Tiyul in Tanya Part 3

I know it’s been a while since I did one of these, but if you have missed the previous ones and want to catch up they can be found here and here.  I am still continuing on with the compiler’s forward.  Hopefully we will be past this soon and able to jump into the actual text.  However, I think this is an important introduction to the author’s intent in writing the text.

I speak, however, of those who know me well, each and every one of our faithful who lives in our country and in lands adjacent to it, with whom words of affection have been frequently exchanged, and who have revealed to me all the secrets of their heart and mind in the service of G-d which is dependent on the heart. May my word percolate to them, and my tongue be as the pen of the scribe in these kuntresim that are entitled Likutei Amarim (“Selected Discourses”), which have been selected from books and teachers, heavenly saints, whose souls are in Eden, and who are renowned among us. The subjects of] some of [these discourses] are hinted to the wise, in the sacred epistles of our teachers in the Holy Land, may it be built and established speedily in our days, Amen; some of them I have heard from their saintly mouth when they were here with us; and all of them are responsa to many questions which all our faithful in our country have constantly asked, seeking advice, each according to his station, so as to receive moral guidance in the service of G-d, since time no longer permits of replying to everyone individually and in detail on his particular problem. Furthermore, forgetfulness is common.

The compiler is now giving a full defense(for lack of a better word) for his work.  After having shown that all books of mussar are deficient compared to learning directly from a Rav, he lays the foundation for why he felt it both appropriate and necessary.  First these words were being composed to those with whom he was intimately familiar.  He was not so much writing a book for the masses as he was writing a book for his own intimate disciples, whose souls and needs he already understood.  Rav Adin Steinsaltz writes on this beautifully:

As the author stated earlier, the first limitation of any book is that the writer is essentially speaking to himself; he cannot specifically address the reader because he does not know him.  But in this case, states the author, I wrote the book because I speak to my intimates and “to those who know me well.”  Tanya was for a specific audience- the author’s closest Hasidim, whose inner selves were no mystery to him, for they had already come to consult with him on the most intimate matters of their souls.  They had poured out their hearts to him, telling him not so much their material cares (as Hasidim did even then, a phenomenon that the author later denounces), but mainly the inner problems of the heart, problems of how best to serve and attain a relationship with God.

Of course Lubavitch Hasidim will insist that all who study and all who will study Tanya are included in Shneur Zalman’s intimates.  Personally I am quite unconvinced of this.  The reason being that what faced that generation does not necessarily face this generation.  What was the necessity of the hour then, may be radically different today.    Far aside from the descent of the generations, in which the later generations are in many respects(though not all, see the Leshem, Biurim, Anaf 5:7) less capable, also the general situation has changed.  For instance, Judaism, B”H, has not been under serious persecution since 1945, Hasidim have not been under serious persecution by other Jews in over 100yrs(by and large).  There are other major Kabbalistic factors alluded to in the above mentioned Leshem that make the perception of the divine by today’s generation radically different from that of the previous generation, let alone a generation already 2ooyrs removed.

Moving on.  Tanya is essentially, as the compiler says in this introduction, a compilation of answers to questions involving, and revolving around, avodat Hashem.  He has essentially attempted to reduce all of the questions that he has been asked over the years down to the least common denominators, the primal issues if you will, and thus answer those.  Herein lies the complexity of a book in which babes can wade and elephants can swim.  Thousands of Hasidim asked the Baal HaTanya regarding service to HaShem.   Some were men who were quite accomplished, having learned in depth Zohar and parts of the Kitvei(those few bits that made it to Europe).  Others were simple peasants.   Thus is brilliance of the Baal HaTanya in that he writes a sefer that is sufficient for both.

The road of Avodah is long and hard.  Arduous in the extreme as it requires constant striving for moral perfection without the possibility of ever attaining that perfection.  The Mekubalim in various places, say that even Moshe Rabbeinu, while the greatest that has ever lived, did not achieve perfection, for that is the level of Mashiah.  Yet even the Mashiah, while he will most certainly be at a higher level of perfection than Moshe Rabbeinu, will never achieve ultimate perfection.  In short, ultimate perfection is to be identicle to the Holy One Blessed is He, and that simply is not possible for the creation.  It is the eternal striving, the constant upward path… It is along this path that the Baal HaTanya offers road signs, again, both to beginners and to long time travelers.

Finally it would appear, that at least part of the reason that the Baal HaTanya was committing these things to writing was because even those who were yet able to get an audience with him, were forgetting what they were hearing.  So this book was written as much to remind those who had received his advice, of the advice they had received as it was to give advice.

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