Text-Based Tanya Class—Week #13

So, we're in the middle of chapter seven, yeah? Can anyone corroborate we're in the middle of chapter seven? Yeah? Okay. And if you remember in chapter six we began to speak about what's kedusha and what's klipa. And we had pretty categorical definitions for them. Kedusha is anything that is totally surrendered to the service of Hashem. And sitra achra, literally meaning the other side, means anything other than that. So, if it's not dedicated to the service of Hashem by default, then it's the other stuff. But then we said but there are gradations. There are gradations. And we spoke about irredeemable klipa and redeemable klipa. And then in chapter seven we started speaking more in depth about the redeemable klipa, which has a technical term, it's called klipas noiga, which literally means the shiny or luminescent klipa. It is a husk, it does cover the spark of godliness within, but it's not entirely opaque. You can see how it can potentially be used to serve Hashem, how the godly potential within it can be unleashed and harnessed. And we spoke about various different examples, like eating in order to be able to settle your body and be able to think better and therefore learn Torah more sharply. We spoke about even using humor and wit to sort of get the mind flowing in order to be able to again to learn Torah better. Yeah? Sound familiar? Okay, fine. So I think Does anyone remember exactly what I think we got to ach mishahu bazel lebasar veseve yayin. However, yeah, that's where we're at. Ach, however, however is a pivot. Notwithstanding the fact that we just said that one can elevate the mundane and direct its energy to the service of Hashem. Ach, however mishahu bazel lebasar veseve yayin, one who is stam afresser, that's how we say it in Jewish. Someone who's just indulging for the heck of it lemalis taavis gufeh venafsha bahamis, in order to indulge the desire of his body and his animal soul shubchinish yesod hamayim arbi yesod harayim shibush men amidat hataava, and like we said at the end of chapter one, this penchant of the animal soul to run after pleasure comes from the elemental water which is in the composition of the animal soul. We spoke about that at the end of chapter one about the different the presence of the different elements in the animal soul and what characteristics they bring out of it. So, if somebody is drawn after we're going to give the example right now, food just for the fun of it hinei ayidei zeh yayidei chayisa basar vahayayin shibekei bei through that act the chayis, the vitality of that meat and wine. We're just using meat and wine as bywords right now. It could be a cupcake, it could be anything. The vitality of that meat and wine are descended, they're brought down, dragged down. Like we were saying before, if he uses the right way then it goes up, goes up. Remember we even said like a like a korban like a sacrifice on the altar where the matter is transformed into energy as the fire burns the animal that's on the altar and it ascends to heaven. Here's the opposite, it's going down. It's going down. venichla lefisha and it becomes temporarily relegated biragomer into complete evil shibishlesha klipas tameos, to that other category which we call the three utterly unclean klipais. So, it went from neutral klipa to the lower category of klipa. Now, please notice those two words, lefisha. Lefisha for the moment, for the time being. For the time being, that's important. That's important to keep in mind. That it is temporarily being relegated to that lower level of klipa. We'll speak about that later. That it's possible to retrieve it from there. Since after all the food itself wasn't shalesh klipas tameos, it was only klipas noiga and that it was misused. The gufei and then at this moment that he is misusing the klipas noiga and turning it into shalesh klipas tameos by indulging and using it selfishly and mindlessly and for no particular spiritual intent, what happens to his own body, the person who's doing this, the Jew who's doing this. What happens to his own body, the gufei, his body naisa Elohim levusha merkava, becomes for these utterly unclean klipais a garment and a chariot, a vehicle. Again, I'm going to say the two words that come next. I'm going to say them loud, lefisha. Temporarily, it doesn't mean your body is permanently, God forbid a vehicle for the utterly unclean klipais. It just means at that moment. At that moment, lefisha. We're following so far? We're doing okay? You following the mechanics of this, what we're describing? It's not that complicated. We're we've been talking about taking things, well, to be specific, we've mostly about food cuz it's an easy it's an easy uh example. Although we'll talk about things that are a little bit more elusive a little bit later in the chapter. Food is just more tangible, easier to talk about it. It's easier to to it's easier to describe it's being used up, you know, the it's it's clearly fuel. It's clearly, you know, there's that matter to energy conversion that happens. You eat the food, you burn the calories. So, what we're saying is if the food is neutral, meaning it's not holy or unholy, it's