Bh simply tanya chapter 1 lesson 1 iyh

Bh

23 Tammuz ramak yartziet

Simply Tanya

( tanya for everyone )

פרק א תניא [בספ"ג דנדה] משביעים אותו תהי צדיק ואל תהי רשע ואפי' כל העולם כולו אומרים לך צדיק אתה היה בעיניך כרשע
Tanya :

we learnt ( learnt in the end of the 3 rd  chapter of tractate niddah ) : " the soul is made to swear - be righteous and do not be wicked , and even if the entire world says to you , you are righteous ! You should be in your own eyes as wicked " .

Simple Tanya :

In order for the neshomo to be successful in its mission on earth it is administrated an oath before it is born to help it do what is  right in gd eyes while in a body .

The different parts of this long oath all deal with the various levels the neshomo may find itself while on earth in its struggle against the inner evil within us .

The oath serves as a guide to the soul what it needs to do.  It also empowers it to be able to do so.

In example by making the neshomo  swear to " be righteous and not wicked " it lets the neshomo know it should strive to be righteous and at the very least not sin . the oath too  at the same time  empowers it  with extra strength to actual do so .

Later more of the meaning of the oath will become clear as the alter Rebbe explains the various level we go through in life while fighting the evil inclination and animal soul within .

Even more simple

The alter Rebbe is letting us know that life has a purpose . being born is not an accident and life events are not coincidences but a planed divine event .
That life's purpose is not the pursuit of the physical.

To the child 

Don't give up . even if you failed before . you have it in you from before your  birth  the power to succeed .

Life is clear . we know what we need to do . the goal is to be righteous and over come all obstacles in the way to achieve this .

The simple path of following Gd  is  the best .

Not so simple

Is there a message in the alter Rebbe telling us the source in talmud for the oath :  " the 3 rd chapter of niddah

Why does the soul need an oath to do gd will ? Doesn't the soul wish to do that even without an oath ?

The oath seems repetitive . " be righteous and do not be wicked " . if one is righteous are they then not wicked ?

Why the concern with what others think . " and even if the whole world says.... "

In general the oaths seems to long and how does it benefit the soul if once in a body it might not remember it any longer .

Point to ponder . what does the oath empower ? The mind , heart  , action ?
We know that if not for Hashem helping the person , he would not be able to over come his annual soul / yetzer hora .
Is this oath part of how Hashem helps him ?

Post script :

A really simple lesson here is that we all have free choice . besides the soul being empowered by the oath to be righteous and not wicked , it sends a powerful message to the soul . " you have free choice " if not how can we tell the soul what to be.  What to choose . because the soul and thereby every Jew had free choice it can be made to swear , which add power to him to make the free choice .