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The Kabbalah of Imperfection

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Kabbalah of Imperfection

G-d is not found in what is, but in what is becoming, in what is being done...
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Tzaddik, Struggle, Challenge & Adversity, Action; Deed, Tanya, Beinoni

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7 Comments
Mariano GARCIA December 27, 2018

Simply Beautiful minds and words. A Blessing to listen. Shalom Reply

Anonymous August 27, 2018

I’m sort of amazed over what came out of this speakers mouth! He says that G-D gets a “kick out of” observing the sour people and the sweet people and he uses the analogy of ice cream and pickles.

I feel so patronized by this comment. To think that G-D is watching us like we’re some sort of comedy show is offensive to me. Hashem is unknowable and to presuppose he’s amusing Himself with our lives is offensive to me. Reply

Anonymous August 21, 2023
in response to Anonymous:

He is not saying that Hashem is like a gladiator of sorts and he is being amused by the battle you are having.

Rather, it is more like a parent or a teacher who has two different kinds of children who they get Nachas from. One is a straight A student who gets the A with minimal effort involved. Yet there is another child (which they will usually gain more Nachas from) who tries his hardest and yet only gets a B-. Hashem's Nachas which he gets from us ordinary kind of guys is like the Nachas of the teacher or parent with that 2nd kind of child. Yes, they are the one that causes that struggle for the child, but it is that struggle which he overcomes that creates the greatest growth is what causes the greatest Nachas above. Reply

CB This World February 14, 2016

is that where my conflicting emotions inside of me 'be great versus be normal/myself' or 'be idealistic versus be realistic' come from? The two seemingly conflicting advice given by the angel? Do I need to spend my whole life finding the balance? Reply

Anonymous Owings Mills, MD October 31, 2011

Of course G-d smiles at us Tzaddik or not, of course G-d smiles at us . If G-d only smiled at perfect Tzaddikim, there may not be too many smiles each day. Reb Nachman said something to the effect that we all have our G-d given good points and when utilized they form our own special niggun that causes G-d great gratification.
I appreciate rabbi Kigel's yearning for Truth. He engages in the discussion above with the type of sincerity found today mainly with young people. Certainly this alone must bring G-d great gratification.
From him I learn that if I could hang on the words of Torah as he hangs upon the words of the interviewee, I would have more productive Torah study. Reply

Anonymous Thornhill, On February 23, 2009

A mashal At the end of the class it seems you are saying not to be the goal that we are trying to accomplish but to be moving forward but at the begining you said its like trying to jump as far as you can so aim further than your capability, can you explain?

Here's a mashal. Its like a theoretical world that is a food eating contest (it doesn't have to be a contest. In this theoretical hotdog contest world eating the food is more imporant than getting to the goal that is lets say 85 hotdogs. Its like you get points for every hotdog that you eat but you don't get any point for being at the goal.
So this Rabbi comes along and tells you I will tell you how to eat the most hotdogs. If on the way your stomach starts grumbling and says I don't want anymore hotdogs, tell it that you will lose if you think about how many hotdogs you have to eat but that every hotdog that you eat you get another point, a point that the people at the end can't get. Reply

Anonymous thornhill, ont September 7, 2008

Being told to be a spiritual person seems like something is a noun that is hardly the theme of this class. Reply

Host, Michael Chighel, talks to some of the world's greatest experts about the masterpiece of Hasidic thought, the book of Tanya.
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