Likkutei Amarim Chapter 13 · 5785

00:01 Speaker 1 Today we’ll learn chapter 13. Chapter 13 is something of a transition. At first glance, it looks as though the Alter Rebbe is answering several questions he left open in chapter 1. How could Rabbah consider himself a beinoni? What is a beinoni? What does the Gemara mean when it says that a beinoni is judged by both this one and that one? He asked several questions and didn’t answer them. He said, well, to answer them we need to explain what a beinoni is. He began explaining, and explained some more, but the questions themselves remained open. So let’s answer two or three of the questions from chapter 1. One question—the central question—will remain open until chapter 27. We’re not dealing with it yet. So on the surface, it looks like we asked questions and now need to answer them. But there’s more to it than that. There are deeper layers to this chapter. First of all, when we learned about the beinoni and the tzaddik—about the beinoni, sorry, about the tzaddik and the rasha—if you remember, we said there are many levels, right? Why are there many levels? Because once we understand that being a tzaddik or a rasha is a matter of the heart—how much good a person has—the more good he has, the greater a tzaddik he is. Or the less good he has, the more evil rules over him, the greater a rasha he is. In other words, it’s a matter of the heart, not of how many deeds he has done or whether he did this kind of deed or that kind. It’s about how much good or evil he has in his heart. And there are many levels to that. One person loves Hashem more, another loves Him still more; or someone is more drawn to this world, and someone else even more.

02:00 Speaker 1 There are endless levels. So it’s clear why there are many levels among tzaddikim and resha’im. But with a beinoni, how can we speak of levels? I’ve said several times that there are many levels among beinonim too. I said it, but we haven’t discussed or explained it. How can there be levels of beinoni? The whole definition of a beinoni seems to be just one thing. If you remember what we discussed in the previous chapter: how can someone be half and half? What does “half and half” mean? His inner half is a tzaddik; his outer half is—

02:34 Speaker 2 The airflow. You can turn down the airflow, and then people will feel more comfortable.

02:37 Speaker 3 Oh, that raises it.

02:40 Speaker 2 The airflow is strong, so you can turn it down.

02:42 Speaker 3 What should I do?

02:43 Speaker 2 Turn down the airflow.

02:44 Speaker 3 No, it sends it upward, so at least it will reach there.

02:47 Speaker 2 It raises it for you.

02:49 Speaker 3 It says on—bring me the...

02:52 Speaker 2 Bring it, bring it.

02:55 Speaker 3 Bring it.

02:57 Speaker 2 We just have a small air conditioner. Oh, the airflow is actually weak. How can that be?

03:03 Speaker 3 Whew. Wait, wait.

03:03 Speaker 2 It’s on one, and what a strong airflow.

03:05 Speaker 1 Set it to auto. Set it to automatic.

03:08 Speaker 3 And why? N-now it’s red; we don’t have red showing there. What happened? Usually red shows up there.

03:13 Speaker 1 There’s, uh, a switch on the remote that turns it on and off.

03:16 Speaker 3 Oh, really?

03:17 Speaker 2 You don’t need to turn on

03:17 Speaker 1 the light, either.

03:20 Speaker 2 Now it did the—you told me to set it to automatic, and the airflow is even stronger.

03:24 Speaker 1 Well, it’ll do that for two minutes.

03:25 Speaker 2 No, no, it’s too much. That’s it, there. It set it to twenty-three degrees.

03:35 Speaker 1 All right, can we continue? I’ll repeat it to keep the thread. We said that there are many levels among tzaddikim and resha’im. I asked how there can be many levels among beinonim. Why is that a question? Because what did we say a beinoni is? A beinoni is half and half. What does “half and half” mean? Which half of him is a tzaddik, and which half is a rasha? We said that a beinoni is someone whose inner half—his intellect and emotions—is a rasha. His outer half, the garments of thought, speech and action, is a tzaddik. In thought, speech and action he doesn’t commit sins. He behaves and thinks like a tzaddik. But in his inner half, in his intellect and emotions, he is still a rasha. The animal soul rules there. Right? What does “half and half” mean? Inside he’s a rasha; outside he’s a tzaddik. That was our explanation of a beinoni, right? That’s what we explained in the previous chapter. So if the definition of a beinoni is a person who doesn’t stumble into sin, how can there be levels here? If he does stumble into sin, he’s no longer a beinoni; he’s a rasha. Right? If he doesn’t stumble into sin but isn’t a tzaddik, then he’s a rasha who doesn’t stumble into sin. Is that what we call a beinoni? How can we speak of levels? Either he stumbles or he doesn’t. Right? In this chapter, the Rebbe explains a very, very essential point about the beinoni: the essence of a beinoni isn’t simply that he doesn’t commit sins. Being a beinoni is itself a spiritual level. And since we’re talking about a spiritual level within a person’s soul, it too has many levels—endless levels. He’ll describe three or four of them, from the bottom up. So, as we said, the outer layer of the chapter is that he answers questions from chapter 1. The inner layer—through the way he answers those questions—is that he explains the true essence of a beinoni,

