How to become tzaddikim during prayer - Chapter 12 - Part Two

00:01 We’re up to chapter 12. We began the first part, and we’ll continue from where we left off. In chapter 12, the Alter Rebbe begins to explain the beinoni. As we discussed, that is really the purpose of the whole Tanya, the “Book of Beinonim.” First, the Alter Rebbe defined what a beinoni is. A beinoni is someone whose evil has no control whatsoever over his body. On the contrary, the only one in control of the body is the G-dly soul. Its three garments—thought, speech, and action in the 613 mitzvos of the Torah—have complete control. The animal soul has no ability to take control of any of the 248 limbs or 365 sinews. The Alter Rebbe even says that a beinoni is not merely someone who, in practice, does not commit sins, but someone who “has never sinned in his life and will never sin,” and who has never been called wicked, not even once in his entire life. We explained in the previous class that the Alter Rebbe does not mean this literally, as though a person who once sinned has no hope or cannot become a beinoni. The Alter Rebbe is speaking about a spiritual level—about the person’s present state. A person works on himself to the point that serving Hashem is so firm within him that sin is utterly unthinkable, while doing a mitzvah is, for him, simply serving Hashem: this is how it must be, and it cannot be otherwise. That is what “has never sinned in his life and will never sin” means. In other words, given his present standing and state, he will not sin. As for what he did in the past, he has already done teshuvah. And not just any teshuvah, but teshuvah that transforms even the past, so that his sins become merits. With teshuvah of that kind, even with regard to the past, he “has never sinned in his life.” And since he has done proper teshuvah, genuine teshuvah,

02:11 teshuvah that affects the past as well, he has “never sinned in his life”; and given his state now, he “will never sin.” The whole idea of sin is unthinkable to him. We’ve explained all of this in earlier classes. This, we learned, is the level of a beinoni. Okay, so that’s one side of it. Now the Alter Rebbe continues. We’re up to page 1—page 16b, at the line beginning “But the essence and being.” Now, based on what we’ve just explained, what exactly is missing? Why isn’t he called a tzaddik? What is the difference between a beinoni and a tzaddik? You’re saying not only that he actually does mitzvos, and not only that he actually avoids sins, but that he “has never sinned and will never sin.” That means evil is completely foreign to him; the whole idea of it is unthinkable. If so, why is he only a beinoni? What exactly is he lacking, that I call him a beinoni and not a tzaddik—not even a tzaddik who has some evil within him? That is what the Alter Rebbe now comes to explain: the precise point of difference that makes him a beinoni rather than a tzaddik. The Alter Rebbe says, “But the essence and being of the G-dly soul, which are its ten faculties, do not alone hold sovereignty and rule in the small city.” When it comes to the essence and being of the G-dly soul—what does that mean? Its ten faculties, the intellect and emotions—the G-dly soul is not the only one in control there. There is a battle there. This is how the Alter Rebbe explains the difference between a tzaddik and a beinoni. For a tzaddik, the G-dly soul is in control not only of the garments—thought, speech, and action—but also of the intellect and emotions. There, too, the G-dly soul is the only one in control of his inner faculties, so that his intellect and emotions

