Visuals Bring the Tanya’s Hierarchy to Life

Have you ever wondered what the novelty of the Tanya is? Lectures in Tanya, which is publishing Reb Yoel Kahn’s shiurim on Tanya in English, has now produced a special supplement with visual charts illustrating the interconnectivity of prokim in Tanya.

Chassidus was traditionally communicated face-to-face.

At first, the Alter Rebbe relayed the ethos of Chassidus in short, but fiery, discourses. Following his freedom from imprisonment, the discourses become longer and deeper. The manichim (scribes) committed the words of their Rebbe with utmost reverence and precision. However, the only Chassidus the Alter Rebbe himself wrote for us is the Tanya.

Have you ever wondered what the novelty of the Tanya is?

The Alter Rebbe gave us the system of Chabad. He codified the inner reality of the soul, and the Universe. And with it, we have an organized way to serve G-d with love and awe.

Chapter after chapter, page after page, the Alter Rebbe exposes the Benoni –the character whom he saw could be any one of us.

The Tanya is a guide that counsels you through your problems and setbacks, beyond what you knew was possible. For you to serve G-d –fully –with love and awe.

Yet, sometimes the counsel may seem too foreign. Or perhaps something appears not to resonate with you. However, the Alter Rebbe constructed the Benoni one chapter after another. It is a magnificent system that unfolds step by step.

The key to learning Tanya, therefore, is to stay focused, and recognize how all the pieces of counsel come together, forming the holistic philosophy we have come to know as Chabad.

Over the past couple of years we worked on making the Tanya more accessible to the English readership by translating Reb Yoel Khan’s famed Tanya Shiurim into English.

Thank G-d, we have managed to publish a booklet last year on chapters 1-4 of Tanya, and can be purchased here.

G-d willing, we will be releasing the lectures Online as well.

In honor of Yud Tes Kislev, and reaching our milestone in translating Reb Yoel Khan’s shiurim on the first 25 chapters of Tanya, we present you with an attempt to illustrate their interconnectivity.

Interestingly enough, none of the chapter titles or questions are to be found in Reb Yoel Khan’s shiurim on Tanya. However, they have been generated using the clarity and organization gained from them. 

Each chapter of Tanya has its essential concept, a unique component in the total system of Tanya, but all stem from the central point: Divine service.

You can see that there are some chapters that contain important paradigms, and have a small orbit of other chapters around them, while some others appear to be isolated. The goal here is to show how they are all connected. Not only because they are all chapters in the same Sefer, but because each chapter is a unique component in a holistic system.

Click here to download the booklet.