Mayan Yisroel Daily Tanya

51

Tanya 13 Tishrei - Igeres Hakodesh 21

Sep 29, 2026

6:12

What made Avraham Avinu's Akeidah so extraordinary?It was not the willingness to give up his son. Throughout history, many people gave up their lives and the lives of their children for Hashem. Chana did it. Many others did it. That alone was not the chiddush.The chiddush was the alacrity. The speed. The excitement with which he ran to do it.That is what transforms a mitzvah. Not just doing it, but running to do it. And when it comes to tzedaka, which saves a person from death and from suffering, how much more so should we run. If Avraham ran to the Akeidah, we should be running to give tzedakah.

52

Tanya 12 Tishrei - Igeres Hakodesh 20i

Sep 29, 2026

9:30

In the order of creation, the inanimate is lowest, then vegetation, then animal, then human. Each level is higher than the one below it.But here is the truth. The higher you are, the more needy you are.The earth needs nothing. It survives on its own. Vegetation needs the earth but not the animals. Animals need the earth and vegetation but not humans. But the human cannot survive without all of them. The higher you go, the more dependent you become on what is below you.Even the malachim, the angels, feed off the korbanos, the physical sacrifices. The most spiritual beings in existence draw sustenance from the most physical acts.And a human being cannot truly speak and think until he has eaten actual grain. The physical is not a lower rung. It is the foundation everything else stands on.This is the sum total of the entire chapter. This world, the physical world, is where you can do physical mitzvahs. And those physical mitzvahs, all the way at the bottom, connect to the highest level possible. The rock bottom is where the rebounding light is the strongest.This is why being in this world matters more than anything.

53

Tanya 11 Tishrei - Igeres Hakodesh 20h

Sep 29, 2026

15:32

The physical earth is the lowest of all. And yet it contains the highest potency of all.One small seed goes into the ground and produces trees, plants, fruits, infinite abundance. Nothing else in creation can do that. Only the physical earth has the power to bring forth something from virtually nothing.And the reason is this. The highest level is wedged inside the lowest one. When you reach the very bottom, you are actually touching the very top. It is a rebounding force. The descent goes all the way down, and at the bottom it connects back to the highest source.This is the power of yesh me'ayin hidden inside the physical earth. The most G-dly force in existence is buried in the lowest place. And that is exactly why it can do what nothing else can.

54

Tanya 10 Tishrei - Yom Kippur - Igeres Hakodesh 20g

Sep 24, 2026

12:34

The light of Hashem is present in everything. As you descend through all four worlds, from the infinite Ein Sof all the way down, the light of G-d is there at every level.But it is present in two ways.Memale is the light that fills each world according to what that world can receive. It is calibrated, measured, aligned with the capacity of each level.Sovev is different. It is the all-encompassing light that surrounds all worlds equally. It does not adjust to the level of the world. It penetrates everything the same way, from the highest to the lowest.Everywhere you go, G-dliness is there. Filling from within. Encompassing from without.

55

Tanya 9 Tishrei - Igeres Hakodesh 20f

Sep 23, 2026

9:17

Torah is the intellect of Hashem. Mitzvahs are the desire of Hashem. And desire is higher than intellect.On the surface, the mitzvah seems lower. It is just an action, just a physical deed, rooted in the lowest letter of Hashem's expression in the world. Torah engages the mind. The mitzvah just says: do it.But at its core, the mitzvah is rooted higher than Torah. Because what Hashem wanted, more than anything, was that you should just do it. Not because you understand it. Not because it makes sense. Simply because the King desires it.That is what gives Hashem the greatest pleasure. A nation fulfilling His desire without needing to understand why. And that pure fulfillment, that simple act of doing what Hashem wants, reaches higher and gives Him more pleasure than Torah itself.The end is rooted in the beginning. The lowest act connects to the highest desire.

56

Tanya 7 Tishrei - Igeres Hakodesh 20d

Sep 22, 2026

10:25

Where do souls fit in all of this?The souls of angels and the souls of man are not a full yesh. They are not completely separate from Hashem the way the physical world is. Sensitive souls especially remain close to G-dliness, still connected, still resembling it.And yet they are not G-dliness itself. They are already separate entities from Hashem.And there is one line they cannot cross. The power of creation, yesh me'ayin, something from nothing, belongs to Hashem alone. No soul and no angel, no matter how elevated, can create a truly separate existence. That power is His and His alone.

57

Tanya 6 Tishrei - Igeres Hakodesh 20c

Sep 22, 2026

6:32

How does separation from Hashem begin?We start with pure G-dliness, with Atzilus, the highest world, fully divine. And then the descent begins. Step by step, the created yesh, the separate existence, starts to emerge. We trace the process of how something goes from being fully within the domain of G-dliness to stepping outside of it entirely.Even the angels are not exempt. Even they are separated from Hashem. Even at the highest levels of creation, the yesh, the sense of separate existence, is already there.This is the process of tzimtzum, of separation. How the infinite contracts and pulls back until a truly separate creation can exist.

58

Tanya 5 Tishrei - Igeres Hakodesh 20b

Sep 16, 2026

7:11

When Hashem creates something from nothing, something fascinating happens.From Hashem's perspective, looking down, the creation is nothing. It is entirely an extension of Him. There is no comparison between the Creator and the created. In cause and effect there is at least a connection between them. In yesh me'ayin there is no connection at all. The created being is nothing compared to its Creator.But from the creation's perspective, looking up, it feels completely separate. It does not feel the Creator at all. It experiences itself as its own independent entity.Two perspectives. Same reality. From above downward, the creation is nothing. From below upward, the creation feels like everything.And that is exactly what is fascinating. Both are true at once.

59

Tanya 4 Tishrei - Igeres Hakodesh 20a

Sep 16, 2026

10:06

This letter was written by the Alter Rebbe in the last days of his life. In it he reveals one of the most powerful ideas in all of Chassidus. The physical world, the most distant place from Hashem, contains within it the most potent powers of G-dliness.The letter is written in his own private notes, so it is cryptic and Kabbalistic. But what it communicates is extraordinary.Atzilus is the highest world, fully divine. Below it comes creation. And creation means yesh me'ayin, something from nothing. That is only possible through the power of the Creator Himself. No created being can ever produce a truly separate entity. Only Hashem can take nothing and make something. Only He can create that absolute separation we call yesh.And that power is hidden right here, in the physical world.

60

Tanya 3 Tishrei - Igeres Hakodesh 19d

Sep 15, 2026

9:20

Letters of communication appear on three levels: thought, speech, and action. And each one flows from the one above it.But within thought itself there are also three levels. There are letters that are written. Letters that are spoken. And letters that are thought.When you speak, the words come from the letters of speech within thought. So what comes out is already one step removed from the source. And if a person is thinking about something else entirely while he is speaking, then what he is communicating is the back end of his speech, not the front end. The listener receives the outer layer, not the core.This is how communication works. And this is how Torah works. What we receive is always one step removed from the essence.

61

Tanya 2 Tishrei Rosh Hashana - Igeres Hakodesh 19c

Sep 14, 2026

9:21

All we receive from Torah is the back end. The actual essence of what Torah is remains hidden from us.Think of a human being. You come down from intellect, to emotion, to thought, to speech, to action. Action is the lowest level. The rock bottom. The end of it all.And yet that is exactly what Hashem wants.The Torah we have conceals the essence of Hashem. But by concealing it, it gives us access to something higher than we could have reached otherwise. Because the goal of creation was never just to understand. It was to act. To do the mitzvah physically in this world.That was Hashem's intention from the very beginning. And so through the hiding, through the concealment, we actually get to experience Hashem at the deepest level. By doing the action He always wanted.

