LEARNING FROM THE TANYA
LEARNING
FROM THE TANYA seeks to explain the role of humanity in the world and
their place vis-à-vis God. To that end, Steinsaltz boldly addresses
fundamental questions of spiritual existence, such as:
* What is the meaning of truth?
* How can one understand the nature of human experience?
* How does one grow closer to God when He feels so far away?
* What does it mean to serve God?
* Can one approach God without love in his/her heart?
* How does God sustain the existence of the physical world?
Photo:
Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz (right) and Ichil Pogranichniy, a Shargorod Jew,
converse in Yiddish, as Pogranichniy shows the Jerusalem rabbi some of the
Jewish parts of his native town.
The Tanya was written in 1797
by Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, one of the most influential leaders and
scholars in the Hasidic community of White Russia (now Belarus). Steinsaltz
calls Tanya, so named for the Hebrew word meaning "it has been taught," a
"lucid and systematic articulation of the fundamentals of Hasidic
teaching." LEARNING FROM THE TANYA, along with its predecessor Opening the
Tanya, is Steinsaltz's response to a concern that much of modern society is
unprepared to tackle difficult source texts on spirituality like the Tanya.
He endeavors to bring the universal ideas of the Tanya to a level which
every human being can grasp and bring into his/her own life. The Tanya's
significance in Jewish philosophy can be primarily attributed to its main
character - the intermediate man, or beinoni. "The aim of the mussar (moral
teaching) books, and the ideal to which they strive to elevate the human
being, is the ideal of the tzaddik, 'the perfectly righteous individual,'"
he writes. "In contrast, Tanya was written for intermediates...Not everyone
can achieve [being a tzaddik], and not everyone is expected to. Instead, the
beinoni is presented as the ideal that everyone can and must attain." It is
the Tanya's realistic approach to character growth and its recognition of
natural human shortcomings that gives it the universal appeal Steinsaltz
builds upon in his commentary.
Photo
:Opening the Tanya: Discovering the Moral and
Mystical Teachings of a Classic Work of Kabbalah
Scholar, teacher, mystic,
scientist, and social critic, Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz is regarded as one of the
greatest rabbis of this century and hailed by Time as a "once-in-a-millennium
scholar." In the United States, he is best known for his monumental
translation and commentary on the Talmud. He has been a resident scholar at
Yale University, the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton, and the
Woodrow Wilson Institute in Washington, D.C. Rabbi Steinsaltz has founded a
network of educational institutions and outreach programs in the United
States, Israel, Great Britain, Australia, and the former Soviet Union. He is
the author of hundreds of articles and more than 60 books, including We Jews:
Who Are We and What Should We Do?, which was issued by Jossey-Bass earlier
this year. He has been featured on Good Morning America and National Public
Radio, and in publications such as People and Newsweek. This fall, Rabbi
Steinsaltz will embark on a U.S. book tour to promote LEARNING FROM THE TANYA,
including public appearances in New York City, Atlanta, and Miami (dates and
additional locations to be announced).
Data. Source: By Amara
Levine-Reich