things pop up and have popping down and what's called wacom wacom whack-a-mole whack-a-mole you have the whack-a-mole so so the what the moles I guess are coming up and you're whacking them down right okay and that's life at the vanity so now have asked a simple question so why did God put the godly soul into such a body you're never going to get to a point where there's not going to be any more things popping up so what you come down for in thought speech and action okay fine but that's very nice but i would like to transform this sadak transforms the animal soul King David said then it was life he transformed this animal soul but if the guy with the beta T can accomplish that the alchemist has a simple question what's the point of coming down here what's the point of the whole struggle if we're not going to succeed if it's guaranteed not to succeed it's just one life one struggle after the other what am I doing here good question so the altar of over here which is I think unique from a lot of places in chania daughter brings in a huge piece of Zoar a huge piece of Kabbalah ever studied Kabbalah like one line one word you can talk about it for hours for days right weeks for months I mean powerful stuff so the altar of a quote from the Czar and you'll see this is our talk because you'll see how the abstract talk is it's always such as follows a on a wise person anal his eyes are very sure you are in his head pieces are you looking at me like what is that yeah you're getting excited right it's like it's like it's like weird right it's powerful the sower says a wise person his eyes are in his head and so the server says the altar asked a simple question okay where our persons always not in your head I mean you know someone else that has eyes not in the head but this is a piece of Zoar so the author says okay we got to address the issue he brings out another piece of the sore though these services as follows that the scheana the screener refers to God's presence is on the head of her human being and therefore you should have a cover that's a rare yarmulke you were half you were some other kind of covering since the Skeena is on your head so you want to cover it right you cover the screener so the authors say what does that mean the screen is on the head and what's going to covering it so the author explains that one is really saying one is explaining the other you gotta to abstract pieces of zou are too abstract piece of Cibola and the always thing as follows since what does it say that the she knows we're on your head now today I was whoa you know where the whole day doing what are we looking for we're looking for the screen up where's God obviously God's all over God's all over but we're saying the skeena means God is resting it means he's like hanging out and we'll he's more intense over there where is he on your head whoa so now I just learned in this or that where is the Shekinah where's God's presence on my head so therefore the algebra says so a wise person has his eyes in his head and realizes oh my gosh my eye sees that the screen is here you got it my I see the screen is here now in life there's two parts one is succeeding and many people succeed second thing which most people fail failed by failure by success as they don't maintain so the Huq of the wise person is eyes honorary are in his head in his head and on his head and realized i have the screen on me now the fact that the screen is army there's always other screen is on you but i want to keep it there you know some bars you are present whatever the present maybe you got to take care of it irrelevant if it's a small thing it's a big thing everything is requires maintenance and the more sophisticated something is think about a car and he's maintenance a house and maintenance plants the maintenance I mean things in life need maintenance so if you have the skinners on you you want to keep it or do you want just to walk away not only don't you want to walk away you want to keep it not only do you want to keep it but you want what the screener should grow should grow so the wise person his eyes are in his head and on his head about how do I keep the screener there and how do i maintain it not only stay so it actually grows so this always says guess what and here he gives it so against a beautiful analogy so but we're still in the world is all right now we didn't get back to town yet services like this you ever see a candle a candle is made up of three things three things every candle is made up of three things what the three things you have a wick you have wax or oil and then you have the fire those are three the components to it to a candle now so if you want to have a candle you want to you want let's see to be light we have you know fpl for whatever company have electricity in your town but it'd be olden days if you wanted like you needed a candle so in order for the can of the burn you need the fire you need a wick but then you need the oil so one can ask one second all's I need is a wick and fire what do i need the oil for think about i need the fire the findings to burn on some things I need to work wearing the oil for and the answer is very simple because if you took a wig and you took you lit it on the fire you don't happen sort of work everyone's alright where's your fire so I can get fire absolutely games I wanted to burn what do I need to do i need to get its oil and the more oil i have guess what that's how long it's going to burn it's very simple what's the difference between a one-hour candle or a six-hour candle or 24 hour 7 24 hour candle or seven they can though how much oil in there so in other words even though the fire is a fire and the wick is the one that so to speak the one that's doing the show though keeping the fire alive but what gives it the ability to burn and keep on burning oil the more oil the longer burns that's a physical reality of a candle amino candles are spiritual what is the connection to us so the source is very simple we are human beings so we just learned about the fire what's the fire what's the fire god in the word of the sower the screener right so God is the fire what's the wick what's the wick we are our body is the wick where is the wick that