05:48 Speaker 1 that it’s not simply a matter of whether or not someone commits sins, but a spiritual level. What is that spiritual level? And beyond that, there are deeper layers still. Until chapter 12, the Rebbe explained what a beinoni is. Right? Yes or no? To explain what a beinoni is, we explained the soul’s faculties, what a tzaddik is, what a rasha is. Then we reached the explanation of what a beinoni is. Where in Tanya does the Rebbe begin explaining what avodas Hashem is? What the great principle of avodas Hashem is? Only in chapter 16—four chapters later. In between, we have three whole chapters, 13, 14 and 15. He’s finished explaining what a beinoni is, but he hasn’t yet begun explaining how to serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu. The whole purpose of Tanya is to explain the avodas Hashem of the beinoni. So seemingly, we would expect that as soon as he finishes explaining what a beinoni is, he should explain how to serve Hashem. Right? What are these three chapters doing in between? So that’s the real depth of chapter 13. Let’s say this now too. Hm? No, I’d thought of discussing it at the end. Let’s say it now; perhaps we can come back to it afterward. Before a person approaches avodas Hashem, he needs to engrave three principles in his soul. Without them, he has no chance of succeeding. It won’t help, however much he contemplates or however hard he tries, unless these three principles are ingrained in him, truly internalized. What are these three things? First, a person needs to know, “Be in your own eyes like a rasha.” That’s where Tanya begins, right? What does “Be in your own eyes like a rasha” mean? However far you advance in avodas Hashem,

08:02 Speaker 1 however much you succeed—and even if you succeed still more, until you reach a level where, I don’t know, your heart burns with love for Hakadosh Boruch Hu like flames of fire and you have no stray thoughts—don’t fool yourself. You’re not a tzaddik. Be in your own eyes like a rasha. That’s the first thing a person needs, because the moment someone begins to think he’s on a higher level than he really is, that’s where it all ends. That’s where he begins to fall. So the first rule, before the work even begins, is that a person must internalize this: being a tzaddik is not my task. That’s chapter 13. But then, once a person understands that, he says, “Wait, excuse me—if I can never be a tzaddik, and being a tzaddik is so difficult, and even being a beinoni is so difficult, how can I get there?” That’s what everyone asks. So immediately after chapter 13 comes chapter 14. Don’t worry: being a beinoni is within everyone’s reach, and every person can strive for it. The whole of chapter 14 comes to reassure you after chapter 13. Yes, on the one hand, being a beinoni truly, in the deeper sense, is a very, very, very high level. It may even be beyond your reach, or at least extremely difficult to reach, and you must always consider yourself not to have reached it. On the other hand, know that it does belong to you. And then, after those two chapters, there’s one more thing a person needs to know before he begins to serve Hashem: don’t think it’s easy work. Don’t think avodas Hashem is easy. Before we begin, the Alter Rebbe takes an entire chapter—chapter 15—to lay out the bottom line: know that starting with the next chapter, you begin to make an effort. It won’t be easy at any stage. All right, so now we’ll begin chapter 13. We’ll learn it according to its straightforward meaning. Perhaps we’ll also bring in some more

10:14 Speaker 1 A few things in between. Chapter 13 is about this, and this is what we explained: the difference between a tzaddik and a rasha is an inner matter, not an external one. This explains the wording of our Sages’ statement: “A beinoni is judged by both.” This is what the Alter Rebbe asked in chapter 1. What does “judged by both” mean? Who are the two? The yetzer tov and the yetzer hara. That is the wording of the Gemara there, where Rabbah says that a beinoni is judged by both. How does the Gemara know that a beinoni has two judges? Every person who is a beinoni has two judges. The Gemara learns it from a verse in Tehillim: “For He stands at the right hand of the needy, to save him from those who judge his soul.” Who is the needy one?

11:08 Speaker 4 The G-dly soul.

11:10 Speaker 1 The G-dly soul. The person. I’m the needy one—that’s me, poor me. Right, “those who judge his soul.” So a person, the G-dly soul, has two who judge him. The verse says that every person has judges of his soul, two who judge him, right? Who stands at his right hand? Hakadosh Boruch Hu. The verse in Tehillim says that Hakadosh Boruch Hu stands beside every person to save him from those who judge his soul. The very fact that the verse says this shows that every person has two judges. The Gemara simply explains who those two judges are: the yetzer tov and the yetzer hara. And the Alter Rebbe asks: Why didn’t they say, “Both rule over him”? G-d forbid. Why do they say the yetzer hara and the yetzer tov are a person’s judges? The Gemara does not say that both rule over him—that he has a yetzer hara and a yetzer tov, and each one controls him. Why does it say each one only judges him and does not rule over him?

12:25 Speaker 4 Correction.

12:27 Speaker 1 That’s what he...

12:28 Speaker 4 Not independence.

12:29 Speaker 1 Why? Because we’re talking about a beinoni. If a person is a rasha, the yetzer hara really does rule over him. If a person is a tzaddik, the yetzer tov rules over him. If a person is a beinoni, neither one rules over him. So what happens? He has two—the yetzer tov and the yetzer hara—fighting each other. Each states his opinion. It’s like two judges in a case: each states his opinion, but neither rules. There is a battle here between the yetzer tov and the yetzer hara. Why? Because this verse is talking about a beinoni. For when the yetzer hara has any control or rule in the “small city,” the body, even for a brief moment, the person is called a rasha at that moment. If he stumbles in any transgression, even in thought, then right now he is a rasha. He can do teshuvah afterward, but until he does, the designation “rasha” applies to him. So what is the situation with a beinoni? The yetzer hara is only, by way of analogy, like a judge who states his opinion in a case; it does not rule. Even so, the practical ruling may not follow his opinion, because another judge disagrees with him, and someone must decide between them. Just as in a case the law follows the one who decides, so too in the analogy of the soul. The yetzer hara states its opinion in the left chamber of the heart. Where did we say the animal soul is found? Where does it dwell? In the heart, right? What does it mean that the animal soul dwells in the heart? A person’s desires, his wanting things of this world. So it states its opinion in the heart. What does it mean that the yetzer hara states its opinion in the heart? It desires something. It saw something, understood something, heard about something, and desires it. From the heart, the thought rises to the mind to dwell on it. But who is in the mind? The G-dly soul. That is its place, its territory