just regular kosher food. And the person ate it mindfully, it goes up, it becomes holy, like a sacrifice on the altar. If he does it though for no particular spiritual intent, just for the heck of it then it goes down. And the words I'm I'm stressing over and over again are lefisha, temporarily. Okay? So far so good, continue? Yeah? The energy of the food goes down What does it mean goes down? We're not talking up, down it's it's categorization, its status, its spiritual status goes down a notch. And then we said the person, let's get specific, we said gufei his body becomes at that moment a levush, he uses two terms which are fairly synonymous. Levushei be Levush means a a garment and merkava uh a chariot a vehicle. So, his body at that moment becomes a vehicle for these these these negative energies. He's harnessing these lower energies in this moment of of mindless indulgence. We said earlier we gave examples of how you could elevate the food. We said Shabbos, Yom Tov is a way of of elevating it. Okay? So, it's not it's not it's not complicated yet. All right. So we said lefisha, okay? Now ad, until, next word, ad, until ashar yashuv haadam, the person will return the person will do chuva get back on track veyachzer lavodas Hashem uletairosa ei and return to the service of Hashem and his Torah. So, he's in the midst of squandering this conversion of neutral energy into into uh spiritually uh holy energy. He could be Let me let me let me back up. Anytime the Jew encounters some permissible physical activity, there's a potential there for an elevation. But he didn't do the elevation, he did it mindlessly. So, he's in the midst of squandering that potential. But then he catches himself. He says, "Ah, hold on. I realize I'm misusing this resource. The the meat, the wine, the cupcake, the whatever it is. So, then it's very easy, it's very simple to stop, change your focus, change your mindset, and get back on track. You know? Yeah. You know what's confusing me is What's confusing? Um this is the first introduction of the concept of temporary, right? Chapter 7 and 1/2? Uh yeah. Okay. So, all the other changes until now are permanent? Because it doesn't specify that they're What other changes do we speak about? Anything that was elevated, anything that was enhanced, anything that was stay enhanced and stay elevated? Oh, you're saying that when he uses Previously, when we said that he does it the right way, are you worried that that's also temporary? Like you're going to get a letter a year from now and they're going to say, "By the way, we checked in on that You said everything is in flux. Yeah, yeah. Okay. So, we've reviewed your account and we want to make an adjustment. Actually, we want to tell you, yeah, you think that uh that salad you ate l'shem shamayim last February? No. No. Because I don't know. Whatever However they would bust you. Okay. Listen, here's the beauty of it. Here's the beauty of it. Once it's done, it's done uh in a good way. Like you go and you eat the food and you actually use that energy to go learn or to daven or to do a mitzvah. Okay, thank God. It's that's You you you already It's like that you spent that money. You know, the money that I spend on tzedakah, I can't misspend anymore cuz I got rid of it. Thank God. I don't have it anymore, okay? So, you cashed it in, you cashed it in the right way. Done. Okay. But now, this is this is talking about you're in the midst of misusing, of squandering the energy that's in something that's uh spiritually neutral. So, if you catch yourself, you can immediately get back on track and start spending the energy in the right way and directing it the right way and causing an elevation instead of God forbid a descent. Okay. Now, he explains something fascinating. He says, "Why is it so simple to just simply switch your mindset and start redirecting the energy?" He says, "Cuz sh'zehu lashon hataramuta. After all, this is the very meaning of the word heter, which means permission, and mutar, which means permissible. K'limar, that is to say she'eino kashur. It's not kosher with a kuf, not kasher with a chaf, but kashur with a kuf, tied down. Like kesher with a kuf means tied down. What it means is not. It's not kosher, it's not tied down, v'asur, and bound b'dei hachitzonim, in the hands of the extraneous forces. Sh'lo yuchal lachzor v'la'alos l'Hashem, in a way where it would not be able to come back and ascend to Hashem. In other words, this piece of meat or wine is permissible meat or wine. Again, I'm just using meat and wine cuz that's the example that he uses. It's getting misused. Okay, so then for that moment, l'fi sha'ah, it's being relegated to a lower level. But it's not inherently on that lower level. So, the the moment that you get your focus back and you start using it for the sake of heaven, so then you're going to be able to cause an elevation to the energy in the food. Because the energy in that food is not irredeemable, it's not tied down, literally. It's untied. It can go any direction you want it to go. It's all up to you. So, you you you didn't focus, you squandered the opportunity. Great. Now, get back on track and do focus. Retroactive