Tanya - Jewish Criticism Of

Jewish Criticism Of

It has been suggested that the Tanya’s concept of two souls, and the statement that the souls of the Gentile nations of the world are different from those of Jewish souls, either has the potential to develop into, or to provide support for racism, or that it endorses a kind of "metaphysical racism", or that it is "a dangerous and indeed racist idea and contrary to normative Jewish belief."

The description in the Tanya of soul differences follows on from a particularist-universalist debate in Judaism concerning the meaning of Jews as a chosen people. Among Medieval Jewish philosophy, Yehudah Halevi follows a proto-kabbalistic approach that distinguishes Jewish and Gentile souls, while Maimonides describes a universalist rationalist approach. Kabbalistic mysticism follows Halevi, developed in Hasidism. However, non-literalist, universalist readings have been found among Kabbalists and Hasidim. In normative Chabad, righteous Gentiles have souls similar in Divine receptivity to Jewish souls, while Jews can be distanced from Divine consciousness. Consequently, the Tanya has been read as describing two universal levels of psychological consciousness.