Tanya Ch. 13

... has been completed and can be found at ...

Sefer Tanya

Tanya Ch. 13 (Part 5)

“Nearly Everybody”: The Inner Life and Struggles of the Jewish Soul

(Based on “Tanya: Collected Discourses of R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi”)

by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________

Ch. 13

5.

So, to reiterate, despite his many spiritual accomplishments, a benoni's G-dly spirit is still-and-all not in control of his animalistic spirit other than occasionally, as when he manifests a love of G-d when he prays, and the like. But even then his G-dly spirit only manages to control and tamper down his animalistic spirit, and he continues on in his great and terrible struggle once again.

And that's because he would merely have subjected his untoward inlinations to his G-dly spirit's Binah mind-aspect and not his Chochma or Da'at ones (see 6:2 and note 2 there; and the end of 3:2). Which is to say that the benoni would have come to understand how important it is to draw close to G-d, but he wouldn't have completely assimilated the utter truth of that.

For Binah is the realm in which we're able to reflect upon G-d's infinite greatness (and upon how far from Him we'd strayed [Maskil L'Eitan]), and the one in which we can foster a fiery love for Him to be able to subdue the other side. But we'd need to call upon the deeper aspects of the G-dly spirit's mind-aspect we'd cited if we're to be a tzaddik.

In a way, then, a benoni's wrongfulness only "falls asleep" for all intents and purposes once in a while, as when he recites the Sh'ma or prays, when he can truly love G-d deeply [9]. For unlike the tzaddik who's love of G-d is part of his very being, the benoni is more attached to the world than to G-d, and he isn't really offput by wrongdoing or repulsed by the world, other than when he's deep in prayer or contemplation (Maskil L'Eitan).

In fact, that helps explain why the great Rabbah considered himself a benoni rather than a tzaddik (see 1:1) even though he never stopped studying Torah and so deeply loved G-d when he recited the Sh'ma or prayed. For though he knew those things about himself, he nonetheless only regarded himself as a benoni who prayed all day long at best, for all intents and purposes [10] ... which would certainly be a profound level of accomplishment.

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Notes:

[9] The yetzer harah could "awaken" right afterwards or fall right back to sleep, we're told. In fact it's been said that the yetzer harah gets bolder yet afterwards, much the way we're energized by a nap (Likut Perushim, Maareh Mekomot, p. 250).

[10] Some would suggest that Rabbah was wrong: that he *was* a tzaddik, but he was so humble and engrossed in Torah all the time that he didn't realize it (Maskil L'Eitan). But shouldn't he have been aware of his status as we're all expected to, as was pointed out in sect. 3 above? It would seem then that he wasn't a tzaddik and he knew that of himself only too well.

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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

********************************
Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued and can be ordered from here
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). His new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled
"Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal"

Tanya Ch. 13 (Part 4)

“Nearly Everybody”: The Inner Life and Struggles of the Jewish Soul

(Based on “Tanya: Collected Discourses of R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi”)

by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________

Ch. 13

4.

All that helps explain something cited in the very first chapter of this work -- why the soul that's about to enter this world had to be told to consider itself "basically wrongful even if everyone says otherwise" (Niddah 30B). And that's so the soul -- which is to say, each one of us before we're born -- would at least strive to be a benoni, who's "basically" but not utterly “wrongful” (since his yetzer harah is somewhat hushed though not eradicated).

Another reason we’re to do that, perheps, is because taking on such an attitude would undoubtedly leave a humbling mark behind in the inner-linings of our as-yet-unborn heart for the rest of our lives.

For indeed we're to always assume that our wrongful side will be in force in our heart, that we'll thus indeed be basically wrongful, and that our animalistic spirit will always and inevitably grow stronger and stronger as long as we live and participate in material life [6]. Since we're not tzaddikim.

For the truth is that even if you were to study Torah day and night -- and altruistically at that, with no thought of personal gain or renown -- that's still and all no guarantee that you'd have eradicated the evil within you [7]. It's just that you might manage to not *express* it by not thinking, saying, or doing anything wrong, thanks to your preoccupation with holy things, and to the G-d-given ability each one of us has to take control of our own actions by dint of will [8].

