Awakening to Being Chosen unplugged version - beta

 B”H

Awakening to Being Chosen


Av 3  5785 - Adopted from todays Tanya, Iggeret HaKodesh 1

–

the intro:

The sons of the Alter Rebbe knew it. When they added Iggeret Hakodesh and Kuntres Acharon to the Tanya, they weren’t binding pages. They were passing on power. Every word was written by his hand, pulsing with purpose, living transmissions meant to wake the soul and turn life into service.

The first letter?

A custom still alive today: communities dividing the Talmud so the entire thing is finished, together, each year. The cycle renews on Yud‑Tes Kislev, the day the Alter Rebbe himself was freed from prison.  Freedom and renewal, locked together.

Here’s the teaching:  When we study as one, we all share the whole. One body. One soul. One completion.

Torah study isn’t just knowledge.
It opens the heart. Sparks awe. Ignites love.

That letter came in three phases, three years, each one heavier with purpose as the Alter Rebbe’s mission unfolded.
Faith. Devotion. Willingness to risk everything for truth.

That’s why his words still hit like they’re alive.
They don’t just inform.
They vibrate.

_____________

The letter:

We start with a blessing.
Because blessing does something to you. It cracks your heart open. Makes gratitude flood in.

And we thank G‑d, not as some vague idea, but as a living force.
Something you can feel. Something that wakes up your soul the second you tune into it.

Today, my soul feels alive. Why? Because good news does that. And “good” isn’t just luck, it’s wisdom. It’s Torah.

Think of Torah like pure energy, this stream of Divine intelligence that lights up your soul when you take it in.

That’s why we celebrate.
Finishing the Talmud? It’s huge.
But it’s more than just “learning done.”
It’s consciousness expanding.
It’s the soul remembering who it is through the mind.

So we bless what’s happened.
And we call in what’s next:
May G‑d keep pumping strength into your heart through the power of Torah, again and again, until it’s so deep in you, it changes the atmosphere around you.

Because Torah, especially the Oral Torah, is strength.
It’s like the core of your body.
Without it, you can’t stand upright.
With it, you move forward.

That’s what faith does too.
It’s the soul’s “core.”
Faith says: G‑d is everywhere. In everything. Filling every space with life, perfectly tuned to you.
And beyond that? He’s infinite, so vast, no place is too far, too high, or too low for Him to be there.

This faith gives your head something to stand on.
You think about His greatness.
His kindness.
His closeness.

And when you do, something happens:
 Love and awe wake up inside you.

Here’s the twist:
One moment of choosing good, of coming back to Him right now, is worth more than an entire eternity of reward.
Because eternity is a reflection.
Your choice? Your action? That’s Essence. That’s real.

And when you think about how He chose you, how He claimed you as His own, your soul mirrors it back, like water reflecting a face.

That reflection? It turns into love.
Sometimes it’s soft. A heart whispering out in longing.
Sometimes it’s fire, fierce, aching, wanting nothing more than to melt into Him completely.

But love has a rhythm.
First, the reach, ratzo, the soul rushing toward Him. Then, the return, shov, coming back to earth, grounded, because life is about being here.

And in that return, awe is born.
Not fear. Reverence.
A quiet, holy trembling because the Infinite is holding you.

That’s when love and awe become arms.
The right arm, love and kindness, pulling close.
The left arm, awe and boundaries, holding steady.

Together?
They’re the living body of an awakened soul.

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