can make another good for bringing we are just a lick that's all we are isn't that interesting we're just a wick in the eyes of the ZOA and its truth is we were just a wick so we have the fire which is God which is kin·a we are a wick now if the screen is on us on the wick what happens to us right very quickly just like the wick goes out so we so what either what happens is either we get burnt up or the fire goes out one of the two happens either the fire goes out and you left it a wick or if there it goes out you have a fire you laugh at nothing so you want to have oil what is oil so the ZOA says what is oil no she knows is skiing the fire so what's what's oil huh very good excellent the screen the oil is MIT's vote as always says it you know what the oil is MIT's vote so now it ties it all together the wise man has his eyes in his head and he realized is that what's on this Heather Cena and the Skeena is going to either consume the quick the body or the body will somehow ignore the fire the fire goes away so what does he want he wants to have the Union where it's healthy we're on top of the person the screen is always there and therefore you should do mitts oats Wow straighteners or this is this is straight from the zone so the altar by now now going back to Tanya that brings us in in this chapter but now going back to tiny and the Alturas says hold on a second what do we just learn that the screeners that is the fire we are the wick the oil is what let's vote interesting how come it the Zoe didn't say Torah also studying Torah yeah Zoe didn't say that the ZOA said the oil that will burn and continue to burn is what huh is Mitch fault what happens at or oh yeah so the author is the author explains is filing says like this when a person studies Torah when you study Torah how do you study Torah so you take out whether it's Amish of Mishnah Talmud Madras Kabbalah mysticism how do you study Torah so we know that we have three garments three garments what are the three garments no one of the three garments ah the three garments are thought speech and action when you study Torah how do you study Torah which one two or three of these garments which one they use huh thought very good and speech no action when a person's studies Torah using a thought you read you think right you discuss it whether it's no ones you can you still use your words because that allows you to study Torah and you should use the word just really hear what you're saying / you're sitting with a Kabuto you're starting with a study partner so you discuss it so when a person studies Torah and it's great it's a one of the midsole to study Torah but when a person studies Tori know what happens you're only affecting your thought and your speech so since you expect affecting only a thought in your speech you're not affecting what the world of action so therefore the Opera says oh it does not use studying Turkish territory is not going to create the help the best fuel it's good its fuel and it's important fuel and Torah will get you dhoom it sold another whole discussion for itself but the point is ultimately we're talking about the deep message that if you want the screener to stay upon you you've got to do MIT's vote tour there's not accomplished that mission through Tory you connect to God on an intellectual level on a motional level through Torah you will inspire you to do if you'll learn how to do método and to do the mitts vote but it will not provide fuel that will keep the screener on your own on you so in other words with the ZOA saying is you can study Torah 24-7 you don't do any MIT's vote very nice an intellectual connection with God doing one limits vote but the you will not be producing oil to continue to burn on you that will allow the screeners that continue to continually say upon you or for example let's say you see at sonic as you mentioned the beginning of the class praying studying meditating again why isn't it mentioned that that's oil and the office that sound of oil why because that's again that's the person love and all and it snapped in the world of action wait it's not in the world of action so it's not going to lose the oil to fee the wick however the author says when a person does a mitzvah and let's even say and the doctor goes through four different levels for different ways you can you can do a mitzvah first way you can do a mix is very simple again you have to realize because we're dealing with the struggle between the godly sold at wants to the Mitzvah and you have the animal soul so there's a godly so on doom it's votes absolutely the animal soul does you want to do mid salt so the algorithm says is four different approaches to the animal soul for different types of animal souls for different levels of the animal soul and this doesn't mean that everyone has a different type there's different times of the day times a week and your animal souls can act differently there are certain times that you want to do a mitzvah again you can think of any weight so you want to do whether you want to keep sure you want to keep Shabbat you only want plantilla nor mrs. o like the chavez candles whatever the midst of a maybe again is 248 positive and this 365 negative mitzvah total of 613 so anytime you want do damn it so the godly still wants to do it the animal salsa number one do it no no I don't want to do it straight up I don't want to do it so the godly Saul says guess what I know you don't want to do it but I feed you I take care of you maybe I think if I walk to the park whatever you know permissible stuff you know let you have a special treat right and you encourage them to do the Mitzvah is he on board a hundred percent so let's start with the let's start with one level doctor says what happens when you when you want to do it he doesn't want to do it so what do you do use the term i'll i'll say the hebrew term and i'll translate you do something which is called its kophia in other words i don't want to do it but i'll do it really i would not do it really i would absolutely not do it but I'm willing to okay fine even though I'm telling you straight up I don't really want to do this so he's not coming willingly he's not coming happily yep forcing him but he basically