Understand, too, that this is one of the most astounding claims of this work. For what its says -- and outright at that -- is that one could indeed be a full-fledged, well-intentioned, senior, perhaps even exceptional Torah-scholar and still not be a tzaddik as RSZ depicts it! We'll soon see how that has been true in the past as well, and even among our greatest Talmudic sages (like Rabbah, as we indicated at the beginning).

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Notes:

[6] That clears up the other issues raised by our considering ourselves to be wrongful from inception, as pointed out in 1:3. For as worded there, "First off, how could we be compelled to be righteous by taking such an oath when our devotion is open to free choice? Secondly, we're advised elsewhere to never consider ourselves wrongful (Pirke Avot 2:18) .... And third, if we did consider ourselves wrongful then we'd hardly likely serve G-d as joyously and good-naturedly as we're bidden to (see Deuteronomy 28:47)". The point is that we're still subject to free will as benonim, since there'll always be a plethora of choices to made, moment by moment; we wouldn't be considering ourselves to be out-and-out wrongdoers in the end; and we're capable of being very happy indeed (which is the focus of many of the chapters to follow) and decidedly devout, albeit not utterly righteous (also see Maskil L'Eitan).

[7] But wouldn't his Torah-study itself have subjugated his animalistic spirit? No, for Torah-study only influences and impels our *G-dly* spirit, which is a portion of G-d (like the Torah itself); it has no connection to our animalistic spirit and can't undo it (Maskil L'Eitan).

[8] That's not to deny that that person wouldn't experience an intense inner struggle the whole time he'd be studying Torah deeply or praying selflessly (Biur Tanya), which could last for weeks, months, or even years at a time in some cases.

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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

********************************
Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued and can be ordered from here
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). His new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled
"Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal"

Da'at Tevunot (Section 1, Chapter 5)

... can be found at ...

Toras Ramchal

Ma'amar HaGeulah (The Rectified World, Ch. 3)

Ma'amar HaGeulah

-- "The Great Redemption", a reworking of Ramchal's "Ma'amar HaGeulah"

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman's series on www.torah.org

__________________________________________________

"The Great Redemption"

The Rectified World: Ch. 3

Up to now we'd learned that all wrongs will be made right in the course of the redemption (The Remembrance: Ch's 7, 10, 15); we've read about the battle between the forces of right and wrong, and pointed out the good that wrong does on a certain level (The Remembrance: Ch. 13); and it's been revealed to us that evil actually wanted to conjoin with good at a certain juncture, but did not (ibid.).

So, seeing how major a role right and wrong play in the cosmic order of things, it would help to get even more insight into the two. We'll now learn about the dynamics behind the struggles between good and evil for control of the world, how that struggle will finally come to an end, and how both the Shechina and the Jewish Nation will be rectified in the process.

Harkening back once again to the beginning of things (kabbalists often do that by the way, to make sure we see the big picture), Ramchal points out that "at first the Creator fashioned a side of holiness and a side of impurity", one in contradistinction to the other. And that "everything in this world hinges upon that fact" (para. 64). It thus becomes clear from this statement that both right and wrong play a purposeful role in the Greater Plan. So let's continue to delve into the relationship between the two.

We're told that "before the Shechina will shine" along the way to its rectification, "a single Luminary, which no other light could compare to in greatness and beauty (until then), will assume its place". And it will be termed “Peace” (para. 64). (That's not only to say that peace will reign from that point on, though that's true. "Peace" is also a name for the Sephirah of Yesod, to be discussed below, since it brokers peace between the upper and lower Sephirot.)

"All of creation ... will unite" thanks to the appearance of Peace, "and everything will enjoy a great degree of tranquility" as a consequence.