Retroactive to the first bite? Okay. So, that's that's another question. How How retroactive is it? And And we'll speak about retroactive effect soon. But let's for now just talk about moving forward from here on out. So, it is what you make it. It is what you make it. That's what klipas noiga is. Klipas noiga is whatever you make it. It's neutral. It could go up, it could go down. You decide. How long do you need to keep that focus? So, that's always the classic question. How long do you need to keep the focus? Do you need to keep the focus while you're consuming it or actually all the way until you've used the energy? Which would obviously be a longer amount of time. You mean you need to keep the focus longer than the half a second you say the bracha? So, let's you know, baby steps. First, make a bracha. Then, think about the bracha. Then, think about the food and try to have an intent that it's uh fuel for serving Hashem. Then, actually use it to serve Hashem. And then uh then you're safe. After you used up the calories on uh on mitzvahs, then then you then you're safe. He's making a very, very important point here that I think observant Jews need to keep in mind. I'm saying Jews who who try to conduct life according to halacha. Uh there are so many rules that govern our lives regarding what is permissible, what is forbidden. And I think there's a great misunderstanding of the nature of permissibility and and impermissibility. You know, you go to a cheap motel uh Red Roof Inn, and they have the remote bolted to the desk. The lamps, the phone, everything is bolted to the desk. Why? Why Why do they have everything bolted down? They don't want you to steal it. Right. the towel? Okay. If they could bolt the towels down, they would bolt the towels down. They're not elevating the big problem with it. Yeah. Yeah, but I can't tell they're like ratchet anyway. Now, you go to the Four Seasons, they're not bolting anything down. They want you to steal it. They want So, the question is like this. Is the world like a sleazy motel? No, it's not sleazy, God forbid. I'm not saying it's sleazy. It's just Whatever. It's not fancy. Is the world like a a budget motor inn where God has bolted down He says, "Oh, you see that? I don't want any of you Jews taking my ham sandwiches. So, I'm making them assur. Assur means bound, tied down. It's kashur, not kasher with a chaf, not kosher. Kashur with a kuf, it's tied down. I'm bolting it down so you Jews can't have it. I'm afraid you're going to steal those ham sandwiches and run away with them. So, I bolted it down." Is that what it is? In other words, I understand that heter, meaning permissibility, means untied. Like matir asurim, he who unties the bound, like we say in morning brachos. I understand that. And I understand that assur, forbidden, means bound, tied down, bolted to the desk. But my question is like this. Is it forbidden because it's tied down or is it tied down because it's forbidden? That's an important question. And that'll that'll determine your entire attitude toward the halachas which govern that which is permissible and impermissible. In other words, if it is tied down because it's forbidden. If it's tied down because it's forbidden, what does that mean? It means that Hashem says, "I don't want you to have it and therefore I'm bolting it to the table so you can't run away with it." It takes away choice. Is that the name of the group, Hashem? Hashem, is that why they chose him? That also is connection, yeah, tying. That's That's In a good way. That's Yeah, connection. You guys all lost the focus. We're in the middle of something. Okay. Okay, guys, focus, focus. If it's forbidden because it's tied down. Actually, I said the opposite before. I said, "If it's tied down because it's forbidden." Meaning to say, Hashem says, "I don't want you to take this. So therefore, I'm bolting it to the desk." So it's like uh the Motel 6. Or is it tied down because is it forbidden because it's tied down? In other words, it is tied down. It's not useful in the life of a Jew. So therefore, Hashem comes along and gives you guidance and clarity and says, "Hey sweetheart, I don't want you to break your heart and get disappointed dealing with that thing. It's tied down. Therefore, I'm telling you don't mess with it." In other words, forbidden isn't "I'm just trying to deprive you of some pleasure that you could otherwise have." Forbidden means I'm letting you know this thing it it it you can't use it. It's like you want to put water in your gas tank, it's not going to work. So don't do it. "Oh, you're depriving me." I'm not depriving you, I'm informing you that this isn't going to do anything that you need it to do. So it's a very important distinction. That makes so much sense cuz the whole time you said it's like a guide. Come follow your guide. Yeah. So something that is klipas noiga is not tied down. And that's why the the category of klipas noiga is synonymous with the halachic term of mutar. In halachic terms, we call it mutar, permissible. In Kabbalistic terms, we call it klipas noiga, the luminescent husk. But they're the same concept. Where something that's assur in halachic