04:22 are all for Hashem alone. As the Alter Rebbe explained in the previous chapters, in chapter 10, a tzaddik’s G-dly soul is such that all his intellect—Chochmah, Binah, and Daas—is for Hashem alone. And all his emotions are such that he has love for Hakadosh Boruch Hu, a love of delights, and he despises evil, and so on. In other words, his inner faculties are also entirely G-dly, entirely devoted to G-dliness. By contrast, with a beinoni, the G-dly soul is not the only one in control of the inner faculties. The animal soul also has a say in them, and that is the beinoni’s inner battle. It is also interesting that the Alter Rebbe calls the inner faculties here “the essence and being of the G-dly soul.” Those who study Chassidus know that when we speak of the essence and being of the G-dly soul, that usually refers to Chayah and Yechidah. The soul’s essence is much deeper than intellect and emotions. Yet here in Tanya, several times in this chapter and in other chapters, the Alter Rebbe repeatedly says that “the essence and being of the G-dly soul” refers to its ten faculties. There is an explanation of this from the Alter Rebbe—or perhaps it’s from the Tzemach Tzedek, I’m not sure—but it appears in Likkutei Torah. In Likkutei Torah, in Parshas Tzav—in Parshas Vayikra, sorry, Likkutei Torah on Parshas Vayikra—there is a maamar beginning “V’lo Sashbis Melach.” It’s a well-known maamar. There is an explanation there. The maamar “V’lo Sashbis Melach” itself is short, but there is a lengthy explanation of the maamar, an explanation beginning “V’lo Sashbis Melach.” It is one of the foundational maamarim in Likkutei Torah. It explains several very fundamental ideas in Chassidus. Among other things, it discusses at length how this subject is explained in Tanya

06:23 and how it is explained in Chassidus, in other maamarim. In Tanya, the Alter Rebbe did not discuss the encompassing faculties, and Chayah and Yechidah are not mentioned. In Tanya there are only two categories: inner faculties and garments. That is how Tanya is structured. Tanya is a book structured so that the Alter Rebbe does not discuss matters of Chayah and Yechidah, matters of [unclear]. Tanya is founded on the distinction between inner faculties and garments. That is the difference between a tzaddik and a rasha, and between a tzaddik and a beinoni, which is what we’re learning here. So in Tanya, when the Alter Rebbe says “the essence and being of the soul,” he means the soul’s ten faculties. Why? He explains there that although the ten faculties are only faculties, not the soul’s essence—they are intellect and emotions—they are united with the soul, unlike the garments. A garment is something separate, just as in the physical world clothing is distinct and separate from a person. The body, by contrast, is part of the person himself. That is the difference between the soul’s faculties and its garments. Thought, speech, and action are external; they are distinct. Intellect and emotions, by contrast, are the person himself. In other words, intellect and emotions are united with the soul. In the language of Chassidus, this is called a “united garment.” Intellect unites with the soul to the point that the soul is called an intellectual soul, and the same applies to the emotions. A person is described as a good person, a kind person. In other words, emotions and intellect unite with the soul, and so, relative to the garments, he calls them “the essence and being of the soul.” That’s just a little explanation to bear in mind: when the Alter Rebbe says “the essence and being of the soul” in Tanya, he means intellect and emotions, and that’s

08:17 What the Alter Rebbe is saying is that this is the difference between a tzaddik and a beinoni: in the essence of the soul, on the one hand, and in the actual garments of thought, speech, and action, on the other. The garments are what control the body’s 248 limbs and 365 sinews. In that respect, the beinoni is completely perfect. [unclear] day and night, and all his soul’s garments, expressed through the limbs of his body, are devoted entirely to Hashem alone. That is the beinoni’s virtue. But when we speak about the person’s inner essence, his inner faculties, the beinoni still has a struggle, and that is why he is not a tzaddik. That is the point the Alter Rebbe is explaining. Now the Alter Rebbe goes on to say: On the other hand, should we say that, when it comes to his inner faculties, the beinoni is just like a rasha? G-d forbid. So the Alter Rebbe now comes to clarify what does happen with the inner faculties, with the mind and emotions. How far does the beinoni’s influence reach, and where does it not reach? What exactly is the beinoni capable of influencing in his inner faculties? In other words, the Alter Rebbe wants to make sure we do not make the mistake of thinking that the beinoni is only a person of thought, speech, and action. He is a Jew who follows Shulchan Aruch—that is how it might sound. He observes the laws and mitzvos, follows Shulchan Aruch, and is a beinoni. But what about his mind and emotions? “That doesn’t interest me. Does he love Hashem? Yes, yes…” G-d forbid. The beinoni also works with his inner faculties. This is connected to the whole foundation of Tanya, which the Alter Rebbe bases on the verse, “For the matter is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart.” The beinoni does have a goal of refining his heart. The beinoni, too, has the avodah of the heart, and for that one must

