Learning from the Tanya by Adin Steinsaltz (2005, Hardcover)

From the Inside Flap
Learning from the Tanya offers a key for unlocking the mysteries of one of the most extraordinary books of moral teachings ever written. A seminal document in the study of Kabbalah, the Tanya explores and solves the dilemmas of the human soul by arriving at the root causes of its struggles. Though it is a classic Jewish spiritual text, the Tanya and its commentary take a broad and comprehensive approach that is neither specific to Judaism nor tied to a particular personality type or time or point of view.

The internationally celebrated Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, who has dedicated his life to the study, teaching, and writing of books that explain Jewish scripture, religious practice, spirituality, and mysticism to Jews and non-Jews throughout the world, is the author of this explanation and line-by-line commentary on the Tanya. As relevant today as it was two hundred years ago, the Tanya helps us to understand the many thousands of complexities, doubts, and drives within us as a single basic problem—the struggle between our Godly soul and our animal soul.

The first book in the series, Opening the Tanya, explored the first section of original text of the Tanya. This second volume, Learning from the Tanya, goes on to the next major portion and offers the definitive explanation and commentary that guides the reader toward harmony of body and soul, of earthliness and transcendence. Learning from the Tanya is an extraordinary book that helps us to learn how we can elevate our soul to a higher level of awareness and understanding, until our objectives and aspirations are synonymous with our Godly potential.

From the Back Cover
Because [the Tanya] is a 'written Torah' it requires, in every generation, an 'oral Torah' to accompany it and to serve as an usher and guide. This is especially true in our generation, in which so many people grew up without any contact with the Hasidic world and are unable to access this book.

It is for this generation, and for these people, that this commentary to the Tanya is written. The book contains the precise text of the Tanya as it was written by the Alter Rebbe, along with its authorized translation, and a full commentary that provides source references. I have added extensive explanations of basic Hasidic concepts, theoretical background, metaphors and parables from daily life, and stories from the past and present lives of the Hasidim. The book also contains an expanded Glossary defining and expounding on various important terms and concepts.

This book is intended for all of those who have the mind and the will for it, who desire to access this world and grow through it.