62

Tanya 1 Tishrei - Rosh Hashana - Igeres Hakodesh 19b

Sep 14, 2026

11:01

The question from yesterday is answered.There is a fundamental difference between seeing and understanding. A prophet like Moshe Rabbeinu grasps G-dliness through sight. And because he actually sees it, he is limited to what sight can reach. He cannot access the very core, the etzem, of what G-dliness truly is.The Arizal does not see it. He understands it. And understanding can reach higher than sight, because it is not bound by what the eye can grasp.This is true for all of us when we learn Torah. We access what Torah reveals to us. But the very core of what the mitzvah is, the etzem itself, remains beyond our reach. What is written is what it is. What is revealed to you is the level you can access.The outer layer is what we hold. The inner core belongs to Hashem alone.

63

Tanya 29 Elul - Igeres Hakodesh 19a

Sep 10, 2026

9:10

Torah is the revelation of G-dliness in this world. But how much of that G-dliness can a person actually grasp?The Arizal says that Moshe Rabbeinu could only reach a certain point and no further. He could not grasp the core essence of what G-dliness truly is.But then the Alter Rebbe asks the obvious question. The Arizal himself expounded countless deep expositions on the very essence of G-dliness. So how does that work? Moshe Rabbeinu could not get there, but the Arizal could?How could anyone have understood more than the master of all prophets?

64

Tanya 28 Elul - Igeres Hakodesh 18b

Sep 10, 2026

10:37

There are two types of love of Hashem.The first, Ahava B'Taanugim, the love of delight, is a gift given only to tzaddikim.The second is a yearning for Hashem. And this one every Jew has. It is built into every single one of us. The trouble is it is covered over and concealed by the klipa. We get enmeshed in physicality and cannot find our way out.But the more you reflect on Hashem and G-dliness, the more that yearning becomes a dominant force in your life.The Alter Rebbe puts it this way. It is like two wives. The G-dly soul and the animal soul. The goal is to make the G-dly soul the dominant one, the one in control, with the animal soul in servitude to her. The more you meditate on Hashem, the more you reveal her. Until she is the one driving your thoughts, your speech, and your actions.

65

Tanya 27 Elul - Igeres Hakodesh 18a

Sep 9, 2026

7:42

There is a love of Hashem called Ahava B'Taanugim. A love of delight. You stand in Hashem's presence and you simply feel beautiful there.This love is a gift from above. There is nothing you can do to work for it directly.Fear of Hashem is different. You can work on fear. And when you do, Hashem gives you this love as a gift in return. You put in the work on yiras Hashem, and Ahava B'Taanugim comes down to you from above.

66

Tanya 26 Elul - Igeres Hakodesh 17c

Sep 9, 2026

6:07

The mitzvah of tzedaka is called wide, expansive, and broad. Why? Because it reveals divine energy directly into this world. It is the path of Hashem.The posuk says: to every end I have seen a limit. Even Gan Eden, with all its levels, has a limit and an end. The soul's yearning for G-dliness will eventually reach a boundary there.But the mitzvah of tzedaka has no end. It is wide and expansive because it draws Hashem's infinite light all the way down into this physical world.When Mashiach comes and the dead are resurrected, we will see what tzedaka was actually doing all along. Right now we believe it. Then we will see it.

67

Tanya 25 Elul - Igeres Hakodesh 17b

Sep 8, 2026

7:39

Right now, in this world, we have access to Hashem's revealed light. Whatever we learn, whatever we understand spiritually, that is the light of Hashem as it fills and flows through the world.But there is something higher than that. The crown. Keter.At the resurrection of the dead, we will receive a revelation that goes one step beyond anything accessible in this world. Not just the light that the mind can grasp, but the infinite light of Hashem Himself, the crown above all intellect, coming all the way down into the body, into the physical world.The highest light. In the lowest place.