14:33 Speaker 1 . All this time the yetzer hara was in the heart; that’s its territory. It can desire whatever it wants there, no problem. But the moment it rises to the mind to dwell on it—excuse me, someone else is already there. If this is a beinoni. If it’s a rasha, the yetzer hara really does rule over him; it rises to the mind, runs wild there and can think about whatever it wants. But if it’s a beinoni, there in the mind it encounters its opponent. Immediately the second judge disputes it: the G-dly soul in the mind, which extends into the right chamber of the heart, where the yetzer tov dwells. And the practical ruling follows the one who decides. So if two are fighting, each stating his opinion, and neither has an advantage over the other, a third comes and decides between them. Who is the third? Who is the third?

15:31 Speaker 4 Hashem.

15:31 Speaker 1 Hashem, Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Whose side does Hakadosh Boruch Hu take?

15:36 Speaker 4 The yetzer tov.

15:37 Speaker 1 Always the yetzer tov’s side. There’s no argument about that, right? Well, that raises a difficult question. If there is such a battle, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu always helps the yetzer tov, how can a person ever stumble? Their powers are equal. Each has equal strength. They fight and fight, then Hakadosh Boruch Hu comes and rules in favor of the yetzer tov. How can a person ever stumble in a transgression?

16:09 Speaker 4 Does he cover them up, or give the animal soul more backing? Is that something that depends on him? Like, it’s not so connected to...

16:17 Speaker 1 We’re talking about a beinoni. A beinoni is someone who fights. Hakadosh Boruch Hu helps him—He helps when there is someone to help. There is a halachah; I don’t know if you’re familiar with it. The Torah says: “If you see the donkey of someone you hate crouching under its load, would you refrain from helping him? You must surely help with him.” Do you see the verse? What is the mitzvah saying? It’s one of the 613 mitzvos. If you’re walking and you see someone whose donkey has fallen and is stuck in the middle of the road—he has a flat tire, needs jumper cables, whatever it may be—then you must stop what you’re doing and help him, even if he is your enemy, or especially if he is your enemy. The halachah says there is a qualification: you are not always obligated to help him. When are you not? If the man whose donkey fell, along with all his merchandise, is sitting off to the side, and someone comes by and he says, “Load my merchandise for me; it’s a mitzvah for you”—then there is no mitzvah.

17:29 Speaker 4 To help him, not to do it for him.

17:30 Speaker 1 “You must surely help with him,” says the Torah. It’s the same here. When someone fights and tries to battle the yetzer hara, Hakadosh Boruch Hu helps him. If he does not try to fight, then Hakadosh Boruch Hu has no mitzvah to help him. And so the yetzer hara states its opinion in the left chamber of the heart; from the heart it rises to the mind to dwell on it. Immediately the second judge disputes it: the G-dly soul in the mind, which extends into the right chamber of the heart, where the yetzer tov dwells. And the practical ruling follows the one who decides. Who is the one who decides? Hakadosh Boruch Hu, who of course helps the yetzer tov. As our Sages said: “Were Hakadosh Boruch Hu not to help him, he could not overcome it.” Why could he not overcome it? Because in a beinoni, the yetzer hara and the yetzer tov are exactly evenly matched. Neither has any advantage at all. He needs Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s help. What is that help? “The help is the radiance of Hashem’s light upon the G-dly soul, giving it an advantage and mastery over the folly of the fool and the yetzer hara.” What does it mean that it has an advantage and mastery? “Like the advantage of light over darkness, as explained above.” Interesting. When the yetzer tov tries on its own to fight the yetzer hara, it is not stronger. The yetzer tov succeeds in winning because Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives it the capacity to be stronger. Just as a little light dispels a great deal of darkness. On its own, the yetzer tov is no stronger than the yetzer hara. If a person makes an effort, Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives the yetzer tov this radiance, this power to be stronger than the yetzer hara. That radiance is help from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Very interesting. I didn’t think anyone would notice. If you remember chapter 9, when the Alter Rebbe spoke about the beinoni, he said that for the beinoni to overcome the yetzer hara, two things are needed. First of all, Hakadosh Boruch Hu explains

19:57 Speaker 1 There he explained that Hakadosh Boruch Hu created a person with a nature in which the mind rules over the heart. Right? The mind, both physically and spiritually, is above the heart. And second, a person has a G-dly soul, he has a hidden love, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu helps him. Here he gives only the second reason. He doesn’t give the first reason, the idea that the mind rules over the heart. What happened to that? He explained this whole process: there are two judges—that’s a beinoni, right? Neither one rules. There are two judges, and each states his opinion. Hakadosh Boruch Hu helps. How does He help? He makes the person’s G-dly soul shine more brightly, so it can overcome the yetzer hara. But what about the mind ruling over the heart? He doesn’t even hint at it here. Why? This is the Rebbe’s explanation, a very interesting explanation. The Rebbe says this is talking about a beinoni on the first level, the lowest level. If it’s a beinoni like the one we discussed there, whose heart burns with love like flames of fire during davening, and after davening an impression remains with him, and that impression keeps him from committing aveiros all day—then for him, the mind really does rule over the heart. The moment an opportunity to commit an aveirah comes his way, he senses it in his mind. Remember? There’s an impression; he has a feeling that something here isn’t right. He stops himself: “No, I won’t commit the aveirah.” But if he’s someone who didn’t have such a strong love during davening, and no impression from the davening remains afterward, then what will stop him from committing aveiros during the day? If the yetzer tov and the yetzer hara are evenly matched, and ultimately he isn’t a rasha,

