A Condensation of Tanya (Part 2)

A CONDENSATION OF RABBI SHNEUR ZALMAN'S "TANYA"
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman
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PART TWO: Ch's 9 - 15

1. The first thing we'd need to know in our analysis of the workings of our two spirits is the following: Each one has a site in the body from which it emanates and affects. The G-dly spirit emanates from our brain for the most part and affects our heart as well as the rest of our body; while the animalistic spirit emanates from our heart for the most part, from which it effects our brain and thoughts as well as our body. We'll use that information later on to learn how to channel our drives under whatever circumstances we'll face.

2. The next dynamic to know is that the two spirits compete with each other like two benevolent kings vying for the loyalty of a great city-state, in that both spirits want to hold sway over the city-state that comprises our beings, and each has our own best interests in mind (yes -- even the animalistic spirit, since it too is ultimately and inwardly "on our side", for it also serves G-d's ultimate end, which is that we each thrive spiritually).

3. That's then explained in greater detail. We're taught that the whole of the G-dly spirit's being -- its ten mind and heart elements, as well as any Torah-based thoughts, utterances, or actions we might engage in thanks to it -- is a means of attaining holiness. For one thing, its mind elements are an expression of G-d's own wisdom and understanding. Hence, we're able to make use of them to dwell upon G-d's greatness and upon other matters that bring us to love Him (which is a *vitally* important theme in Tanya).

4. The animalistic spirit, on the other hand, which is the source of our vitality as well as all our wrongful traits, encourages us to do harm.

5. In any event, it's "the side we take" in the competition above that designates our spiritual, ethical status.

6. Now, some of us are righteous ("tzaddikim"), some wrongful ("rashaim"), and some of us fall into the category of the "benoni", which we'll soon elucidate. Each category has its subdivisions with real and nuanced differences, as we'll now lay out.

7. An utter tzaddik isn't someone who merely avoids acting out on his animalistic spirit (for even the rest of us are bidden to do that). He has utterly transposed his animalistic spirit to goodness, thanks to his utter and thoroughly transcendent love of G-d. A less-then-perfect tzaddik, on the other hand, is an individual who has indeed subdued his animalistic spirit and proved victorious in the face of it, who nonetheless hasn't *transposed* it.

8. A rasha, on the other hand, isn't simply an inveterate sinner as we might think. (In fact, thinking that he is makes it easier for us to imagine that the great majority of us who aren't wicked, cruel, or decadent couldn't ever be considered a rasha, which simply isn't so.) For there are various types of rasha.

9. An utter rasha ("rasha v'rah lo") is submerged in wrongdoing and never regrets having sinned or repents. And a less-than-utter rasha ("rasha v'tov lo") can go from the rather low end of wrongfulness to the more extreme one.

10. A relatively "decent" rasha -- who'd be on the lower end of wrongfulness -- is someone who hadn't subdued his untoward urges, but only sins from time to time by either saying, thinking, or doing something less-than-heinous or seriously forbidden; and he repents of those sins after the fact. An "indecent" rasha -- someone who'd border on utter wrongfulness -- is a person who's wrongfulness had gotten the upper hand more often than not, so he'd often say, think, or do heinous and seriously forbidden things. And though he might be moved to repent at the time, he still-and-all can't not sin.

11. Now on to the last category, the "benoni". RSZ defines a benoni as someone "who never has and never will sin", to our great surprise. Apparently a benoni isn't somewhere in-between a rasha and a tzaddik as he's classically understood to be. Instead, he's somewhere in-between a "decent" rasha and a less-then-utter tzaddik. He doesn't lapse into sin as a rasha does, but he also hasn't transposed his untoward urges.

12. The benoni is pulled by both his G-dly and his animalistic spirits, and senses himself to be in the thick of a mighty battle between the two. Yet he doesn't acquiesce to sin. Still-and-all, though, he can never be sure he'll always be victorious (other than when he's reciting the "Shema" and "Sh'mone Esrei" prayers, which will prove to be rich and auspicious opportunities for closeness to G-d).

13. Yet no matter how mighty and elevated a level of spiritual achievement that seems to be, we're assured that *each one of us* is capable of being a benoni -- though not a tzaddik. And that we can do it despite our current station, and notwithstanding everything that distract us from it.

14. There'll prove to be a plethora of subtle variances between one person's benoni status and another's, to be sure; a world of roles each can play in the here-and-now; and a vast array of options for growth for each one, which will be laid out.

15. At bottom, though, we're to know that the struggle itself for self-mastery is precious in G-d's eyes; hence the greater the challenge and subsequent victory, the more abundant the reward.

(c) 2004 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

(Feel free to contact me at feldman@torah.org )

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