Daily Tanya Wednesday 10th Elul Igeres Hakodesh 12: True Avodah: Going Beyond Nature

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🕊️ The Innate Compassion of the Jewish Soul

  • The Tanya teaches that the Jewish soul is naturally inclined toward compassion and acts of kindness.
  • This is because Jewish souls are rooted in Divine attributes, particularly the attribute of Chesed (kindness), which overpowers Din (judgment) and Gevurah (severity).

👑 The Soul as “Daughter of the Kohen”

  • Drawing from the Zohar, the soul is referred to as “Bat Kohen” (daughter of the priest), symbolizing its elevated spiritual origin.
  • This title reflects the soul’s inherent connection to Divine kindness.

đź’Ž The Nature of Tzedakah: Habit vs. Effort

  • The term Ma’aseh HaTzedakah (act of charity) implies something habitual or naturally occurring.
  • Since kindness is embedded in the Jewish soul, giving charity is often a natural expression of that trait.

🔥 True Avodah: Going Beyond Nature

  • Avodah (spiritual service) refers to actions that require intense effort against one’s natural inclinations.
  • In the context of charity, this means giving more than one’s natural compassion would dictate—pushing beyond comfort and habit.

đź’° Giving Generously: A Higher Calling

  • The Tanya cites the teaching: “You shall surely give” (Naton Titen)—even a hundred times.
  • This emphasizes the spiritual value of giving beyond what feels easy or routine, aligning one’s will with the Divine will.

 

About The Author

Rabbi Yaakov Goldstein is a 6th generation descendent of the famous Chief Rabbi of Izhmir, Rav Yehoshua Avraham Krispin, who authored a number of Sefarim, and was a colleague of Rav Chaim Falagi, and father in-law of the Pesach Hadvir. He currently lives with his wife Shayna, and twelve children K”H, in Tzfas, Israel. Rabbi Goldstein received Semicha from Rabbi Schneur Zalman Labkowski of the Tomchei Temimim headquarters in 2005 and served as a chaplain in the Lotar/Kalatz and K9 unit of the IDF from years 2005-2008. He is also a certified Shochet, and has performed Hashgacha work in slaughterhouses. Rabbi Goldstein is the director of Shulchanaruchharav.com, the world’s leading web-based Halacha database, and is the director of the Home Study Semicha Program, a self-study web-based Semicha program. He is a prolific author of over 50 Sefarim studied by a wide range of readers throughout the world, which is used regularly in Semicha programs around the globe. He is a world renowned Posek, answering questions to a web-based market, and serves as a local Posek, Rav, and Lecturer, in the Tzemach Tzedek community Shul in Tzefas, Israel. His many classes can be heard both from his website, Vimeo and YouTube channel. Students can join live to classes given in the Tzemach Tzedek Shul, through the “בית חבד צפת Chabad Tsfat” YouTube channel.

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