terms, meaning forbidden, is literally tied down. And the reason that it's forbidden is because it's inherently tied down. It's a waste of your time and your energy. You're not going to be able to do anything with it. So therefore, Hashem steers you clear of it to avoid wasting your time and breaking your heart. Okay? That makes sense? Okay. Rak, however, now we said that since again, to use the example of the from the meat or the wine, the meat or the wine that he was indulging in mindlessly, they are not inherently shalosh klipas hatameos. They were only temporarily relegated to that level because of his lack of intent. And as soon as he picks back up the focus, he'll stop squandering that energy. However, he says it's not entirely retroactive. Because we have a problem. The problem is that he's been metabolizing that energy and that energy has been been turning into physicality. Yeah, because when you eat and you get the calories and it becomes part of your flesh and blood, so what spiritual state was that energy in when it became your flesh and blood? If you were doing it mindlessly while you were consuming it, so it's in that state. And now if it already metabolized, it already became part of your flesh and blood, now it's sort of irretrievable. So he says, "Rak, she had a shimu mimenu nishar baguf. The a residue of it, a trace, a leftover will remain in the body. Va'al kein tzarich haguf l'chibbut hakever kemo she she is bo'el hakamon, like we explain later, that's why the body will require after passing, the body will require something called chibbut hakever, which is basically decomposition where the negative energy that materialized as part of the flesh and blood is going to become dislodged or removed. It's got to get knocked off. So it'll There's a process for that. It's not pleasant, but he's just letting you know. Yeah, that stuff has to still be removed and uh Hashem has a way to do that. Okay? It's not It's not so not so delightful to uh think about at length, but it is what it is. Okay. Yeah. Does that ever get removed in this world? So I I Does it ever get removed in this world? The the the the the simple answer is that I believe it can. And I don't know how to give I'm not a personal trainer, so I don't know how to exactly chart uh the you know, people like uh know their body fat percentages and stuff like that. So there'd be like a maybe like what percentage of my body is made up of food that I consumed mindlessly and at what point will that have been Only because the rabbi mentioned Yeah. Right. So that's what I'm telling you. There's There I What I'm So what about the Right. So Oh oh, through pain? Oh, this isn't pain and suffering. The pain and suffering stuff is to We got a lot of different uh debts to work off. No, no, the pain and suffering works off other stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So But um if if a person were to uh be really, really careful from here on out and uh get rid of all the excess, the the metaphorical and literal fat in their uh in their avedas Hashem, then uh yeah, you could probably finish working it off before before 120. But does that mean that baalei teshuvah have body purgatory and and tzaddikim are the only ones who go straight up and don't suffer at all? So first of all, suffering that we're describing right now, we're going to talk a little about Gehenna a little bit later. But yeah, a little bit, very briefly. The uh the spiritual Gehenna. But here it's it's talking about decomposition and you're asking a question about tzaddikim. It's a known it's a known fact, unfortunately, horrifically, it's something that's been verified through history because it's painful to say, but Jewish graves have been defaced and uh defiled and uh throughout the ages, so we've seen We've seen tzaddikim be exhumed. And uh I mean, it's based on the But uh the the the the truly righteous, the entirely righteous, their flesh doesn't rot and we we know many stories of perfectly righteous individuals whose bodies were intact long after their passing, perfectly intact long after their passing. I don't know if that's an incentive to people to eat more mindfully, but Yeah. Right. Well, the tzaddik is always mindful because uh I mean, we haven't really defined tzaddik very well yet yet, but yeah, yeah, a tzaddik is perfectly mindful. Yeah. Okay. Now, are we ready? Are we ready? That's the first question is I'm not even going to tell what I'm not going to tell you what it's about. I'm going to I'm going to say, "Are we ready?" Okay. So remember I was saying we've been talking so far about food. We're talking a lot about food. And food is a big one. Obviously, you know, you got you got to eat. And it's a big part of life. Okay. And it's one of those things that's unavoidable and necessary and it can be elevated or it could be not elevated. And we spoke about the consequences of not elevating. So, there's another area of life that is biological fact if there's to be a continuation of the species. There's a biological fact. It's a part of life. And it in itself is neutral. It's a biological act like eating. And if it's done the right way, then it could be elevated. In