What will be the source of this Luminary's sudden importance (after all, Yesod was always there in the picture, albeit subdued), what will enable it to do the above, and what has all that to do with the ultimate rectification of the Shechina and the Jewish Nation? Without laying out the kabbalistic technicalities, suffice it to say that the great Luminary of Peace will assume its role as a consequence of the realignment of the Sephirot, and that itself will lead to the ultimate rectification.

But let's explain some details based on some earlier discussions. We'd discovered that while the ideal of order and hierarchy had been in place at the beginning, everything suddenly changed for the worse when the side of impurity rebelled against G-d. The Divine Flow diminished down here on earth as a result of that, and the Jewish Nation was weakened (The Exile: Ch. 7). The point is that all that will change with the Great Redemption, the subject under discussion.

For once everything is well on its way to being amended -- that is, once the Sephirot of Tipheret (the middle one), Malchut (the lowest one, synonymous with the Shechina), and Yesod (which sits between them) -- are joined together, the cosmic order will begin to be restored (The Exile: Ch. 10). And that's the point we're at now in the discussion.

There's only one hitch, though: the side of unholiness despises all this because peace is its undoing, so it will do everything it can to squelch it (para. 64), as we'll see.

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman and Torah.org

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

********************************
AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued at *at a discount*!
You can order it right now from here
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). His new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled
"Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal"

Tanya Ch. 13 (Part 3)

“Nearly Everybody”: The Inner Life and Struggles of the Jewish Soul

(Based on “Tanya: Collected Discourses of R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi”)

by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________

Ch. 13


3.

Understand, though, that the benoni's animalistic spirit is still as potent and vexing as ever, and it still has him long for all sorts of mundane pleasures; it doesn't become undone or supplanted by its encounter with his G-dly spirit, sad to say; and his G-dly spirit still and all doesn't rule over his body, despite G-d's help -- since at bottom, the benoni is not a tzaddik.

It's vitally important to realize that about the benoni -- that is, about *us*. Because it’s important to reiterate the point again and again that we’re actually referring to ourselves (potentially, that is) when we discuss all this; for as RSZ says at the very beginning of the next chapter, “*everyone* can become a benoni, at any time”.

For if we don’t realize that our animalistic spirit isn’t undone by its encounters with our G-dly spirit then we're likely be unaware of who we are and where we stand on the merit continuum. We might then fool ourselves into thinking we're more righteous than we are and slacken off in our quest for closeness to G-d accordingly (see Biur Tanya, Shiurim b’Sefer haTanya) [5]. Or, conversely, we might not effect certain tikkunim (specific mystical acts of rectification) that are expected of tzaddikim if we *are* tzaddikim but don't know it (Maskil L'Eitan). The truth be known, though, most people who aren't tzaddikim don't (and shouldn’t) assume that they are (Likutei Biurim, p. 327).
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Notes:

[5] See 3:4 above about another possible fallacy that results from misreading one’s stature: that of imagining yourself loving and fearing G-d when you really don't.

Yet, there seems to be a wish in every G-d-fearing individual's heart to be a tzaddik in fact, though few are; and we wonder why we can't be one. Perhaps we can take comfort, though, from the following insight by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto who offers that "this is (simply) the way G-d chose it to be. Nonetheless, while it is impossible for a whole nation to be of one spiritual type, and there are all sorts of degrees in people ... there will at least be found some special individuals who could completely prepare themselves, and by means of this make meritorious the unprepared for the love of G-d and the indwelling of His Presence" (Messilat Yesharim, Ch. 13).

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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

********************************
Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued and can be ordered from here
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). His new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled
"Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal"

Tanya Ch. 13 (Part 2)

“Nearly Everybody”: The Inner Life and Struggles of the Jewish Soul

(Based on “Tanya: Collected Discourses of R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi”)

by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________

Ch. 13

2.

But there's a third participant as well, we're told -- G-d Himself, who "stands at (the benoni's) right hand ... to save him" from the input of the animalistic spirit, in RSZ's own words. In fact it would take no less than G-d's own input to fend off the animalistic spirit's arguments since, for as our sages put it, "man's yetzer harah reinvigorates itself daily .... and were it not for the fact that the Holy One, blessed be He, was there to help him, man would never prevail over it" (Kiddushin 30B).