22:02 Speaker 1 he doesn’t stumble into an aveirah. So we’re talking here about a beinoni. A beinoni is a person on a spiritual level where, although he hasn’t yet reached the level of the mind ruling over the heart, Hakadosh Boruch Hu nevertheless helps him. Why does Hakadosh Boruch Hu help him? He has already risen to a spiritual level where the G-dly light does shine in his soul. It just doesn’t shine in his mind; it shines in his heart. Hakadosh Boruch Hu helps him. So that’s the first level. Then he goes on to say—sorry, before moving on, he continues to explain this first level. Since the evil in the left chamber of the beinoni’s heart remains as strong as it was from birth, in the end Hakadosh Boruch Hu helped him—helped him in practice not to commit an aveirah. But did Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s help nullify the evil in his heart? It overcame the evil, so that it didn’t express itself now. Is that clear? Is it clear or not?

23:09 Speaker 5 Yes.

23:10 Speaker 1 I understand. In the heart, the evil remains as strong as it was from birth. What does that mean? It still desires all the pleasures of this world. And the evil has not been diminished and nullified in relation to the good, as happens with a tzaddik. That hasn’t happened. It remains exactly as it was. Now Hakadosh Boruch Hu helped the yetzer tov, and it overcame the evil. Well, if it overcame the evil, does that mean the evil no longer exists? It exists; it remains just as it was before. It hasn’t been displaced from its place at all. So it can go on desiring things afterward. It’s just that right now, in practice, it has no control or power to spread into the beinoni’s bodily limbs, because Hakadosh Boruch Hu “stands at the right hand of the needy.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu constantly stands at the right hand of the yetzer tov, shining a light for it so that a little light drives away a great deal of darkness. A person continually manages to overcome the yetzer hara, and his G-dly soul shines for him. And that is why the beinoni is called “like a rasha.” Remember the question? Chapter 1, the first question in chapter 1. How does chapter 1 begin? “It was taught at the end of chapter 3 of Niddah,” and so on. “Even if the whole world”

24:24 Speaker 5 “you should regard yourself as a rasha.”

24:25 Speaker 1 “You should regard yourself as a rasha.” Then he asks: The Mishnah says, “Even if the whole world tells you that you are a tzaddik, you should regard yourself as a rasha.” Then he asks: Wait, if he regards himself as a rasha, he’ll feel bad and become sad, and he won’t be able to serve Hashem with joy. How can the Mishnah tell a person to see himself as a rasha? He won’t be able to serve Hashem. He’ll constantly say, “I’m a rasha, there’s something wrong with me.” How can you serve Hashem that way? Can a person who’s depressed serve Hashem? It’s not possible. So we’ve been left with that question until now. He hasn’t answered it yet. Now he says: That is why it says “like a rasha,” not “regard yourself as a rasha.” The Mishnah isn’t telling a person to regard himself as a rasha, but as like a rasha. What does that mean? What’s the difference between a rasha and someone who is like a rasha? Even if they tell you that you’re a tzaddik, you should regard yourself as like a rasha—not an actual rasha, but a beinoni. You should never believe people who say that the evil within you has been nullified in relation to the good. That’s the level of a tzaddik. The people around the beinoni see him. What do they think of him? When you see a beinoni with your own eyes, what do you think? You see a person who never commits aveiros—

25:50 Speaker 5 That he’s a tzaddik.

25:51 Speaker 1 —who’s learning Torah all the time. All the time, it’s only mitzvos, only holiness, only davening. That’s what matters to him. During davening, you see him burning with love like flames of fire. You think he’s a tzaddik. You can’t think he isn’t a tzaddik, right? What’s the difference between a beinoni and a tzaddik? You can’t tell. There’s no difference at all. In their behavior, they look the same. So we, the people around him, see such a person and call him a tzaddik. But does the person himself know that he’s a beinoni, or doesn’t he?

26:25 Speaker 5 He knows.

26:26 Speaker 1 How does he know?

26:29 Speaker 5 From his behavior.

26:29 Speaker 1 He can’t know from his behavior.

26:30 Speaker 5 He feels the struggle.

26:32 Speaker 1 He feels the struggle. He feels that he has a yetzer hara, and he knows that he manages to overcome it, but he’s very aware that he has thoughts, desires, and wants. He feels it. Yes. So he should never believe people who say that the evil within him has been nullified in relation to the good. That’s the level of a tzaddik. Rather, he should regard the very essence of the evil within him as still being at full strength in the left chamber of his heart, as it was from birth. That’s what “regard yourself as like a rasha” means. Why “like a rasha” and not “like a tzaddik”? Let’s go back to—how does the Mishnah begin there? “Even if the whole world tells you that you are a tzaddik, you should regard yourself as like a tzaddik.” If the point is that he’s not an actual rasha but a beinoni, why not say that? Let the Mishnah tell me: not an actual tzaddik, but a beinoni. Do you understand the question? A beinoni is half and half. Why tell him he’s like a rasha? Tell him he’s like a tzaddik. That’s nicer to hear, much nicer to hear. Why does the Mishnah tell a person to regard himself—

27:51 Speaker 5 Don’t trust yourself.