fact, it can be the holiest thing. And if it's not done the right way, it could become the lowest thing. So, we're talking about um the human reproductive potential. And I could skip this part here. Actually, I've been told that uh some of the girls schools skip this part. I think it just makes them look at it more more interested. Yeah. Don't read this one paragraph. Okay. Exactly. If he tells not to, then we'll look at it later. So, um let's take a look here. Any does anyone have a Can I have like a like a right there up there? The will be good. Yeah. Cuz I'll show you something really interesting. Thank you. Um there's a there's something called the Luach Tikkun Ha'Aretz which is basically uh amendments or corrections that the rabbe made. And usually they're really uh like correcting one letter, maybe sometimes correcting a word. Usually they're really short, very small uh corrections. There's one place though and it's here in this in this chapter where the correction is a few lines. Not not a few lines, but a few words, a whole phrase which is which is missing. Um And where in Tanya? Yeah, yeah, here in this chapter. Okay. Yeah, and and the rabbe adds it. So, here When was that compiled? Hm? When was that correction addendum, whatever you want to call it? In in the past generation, yeah. So, let me just zero in here on the on the text. Um Oh, this this is a this is a book that has Chumash, Tehillim, and Tanya all together in one uh in one binding. Yeah. So, that you could do your daily uh what do you call study program of Chumash, Tehillim, and Tanya. Okay. Um So, here it says Kama shikkol ha'amon and the the residue remains a trace remains behind in the body. That's why it needs the uh decomposition which is spoken about later. And then the next word is mashain came by will be a surace. He's he switches to talking about things that are fundamentally prohibited. Meaning stuff that it wasn't that it was misdirected by your lack of mindfulness. It's inherently off-limits. But if you look in the if you like you use the lessons in Tanya, let's say, where they have the Tanya's text amended or if you go to the back of a Tanya and you look in the Luach of Tikkunim Ha'Aretz so, it adds this phrase here. The again, I'm going to read you the phrase. The Chayus she be tippa zera she yotzei mimenu b'ta'avah beheimes shelo kiddesh atzmo b'sha'as tashmish im ishto tohorah. And also, the vitality in the drops of seed that come forth when having animalistic lust because he did not sanctify himself at the time of marital intimacy with his wife when she was in her pure state. Okay, let's clarify what that's saying. Nothing forbidden has happened here whatsoever. That's very important to understand. It's his wife. She's not a niddah. Everything is kosher. It's all permissible. Just like we're talking about before about kosher foods where the food itself was perfectly redeemable, perfectly useful and it just got misused. So, here he equates the misuse of kosher food with the misuse of a kosher intimate act. That the act could have potentially been elevated because there was nothing forbidden about it whatsoever. But it was done simply for animalistic pleasure without any deeper intent and therefore had the opposite effect. Spiritually, it became relegated to the a lower level. But again, that is it's temporary and you just have to get your mind back on track in order to to reverse the situation. Yeah? Um isn't it all relative like if one person if we do an act let's let's say like with food, you know, for one person not saying a brocha with real real real kavana and being so mindful you know, is it might be the same as for another person who just even acknowledges is that oh, this is a gift from Hashem, this apple. So, how does that affect the level of the person? Yeah. I mean, you're asking about if if these things are relative and if they exist on a continuum and obviously they do because you know, when you're talking about an action, actions are binary. Either you did it or you didn't. Right? Like the old joke about the guy on El Al, the flight attendant asks, "Would you like to eat?" He says, "What are the choices?" He says, "Two choices. You eat or you don't." So, when it comes to action, you did it or you didn't. When it comes to kavana, obviously there are endless degrees. How deeply you can think about something and feel for something. So, to answer the question, yeah, obviously it is on a continuum. There's elevating and then there's elevating. But for the sake of oversimplification, let's just look at it as not how much did you elevate it? Look at it like this. Did it get elevated or did it get wasted? That's it. Let's keep it simple. Yeah. When you say when the rabbe says wasted or dropped, does that mean it goes into the sitra achra? Well, you're saying does it go into sitra achra? I will remind you that it is already sitra achra because klipah nogah is also klipah, is also sitra achra. It's just perched on the fence where it can go out of sitra achra if used mindfully. So, it was already sitra achra. The what happened is that it got knocked down into the same the same level as things that are forbidden. So, you're