68

Tanya 24 Elul - Igeres Hakodesh 17a

Sep 7, 2026

10:28

Tzedaka is the path of Hashem. Hashem is unlimited. The fact that He comes down into this world and gives us any abundance at all is itself a gift. When you give tzedaka, you become a conduit for that divine energy.Yes, the reward is health and wealth. But that is just the surface. The deeper reality is that tzedaka is Hashem's unlimited light flowing into the world through you.And it goes all the way down. One day the dead will be resurrected. Every soul will return to this world to receive the deepest revelation of Hashem's light. The Alter Rebbe will show in the coming days that when you give tzedaka, you are drawing down the very energy that makes that ultimate revelation possible.Tzedaka does not just help someone today. It pulls Hashem's infinite light into the world.

69

Tanya 23 Elul - Igeres Hakodesh 16b

Sep 7, 2026

8:07

Yesterday was the letter of the law. Today the Alter Rebbe goes beyond it.Yes, technically, your basics come before someone else's basics. But the Alter Rebbe says: push yourself. Give tzedaka even when you are struggling with your own basic needs.Fortune turns. The one who gives today ensures that Hashem gives to him always. And tzedaka atones. How much would a person spend to fix what he has done wrong? Tzedaka does that. It is entirely for your own good.Go beyond the letter of the law. Push yourself to give even from your basics.

70

Tanya 22 Elul - Igeres Hakodesh 16a

Sep 7, 2026

5:28

Even if you are struggling with parnasa, you still give tzedaka.The rule that your life comes first only applies when it is truly your life against his life. If you are both in the desert and there is only enough water for one, your life comes first.But if what you are forgoing is a luxury, and what he needs is a basic necessity, then you give. His basic necessity comes before your luxury.So even when times are hard, give tzedaka.

71

Tanya 21 Elul - Igeres Hakodesh 15e

Sep 3, 2026

9:26

The emotions do not arise on their own. They come from the intellect.What you think about, what you meditate on, what you connect to, that is what determines your emotions. The intellect leads, and the emotions follow.In the G-dly soul there are three faculties of intellect. And it is these three that control and give rise to all the emotions below them.

72

Tanya 20 Elul - Igeres Hakodesh 15d

Sep 3, 2026

8:12

The true expression of the middos, the attributes, lives within the G-dly soul.Chesed is love and passion for Hashem. Gevura is the inability to go against Hashem. Tiferes is to praise Hashem. And so it goes through all seven emotions, each one aligned with its true purpose as it exists in the G-dly soul.These are not abstract spiritual concepts. They are the inner life of every Jew, the way the soul is built to operate when it is oriented toward Hashem.

73

Tanya 19 Elul - Igeres Hakodesh 15c

Sep 2, 2026

15:39

The Alter Rebbe now explains what the Sefiros actually are, as we experience them in ourselves.Chesed is to give. Gevura is to withhold. Tiferes blends both together, the middle path of compassion.Then there are Netzach and Hod, which are how the chesed actually gets communicated and delivered when it comes down into the world.All of these flow from the seichel, the intellect above them, and lead down through the attributes until they reach expression in the world.This is how the Sefiros exist in us. And through understanding how they work in us, we begin to understand how they work above.

74

Tanya 18 Elul (birthday of the Baal Shem Tov and the Alter Rebbe) - Igeres Hakodesh 15b

Sep 1, 2026

10:59

We said yesterday that we can understand the Sefiros by gazing at ourselves. But there is a catch. We are infinitely distant from Hashem. Our attributes are not simply smaller versions of His. They are nothing in comparison.Avraham Avinu said: I am dust and ashes. What he meant was this. Avraham was a vehicle for Hashem's love in this world. You want to see Hashem's love? Look at Avraham. And yet Avraham himself said: what I embody is like ashes. Not that I have a little love and Hashem has infinite love. There is no comparison at all.Think of a great tree, full of beauty, fruit, and life. Then burn it. What remains? Ashes. The same earth that was always there, but nothing like the tree it once was. That is the comparison between Avraham's love and Hashem's love. And this applies to all the attributes, not only love.But Hashem speaks the language of man. He allows us to relate to Him through our own attributes. And from that, we can understand the Sefiros.