27:52 Speaker 1 Yes, but why? He could also say, “I’m not a tzaddik, I’m like a tzaddik. I’m a beinoni, not a tzaddik.” Why does he have to regard himself as like a rasha? Let him regard himself as like a tzaddik, since he’s only a beinoni, not a tzaddik.

28:02 Speaker 5 Because he hasn’t nullified the evil. It’s still there.

28:04 Speaker 1 All right, half and half. It’s simple: a beinoni is much closer to a rasha than to a tzaddik. His righteousness is only in his—his thoughts—only his garments are like those of a tzaddik. Inside, he’s a rasha.

28:22 Speaker 5 A beinoni.

28:23 Speaker 1 The beinoni’s inner self—his mind and feelings—has the mind and feelings of a rasha. He has a yetzer hara; he has desires. Outwardly he is like a tzaddik, but his inner nature is much more like that of a rasha. So even though he looks and acts like a tzaddik, in truth he is much closer to a rasha than to a tzaddik. That is why the Mishnah says, “Consider yourself like a rasha.” Now don’t worry: even though you feel that you’re a complete rasha, you aren’t. “Nor has any of it passed away or departed from him. On the contrary, it has grown stronger over time through his frequent use of it in eating, drinking, and other matters of this world.” Not only has the evil in the beinoni not been nullified, it is actually growing stronger all the time. But if we’re talking about a true beinoni, who commits no transgressions and performs only mitzvos, who truly loves Hakadosh Boruch Hu, whose heart really awakens with love of Hashem during davening—what does it mean that his evil grows stronger through eating and drinking? After all, he eats for the sake of Heaven and drinks for the sake of Heaven. What does it mean that the evil grows stronger through eating and drinking? At the end of the day, what gives life to the body: the G-dly soul or the animal soul? Even in a tzaddik, it is the animal soul that gives life to the body. That’s simply how it is. And when a person eats and drinks, what does that nourish? The animal soul. There’s no getting around it. So if a person is still a beinoni—meaning that inwardly, the animal soul is still there—and he now eats and drinks, then yes, he eats and drinks for the sake of Heaven. But ultimately, who is eating and drinking here? The animal soul. And it grows stronger even when he eats for the sake of Heaven. So I think, why does a person need to consider himself like a rasha? Because however much he works on himself, as long as he hasn’t been transformed to good, not only has his animal soul not

30:34 Speaker 1 grown weaker, it has grown stronger. So he doesn’t feel it very much? Fine, because he keeps himself in check, he has kabbolas ol, he truly loves Hashem, he really does manage to overcome himself, his mind really does rule his heart, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu really does help him. All of that is true. But if for just one moment you peel away the layers, if for just one moment you crack—crack that thin shell of kabbolas ol that he has, what will be revealed underneath? Well, you’ll see the animal soul emerge with all its desires. Nothing there has changed. Now he goes on to discuss... All this has been about the first level of beinoni, someone who needs help and assistance from Hakadosh Boruch Hu all day long. His mind does not rule his heart. There is someone on a higher level: “Even one whose delight is in the Torah of Hashem, and who studies it day and night for its own sake.” Here we’re talking about a completely different kind of person. We’re talking about someone whose delight is in the Torah of Hashem. It’s not just—there’s a person who learns Torah. Why? Why does he learn Torah? Torah is important. He understands that it’s necessary, understands that it’s good, understands that there is a reward for it, and so on. Even without the reward, he understands its importance, so he learns because he understands that he should. But what does he want, deep down? Is he drawn to learning Torah, or is he drawn to other things? He learns Torah because he should, because he understands that he should. He doesn’t really want to; he isn’t really drawn to it.

32:21 Speaker 5 Well, that’s all right too, isn’t it?

32:23 Speaker 1 That’s a beinoni on the first level. But there is a beinoni on a higher, intermediate level whose deep-down desire really is Torah. He truly feels that learning Torah is his pleasure. So here we’re talking about an entirely different level, not someone who forces himself. Someone “whose delight is in the Torah of Hashem”—that is an inner desire. In other words, his pleasure is in learning Torah, and because that is his pleasure, he really does learn Torah all day without stopping. Why? Because that’s what he enjoys. That’s where he feels good; that’s where he feels at home. They have to drag him away to worldly matters—to eat, drink, work, take care of the children, whatever. He has to, so he does it. But his inner feeling really is for learning Torah. So a person like that... Wait, wait, wait. If my deepest desire, my feelings, my true inner wish, are genuinely directed toward holiness, perhaps I’m already a tzaddik? Here you could get confused, right? The Alter Rebbe says: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You’re not there yet. Even if your true inner desire, your inner feeling, your delight, are in learning Torah and its laws, you’re still only a beinoni. Why? “Even one whose delight is in the Torah of Hashem and who studies it day and night for its own sake—this is no proof at all that the evil has been displaced from its place. It is possible that the very essence of the evil remains in full force and strength in its place, in the left chamber.” Nothing has changed. So how can his delight and desire be so directed toward G-dliness? It is only the garments of the evil—the thought, speech, and action of the animal soul—that do not clothe themselves in the brain, mouth, hands, and other limbs of the body. Why don’t they clothe themselves in them, if the evil remains in full force? Because of Hashem, Who gave the mind power and dominion over the heart. This

