Why people
are so drawn
to the text known
as the "heart"
of Lubavitch.

PHIL JACOBS EDITOR

PHOTOS BY GLENN TRIEST

of TA NYA

here's a peace that
comes over Rabbi
Chaim Bergstein's
face.
The Bais Chabad of
Farmington Hills spir-
itual leader tells the
true story about how two
Lubavitch rabbis known for
helping smuggle Jews out of
Russia were arrested in 1946
and jailed by the KGB.
The two rabbis, Ray.
Mendel and Ray. Moshe, at
first didn't realize they were
in adjacent cells. One day,
one rabbi heard the sounds
of the other praying. The two
communicated through a
sewer line, until a guard al-
lowed them to "rocm" together for
four weeks.
During that time, Ray. Mendel
asked Ray. Moshe, "Are you hap-
PY?
You need to be happy," he told
his friend. "If you aren't happy, then
[the KGB] has your neshama, your
soul."
The body, he said, isn't as im-
portant.
The two prayed together; they
discussed mysticism together. They
talked often about a book they
didn't have in their possession, but
in their hearts. It's called Tanya.
After his release from prison,
some 10 years later, Ray. Moshe
told friends and family that the four
weeks with Ray. Mendel were the
"best" four weeks of his life.

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This, in a metaphysical sense, was filled with politically "revo- with the Creation, or God with
is what Tanya is all about. It is lutionary" sentiments.
Man.
the understanding that if a per-
To date, there have been 4,000
The Alter Rebbe wrote: "Man
son works hard to seek the light editions of Tanya printed in some draws holiness from Divinely giv-
of God, then any problems or anx- 60 countries, including China and en Torah and commandments to
ieties he might have are sec- Cuba. Locally, Tanya was print- permeate with every phase of his
ondary, or meaningless.
ed in West Bloomfield in 1985. It's daily life and his environment, his
This year marks the 200th an- been translated into nine lan- "share" in the world. And man
niversary of Tanya, written by guages, including Russian and draws upon all the resources at his
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, Arabic.
disposal, as vehicles for his per-
the founder of the Chabad Cha-
But what is Tanya? And does sonal ascendancy and with him,
sidic movement.
it speak in a language that any- that of the surrounding world."
Tanya is being studied by De- one searching for more in his Jew-
Tanya is metaphysical and spir-
troiters from many Jewish back- ish spiritual life can find?
itual and complex. It is, however,
grounds and levels of observance.
It's important to understand learnable and reachable.
While doing research for this ar- that the Alter Rebbe was looking
Sometimes, rabbis will readily
ticle, it was sometimes difficult for for a way to link the Creator agree that a potential student is
the students, and even the rabbis
intimidated by volumes and vol-
— students of Tanya themselves
umes of commentary on Torah.
— to describe this work. What
But Rabbi Herschel Finman, one
Tanya does, though, is to take the
of the area's Tanya teachers, calls
neshama, or soul, of the Torah
the book a "continuation of a lega-
and the Talmud and get right to
cy."
the spiritual point. It is for some
When the Baal Shem Tov start-
a guidebook of how an individual
ed Chasidism, said Rabbi Finman,
should build his relationship with
"Jews were in danger from learn-
God and live a more purposeful,
ing — both publicly and private-
spiritual life.
ly. He took Judaism and instilled
Some basics:
life into it for every man, not just
The word "tanya" means "we
for the brilliant scholars."
learn." Tanya consists of five
Rabbi Bergstein concurred, say-
books divided into 53 chapters. It
ing that when the Baal Shem Toy
took the author 20 years to write.
came around, Jews lived in fear,
Tanya was divided into 53 chap-
and were afraid to look heaven-
ters to correspond to the number
ward for help.
of Torah portions. Two years fol-
The Alter Rebbe, the successor
lowing its publication, Rabbi
to the Baal Shem Toy, wanted to
Schnell/. Zalman, also known as
appeal to the mindset of the bril-
the Alter Rebbe, was questioned
liant scholars of the time, but he
in a St. Petersburg prison re-
also wanted every person to feel a
garding accusations that his book Listening to a point made in Tanya.
part of the rock of Judaism. The

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