Life has two aspects: Essence and Manifestation - Nerve Center - rabbi Chaim Dalfin

so good morning good day we're learning here chapter 51 of T it's a it's a it's a very difficult chapter because it seems as though the AL repeats himself over and over and the rebba when he wrote his notes on Tanya he alludes to that and he says to understand the verbiage of the of of the Al one should see the diff different three different discourses sets of discourses from his father-in-law and his father-in-law's father the rashab and he doesn't go into details all he says is that if you study those sets of discourses you'll have a better understanding of the verbage that it's not just repetitious but really talking about different levels of the Nish of this the soul but I'm not going to go into that I'm going to just give a over over a general overview and um as we say in Hebrew there will be another chance as we grow and we get older and smarter and Hashem gives us the ability to ability to relearn Tanya hopefully then we'll learn more but for our purposes uh what what we're learning now is adequate and that is that in in in chapter 35 Al brought a teaching from the yuk the son of B which says that it's the the oil the oil that keeps the flame going when you light a flame and what's the moral from that analogy says the zes says that the oil is good deeds action mitz not Torah study Torah study is very holy and very special and has its it has itsa it has its point that it brings to to a Jew but when it comes to being plugged in it's the action so one putting on a is greater than 40 Years of sitting and learning tal right if you say what should I do I have a choice I can sit and study for 40 years and not put on fill once or put on F the ones and not study if if there was such a question and such a scenario they answer is to put on filling one time why aren't we a nation the Torah says in doomy you're a nation of wisdom and understanding knowledge and that's the answer my friends that one deed plugs into the essence of God everything else is to a fascination of God a chamber of God a revelation of God but it's not God himself hasem himself wants M action action speaks louder than words in put in that simple English phrase adage that English adage so T have a question yes question so so this this thing that we were're talking about now specifically was a whole debate at my sh's table we had like 15 guests that sh us uh a lot of my cousins are here in yiva and the debate was the boys that are in yiva here they have no idea what's going on with the war they have no idea that there's hundreds if not thousands of soldiers that have okay you there I'm there the question is whether you're there okay training so because basically the question is is that if Leon Torah is the most important what they're saying is Leon Torah is the most important thing and they're put there from doing any kind of or any kind of action so how would that relate to what we're learning now well it would relate is that maybe they're wrong maybe they're wrong is it possible that they're wrong at the same time maybe both are right it's not the place y of Yeshiva B it's not if you're in Yeshiva and you're studying your place is to study and through your Torah you help the the war efforts when you have a chance you go out and you help so for example the kabad model when I was in Yeshiva in Mar toown in in in in mosha jer's old stomping grounds and who father contributed he told me to the Yeshiva to our Yeshiva Mars town we learned all week and I'm talking about very serious learning to 1 2 in the morning learning learning okay learning 14 hours a day you know with a break lunch supper you know daving prayer but right Friday Friday we learned several hours till midday and then we took the a laana which is the um the train out there and we went to South Orange and to West Orange and to bronswick and and Maplewood and Newark and we went to the buildings and we went to put on filling with Jews and we went to talk to them I mean I have I have very warm memories going into um doctor's office and it was just great and we you know we spoke to them we gave out a thought for the week in other words our an hour Outreach was designated to Friday afternoon but during the week if you did that you were breaching the order of the Yeshiva studies so that's my answer in brief to Y is that yes their job is to sit and learn but they're not soldiers they're students in the Yeshiva at the same time they they through their Administration should somehow do things and I think a lot of yeshivas probably do to help the soldiers whether's making the ties I've seen all kinds ofid you know but let's not confuse that a student should become a soldier or a soldier to become a student we need both we need both but what we're talking about here you need something very different here we're talking about not someone who's a who's a student or not someone so talking about the the idea the concept the concept is that action speaks loud louder than words that doesn't mean to say you should you need to be a student in order to be able to do action properly look I'm able to teach you how CU I spent years studying if I wouldn't spend years studying I couldn't teach you but the purpose of all those years studying is to teach now and the same with iser he went to medical school he's able to help people now and imagine he he goofed off in medical school and he cut classes and he faked things and you know I mean and and he got himself a degree somehow God forbid he can be hurting people's lives cuz he doesn't really know the information or he didn't really you know do the the the hours of of of study and and and everything else in other words action is where it's at so the AL let's get back to the text and go back now Al says when we're talking about action we have to understand that the Nish that a has per pervades a person's body and on one hand we say where does God Rest where is Hashem so we say in The KES kados the holy of holies in Jerusalem there we had a temple a bet mikdash and within the temple there was a room called the holy of holies and which all once a year ano Kipper the high priest the calling God went into did a