34:25 Speaker 1 is already called a beinoni on the level where the mind rules the heart. He no longer needs Hakadosh Boruch Hu to help him; he himself is on a level where his mind rules his heart. And therefore “the G-dly soul in the brain rules over the small city, all the limbs of the body.” Since his mind rules his heart, his heart cannot wage war against the beinoni in his mind. He may have thoughts of desire in his heart, but as soon as they reach his mind, they are thrown out completely. They cannot take hold. He has control. “The G-dly soul in the brain rules over the small city, all the limbs of the body, so that they become garments and a vehicle for its three garments to be clothed in them”—the thought, speech, and action involved in the Torah’s 613 mitzvos. But does that affect what is in the left side of his heart? The essence of the G-dly soul has no power or dominion over the essence of the animal soul in the beinoni. Except when? “Except at a time when the love of Hashem is revealed in his heart.” When does that happen for a beinoni—when is the love of Hashem revealed in his heart?

35:46 Speaker 5 During davening.

35:46 Speaker 1 During davening. “At appointed times, such as during davening and the like.” There, during davening. Right, that’s what we discussed in chapter 9: during davening, a genuine beinoni of this higher level, whose mind rules his heart, really does arouse his heart until the love in the right chamber flows into the left chamber. At that point, the animal soul takes a knockout blow, an anesthetic injection; at that time it really isn’t active. Later it wakes up—that’s another matter. “And even then,” even during davening, “there is only power and dominion.” He doesn’t transform the animal soul; he controls it. As it is written, “One nation shall prevail over the other”: when one rises, the other falls. When the G-dly soul exerts itself and overcomes the animal soul at the source of strength, which is binah, contemplating the greatness of Hashem, the blessed Infinite One—that’s during davening—and arouses a powerful love of Hashem, like flaming fire, in the right chamber of his heart, then the sitra achra in the left chamber is subdued. But the yetzer hara in the beinoni’s left chamber is not completely nullified, not even during davening. That happens only in a tzaddik. Of a tzaddik it is said, “My heart is empty within me.” And so a tzaddik truly despises evil and hates it with utter hatred and revulsion—or not with utter hatred and revulsion, as we’re discussing right now. A beinoni does not hate evil. Even during davening, when his heart burns with a fiery love of Hashem, he doesn’t hate evil. Right now he loves Hakadosh Boruch Hu. He doesn’t hate evil; evil is unthinkable to him, a transgression is unthinkable to him: “Me, commit a transgression? It’s completely out of the question.” He hates—he doesn’t hate it. Why doesn’t he hate it? Because he has a yetzer that loves it. Right now that yetzer isn’t showing itself, so it isn’t showing itself. Would you say that he hates

37:49 Speaker 1 Him? He doesn’t hate him. In a tzaddik, it has been transformed. In a beinoni, who is not a tzaddik, the evil within him is, by way of analogy, like a person who is asleep. He has gone to sleep now, but he can wake up again. So too, the evil in a beinoni is asleep in the left chamber of his heart during Shema and prayer, when his heart burns with love for Hashem. Afterward, it can wake up again. All right? And here we come to the third level. We’ve already spoken about two levels of beinoni: one who, even during prayer, cannot manage to have his mind rule his heart, and certainly not afterward. Hakadosh Boruch Hu helps him, but he is still not a rasha. Hakadosh Boruch Hu helps him because he tries. Then there is one whose mind rules his heart, who afterward has a love that burns like flames of fire, and an impression of it remains with him afterward. That is an entirely different level. But there is an even higher level of beinoni, and he is still not a tzaddik. What could be higher than someone who studies Torah all day with heartfelt desire and willingness—higher than that, yet still not a tzaddik? “And therefore Rabbah considered himself a beinoni, even though his mouth never ceased studying, and his delight was in the Torah of Hashem day and night, with longing, yearning, desire, and a soul thirsting for Hashem with great love, as during Shema and prayer.” In chapter 1, we asked about Rabbah saying of himself that he was a beinoni. We know Rabbah was a tzaddik. How could Rabbah himself say he was a beinoni? What was the question? Now the question is even clearer. If a tzaddik is someone who has no yetzer hara, and a beinoni is someone who does have a yetzer hara, right? If he has a yetzer hara inside, people can think whatever they like, but

40:05 Speaker 1 I know about myself that I’m—I know I’m not like that. Right? If Rabbah said of himself that he was a beinoni, he wasn’t lying. How could he have been mistaken? If he was mistaken, that means there is a kind of beinoni who looks like a tzaddik even on the inside. Not only in thought, speech, and action; even in his heart he looks like a tzaddik. That’s why a person could make that mistake. But then there’s a question here—excuse me—if even in his heart he is like a tzaddik, and he studies Torah and prays and has great love and longing, then what is the difference between him and a tzaddik? But it means that Rabbah saw himself as someone like that: a beinoni on a level where he prays all day.

41:07 Speaker 6 Prays all day. So how—how?