75

Tanya 17 Elul - Igeres Hakodesh 15a

Aug 31, 2026

9:43

How do you understand the Sefiros? The Sefiros are G-dliness itself. There is no way to grasp them directly.But there is a way in.Gaze at yourself. Hashem blew His life into us. That makes us an expression of Hashem in this world. Even the lowest of the lowest souls is made in His image. So when you look at how you operate, how you think, how you feel, you are looking at a reflection of G-dliness.We cannot understand Hashem Himself. But we can understand ourselves. And through that, we can begin to appreciate what G-dliness means.The coming chapters will explain the Sefiros through this lens.

76

Tanya 16 Elul - Igeres Hakodesh 14b

Aug 28, 2026

7:45

Hashem gives enough creation for one year. Then it goes back. This is why the word for this world, haolam, is spelled without an aleph. The aleph is the light of Hashem that removes itself from this world.The mission is to bring it back down.When you blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, you draw the aleph back. A brand new light enters the world, one that was never there before.But what that new world looks like depends entirely on us. It is a brand new creation. And how much teshuva we do, how much we reveal Hashem in the world, determines what it will be.This is why the world was created through eretz Yisrael. Hashem's creation begins through the earth of Eretz Yisrael, and from there spreads to the rest of the world. And this is why giving tzedaka to Eretz Yisrael is so important.Daily Tanya Group Chat https://chat.whatsapp.com/G2IuuszGnbSJPmFqfQzrRx?s=cl&p=a&ilr=4

77

Tanya 15 Elul - Igeres Hakodesh 14a

Aug 27, 2026

12:35

This letter was written to donors who were sending money from Russia. They had been excited, and then lost their excitement. The Alter Rebbe is reigniting them.He explains that every year is a brand new entity.On Rosh Hashanah, Hashem creates the world. Then the year runs its course. And when Rosh Hashanah comes again, Hashem does not simply continue. He goes back, and through the blowing of the shofar, the light of Hashem is drawn down to the world again. A completely new creation.Time is not linear. It does not simply continue forever. Each year must be renewed from scratch.That is what Rosh Hashanah is. Not a continuation. A new beginning.Daily Tanya Group Chat https://chat.whatsapp.com/G2IuuszGnbSJPmFqfQzrRx?s=cl&p=a&ilr=4

78

Tanya 14 Elul - Igeres Hakodesh 13c

Aug 27, 2026

9:59

Some Jews have a temperament of chesed. Others have a temperament of gevura. But every single Jew has chesed built into him. Because when it comes to serving Hashem, it is not about your particular nature. Every Jew has it inside.This is what the posuk means. How great is the good You have hidden for those who fear You. Even the most measured and calculated have that chesed embedded inside them.And therefore we say to Hashem: You should reciprocate. Just as we all have Your kindness inside us, respond to us with Your kindness.The Alter Rebbe adds an addendum, printed in his letters but not in the Tanya itself. Ignite the chesed inside you. Give tzedaka with an open hand. And he blesses everyone who does.Daily Tanya Group Chathttps://chat.whatsapp.com/G2IuuszGnbSJPmFqfQzrRx?s=cl&p=a&ilr=4

79

Tanya 13 Elul - Igeres Hakodesh 13b

Aug 26, 2026

8:31

Every person needs to be comprised of both sides.You cannot be only constricted or only expansive. This is why even Shammai, who was known for his strictness, was sometimes lenient. And Hillel, known for his expansiveness, was sometimes strict. Because every person must contain both.When it is about you, you follow your nature. But when it is about Hashem, sometimes the moment calls for the opposite of who you naturally are. And you have to be able to go there.A complete person is not one or the other. He is both.

80

Tanya 12 Elul - Igeres Hakodesh 13a

Aug 25, 2026

5:34

There are two types of souls.Some souls come from the left side. They are constricted by nature. They live within limits. Everything is orderly, measured, contained. That is who they are.Other souls come from the right side. Everything they do is expansive. They give with an open hand and an open spirit. They never stop. That is who they are.Two types of neshamos. The constricted and the expansive. The left and the right.

