Tanya, "It Was Taught," is one of the most powerful and potentially transformative books of Jewish wisdom. Written in 1797 by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of Chabad Hasidism, Tanya sets forth the fundamentals of Jewish spirituality and metaphysics. While a focus of daily study by tens of thousands of Hasidic Jews, Tanya is little known outside the world of Jewish mysticism, its kabbalistic terms and esoteric language making this essential text of Jewish spirituality inaccessible to most readers.
In this accessible volume, Rami Shapiro offers a contemporary English translation of key selections of the Hebrew text coupled with commentary designed to clarify and amplify the wisdom they contain. He brings the genius of Tanya to readers seeking to deepen their understanding of the soul and how it relates to and manifests the Divine Source from which all life comes, in which all life lives, and to which all life returns.
Foreword ix
Preface xvii
Introduction xix
Key Philosophical Ideas xxxiii
Core Spiritual Practices xliii
1. The Five Kinds of Humans 3
2. God, Wisdom, and Your Essential Nature 7
3. The Three Mothers: Wisdom, Reason, and Knowing 11
4. The Three Garments: Thought, Word, and Deed 13
5. Unity Beyond Thought 17
6. The Necessity of Opposites 21
7. Using the Body for Good 23
8. Using the Body for Evil 27
9. The Secret Yearning for the Good 31
10. The Purpose of Transformation 35
11. Redemption from Evil 39
12. Bringing Light into the Darkness 43
13. Internal Conflict 47
14. Becoming an Inbetweener 49
15. Serving God 51
16. The Essential Task 55
17. The Practice of Comprehension 57
18. The Nature of Wisdom 61
19. The Candle of God 65
20. The Unchanging One 69
21. God's Speech 71
22. Other Gods 73
23. Torah and God Are One 75
24. The Interplay of Opposites 77
25. Folly 79
26. The Profit of Sadness 81
27. Passive Restraint 85
28. Distracting Thoughts 89
29. A Dull Heart 93
30. Cultivating Humility 97
31. Working with Sadness 99
32. Love Your Neighbor 103
33. Attaining True Joy 105
34 Generosity 109
35. The Task of Self 111
36. No High or Low in God 113
37. Illuminating the World 117
38. The Necessity of Intent 119
39. Acting without Ulterior Motive 121
40. Revealing the Hidden God 125
41. Love and Awe 129
42. Your Inner "Moses" 133
43. Two Types of Awe 137
44. Higher Grades of Love 139
45. Compassion for God 143
46. Way of Friendship 147
47. Release from Bondage 149
48. The Finite and the Infinite 153
49. The Purpose of Creation 155
50. Run and Return 157
51. The Dwelling of God 161
52. Perceiving the One 163
53. The One Is within You 165
Notes 167
Glossary of Hebrew Terms 168
Books Cited in Tanya 173
Suggestions for Further Reading 177