41:11 Speaker 1 He doesn’t pray all day; he is like a beinoni who prays all day. There is a person who, during—a genuine beinoni, so we understand what happens during prayer. What happens after prayer? After prayer he’s already... But there is a beinoni on such a high level that after prayer he is as he was during prayer. What happens during prayer? The animal soul, the yetzer hara, doesn’t exist. What does “doesn’t exist” mean? It exists, but it sits there, inactive.

41:43 Speaker 6 Dormant.

41:44 Speaker 1 Dormant. He is on such a high level that his yetzer hara is dormant all day. We’re talking about a spiritual level. This is a person who has a yetzer hara, and his yetzer hara is still in its full strength and power. It even keeps growing stronger because he eats and drinks. He hasn’t transformed it into good, and if he stops exercising kabbolas ol, it will go back to work; he’ll go back to—to—all the desires, like, like, like the rest of us. Nevertheless, he is on such a high spiritual level that he manages to keep himself in the same state of mind all day as though he were praying right now. Call him a tzaddik? He is still closer to a rasha than to a tzaddik. The evil on the left side remains. He hasn’t changed anything there; he only controls it. He controls it more completely. He is not a tzaddik. And so even Rabbah, who was such a great tzaddik—there’s a story about him in the Gemara, like the story about King David, involving the Angel of Death. We mentioned it. The Angel of Death came; his time had come to leave this world, but the Angel of Death could not touch him. When a person is immersed in Torah study, the light of the Shechinah rests upon him. His soul cannot be taken out of his body. The Angel of Death had to devise a trick to make him stop for one moment so that his soul could be drawn out. Even a person on such a level that the Angel of Death could not gain power over him—the Rebbe says, the Alter Rebbe says—here is proof from the Gemara that such a beinoni exists. He is not a tzaddik. The evil has not been displaced; it remains in its full original strength and power, to such an extent. And as our Sages said, “If only a person would pray all day long.” So we have three general levels of beinoni, because beinoni really is a spiritual level. It is not about how many transgressions he has committed, or the fact

43:55 Speaker 1 that he no longer commits transgressions. Rather, being a beinoni is about the extent to which he succeeds in putting the soul—the—the yetzer hara on the left side—to sleep. One person manages it partially and needs help from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Another is stronger at it, so he can manage on his own throughout the day. And then there is one who really looks like a tzaddik. But what they all have in common is that it’s only their external side.

44:31 Speaker 7 Beinonim.

44:32 Speaker 1 Right—thought, speech, and action. Inside, the yetzer hara remains. All right? Now, of course, this is not a level that everyone is expected to reach, to be that kind of beinoni. Generally speaking, most beinonim are ordinary beinonim whose mind rules their heart. That’s the average among beinonim. So at the end of the chapter, after explaining that there are different levels of beinoni—because beinoni itself is a spiritual level—he returns to what applies to us. Here: “And this measure of love mentioned in connection with beinonim during prayer, through the ascendancy of the G-dly soul, etc., compared with the level of tzaddikim who serve Hashem in the truest sense, this love is not called true service at all.” If a tzaddik had this kind of service, a love for Hashem like a beinoni has during prayer... that would not be called serving Hashem. Earlier we said, what is a beinoni? Someone who, during prayer, yes, burns with love. So wait, wait, wait.

45:40 Speaker 7 Wait, wait.

45:42 Speaker 1 What did we say earlier? What is a beinoni? Someone whose heart burns for Hashem during prayer, so you can’t tell him apart from a tzaddik. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Even when his heart burns for Hashem during prayer, there is an enormous difference between a beinoni and a tzaddik. It isn’t the same fire at all; it’s something entirely different. Why? So much so that, compared with tzaddikim who serve Hashem in the truest sense, this love of beinonim is not called true service at all. For a tzaddik, even such a burning love for Hashem would not count as service. Why? “Because it passes and disappears after prayer, and it is written, ‘Truthful lips are established forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.’” We’ve spoken about this a few times, right? Yes.

46:41 Speaker 7 What does that mean?

46:43 Speaker 1 Truth is eternal. Truth is something lasting forever. If it doesn’t last forever, it isn’t truth; it’s falsehood. They always give the example of a stream that runs dry. It flows and flows and flows, and then it stops. Even if it stops only once every seven years, it is already an unreliable stream, a false one. Truth lasts forever. If a beinoni’s love starts, stops, starts, stops, starts, stops—well, that isn’t truth; it isn’t truth, it’s falsehood. So from a tzaddik’s perspective, that kind of love in a beinoni is certainly called outright falsehood. Then why do you keep telling me I need to be a beinoni, if all in all—why do you tell me to strive for something that is false? What is it worth? Clear? He says: “Nevertheless, with regard to the level of beinonim, it is called perfect service, true to the fullest extent of their truth, each person according to his level among the beinonim.” We said there are many levels even among beinonim, and for each beinoni, the love he manages to awaken during his prayer is true for him. Yes, for a tzaddik, such love is false; for him, it is true. How can that be? If—

48:01 Speaker 7 Because at that moment he—

48:03 Speaker 1 Yes, but if truth is something eternal, what does it mean that there are two kinds of truth?

48:09 Speaker 7 But he’s trying.

48:13 Speaker 1 In terms of—in terms of the earlier question. In terms of the question. No, the Alter Rebbe has to answer all the questions, just as people ask them. What did we just explain? What is the difference between truth and falsehood? Truth lasts forever. Falsehood does not. Something that doesn’t last forever is false. Yes. How does it help to say it’s true for him? Are there two kinds of truth? If it’s true, it’s true. If it isn’t true—why do you call it true if it isn’t? What does “true for him” mean? Is there such a thing as subjective truth? That isn’t truth. Truth isn’t subjective. Truth is truth, and that’s... from beginning to end.