10:27 refine the intellect and the emotions. The question is how far the beinoni can go in working on his inner faculties. That is what the Alter Rebbe is about to explain. Where is the limit? As we say, the beinoni’s inner faculties do not belong entirely to the G-dly soul; he still has a struggle. But the beinoni does work on his inner faculties, and so there are times when even his inner faculties are attached to and permeated with G-dliness. But, but, it is not that way all the time. That is what the Alter Rebbe is about to explain: “Except at certain appointed times, such as during the recitation of Shema and prayer.” There are special times, such as during Shema and davening, when the beinoni can work with his inner faculties too. At those times, he succeeds in making his mind and emotions wholly devoted to Hashem alone. During davening—that is what he is going to explain now. Just one more point before we continue. It is interesting that the Rebbe examines the Alter Rebbe’s precise wording here: “The kingship and dominion in the small city are not theirs alone.” Regarding the beinoni’s inner faculties, the essence of his soul, the G-dly soul’s intellect and emotions do not have kingship and dominion exclusively. That implies that this is only regarding the inner faculties. But regarding the garments—thought, speech, and action—the G-dly soul does have kingship and dominion. So here is a simple question: What are these two terms, “kingship” and “dominion”? Why does the Alter Rebbe use both? Every word in Tanya is precise. Yes? True, we speak of kingship and dominion in reference to Hakadosh Boruch Hu: “Kingship and dominion belong to the One who lives forever.” But why does the Alter Rebbe need both terms here? What do kingship and dominion mean in our context? We are saying that the beinoni does not have kingship and dominion over his inner faculties, but he does have kingship and dominion over his garments.

12:41 What, then, is kingship, and what is dominion? As is well known, Chassidus explains in several places, particularly in the Tzemach Tzedek’s Or HaTorah, that the difference is that kingship is accepted willingly, while dominion can be imposed against one’s will. That is the distinction: kingship means that people willingly accept the king’s rule. A king is someone to whom the people devote themselves of their own free will, and he reigns over a people who willingly accept him. That is why “kingship” is used only regarding human beings. “Dominion,” by contrast, is used even regarding animals—“and they shall rule,” and so on. In any case, dominion can also be against one’s will. That is why it says, “Your kingship is a kingship over all worlds, and Your dominion is throughout every generation.” “All worlds” refers to the higher worlds, where there is kingship because their submission is willing. But “every generation” includes the lower realms, where not everyone submits, so there is dominion. In any case, the difference between kingship and dominion is whether the submission is willing or against one’s will. That is what the Alter Rebbe is hinting at here: the beinoni controls his garments, but sometimes that control takes the form of kingship and sometimes the form of dominion. Or there are certain matters in which it is kingship and others in which it is dominion. What is the difference? There are things that, for the beinoni, are completely out of the question; evil is not relevant to him in those matters at all. That is called willing kingship: the body’s limbs are so devoted to the G-dly soul that they willingly do everything it wants. That is kingship. But there are also certain things with which the beinoni struggles. As the Alter Rebbe will say later in the chapter, even a beinoni can sometimes have an extraneous thought arise. He immediately dismisses it and takes control of it. He does not willingly entertain it, but that first impulse

