Machshava:

Ethics 

Collections: Rabbi Weinberger: Tanya

Description

19 Kislev is the day Chassidim remember the Ba'al HaTanya's liberation from prison. The Tanya stated that this day will be "engraved" in the hearts of the Jewish nation. What is the difference between "written" and "engraved?" Living with the reality of who a person is. Do we fullfil a mitzvah, e.g., making a brachah (blessing) before food, because it is a natural part of our being, or only if somebody or something reminds us? A story about the Tanya's leaving jail and "falling" straight into the hands of a bitter misnaggid (opponents of chassidim). Why was the "imprisonment" in the misnaggid's house worse than imprisonment in the Czar's jail? And what exactly was the redemption the Alter Rebbe (Tanya) described upon his freeing? The misnaggid Rav's actions when the Tanya was in hiding from the French. The body and the soul of a Jew.