Tomorrow, the 18th day of Elul, is the birthday of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi -- also known as "The Alter Rebbe," the "Baal HaTanya". He was born in the White Russian town of Liozna, in the year 1745. He traveled to Mezritch to study under the tutelage of the Baal Shem Tov's successor, Rabbi Dov Ber, known as the Mezritcher Magid. Despite his youth, he was accepted into the inner circle of the great master's pupils.
Upon his return from Mezritch, there gathered about him a group of disciples whom he instructed in the ways of Chassidism. For twenty years he labored on his magnum opus, Tanya, in which he outlined the Chabad philosophy. It contains a concise outline of his philosophical system as a way of life, and attests to his vast knowledge and the depth of his understanding and mastery of both the exoteric and esoteric teachings of our Sages.
Tanya is the "bible" of Chabad Chassidism, upon which the hundreds of books and thousands of discourses by seven generations of Chabad Rebbes are based.
He taught that a Chassid was to train himself for a life of faith and service to G-d, which would carry him to the highest level of Chabad, the three powers of intellect: Wisdom, Understanding and Grasping, forming a bond between heaven and earth.
Upon this basic thought Rabbi Shneur Zalman built the structure of Chabad ideology. Total man serves G-d with mind, heart and deed in unison, each complementing the other. The mind understands, the heart feels and the hand performs
Today, the Chabad movement he founded is regarded as the most vibrant force in contemporary Jewish life, bringing the warmth of Chassidism and the profundity of its teachings to Jews, and to humanity as a whole.
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