Food for the Soul

How does putting the body second help us love another Jew? The class continues chapter 32 of Tanya, explaining that only our bodies divide us while every neshama is one with Hashem, which is why Hillel called Ahavat Yisrael the whole Torah. We then learn how to turn hatred into love by awakening pity for a Jew's neshama, and why the hatred King David spoke of applies only to rare, extreme cases.
Tanya chapter 32

How can we find real happiness when the Yetzer Hara tries to make us sad? The class opens chapter 33 of Tanya by learning that sometimes sadness over the past simply has its own time, and that meditating on Hashem's oneness, filling every world and everything in it, helps us see how special it is that the Creator turns to each of us with a mission. We begin to explore how everything has a spiritual source and why that should fill us with joy and a sense of purpose.
Tanya chapter 33

On the yahrzeit of Rachel Imeinu, the class asks why she was buried on the road to Bethlehem, and what her honor for her father and her devotion to her children teach us. We then see how Sarah, and the wife of Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa, cared about what others would say, and why a Jew must avoid even the appearance of wrongdoing so that Hashem's name is sanctified, never profaned. We end with how our mothers kept a warm, joyful home, and how showing up with confidence invites Hashem's blessing.
Parshas Chayei Sarah, Rashi and Gemara Taanis

Why is chapter 32, the Lev (heart) of Tanya, all about loving another Jew? The class learns how a person who feels spiritually cold can "chop the wood" of the body so the fire of the neshama catches, and how the body's ego is what divides one Jew from another. We see that every mitzvah makes the neshama primary over the body, which is why Ahavat Yisrael measures how connected we are to Hashem.
Tanya chapter 32

If Hashem forgives so easily, why should we remember our sins at all? Continuing chapter 11 of Igeret HaTeshuva, the class learns that even a person must forgive when asked, and how much more so Hashem, as seen in the story of the Givonim. We then see how remembering our past keeps us humble and even helps us stay happy, without sinking into regret.
Igeret HaTeshuva chapter 11, Tanya

How can a Jew be heartbroken over a mistake and still be truly happy? Starting from Lech Lecha and the idea that even our past is part of the journey, the class learns chapter 11 of Igeret HaTeshuva and explains why sadness after a sin is worse than the sin itself, and why Hashem is so quick to forgive.
Igeret HaTeshuva chapter 11, Tanya

If the neshama is already one with Hashem's essence, what is there to gain by coming down into this world? Continuing chapter 5 of the Rebbe's maamar, the class explores how Hashem "consulted" with the souls of the Tzadikim before creation, and why the neshama's source only counts if it fulfills its mission down here. We end with a thought to take home about time, place and our importance in the purpose of creation.
Maamar Mayim Rabim 5738

If the neshama is rooted in Hashem's very essence, how can the great waters of this world drown it, and what could it possibly gain by coming down? The class continues the Rebbe's maamar with chapter 5, sharpening the question of what is higher than the neshama's source, and why a Baal Teshuva can rise above even a Tzaddik. We end again with a question to take home and think about.
Maamar Mayim Rabim 5738

Using the image of fire in its flame, coal and hidden spark in the stone, the class explores the levels of a Jew's love for Hashem. It explains why even the "great waters" of worldly preoccupation cannot extinguish that love, by looking at its roots in Or and Kli and Tohu and Tikkun.
Maamar Mayim Rabim 5738

Why can the great waters of worldly distractions never extinguish the Jew's love for Hashem? The class explains how the Neshama is rooted in Atzmut, higher than the waters that come from Tohu, and what we gain from facing those waters.
Maamar Mayim Rabim 5738