14:43 can occur. So in that respect—or, as the Alter Rebbe says, after davening desires can awaken in the beinoni and he has to fight them—there are certain matters in which the beinoni must exercise dominion. That is why the Alter Rebbe uses both terms, kingship and dominion. Regarding thought, speech, and action, the beinoni has kingship and dominion. In some matters, it is willing kingship; at other times, it is dominion against one’s will. But regarding the inner faculties, he says that the beinoni does not have that kingship and dominion, because there is a struggle there. This brings to mind the well-known story about the Rebbe Rashab. Someone once asked him about a certain practice, a particular hiddur: Why did he conduct himself that way? What was its source? This is generally told in connection with washing hands three times before eating. The Rebbe Rashab began the practice of washing his hands three times before a meal. According to Shulchan Aruch, washing twice is enough, but the Rebbe Rashab would wash three times. Today it has become something of a requirement for everyone, but the first person observed doing it was the Rebbe Rashab. When they asked him for the source, he said, “I don’t remember right now, but I trained my body to be a vehicle for Shulchan Aruch.” He said that from the age of twelve he trained his body to do whatever needed to be done. So if he followed this practice, it was because he had seen it in a sefer. It is a famous story. The Rebbe spoke about it at a farbrengen. The Rebbe said this is not just a story about a tzaddik. It is not a story about the Rebbe Rashab as someone on the level of tzaddikim; rather, this story reflects the level of the beinoni. In other words, this is what the Alter Rebbe is saying here about kingship. In other words,

16:41 So that a person is in control of his body, and the limbs of the body respond willingly to the soul’s will. He doesn’t have to fight them; it isn’t against their will. But yes, there are details in which even a beinoni will need to rule over them against their will. This is just to see how every detail in Tanya is precise. The Alter Rebbe says: “Except at certain times, such as during the recitation of Shema and prayer.” During Shema, during prayer, even a beinoni’s inner faculties are all, all for Hashem. At that time there is mochin d’gadlus Above. What happens during prayer? Why do we say that during prayer even a beinoni’s inner faculties are all for Hashem? The Alter Rebbe says, first of all, because prayer is a time of mochin d’gadlus Above. The Alter Rebbe is saying that this is, in a sense, a special quality of the time itself. It is not entirely a matter of the person’s own doing; it is something special Above. There is something distinctive about the time of prayer. Prayer is a time of mochin d’gadlus Above. What does that mean? In simple terms, as we know, the times of prayer are not just times set aside for the person. According to Chassidus, according to Kabbalah, at the times of prayer something loftier shines from Above. The Alter Rebbe says this in Tanya, in Igeres Hakodesh. The analogy is of a king going out to the people, just as it happens in the physical world. There are times when the king reveals himself, when the king goes out to the people, and anyone who wants to can come and see him. The Zohar describes the time of prayer as a time when the King... We also learn this from maamarim that connect it with the story of the Megillah. There, Achashverosh sits at the entrance to the courtyard, at the entrance to the house. In Chassidus this is also explained on the level of the mystical meaning: Achashverosh refers to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. There are times when the King reveals Himself at the entrance to the courtyard, at the entrance to the house. There are various

18:52 levels to this. When? At Shacharis, Minchah, and Maariv; on weekdays, on Shabbos, and on Yom Tov. These are different kinds of revelation of the King, and this is called mochin d’gadlus Above. The point is that there is a very special, very high, very lofty Divine light. What usually shines here in the world from Hakadosh Boruch Hu? Usually, what shines is the middos. The six days of the week correspond to the six middos. Hakadosh Boruch Hu bestows influence upon the world through the middos. The first day corresponds to chesed, the second day to gevurah. So, generally speaking, the Divine influence comes through the middos. An influence from mochin is a loftier revelation, not the usual one, and that is called mochin d’gadlus. In other words, during prayer there is a higher Divine revelation, and that gives a person strength to connect with Hakadosh Boruch Hu more easily. That is from Above, and down here it is an opportune time for every person. From the person’s side, too, prayer is a more favorable time. That is how it is from Above, and from the person’s side as well, prayer is a more favorable time: during prayer, a person has a greater ability to connect with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and can do so more easily. It is “an opportune time for every person, when he binds his Chabad faculties to Hashem, to deeply contemplate the greatness of the blessed Ein Sof and arouse love like flames of fire in the right chamber of his heart.” During prayer, a person has the opportunity to connect with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. This is something the Rebbe Rashab points out precisely in the maamarim: on the one hand, the Alter Rebbe wants to say here that prayer is a time when you are given the ability from Above. But we know that prayer is primarily a person’s own avodah. As is always discussed in Chassidus, the whole advantage of the avodah of prayer over Torah study is that prayer is a matter of “a ladder standing on the earth, with its top reaching heaven.” Prayer proceeds from below upward. It is a person’s own avodah, his own effort, and the whole advantage of prayer is that it is avodah through one’s own