is willing to just go ahead and do it that's one level another level could be in a certain sense worse he doesn't want to do it absolutely not and he fights you on it you say lets me know what I didn't want to do it I'm not asking you in this one we're going to go do the Mitzvah and the animal soul could be kicking and screaming from within and you say nice you can say whatever you want you can do what you want we are going to do the Mitzvah it's basically called for a forced Mitzvah now later on oh thank you because it could help feel good afterwards but at the moment he rather neither do nothing think about every morning when you get up right and the alarm clock goes off sometimes you jump out of bed and then I'm not getting out of bed but you know that you have to go pray and you got to study from a complete spiritual reasons or if you have to go to a meeting so sometimes fine okay I'll go with you right you just get up and you push it through the day which others you for no I'm going back to sleep you said no I know you're not going we're not going back to sleep are you think morning right it's like a perfect example of the struggle eating the godly so on the animal soul between the selfless and the selfish self but then there are times he says you know what allegory means is the animal salt is agreeing whatever his calculation is it knows maybe you get you fed him and you gave him something in my prize it he's agreeing it doesn't doesn't say mean he's great agreeing on the same level that your want to the mitzvah but he's agreeing it's willing to do is we're going to do it and then there's the highest level so to speak where he says okay I wanted actually new events about something I'll tell ya let's go do a mitzvah now again how he's doing it because he enjoys doing them at fault there's something within him that he likes doing the Mitzvah but the alternate says in either case whether it's Katya we forced himself to do it alright worries you knows he's all it is just doing it anyway or you forced him to do it or he's willing to do it or he actually wants to do it in any irrelevant any one of these cases ultimately you think about it who right now is doing the Mitzvah the animal soul now the album is what what does it mean he's doing the Mitzvah and he never explained something very very powerful we know and actually retention because we lent them to the jail I course about external will and internal well in other words there's external will it's our will but it's an external it leads to something and then is the internal will hear the operator says takes it a step deeper nations like this when God created the world he created a beautiful world is God revealed in this world no why not because if God was revealed this would be a godly world it wouldn't be the specifics of the world so God wanted to make a world but he made the world that he be we were were revealed it wouldn't be called a world you know it sounds even better in Hebrew what is a world called in Hebrew hola hola means has two translations one is it means a world all the most constant word of hell em concealment so this physical world that we view as a world you know what this really is a place of concealment so the will of God has not revealed in this world however let's look at the Torah what God in the torrid gives us the commandments every one of the 613 commandments armless notorious what's Ailin tower God says you know to motion already know to Aaron or tables or whatever maybe and or just God lays out the commandments God says do this don't do that there's positive commandments meet which focus on doing this negative Commandments focus on not doing what does that mean who put them in there who wrote the taller Condit and God says do this God says don't do that so in other words what is our being articulated in the Torah very simple what's being as well got very exactly God's will is being a ticket editora now is God's will camouflaged sugar-coated know it's a concealed know how you know God's will is the midst vote are exactly what God wants not in a political way not he's saying this but he really means something else when God says specifically pay for example any Mitzvah keep Shabbat does you really mean keep Wednesday but he's doing in Chewbacca's the weekend no God created the weekend right so when God says keep the Shabbat or first I want to keep kosher does God really want you to do something else and he says I'll keep coaching through daddy's gonna sneak something I know God is saying and she relevant why this is God's will whether you understand it you don't understand it you think it's crazy ridiculous this is God's will God's will is that you should eat this and you should not eat this or you should eat these two things that don't put them together for example milk a meat I mean you go down every one of the commandments whether it's Shabbat whether it's holidays whether it's sacrifices on temple the laws of the fields whatever may be the whatever the Jewish law is this is God's will now when a person goes ahead and does and fulfills God's will in the world action that means you're doing it or you're not doing it what are you connecting now to God himself no intermediary not concealed not concealed at all so every time a Jew or for that matter anyone that observes the commandments appropriate to them a Gentile the seminar the 70 wine commencement for juice 613 commandments you fulfill a commandment you are actually connecting right now to what God's inner will so when you do a mitzvah irrelevant if you're inspired not inspired or you're actually resenting to have to do it we have to do it like you mentioned before the animal soul feels like he's just doing it by force at the end of the day is you are fulfilling God's commandment and when you're fulfilling God's commandment guess what happens hi welcome welcome what happens when you fulfilling God's commandment what happened you're connecting to God and the most deepest levels you are connecting to God right now so in other words last saw you saw you means what when you're doing a mitzvah and you're doing it in the world of action you are connecting to God in the most deepest of deepest of ways what was the ultimate