81

Tanya 11 Elul - Igeres Hakodesh 12d

Aug 24, 2026

10:58

There is a big difference between maaseh hatzedaka and avodas hatzedaka.Maaseh hatzedaka, giving from your natural place, brings peace into the world. But it does not change the world completely. Good and evil are still there. It is like davening. In the middle of davening you feel clarity. But when you finish, you can go right back to where you were.Avodas hatzedaka is different. When you give beyond your nature, it changes you even after you are done. The clarity stays. Like sediment that settles to the bottom of water, the impurity separates out completely. The person emerges with a lasting clarity, free from the pull of the yetzer hara.This is the posuk the entire letter is based on: והיה מעשה הצדקה שלום ועבודת הצדקה השקט ובטח עד עולם. The work of tzedaka is peace, and the labor of tzedaka is stillness and security forever.

82

Tanya 10 Elul - Igeres Hakodesh 12c

Aug 23, 2026

7:01

There are two types of tzedaka.Maaseh hatzedaka is natural. Hashem is compassionate and kind, and He imbued that nature into every Jew. When you give from that place, it flows. It is who you are.Avodas hatzedaka is when you give beyond that. Someone asks you again and again, and every part of you does not want to give. And you give anyway. That is tzedaka that costs you something. That is work.Two types. Tzedaka that flows. And tzedaka that pushes past yourself.

83

Tanya 9 Elul - Igeres Hakodesh 12b

Aug 21, 2026

11:00

There is something we can do to arouse peace from above and bring Hashem's rachamim down into this world.Three things.Give tzedaka to a pauper who has nothing of his own, and you ignite Hashem's rachamim. Learn Torah lishma, and you make peace in this world, because man is comprised of opposites, positive and negative, and Torah unites them. And daven.Tzedaka. Torah lishma. Davening.These three arouse the supernatural peace and compassion from above and draw it down to us.

84

Tanya 8 Elul - Igeres Hakodesh 12a

Aug 21, 2026

9:57

Chesed and gevura are opposites. Water and fire. Right and left. They push against each other.How does Hashem make peace between them?By revealing a higher source that contains them both. That higher source is rachamim. Compassion. Compassion is not just kindness and it is not just severity. It is both of them together, drawn from a place above them both.Chesed pulls to the right. Gevura pulls to the left. Rachamim comes from the middle, from a higher root, and holds them both.

85

Tanya 7 Elul - Igeres Hakodesh 11b

Aug 20, 2026

10:00

Depression is the worst thing. When a person is depressed, good and bad feel the same. Nothing matters.But that is exactly the test. The nisayon is: can you cling to Hashem even when it is hard? Even when everything feels dark?And what is beautiful is what happens when you pass that test. When you hold on to Hashem through the suffering, everything becomes good in a revealed way. Not just internally. Outwardly too.The suffering transforms. That is the purpose of the test.

86

Tanya 6 Elul - Igeres Hakodesh 11a

Aug 20, 2026

9:25

Hashem creates the world every single second. Everything that happens comes from Him.When you meditate on that, you see that no bad comes from above. Hashem is only good. Whatever He does is only good.So when suffering comes, it is only external. On the inside, at the root, it is Hashem doing everything. And Hashem is only good.This is how a person handles suffering. Not by denying it, but by seeing through it. Hashem is there. And no bad comes from above.

87

Tanya 5 Elul - Igeres Hakodesh 10e

Aug 20, 2026

5:33

Hashem's chesed has no limit. And when you do chesed like Hashem does, it is unlimited too.Usually we think ten percent, twenty percent. That is the measure. But the Alter Rebbe is calling for something beyond the measure. Unlimited tzedaka. Unbridled giving.Why? Because we are not perfect. We have done transgressions. And because of that, we need to do chesed the way Hashem does it. Without a ceiling. Without holding back.Not ten percent. Not twenty percent. Just give. Unlimited.

