The Practical Tanya - Part One - The Book for Inbetweeners

An emotion is your reaction to something outside of you. While you might experience a vast range of emotions, they essentially fall into two categories: You are either drawn to the thing (love) or repelled by it (fear).

A mitzvah is a connection ritual, a sacred technology which brings you into an intimate bond with G-d.

Your brain (will-power) naturally rules over your heart (emotions). You might not be able to control your urges, but with your will-power you can prevent the urges from ever affecting your behavior. “A small amount of light will push away a lot of darkness.” Evil’s strength is that it is tangible; its weakness is that it is instantly dispelled by s

Sha’arei Ha-Kedushah (ibid.) states that the “good side” of your Animal Soul’s four elements mirrors their “bad side” precisely. In place of arrogance and anger, the good side of your Animal Soul’s “fire”draws you to humility, leading you not to take things personally and get angry. Rather than seeking pleasure, the good side of “water” despises bo

The hallmark of service is effort. If you’re not wrestling with your darker side, you are not serving G-d. Period. Doing more than you are accustomed to (in Torah and mitzvos) is always a form of service, since it inevitably requires effort. “Ideal service” of G-d doesn’t mean becoming a tzadik. It means struggling to be the best person you can be.

Ultimately, I can control my emotions because what I feel is always an outcome of what I think. I let my chochmah flow by being intellectually curious, imaginative and by looking at the bigger picture. Next, I use my binah by being logical and detail orientated, carefully examining the raw concept from my chochmah. The crucial step, which generates

Because you revere Him, to the extent that you will not rebel against the Supreme King of kings, the Blessed Holy One.

Chafitzah represents an even more intense state where, unlike physical desires which subside when you are satisfied, your desire for G-d never diminishes. “And upon completing a mitzvah which came your way... you are not satisfied by what you have done. On the contrary, now you have a stronger desire” (ibid.). וְהִיא

“diminishing