21:00 effort: during prayer, a person has the opportunity to connect with Hakadosh Boruch Hu from below. So the Alter Rebbe says that, on the one hand, prayer is a time of revelation from Above. But the main point of prayer is that it is an opportune time when a person, through binding his mind to Hashem and contemplating during prayer, can arouse love of Hashem and fear of Hashem to such a lofty, powerful degree that the beinoni is then truly like a tzaddik. In other words, during prayer a beinoni can transform his animal soul so that his love of Hashem reaches complete perfection. This is what the Alter Rebbe says: “To deeply contemplate the greatness of the blessed Ein Sof and arouse love like flames of fire in the right chamber of his heart, so as to cleave to Him through observing the Torah and its mitzvos out of love. This is the matter explained in the Shema, which is a Torah obligation, and in the blessings before and after it, which are rabbinic and serve as preparation for reciting the Shema, as explained elsewhere.” I’ll explain that shortly. “Then the evil in the left chamber is subdued and nullified before the good that spreads through the right chamber from the Chabad faculties in the brain, which are bound to Hakadosh Boruch Hu.” So during prayer, because the beinoni can arouse his G-dly soul’s love of Hashem, he has the ability to ensure that this love does not remain only in the G-dly soul, but also affects the animal soul. That is what it means when it says, “The evil in the left chamber is subdued and nullified before the good.” At that point, the entire person, including the animal soul, is united with G-dliness. In other words, what is the Alter Rebbe telling us here? The Alter Rebbe is telling us what is special about the avodah of prayer: it is a time when any person, not only a tzaddik, can attain a state not only of iskafya, but also of ishapcha. We all know the verse cited in the Gemara

23:04 in tractate Berachos: “And you shall love Hashem your G-d with all your heart”—with both your inclinations. That is, the goal of loving Hashem is not only for the G-dly soul to have love of Hashem, but for the animal soul to have love of Hashem too. The Alter Rebbe brought this in chapter 9. In chapter 9, when the Alter Rebbe discussed what the G-dly soul wants, he said that the G-dly soul wants to spread throughout a person’s entire being: to move from the mind to the heart, first to the right chamber, and then to rise and reach the left chamber, until his entire being is aroused and even the left chamber is transformed into love of Hashem. That would seem to be the avodah of tzaddikim. But here the Alter Rebbe comes and says: No. “With all your heart”—with both your inclinations—was not said only about a tzaddik. “With all your heart”—with both your inclinations—was said about a beinoni too. On a simple level, a beinoni, too, needs to reach a love of Hashem “with all your heart,” with both inclinations. And so the Alter Rebbe says: during prayer, a person has the opportunity, by contemplating the greatness of Hashem and arousing love of Hashem and fear of Hashem, to bring about a state in which even the animal soul, even the left chamber, is nullified. What is the qualification? As he will explain later, this is not actual ishapcha as it is in a tzaddik, who comes to despise evil. Rather, the evil is merely asleep. It is nullified and asleep, but afterward it can awaken again. The Alter Rebbe will explain later in the chapter exactly what the difference is—how a tzaddik brings about ishapcha in the animal soul, and how a beinoni affects the animal soul. But in any case, the verse “with all your heart”—with both your inclinations—can apply to a beinoni too. At least during prayer, he can reach a state in which his inner faculties, too, are all for Hashem.