service on behalf of the entire Jew all Jews to forgive us for our in iniquities our transgressions and sins right so the is there asks the AL wait a minute isn't God all over God is for he's in Fort laale Mark he's on the beach over there yeah it's hard to imagine God being on the the beach when it's 90° but he's there too so if God is all over if Hashem is all over what is the specialty of saying God is in the bet mikdash in the holy of holies that was his question here and he starts answering that there's different aspects of God's manifestation and God's Essence as far as the essence is concerned he's all over that's true the essence of Hashem is all over n naota less than of Poss Essence is on the beach of Fort Lauderdale than it is um in Camden New Jersey where used to be a war zone I don't know how it's today okay or or or Afghanistan where they're going to lynching people in public at a at a theater happened yesterday they're doing public killings right is Hashem there or not the answer is he's definitely there the fact that they make such a choice and do such an ugly thing is terrible but Hashem is there his Divine glory and presence and honor is all over so if that's the case what's so unique about the the the where we say hasem is in the come to sh open the ark say sing together what do I need to go to Shool for you know you know everyone knows the joke where's the cotel in my house I got a wall why do I have to go to jerus to the wall I got a wall over here behind me I'll pray to the wall and guess what if you can't get to sh you should pray to the pray to Hashem by the wall but is there something special about the wall absolutely absolutely what is that then this this question and discussion is part of the overall kany chapter 51 in which the Alba says both are true there is something called the individualized compartmentalized aspect of the Soul where the Soul's Abode where its comfort zone its home is the brain from there it manifests itself throughout the body I.E the brain is the nerve center but when you're talking about that level of Soul you're not talking about the essence you're talking about a manifestation of the soul in Hebrew there is the essence of the soul and there is the his the extension the expansiveness of the soul the extension and expansion of the soul is not the essence and hence it lends itself to being felt in the feet in the nose in the off in the hands in the body in all parts of the body so too that's the analogy so too in the moral hashem's Essence is everywhere but the manifestation Revelation is more in the bet mikdash or in the sh than it is in my house unless I hfy and sanctify and spirit spiritualize my house that it becomes more holy but even then you all know the Jewish law if you have a preference ding at home or ding in a Sho you should ding in a Sho even when you're not ding in with a minion by the way let's say you're not feeling well one day you get up late and then you get you feel a little better if you're able you should go down to a Sho to DAV in a Sho if you're not able of course not why because there's something hold about that physical Place more holy let's continue now on page 142 and we are about 10 lines from the top after the period v regarding the drawing down of godliness into all the 613 faculties an energy coming from the concealed aspect of the soul to the body to our body to enliven it for this matter it says the primary dwelling this influence and this Revelation is all in the brain and the head therefore the brain receives first the the power and the energy it's suitable for it based on its composition which is it refers to the the the details of the Mind wisdom understanding and knowledge the components of the Mind creativity analysis and focus and also the power within the thought and everything that is applicable to intelligence not only that everything in a general way is later is given to the other parts of the body to the other limbs not just to the brain those are also originally Incorporated in the brain and over there the life force that animates for example the hands is the life force the hand the hand shakes that life force of that's in the hands that makes the hands hand move was origin originally in the brain and that's really the kernel and essence of that life force its originality does not begin in the hand it begins in the brain over there says is the primary aspect thear and the sh and the source of this life force sh of All Souls it all begins the brain and from there it extends itself as an emanation all the other limbs and everyone receives the proper energy that's befitting for it based on its competition its composition for example the power of seeing M you see the word m reveals itself beon in the eye so in other words it's coming from somewhere else it's coming eyesight where's eyesight coming from says the AL eyesight is coming from the nerve center where there the power of eyesight is Incorporated in the nerve center in the brain and from there it expresses itself into the eye I I'm sure I'm not the physician and not the neuros scientist but this idea probably has today a lot of meaning in that in that in those studies in those fields it cor it correlates absolutely right right it s you know you know you know it I don't know it but I feel it I I hear it I can hear it as the alterb is saying that it all is starts in the brain and and therefore if we can if we work with the brain and we we are able to make certain changes in the brain there'll be better results in in in various ways the fact that someone God is blind or other that's when there's a blockage that's been put on from Hashem for whatever reason that a person shouldn't see but nevertheless the the energy of seeing the energy not the practical ality and imple implementation of seeing exists on some level the the fact that when somebody has a stroke yeah they can lose their Vision it's not because there's a problem in the eye the eye is just a recept it's it's a loss of the function in the brain right same to with here right okay so those organs are just receptors receptors okay okay so the whole the whole science the whole field of Neuroscience isn't that something that's associated