question let me come down for this world for if at the end of the day is hi welcome welcome come have a seat if at the end why we come down to this world if at the end of the day we're never going to transform the animal soul and we're going to have always these pop-ups and these struggles etc and the office has guess what when you're making a mistake when you fulfill a mitzvah that is why you came down to the world and by fulfilling a mitzvah you are bringing God down into the most lowest places in the world and you're actually transforming the animal soul in the greatest levels because when you do a little guess guess who is the subject matter God the subject matter when you had the tremendous love for God or this all four god or you studying Torah it's it's all about you it's so great and you should definitely do it if you're inspired and so on and so forth you should definitely do it but ultimately when you have the lump or of God who is it it's all about you versus when you're doing the Mitzvah you know what's about it's not God and the algebra finishes off the chapter he brings up a very very profound question he says like this what are we saying till now that when a person does a mitzvah you're drawing down godly light right on the skeena on you so every time you do a mitzvah you're adding oil and you're adding oil so the God God's light is burning well as if you don't add oil God's light stopped burning so the more oil you add the more it burns so the author a simple question if that's the case hold on a second we all know that God has not been affected before he created the world's lefty creating the world God's infinite but now we're saying is that it's up to us how much God has been revealed in the world so if it's up to us how much God's can reveal in the world that means we're controlling God think about it when you do in the gods revealed when you and it's well you you're adding oil and God's burning for longer so what does it mean it's up to us how much God's burning how much God is luma nating the world I mean that's what it sounds like but the end it which is which was nice but on the other hand we know that week we can't affect a change in God but there's a little God war god what does that mean and the altar it gives a beautiful analogy based on a piece in the Talmud with someone once asked one doramas how many gods are there right based on this question and explains like this like let's see for example you have let's see this building for example right and let's say in this wall the building or either side you have Windows Windows the Sun comes up and guess what happens the light comes into the building now what happens a half hour after light comes up I take curtains like a really good Curtis you know that are really black and I cover all the windows what happens to the building becomes dark comes dark now did it become the light becomes stronger outside because I because I cover these windows no it's the same light outside well the light penetrates this building or doesn't penetrate the building it's the same light outside the light outside this becomes stronger or weaker God does have to work articles he has to all of a sudden luminate this building only fel charges you more for illuminating this building God doesn't charge you more make windows make skylights you don't need any any light during the day right why because it doesn't make a difference how many windows are there to a building if the windows are see-through and there's nothing obstructing a lot there son you'll have light if God forbid it's obstructing you won't go you don't have the light now so when the light is coming through this building is God working harder No or if we have struck the windows is there more light outside no the answer is very simple God is giving off an infinite amount of light to the world and we all know that you got during the day especially in Florida in the heat of day you'll get sunburn you can actually hurt yourself big time right but the point is a God is giving off an infinite amount of light the only question is whether we're outside receiving the light we have windows to allow the light in but that doesn't make God more or less same thing also God's presence is all over this world we can choose to doom its mode and that will create a window so to speak for God to be felt and revealed in your life you can choose not to do the Mitzvah and then God won't be felt in your life but whether you're doing them it's for not doing a mitzvah God is the same before after the difference is whether he's revealed in your life but it for God there is no difference because God is the same God out there getting look the same amount of energy the same amount the power to same amount the light to anybody and everybody it's up to you how much you want to let them in what's the key to glut got into your life it's not dollars and it's not shekels it's very simple it's Mitch vote every Mitchell you do your drawing God into you every return fortune on do it you missed opportunity for allowing God to be drawn into you but the more mitzvot you do the more godly drawn into you so in other words you see from this chapter chapter 35 para climate hey how important it is to just do the mitzvot because every time you do the mitzvot you will draw God into your life and not only will you draw gone into your godly life but you will draw God into your animalistic life and by doing Mitzvahed and continue to do it wrote you will connect to God in the most powerful way which almost like two opposites it's hard to have this love and or one hundred percent if you have it that's great it's easy to do a mitzvah you just got to do it you don't have to be inspired to do them it's fun you just got to do the mitzvot but when you do that mitzvah you know what happens you're connected to God how the most infinite and most powerful way and I think the lesson is very very simple bergisch I'm we have plenty plenty mitzvah to do is not lacking right there's plenty of it so to do every time you do a mitzvah the only one that's really benefiting the most is we are because we're allowing the godly light to come into our lives that will allow us to live a greater and better beautiful life