88

Tanya 4 Elul - Igeres Hakodesh 10d

Aug 19, 2026

7:52

Teshuva is an experience of the heart. The heart awakens and wants to return to Hashem. But an experience of the heart has to become real. It has to enter the physical world through a physical act.That act is tzedaka.This is why the twenty percent limit does not apply to a baal teshuva. The rule that you should not give away more than twenty percent is for someone who has no aveiros to repair. But if you need teshuva, tzedaka becomes unlimited.Think of it this way. If you needed a physical cure, you would spend whatever it takes. No limit. The same is true for a spiritual cure. No limit.Tzedaka is that cure. And for a baal teshuva, there is no ceiling on how much he gives.

89

Tanya 3 Elul - Igeres Hakodesh 10c

Aug 19, 2026

5:29

A tzaddik and a baal teshuva are not the same.A tzaddik walks the straight path. He brings G-dliness down into the world the regular way, through measured mitzvahs, through the normal channels of Hashem's kindness.But someone who transgressed needs something different. He cannot draw from the same source. He needs to reach a much higher level, a much deeper root, to repair what was broken. His teshuva taps into a place that regular mitzvahs simply do not reach.This is the advantage of the baal teshuva over the tzaddik. He draws from higher. He repairs from deeper.

90

Tanya 2 Elul - Igeres Hakodesh 10b

Aug 19, 2026

5:28

Every mitzvah has a measure.The lulav has to be a certain length. The sukkah has to be a certain size. Karbanos had to be a certain amount. Even tzedaka has a measure, ten percent or twenty percent.Why? Because mitzvahs penetrate the physical world. And Hashem wants them done in a specific way, in this world, with this precise measure. That is how G-dliness enters the world.

91

Tanya 1 Elul - Igeres Hakodesh 10a

Aug 18, 2026

8:48

Every mitzvah is limited.Even love of Hashem. Even fear of Hashem. Your heart can only contain so much. You live in a physical world, inside a physical body, and that body has boundaries.Chesed itself has no end. It is the revelation of G-d in the world, and G-d is infinite. But the moment chesed enters a limited world, it becomes limited too. Every mitzvah, even the most spiritual ones, are bound by the vessel doing them.This is true of all mitzvahs. Every single one. Limited.The Alter Rebbe will explain what this means for tzedaka in the days ahead.

92

Tanya 30 Menachem Av - Igeres Hakodesh 9b

Aug 18, 2026

8:31

Jews do not live like everyone else. Even earning a living is not just earning a living.We work because Hashem said so. And when we live that way, Hashem becomes present even in our money.The key is tzedaka. When you give tzedaka, you sacrifice your yetzer hara. You take the money you earned and instead of keeping it all for yourself, you give it to Hashem. And our generation excels at this. Our generation shines in this mitzvah.This is the shift: you are no longer just a person supporting his family like every other person on the street. You make money because Hashem wants you to, starting with your wife and children, and radiating outward from there.That is what it means to be a Jew. Hashem is not only in the shul. He is in your wallet too.

93

Tanya 29 Menachem Av - Igeres Hakodesh 9a

Aug 17, 2026

7:18

A person supports his wife and children because he loves them. Natural. Automatic.The Alter Rebbe says: wrong reason.Do it because Hashem said so. When a Jew says Shema, he declares that Hashem is One. Hashem does everything. You are simply the channel through which His kindness flows.Just as Hashem does kindness all day long, so too you. Support your family first because Hashem commands it, then extend that kindness outward to all others.Now you are not just a person taking care of his family. You are doing Hashem's kindness in the world.