taking the kosher food and eating it mindlessly and it becomes spiritually as if it were not kosher. Or you're taking the kosher intimacy and doing it mindlessly, it becomes as if it were forbidden. On on the act, on the man, or on the what? I Well, he says very Excellent question. He says the energy that's in the drops of seed. So, there's just like Yeah. So, just like we're not talking about when eating it's very easy cuz it's it's obvious where the potential was and where the loss of potential was. Here when you're talking about the intimate act, where's the where's the potential? Where's the loss of potential? So, he says the vitality of the seed. That's where the potential was and that's where the potential is lost. Potential or intention? Potential and intention. The potential is capitalized through the intention. The potential is you're taking something that's not yet holy and making it holy. How do you do that? Through the intention. So, what should be the intention? Okay. So, Conception. Now, we're getting into a whole discussion which I do think is gender specific. And we know that there are things that are different for men and for women. Um when you're a chassan, you learn from Reishis Chochmah the different intentions, the different levels. There's not just one intention l'shem shamayim. There are many different levels of intentions l'shem shamayim that are acceptable. Um And here's what I'm going to say. Uh as progressive as I like I would like to think that I am and I do think that I I think it's a good thing to be progressive. I think it's a good thing to understand I mean, let me tell you the opposite of being progressive. I've heard people say, "Why do women learn Tanya? It's written for men." I think that's a barbaric ridiculous statement. So, yeah. So, I think I'm the opposite of that. I think that actually women learn Tanya better than men. Like they're more Well, before you applaud, understand what I'm saying. I I think women generally, if I can paint with a broad brush, are like more uh willing to take it seriously. Whereas men I don't know if maybe they get threatened like or maybe it's men don't ask for directions and like I'll figure it out. Right? I don't know what it is. But, so definitely Tanya is super super applicable to women. But, at the same time, um you have to know the differences between men and women, especially when it's talking about these things. Um the Look, we all know that men and women have different totally different uh levels of obligation when it comes to marriage and procreation. Like the mitzvah pru u'rvu, to be fruitful and multiply, is not even a mitzvah upon a woman. And there's different discussions about why that is. The simplest one is just why do you don't have to command a woman? This is something that most women naturally uh are drawn toward. For a man, it's a it's a commandment. Um Also, marital intimacy. It is it's a it's a It's it's a prohibition against the husband to deny his wife's conjugal rights, not the other way around. Although there is such a concept I I don't I don't want to get a whole discussion here of of conjugal rights and and all but Let me let me explain like this. I think it would be I I could have skipped it. I really I could have made life simple. I could have skipped it. But, I don't think it should be skipped, especially cuz it goes out on YouTube. And maybe you would say, "Oh, you should especially skip it on YouTube." And someone was telling me the other day I I I did something on Tanya and we actually discussed this line of Tanya at length. And somebody told me later, they said, "You know, there could be there could be bachurim listening." Cuz it was on YouTube. And I said, "If the bachurim on YouTube, they heard much much worse than what I'm saying. And everything that I'm saying is dafke the antidote to everything else that they're they're hearing and seeing. So, so you bachurim watching on YouTube right now, hi. Hi. You're hearing this for the first time from me? Uh this is where you got it? Like the famous story the I heard from a from a Litvak who was about the Steipler that but I heard different versions of this story. It's one of those apocryphal stories that probably happened to many gedolim. Anyway, there was a bachur went to the Steipler and he complained. He says, "I can't learn kesubos cuz it gives me machshavos zaros. Gives me, you know, unwanted thoughts." Kesubos is all whatever. If you know what kesubos is about. So, he says, "M'stama that's where the machshavos zaros originated from." Like, get real. Like, okay, kesubos, yeah, that that's where it's coming from. What does kesubos mean? Uh marriage contracts. Oh. Yeah, so they're different Yeah, they're different marriage contracts depending on uh Yeah. So, any any was Anyways, we're going to get into a real Okay. Anyways, so here here's the thing. What is is is intent? What is intent? For a for a husband, what is intent for a wife? So, I I think it's very important to teach this to everyone, men and women. But, I think you should understand that when it's speaking here um this way about somebody having an animalistic intent and and purely pleasure-seeking and