The answer to the questions: [1) as a Rebbe he knows us from the inside and speaks Torah in a way that we can receive it 2)] He knows us and is writing the familiar and therefore will reach us in spite of all three issues raised above.

Three reasons not to write the Tanya: 1) Not everyone is clear enough to understand what he reads without getting confused. 2) If a Sefer is only שכל אנושי it’s reach and appeal is limited. 3) Even when the Sefer is שכל אלוקי the complexity of הנסתרות makes it almost impossible to identify one’s part…

A Rebbe writes for his flock in a way that is not subjective: based on where they are at.

Introduction Part one. The precious stone that lies at the center of the King’s crown. Godliness is within and must be brought out from within, not added from without. The two key points: 1) Achdus Hashem. 2) The centrality of the Yid, Ahavas Yisroel. Yechida. The BeShT gave it to his time and to all…

The נפש הבהמית is in the לב ודם. The נפש האלוקית is in the מוח. These two compete for the whole גוף. We explain it’s need to speak the נפש הבהמית language to relate and vice-versa. The fight.

This class (after a brief introduction) explores the basic character traits of the נפש הבהמית ונפש האלוקית. The נפש הבהמית is: 1) Self-centered (selfish), 2) not visionary; interested only in the here and now, 3) Lives in fear and “survives” because she has no trust. The נפש האלוקית is 1) G-d-centered (selfless), 2) Has great…

PDF רעיא מהימנא פרשת משפטים קי”ז, ב. This class was the introduction of the five levels of צדיק וטוב לו צדיק ורע לו רשע וטוב לו רשע ורע לו ובינוני, on the נסתר level; which is based initially on the גמרא בברכות ועוד; but is sourced in the רעיא מהימנא. We actually read it inside….

1) A thought on Tisha BiAv, Teshuva and Moshiach. 2) Neshamos are G-dly, but independent, as they come from the Keilim. The פסוק נר הוי’ נשמת אדם that compares Neshamos to a Candle and the two ways of understanding this. 3) Though all Neshamos are one with Hashem and come from His Chochma, as the…

Linking ישראל עלו במחשבה to the רמב”ם. What the RaMbaM understands about Hashem: that He is one with his wisdom and all of His faculties, allows us to understand how He can know what is happening in a changing world without changing Himself. הוא היודע הוא הידוע והוא המדע עצמה or הוא וחכמתו אחד. This…

The second proof of the נשמה’s lofty origin is from the מאמר חז”ל: ישראל עלו במחשבה. This is a Kabbalistic “Proof” linking Neshamos to Chochma and through Chochma to the very Essence of G-dliness. The use of Kabbalah within Chassidus gives it “form” and a framework for understanding it intellectually.