I've been reading the Tanya -- the central philosophical text of the Chabad Hasidic movement of Judaism, written by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi and published in 1796. You can read a page a day and finish it in exactly a year.
I had tried reading it in 1999, when I was a student at Pardes, the liberal modern Orthodox yeshiva in Jerusalem. My cousin, Raymond, in South Africa, who is part of the Chabad movement, gave it to me. I made it through the beginning.
The beginning is amazing enough. Rabbi Shneur Zalman describes the Benoni -- the intermediate one, whose good and evil impulses are nearly balanced, but who chooses good. That, it turns out, is the best to which we can aspire.
There are some other amazing things in the Tanya. Once concerns the spiritual implications of Hebrew letters, a concept drawn from the Kabbalah. Each has its significance -- none more than the letter Hay (ה), which has an "h" sound.
Hay is the letter of breath. It is also the letter of the definite article "the." It is almost abstract, and yet fundamental. Its shape suggests the role of God in the world: mundane reality is the detached foot, part of God but also independent.
Another is the idea of how one's soul should love God. There are two forms of loving God -- and these, in turn, are opposed by mundane desires. The Tanya describes the latter as a kind of "rival wife," which is a fascinating concept.
I've still got about 3 months to go, and this won't be my last time studying the Tanya, because I'm only reading it at a superficial level, but it's really a privilege to engage in any meaningful way with old or ancient texts and spiritual insights.
This is my first broadcast from the new office and studio in Washington, DC, where I'll be for a couple of years my neighborhood back in L.A. cleans up -- and as we follow the Trump administration from a little closer up than usual.
Topics:
- The anniversary of the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump
- The escalating tariff battle with various different trading partners
- The future of the Middle East peace talks, and ongoing antisemitism
- The Jeffrey Epstein files and whether they mean anything at all
- The continued crisis of the Texas floods, and stories of heroism and survival
And more!
Special guests:
- James Rosen - Newsmax chief Washington correspondent
- Bob Price - Breitbart News Texas reporter, on the ongoing floods
- Robert Cahill - Trafalgar Polling, on a new alliance of reliable pollsters
- Rabbi Yaakov Menken - Coalition for Jewish Values - on Israel & antisemitism
Tune in: 7-10 p.m. ET, 4-7 p.m. PT
Call: 866-957-2874
This week’s portion tells the grand story of the prophet who tried to curse people of Israel and instead ended up blessing them.
I am reminded that these portions continue to be relevant anew, as this particular reading lent the title for Israel’s recent 12 Day War against Iran, “Operation Rising Lion.”
This week's portion includes the commandment of the red heifer -- one of the classic "irrational" commandments whose fulfillment is an expression of faith. It also includes the regrettable episode in which Moses strikes the rock.
I referred to this story in a wedding speech last night. Why was Moses punished for striking the rock in Numbers, when he struck the rock without incident in Exodus -- both for the purpose of providing water to the people?
The answer is that in the interim, the Jewish people had received the Torah, which is like the marriage contract between the people of Israel and God. In a marriage, you do not resolve things by breaking boundaries, but through love.
The additional reading, from Judges Chapter 11, is the story of Jephthah (Yiftach), a man whom the leaders spurn, but to whom they must turn to save the nation. The parallels to our present political circumstances are striking.
Shabbat Shalom and Happy Fourth of July!
...