94

Tanya 28 Menachem Av - Igeres Hakodesh 8d

Aug 17, 2026

9:50

Hashem wants to give. But for His revelation to come down, something has to sprout forth from below first.That something is tzedaka.When you give tzedaka, you plant a seed in the ground. And that seed ignites Hashem's kindness into the world. He illuminates the darkness. Salvation grows from what you planted.This is the posuk the entire letter was built on: זורע צדקות מצמיח ישועות. Sow tzedaka, and salvation sprouts.This is why Rav Eliezer gave tzedaka before davening every single time. Before davening, you want a revelation of Hashem. And tzedaka is what makes that revelation possible.

95

Tanya 27 Menachem Av - Igeres Hakodesh 8c

Aug 17, 2026

5:14

When you plant a seed in the ground, the seed itself rots away. But that is exactly what needs to happen. Because it is the power of vegetation already in the ground that rises up and produces the fruit, the kernels of wheat, everything that grows. The seed simply catalyzes what is already there.This is called an arousal from below.Tomorrow the Alter Rebbe will show how tzedaka works the same way. Your coin, like a seed in the ground, catalyzes something far greater than itself.

96

Tanya 26 Menachem Av - Igeres Hakodesh 8b

Aug 17, 2026

5:20

The reward for tzedaka is not only in the next world. It is in this world.That is a striking thing to say. And it needs to be understood. When you give tzedaka, the reward comes back to you here, in this world, in this lifetime.The Alter Rebbe will explain what that means and why.

97

*Tanya 25 Menachem Av - Igeres Hakodesh 8a*

Aug 14, 2026

6:19

In davening we say Zorea Tzedaka. We sow Tzedaka. Why is Tzedaka compared to sowing seeds in the ground?This is another letter about Tzedaka. And the Alter Rebbe opens with the fact that Rav Eliezer would never daven until he first gave something to a poor person. Every single time, before davening, he gave Tzedaka.Why? Because davening is a revelation of Divine energy. And Tzedaka is what makes that revelation possible. The Alter Rebbe will explain this in the coming days.

98

Tanya 24 Menachem Av - Igeres Hakodesh 7d

Aug 14, 2026

8:16

Every Jew performs all the mitzvahs. In that sense we are all the same.But within that, every single Jew has one mitzvah that is uniquely theirs. In your generation, in your time, in your place, there is something specific through which G-dliness is revealed to you in a way it is revealed through no one else.That is what Chelkenu Ugorulenu means. Our portion and our lot. The unique space Hashem carved out for you alone.And this answers the question the Alter Rebbe opened with. Why is Hashem called the G-d of Yisrael? Because G-dliness is revealed through each Jew in a completely unique way.Embrace all the mitzvahs. And find the one that is yours.

99

Tanya 23 Menachem Av - Igeres Hakodesh 7c

Aug 14, 2026

9:35

Yaakov Avinu reached the perfection of what a human being can be. The same level Adam had before the sin. His body was not blocking the light of Hashem. There was no resistance. G-dliness flowed through him completely.That is why Hashem called Yaakov by the name of G-d, the G-d of Yisrael. Not because of what Yaakov did. Because of what he revealed.And every Jew carries that same potential. Yishreh Levav. When a Jew's heart is straight with Hashem, nothing blocking, nothing resisting, G-dliness is revealed through him.When does that happen? During davening. In davening the resistance falls away. The heart becomes straight. And G-dliness flows through you the way it flowed through Yaakov.

100

22 Menachem Av - Igeres Hakodesh 7b

Aug 12, 2026

8:49

When that ray of Hashem's light comes down into this world it doesn't arrive as one. It contracts itself into six hundred and thirteen individual rays. Each one a mitzvah.And man is built to receive them perfectly. Two hundred and forty eight limbs. Three hundred and sixty five veins and arteries. Aligned exactly with the six hundred and thirteen mitzvahs.This is not a coincidence. The purpose of creation is for man to perform mitzvahs. So the mitzvahs shaped themselves around man, and man was built to align with them.When you do a mitzvah you are not just following a rule. You are receiving a ray of Divine light directly into yourself.

Mayan Yisroel Daily Tanya

Mayan Yisroel Daily Tanya

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