failing to sanctify the act, it really is gender specific. It really is speaking to uh more of a man's problem. And I think it would it would I think it could even be damaging that a woman would take this line of Tanya and feel pressure to uh to live in a in in in in adherence to this line here. I think there's a reason why it's stated gender gender specific. Um it's referring to challenges that are more a man's challenge to overcome and not so much a woman's. And um I don't think it's something that we're not here to create neuroses in people's most personal intimate lives. And so I I Yeah, don't don't worry about it is what I'm saying. Um and and don't worry about it for yourself and for sure uh don't worry about it for others. Um just know about it. Just know about it. I guess that's what I'm saying. Uh file it under the category of interesting information. That's what I'm saying. Okay? And if anyone needs to discuss it further, uh find a nice rabbi tzin to be your mashpia to talk about these things with. Okay? Okay. Yeah, that's I did I did probably did more than my share here. Okay. did not learn in the school. Of course not. Of course not. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Um Maybe let's do uh Maybe let's do a couple of lines here and then we're going to get to a a good good uh stopping point. So, anyways, we're talking about stuff that's inherently permissible. So, the food was kosher food and it was just squandered. The opportunity was squandered. The the intimate act was a permissible intimate act. It could have been the holiest thing and it just was wasted because there was no particular intent. Okay? And therefore we said, because the act or the the the the food or whatever it is that we're engaging in is halachically permissible, it's very easy to get back on track. Now look where he says mashain came. Mashain came not so. But my cholis asuris u'vias asuris, when we're talking about forbidden foods or forbidden relationships, So, he uses both categories, the food and intimate relationships that are forbidden. Forbidden meaning halachically forbidden. Shain m'shalish klipus hat'meos l'gamrei, they are all from that lower category of klipa, the utterly unclean irredeemable klipa. Hema sura m'kshurim b'dei achitzonim l'olam, those are tied down and bound in the extraneous forces forever. Forever. So, it's not like the kosher food that you ate mindlessly and you stop and say, "Oh, what am I doing here? Get back on track." And then you get back on track. Or the act of intimacy, which was a totally permissible act and you forgot to think with a kavana leshem shamayim. So, what am I doing here? This is Let me get back on track. Here we're talking about the There There's no There was no There was never any potential in in in the beginning to make anything productive of this because it was forbidden to to begin with. Like we said before, assur, forbidden, means tied down. Is it tied down because it's forbidden or it's a forbidden because it's tied down? Right? We spoke about that. It's not tied down because it's forbidden. It's forbidden because it's tied down. Hashem says, "Don't waste your time with it because this is irredeemable. You're not going to be able to make anything from this." It's forbidden meaning Hashem says, "Don't bother with it because it's inherently tied down." Think about it as something that is That's what I No, that's what I was saying before. It's not like Hashem is the the Red Roof Inn who says, "I'm bolting No, I said Hashem's not the Red Roof Inn. See, that's what happens Guys, when I'm in the middle of a martial, especially a weird one, don't interrupt me, okay? I said Hashem is not like the Red Roof Inn who they bolt down the the the lamp to the table cuz they're afraid you're going to steal the lamp. This is the Four Seasons. No one's stealing any lamps. If Hashem says it's forbidden, it's because it's tied down. It'll be like We had this prank when we were kids. This nickel that was a nail and you would nailed it into the ground and then people would come try to pick it up back when a nickel was worth something. And then you can't pull the nickel up and it was funny to watch somebody I don't know break their fingernails or pull their back out. I don't know why that was funny. Okay? But I mean I It was a real an actual prank that I had. Okay. And you've never heard of that? Also the gum with it snaps your finger? Yeah. Okay. With the mouse trap on the stick of gum. Okay. And it's where the nickel that nails into the ground. So, imagine somebody stopping go, "Oh, don't don't don't don't waste your time. Don't bend down to pick up that nickel. It's nailed to the ground. Oh, you don't want me to have it." No, it's not I don't want you to have it. I'm telling you, don't waste your time with it. You're not going to be able to pick it up. So, Hashem makes it forbidden so that you don't waste your time on things that are never going to be able to be lifted. They're never going to be able to be converted into anything useful. Why would they create it to begin with? Classic answer. Classic answer. Free choice. We spoke about last week. Remember we spoke about last? So, we