Hi,I`m not up on any subject at all !!!!!!Can anyone please help me(for my brother)on the subject of :In the siddur it says that Gd renews the act of creation constantly and in Tanya it says that Gd renews the vegetation in the sea and on the land constantly..but not the animals coz they renew themselves.(My brother heard on a phone lesson but cant remember the chapter.) Please can anyone help with 1/where in Tanya is this? 2/Why does it seems to conflict with what is said in the siddur?3/If my brother has it slightly misunderstood,how has he misunderstood?Thanks,David

Here's the book "Lessons in Tanya" from Chabad.org, hope this helps you.

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Originally posted by daveychukimman:
Hi,I`m not up on any subject at all !!!!!!Can anyone please help me(for my brother)on the subject of :In the siddur it says that Gd renews the act of creation constantly and in Tanya it says that Gd renews the vegetation in the sea and on the land constantly..but not the animals coz they renew themselves.(My brother heard on a phone lesson but cant remember the chapter.) Please can anyone help with 1/where in Tanya is this? 2/Why does it seems to conflict with what is said in the siddur?3/If my brother has it slightly misunderstood,how has he misunderstood?Thanks,David

Think of it as levels. Its not a contridiction... if HaShem renews creation continuously then would the natural elements also renew - yet why not animals, because animals have a higher lifesource, so to speak, in that they have a cycle for procreation, which HaShem also sustains by His renewing of creation... hope that clears it up a little. In Tanya I think you can find reference in the Appendix on Chassidic Thoughts or Chassidic Philosophy (something like that...) In the Siddur, depending on which nusach you could be using it may be either a refernce to Tanakh, or to Kabbalah (Zohar) or Tanya; or even a paraphrasing of these sources combined... Shavua Tov!

Thanks.So it DOES say in Tanya that Gd renews the vegetation constantly but not the animals, because they renew themselves?(So my brother`s got that much right?)You mean that G-d has a greater input with lower life forms and less of an input with higher ones?(Not sure if I`ve got that right.)In the case of animals or mankind,he gives them more energy to sustain/regenerate themselves by procreation but its still a constant thing,just a different type of energy thats given?Have I got it right?Is it like giving animals/humans more autonomy?More independence?Thanks,David
Still stuck on where this is exactly.I`ve searched for hours in Tanya on-line and cant find it!!!!

well I don't know about tanya but

Plants make themselves all the time, that is, they take energy from the sun and make it into new plants. Animals on the other hand (by definition)do not make anything but utilize the plant material. Now mushrooms also do not make anything, that may be the reason they are Shehacol and not a plant blessing.

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Animals on the other hand (by definition)do not make anything but utilize the plant material.

I thought humans at least, if not all mamals, do make something related to vitamin D based in part on the skin despite pigment being exposed to the sun?

The body makes all sorts of things like proteins, co-factors and vitamins like vitamin D. All life produces enzymes from their genes. However only plants can take energy from the sun and make it into a source of calories.

If you expose yourself to much to the sun you risk skin cancer. If you do not expose yourself enough to the sun you will not make enough vitamin D. Extremely modest dress such as worn by Cheredi women has been reported to cut the sunlight exposure to a level that they could be vitamin D deficient. But then they don't get skin cancer.

Incidently I just say a report that says young girls do not get enough magnesium. The best solution is to eat more garinim (in Hebrew sunflower seeds) or almonds. (Actually broccholi and spinach are the best source but I have my reservations about eating too much of these, e.g. if anybody ate as much spinach as Popeye, they would be calcium deficient.)

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these, e.g. if anybody ate as much spinach as Popeye, they would be calcium deficient.

So _that_ explains the source of scurvy risk on long boat trips?

Scurvy is lack of vitamin C. You eat a citrus fruit like lime, hence the word limey for a British sailor. (Popeye would have bone deficiency since the oxalic acid in the spinach would absorb all his calcium.)
Although we follow R. Sharira Gaon proscription not follow any of the medical advice in the Talmud, it does appear that scurvy is described and the importance of fresh fruit for curing it is recognized.