with this nuda am I right in that or wrong yeah I would say you're right yeah so it's very important to keep the brain sharp you know we get older I know some who is 995 or 96 he plays chess with himself and he can do many things God has blessed him financially he doesn't want to lose the power of the brain but you know he's homebound pretty much he's not really interested in meeting people so what does he do he plays chess with himself you have to keep the brain active the gamar says you know the gamor says Jewish Torah Scholars the older they get the sharper they are versus non Torah Scholars why because they've been using their brain learning Torah all their life 70 80 90 you know as long as God gives them that ability my wife Japan in in Japan reev what you're saying is so true in the Japanese thousand tens of thousands Japanese they learn gamarra in order to sharpen their brain gamarra yeah in depth in depth gamar in Japan total goam they learned gamar because they found it's the best tool to sharpen their brain and to and to stay smart to stay on top of their game you know it's funny you mentioned that I'm you know I've been learning a lot of gamarra recently and it it's it's it's bringing me back to my youth and you know teen years cuz it it is so it it does sharpen you know you have to understand why this Rabbi doesn't accept the argument of this Rabbi position and this one back and forth in great detail and that process is is is so healthy for the human brain um let's continue okay and he says now he says um so he says that the eye receives its highest its Vitality from the brain nerve center and the power of hearing in the air comes from the nerve centers too all these faculties extend themselves from the brain as is known again because the primary abod of where the soul rests and has its Abode is in the brain because the overall highest energy and vitality and animation rests over there and from there it extends itself he's repeating it seemingly repeating it as I said there's no repetition T everything has another Nuance but for our purpose it's kind of a repetition at least it sounds that way it's Powers it's faculties of it calls it here I'm going to explain that in a moment illuminate and extend from there to all limbs now he says I'll give compare you can compare that to light that extends itself and shines May from the Sun to room of rooms everyone here is in a certain room now the room in one you the light in one room now I understand we only said it's raining it's overcast is one kind now go to another room and if you have a window there you'll see the room the light there is in a different way but it comes all from the sheemish that's right it all comes from the sheemish from the Sun but the receptacle the receiver makes the difference in how it manifests itself so if you have one style window and one opening one size it's one kind you have another kind of window another size it's another kind Etc now this last line in the brackets is a very powerful one The Heart Al says even the heart receives from the brain right there's God forbid brain dead and heart dead if someone's brain is dead is he still alive in h terms he is I have a neighbor here a massive tal he's already 10 years on life support lays in a bed such a t that's what happened he's alive but he's a life what life support he not Liv it's it's not living mha it's not living and it is living it's not living in the sense that he's not communicating he's being supported by machines there says here a very important point that even the heart on one level receives from the brain so what he means here look what he says therefore the Mind dominates all of Mind Over Matter by its very nature can now as we learned in chapter 12 and 17 meaning to say this is the question that we should be asking ourselves how is it how can we position that the mind can control the heart the heart is the heart and the heart has its own source and it's heart emotions so if emotionally I want something what do you mean my brain can control me so that's why in this bracket out say you know why because the heart itself is an organ is an organ and it also H is impacted by the nerve center I.E the brain so therefore if you change the way you think about something what we call the paradigm shift and everything else right the cognitions you change your cognition the way you think about it it will make an impact on your heart too so this St says in a bracket here which is very but it's very important for what we learned earlier what I wanted to just clarify for a few minutes is that we're talking here about two types of what we call K and these are the terms in is good for you to know and means the general aspect of life force animation energy is the specific one so for example the fact that my hand and my feet and my heart and my brain are all specific to its place and it's animated by energy that's highest prati that's not highest CL highest CL means you're swimming you're in the ocean and all of a sudden you're going down and you you have one thing in mind life I want to live not how I want to live where I want to live with who I want to live God save me from drowning High CL that's a very powerful aspect of life and that is similar to to every organ there's no more of the general K CL in the in the brain than the feet they both share the one common goal life living where is there a difference in the highest PR that the brain says this is good life the feet say soaking my feet in hot water that's great life the hands say playing the piano that's special life the nose says smelling good fragrances that's real life so everyone has their their ver their V version of what good life is that's highest PR so the AL here in this chapter says that we have both aspects and not to confuse them and just understand the mechanism of how it works and once you do that you can understand the point that Hashem is all over and the very same time there is a significance a specialty to him resting in the Kim in the holy of holies and a and all of that both are true that's the point that we've learned until now we'll see everyone tomorrow have a great day take care bye bye than you you're welcome shalom byebye