spoke about last week that the energy in it is actually from a higher source and that we can't handle it precisely because it's from such a high source and therefore our relationship with it is a negative meaning a a a the the lack of a relationship and in not dealing with it is how we deal with it and the elevation comes through not attempting to engage it. Okay, but he says here that something that was forbidden the halachically was forbidden, that's tied down. That's not Oh, I wasn't on my A game. I didn't eat the ham sandwich leshem shamayim. Let me get my focus back. No, you can have all the focus you want. The ham sandwich is irredeemable. You're not going to be able to elevate it. It's not that your intent was lacking. It's that it is fundamentally irredeemable. He says also be be assur ace. Forbidden acts of of of intimacy. So, it's not where Oh, I should have had a better kavana leshem shamayim. No, the act itself was forbidden. There's nothing nothing you can do with it. Yeah. Why the Holocaust? Please. Please. Please don't. Okay. So, your question you're asking I'm sorry to I just I cannot abide by gratuitous Holocaust. I just I I can't I It's one of the things I'm allergic to as a teacher because it's like all You can't think straight when you hear that word. Just impossible to think straight. So, you but you're asking about people who are starving to death. Unfortunately, there are people starving to death right now. Okay, in in in New York. Okay. Fine. So, let's let's I'm just I'm I'm sorry. I you just triggered me with with Holocaust. So, but let's change the question to be more to to be less shocking. Okay. The question is, what about pikauch nefesh? Okay. So, here's my question to you. It's a very simple question and you're going to answer it yourself. I'm just going to phrase it to you in a way that will elicit a clear answer. Why is this food irredeemable? It's not going to do you any good. I like how you said that. I I didn't use those words. You used those words and those are great words. Okay. So, when there is when there is a matter of pikauch nefesh, so then halachically, what happens? Halachically. I'm not asking you mystically. What? It becomes mutar. Okay. Okay. So, if that's the halachic mechanism, then there's a parallel spiritual reality. Oh, that's interesting. That's interesting. That's a very interesting way of looking at it. Okay, so now cuz you're pushing now you're going to get it complicated again. I I did such a beautiful job making it so clear and now you keep pushing. Okay. So, okay, so you keep pushing. So, the answer is it's not so simple. You knew it was going to If you kept pushing, you knew it was going to get to that point. It's not so simple. I wanted at least the first time learning this chapter, I wanted it to be simple. Wait, so your your meter's expired? Uh-huh. Oh. Okay. Anyways, it's not so simple because on one hand it is permissible. Halachically in a case of pikauch nefesh in a life-saving situation, it is permissible. So, you can't exactly say that anyone's doing anything spiritually destructive. To the contrary, they're they're doing what Torah tells them to do. On the other hand, um it's still stuff that would normally be forbidden. So, it's not like you can exactly elevate it either. It It's actually dealt with a little bit more um not here in in Likutei Amarim but later in Iggeres Hakodesh in the fourth section of Tanya. He deals with it a little bit more. Maybe maybe that would be a good place to start from next week. Yeah? But let let let's just tie it up here. Okay? Fine. So, something that was inherently permissible means that it has the potential to go either way depending on how you engage it. Your mindfulness. If you mess it up, just fix it. Get your intent back on track. Not so, however, things that were inherently set off limits that halachically are forbidden, then there's no way of retrieving that and getting it to back on track because it's irredeemable stuff. It's It's not fuel for your car. Yeah. Oh, let me just one more line. Okay, so I said they are tied down forever. One more line. The ain only misham and they will not come out of there. These negative things will not come back up. Ad ki yova yamam. The vul oha movis lanetzach. Until their day comes and death is swallowed up forever. Kima yishakosev like it says, "Veasru chatoma aav er min haaretz." Hashem says, "I will remove. I, not you. I will remove the spirit of impurity from the earth." Meaning when Mashiach comes. So, the stuff that's irredeemable, leave it alone. DON'T TOUCH IT. EVENTUALLY, Hashem will come in with the street sweepers and get rid of it. Okay? So, is this from the forbidden? Hm? This is from the forbidden. From the from the forbidden things, you leave it alone. At the very end of history, Hashem will clean it up and get rid of it. And it's what we discussed last week. Hm? We did discuss this last week about the fact that one day in the future everything that is That will everything that yes, everything will be redeemed, but you can't redeem this stuff. Hashem will redeem it. But, there's so much of the world that we can and must redeem. Okay? Yes. Okay. All right.