we begin the Tanya."
Officially called Likutai
Amorim, the writings, the
Tanya is the main work of
Chabad. Written in the late
16th century by the first
Lubavitch Rebbe, Schneur
Zalman of Liadi, the Tanya
serves as a practical guide
to Jewish ethics.
The rebbe patterned his
analysis of the nature of
man after the Kabbalistic
conception of God — the be-
lief in 10 sefirot, the Godly
attributes of understanding,
wisdom, judgment, beauty,
foundation, splendor, victo-
ry and majesty.
Rabbi Zalman believed
that to meet and pass the
moral tests of daily life, in-
dividuals must understand
the psychic forces motivat-
ing their dispositions and at-
titudes. His doctrine of two
souls — one divine, one an-
imal — encourages man to
bend his animal nature to-
ward the will of his more
spiritual soul. Only then can
man experience true plea-
sure.
Since studying the Tanya,
Ms. Lowe-Schwartz has
started to incorporate many
of its teachings into daily.
life. Normal tasks have tak-
en on new meaning. When
she gets up in the morning,
Ms. Lowe-Schwartz concen-

trates on the blessings she
makes, whether for the rit-
ual of washing hands or the
blessings made on food.
Kabbalah teaches that
blessings uttered in this
world have direct effects on
spiritual worlds, which in

turn can elevate the person
making the blessing.
Professionally, Ms. Lowe-
Schwartz finds that learn-
ing Kabbalah helps her
volunteer work with people
who are severely depressed.
"The Tanya teaches you

hind prayers. One of the
most important influ-
ences on the develop-
ment and dissemination
of later Kabbalah.

semination during his
lifetime.

how to be your best self," she
said. "It points out weak-
nesses and strengths and
gives prescriptions to
change your personality for
the better. Everyone has a
different purpose in life.
Rabbi Silberberg said

Kabbalah helps one look dif-
ferently at reality.
"It forces you to a higher
plane," he said. "You can
handle life. Knowing Torah
is one thing, but under-
standing its meaning
through Kabbalah, knowing
that there is more to life
than a physical world,
makes you realize you real-
ly do have God in your cor-
ner."
Despite its difficulty,
Kabbalah continues to be a
focus of Ms. Lowe-
Schwartz's efforts to elevate
herself through learning.
"The animal soul (accord-
ing to the Tanya) isn't bad,"
she said. "What's bad is
what you do with it. You can
eat, for instance, for the
sake of keeping up your en-
ergy to perform more
mitzvot."
Ms. Lowe-Schwartz tried
an exercise the Tanya talks
about. It is a practice she
calls "mental hygiene."
At night, or at bedtime,
one can crowd together all
bad thoughts and deeds of
the day. You recite a prayer
and banish them.
"There is a spark of the di-
vine in all of us," she said.
"In doing a mitzvah, we re-
lease positive energy into
the world. If we hold onto
bad deeds, we release nega-

KABBALISTS

Hayyim Ben Joseph
Vital (1542-1620) —
Principal formulator of
the Lurianic system.
Born in southern Italy,
Rabbi Vital moved to
Safed and was the only
student of the Ad, Rab-
bi Isaac Luria. Assem-
bled the Ari's writings
into two works: The Tree
Of Life and She'arim,
gates, which he orga-
nized into eight sections
dealing with souls and
their migrations, mind
power and meanings be-

Isaac Luria (1534-
1572) — Referred to as
Ha-Ari, the sacred lion.
Moved to Safed in 1569
where he taught his orig-
inal Kabbalistic system,
an interpretation of the
Zohar based on the 10
sefirot. Guarded the se-
cret of his system and
did not permit its dis-

Azulai
Abraham
(1570-1643) —Kabbal-
ist born in MoroccO from
a family of Kabbalists.
Wrote three treatises on
the Zohar based on the
Lurianic system. Pro-
claimed that from the
year 1540 on, the basic
principles of Kabbalah
must be taught publicly
to everyone.

Moses Zacuto (1620)

— Born into a Por-
tuguese Marrano family
in Amsterdam. Moved to
Venice where he edited
the Zohar. Supported
the outset of the Shab-
batean movement and
its messianic tidings un-
til Shabbetai Zevi turned
his back on his followers.
Became the head of the
contemporary Italian
Kabbalists. Also known
under the name, Kol ha-
ReMez, from his Hebrew
initials.

Yehuda Ashlag, (1886-
1955) — Founded The
Kabbalah Learning Cen-
tre, Yeshiva Beit Ulpana
LeRabanim in Israel,
with the approval of the
chief rabbis in Israel, in-
cluding Rabbi Cook and
Rabbi Chaim Zonenfeld.
Developed new approach
to understanding the
Lurianic system. Wrote
the Sulam, (the ladder),
which translated the Zo-
har from the original
Aramaic into "modern
Hebrew. U