Tanya Ch. 17 Overview

We’ll now begin a 9-chapter-long analysis of Tanya’s motto, “For the matter is very near-at-hand to you -- in your mouth and in your heart -- so that you can do (i.e., achieve) it” (Deuteronomy 30:14).

RSZ starts off here by laying out the difficulties of the verse, especially the idea that anything touching upon changes of heart -- one’s inner being -- can be easy to arrive at. He then delves into the idea of “the matter” being “near-at-hand” is “so that you can do it”. And he goes from there to explain that the nearness of it all is not true of rashaim (wrongdoer), since they’d first have to do teshuvah (which he discusses) before they could even start serving G-d.

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman