Weekly Tanya video/lecture: The Holy Epistle

• Published date: 23 January 2023
• Publication title: Israel National News (Israel)

tanyaonline.com/?p=1913

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Thus, the ultimate circumcision of the heart, and in its wake the ultimate manifestation of the love of G‑d, will take place when Mashiach comes. Nevertheless, it is possible even now to liberate one's personal Shechinah—one's Divine spark—at least on a temporary basis during the time of prayer. This the Alter Rebbe now goes on to say:

Similarly, every particular spark of the Shechinah, inherent in the soul of every individual Jew,

וְכֵן, כָּל נִיצוֹץ פְּרָטִי מֵהַשְּׁכִינָה שֶׁבְּנֶפֶשׁ כָּל אֶחָד מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל

emerges for the moment from exile and captivity

יוֹצֵאת מֵהַגָּלוּת וְהַשִּׁבְיָה לְפִי שָׁעָה,

during that "momentary life" which is prayer23—

בְּ"חַיֵּי שָׁעָה" זוֹ תְּפִלָּה,

during the service of his heart, from the depth of his heart,

וַעֲבוֹדָה שֶׁבַּלֵּב מֵעוּמְקָא דְלִבָּא,

from the innermost point which becomes divested of the [concealing] "foreskin"—

מִבְּחִינַת נְקוּדָּה הַפְּנִימִית הַנִּגְלֵית מֵהָעָרְלָה,

and soars upward to cleave to Him with a fierce passion,

וְעוֹלָה לְמַעְלָה, לְדָבְקָה בוֹ בִּתְשׁוּקָה עַזָּה

in the spirit of the phrase, "for the sake of your life," for the individual senses that G‑dliness is his entire life.

בִּבְחִינַת "לְמַעַן חַיֶּיךָ".

And [in] this, too—in this momentary deliverance of the innermost point of the heart during the service of prayer—a man may be considered to be in a state of hessach daat, "unaware" or "absentminded," so to speak,

וְהוּא גַם כֵּן בִּבְחִינַת הֶיסַּח דַּעַת הָאָדָם,

for this State, the state in which the Divine spark within man, his personal Shechinah, is momentarily revealed, transcends the daat of man and his meditation on the greatness of G‑d.

כִּי בְּחִינָה זוֹ הִיא לְמַעְלָה מִדַּעַת הָאָדָם וְהִתְבּוֹנְנוּתוֹ בִּגְדוּלַּת ה',

Rather, it is a kind of gift granted by G‑d from heaven

רַק הִיא בְּחִינַת מַתָּנָה נְתוּנָה מֵאֵת ה' מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם,

from the radiance of the supernal countenance,

מֵהֶאָרַת בְּחִינַת פָּנִים הָעֶלְיוֹנִים,

as it is written, "May G‑d make His countenance shine upon you,"24

כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב "יָאֵר ה' פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ",

and as it is written, "And the L-rd, your G‑d, will circumcise i.e., remove the insensitivity of [your heart]"—and this is a state which exists even now on a temporary basis.

וּכְמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: "וּמָל ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ" כוּ'.

dividual redeems it by performing a spiritual periah and removing his subtler desires as well.

Now, concerning the excision of the foreskin itself, it is written: "And...