48:49 Speaker 7 Yes.

48:49 Speaker 1 How—how can we speak of different levels of truth at all? So he explains: “And I call the love they experience in their prayers, too, ‘The lip of truth shall be established forever.’” Even the love of beinonim is called truth. Why? “Because their G-dly soul has the power to return and awaken this level of love at any time, as it grows strong during prayer each day, through the preparation appropriate to each soul according to its capacity and level.” In the Torah, in Parshas Tetzaveh, there’s a mitzvah to kindle a perpetual lamp. Right? A perpetual lamp in the Beis Hamikdash. What does “perpetual lamp” mean? You light it and it burns forever? Every day a kohen has to come. The lamp they lit yesterday has already gone out. He has to clear away the charred wick, clean it, put in oil, and light it. So why is it called perpetual? Because it’s done every single day.

49:46 Speaker 7 Every day.

49:46 Speaker 1 Anew, every single day. A rasha might succeed in awakening love of Hashem within himself one day, and the next day he might not. A beinoni can awaken it anew every day. He’s at a spiritual level where he always has the ability to awaken it. If he contemplates and makes an effort, he’ll succeed in arousing it. Since he can do this every day, or even at any moment, if he only wants to, the very fact that he can repeat it every day makes it truth. It isn’t the absolute truth of a tzaddik, but it is something lasting. If it’s lasting, it’s truth. “The attribute of truth is the attribute of Yaakov, who is called the middle bar, extending from one end to the other, from the highest levels and degrees down to the lowest of all levels.” So the Rebbe brings from the Zohar, from the works of Kabbalah, that truth is Yaakov’s attribute. This is said of Yaakov: his attribute is truth from top to bottom. What does “from top to bottom” mean? That there are levels of truth. What is the beinoni’s level of truth? That he can awaken it every day—that, too, is called truth. Hey, it isn’t absolute truth? Fine, you’re not a tzaddik. No. “At every level and degree, it passes through the middle point, which is that level’s point and aspect of truth. And the attribute of truth is a boundless inheritance”—there’s another explanation of this—“with no limit above, up to the highest levels; and all the levels and degrees below are as nothing compared with the levels and degrees above them, as is known to those versed in esoteric wisdom, and so on.” I won’t explain the parentheses at the end here, but, uh, he goes on to explain another detail of this point in even greater depth: that even the beinonim’s measure of truth is nevertheless called

51:43 Speaker 1 truth. So now that we’ve learned the chapter, we can sum up what we discussed at the beginning.

51:49 Speaker 7 What—you wanted to ask about the chayos, right?

51:51 Speaker 1 I said that—I can explain.

51:53 Speaker 7 We can explain it.

51:54 Speaker 1 Huh?

51:55 Speaker 7 It’s interesting.

51:56 Speaker 1 The chayos here are the chayos hakodesh. And it says in the Gem—there’s, uh, something in the Gemara. No, I don’t think it’s the Gemara; I think it’s a Midrash. No. Is it Tractate Chagigah? I don’t remember right now. Wait, surely it says here, uh... Yes, the Gemara in Chagigah, yes. It is the Gemara. It says there that when the Gemara wants to describe the greatness of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, it says this is equal to all of them, and this is equal to all of them, and this is equal to all of them. And at the highest level, the legs of the chayos are equal to all of them, and the horns of the chayos are equal to all of them. In other words, every level in the order of spiritual descent is equal to everything below it. So the chayos are the holy chayos, the angels of the supernal chariot in the World of Beriah. The legs of the chayos are their lowest part. True, they’re only chayos, and this is the lowest part of the chayos—but it’s equal to all of them. So, too, when we talk about our spiritual levels, something that is called truth for one person is as nothing compared with the level of someone above him. It’s simply a proof from the Gemara. In any case, the three points—let’s take a moment to summarize what we saw. We said at the beginning that, first of all, on its plain level, this chapter answers several questions we asked in part one. How could Rabbah say of himself that he was a beinoni? What does it mean that “both judge him”? So we answered that they really don’t rule over him; they only judge him. And Rabbah said he was a tzaddik—because there can be such a tzaddik, uh, such a beinoni, who doesn’t even feel his own yetzer hara, and could therefore make the mistake of thinking he’s a tzaddik. But that isn’t our level. Our level is either that the mind rules over the heart, or even less than that: Hakadosh Boruch Hu helps him. First of all, he answered the questions

53:42 Speaker 1 from part one. After that, um, there’s a more fundamental point beyond the explanation. We asked: if being a beinoni is a matter of action—whether he commits sins or doesn’t—how can there be different levels of it? So he explained. Right, being a beinoni is a spiritual level within a person’s soul, and it really isn’t so much about how many sins he does or doesn’t commit, but about how far he succeeds in controlling his yetzer hara. He has a yetzer hara. He does control his body. But there are many levels in how much control the G-dly soul has over the animal soul, and he described three general levels. And on a deeper level, what lies behind this isn’t stated explicitly or explained—not even between the lines—but it’s the overall message. So what do you hear from this? No matter how high you rise in your service of Hashem, even if you reach the level of someone who doesn’t feel his yetzer hara, don’t think you’re a tzaddik.

54:53 Speaker 8 How did we answer the question?