So, what actually goes on within is a quick and intense registering of arguments pro and con by equally adroit opposing advocates playing off of each other's points; a single, very vulnerable litigant in the midst of it all; and a generous sympathizer and advisor, G-d.

Yet we could legitimately then ask, "If G-d will indeed come to the benoni's rescue, then why does anyone have a yetzer harah in the first place?" The answer lies in the fact that the benoni is to make the "first move". He has to set out to reflect upon what's going on within him before G-d will abet him (Maskil L'Eitan) and to thus take the struggle seriously enough to warrant G-d's help; and he's to then consciously elect to do the right thing (Likutei Biurim), right there and then.

So, what G-d actually does in that situation is illumine (or, bolster) the G-dly spirit's side of the argument, which then gives the benoni the wherewithal to win his case [4].
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Notes:

{4] Maimondes said the following, "What David meant when he said, 'G-d is good and just, so He guides sinners onto the path; He directs the humble in the ways of Justice' (Psalms 25:8-9) is this: that G-d dispatches prophets to them to let them know His ways and to bring them to teshuvah. He also means that G-d provides people with the capacity to learn and comprehend" (H. T. 6:5). This is cited as a source for RSZ's insight (Likut Perushim 13:6). What's interesting about *that*, among other things, is that it underscores the fact that G-d doesn't only illumine us in the sort of vague, inchoate ways deep within the soul we might think He does from the context of RSZ's statement.

As Maimondes' remarks indicate, G-d also illumines us by exposing us to prophets (and teachers), and through our own insights. It should also be recorded that others think the illumination is provided us by the daily prayers and recitation of the Sh'ma already cited as special moments of elevation (Likut Perushim, Maareh Mekomot, p. 247).

Incidentally, a wonderful depiction of the entire inner struggle is the following one by Rabbeinu Yonah (Shaarei Teshuva 1:11) "Understand that when you sin unwittingly, it's because you craved something, your impulses intensified and overwhelmed you, and your thoughts and feelings couldn't combat such an onslaught by quickly admonishing the ocean of cravings and drying it up. Your impulses fooled you, you fell into their trap for the moment, and you were ravaged by the winds of the yetzer harah. It's not as if you wanted to transgress, or had it in mind to ever do that again."

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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

********************************
Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued and can be ordered from here
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). His new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled
"Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal"

Tanya Ch. 13 (Part 1)

“Nearly Everybody”: The Inner Life and Struggles of the Jewish Soul

(Based on “Tanya: Collected Discourses of R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi”)

by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________

Ch. 13

1.

It's become clear by now that the true benoni is just like the rest of us inwardly when it comes to his snares and affinities, yet quite unlike us outwardly, since he doesn't acquiesce to them (see 12: 2). That's not at all to say that a benoni is a hypocrite; the point is that unlike us, he's always contending with his inner anomalies and struggling to prevail over his animalistic tendencies while we hardly or only occasionally, do. But let's try to get some insight into the benoni's inner struggle.

Now, we'd expect a benoni to be depicted as being ruled-over either by his animalistic or G-dly spirit in an unending series of inner victories and defeats [1]. And we'd assume him to be beholden to one at one point, and to the other at another. But it's important to understand that, as our sages explained it, while the benoni is indeed pressured or baited by each spirit to acquiesce to its side of the argument, he's in fact ruled-over by neither [2]. (After all, if he were in fact ruled-over by either one he'd be an out-and-out tzaddik or rasha!)

Instead we're told that his animalistic and G-dly spirits merely *advocate* for one side of the argument the benoni is having with himself about whether to do, say, or think something untoward [3]. The point is that neither advocate has the final say; only the litigant, the benoni himself, does.
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Notes:

1] Once again we must underscore that when we speak of our expectations for a benoni we're actually citing our expectations for ourselves -- once we reach that potentiality.

[2] Our sages actually depict the process as being "judged" by the yetzer harah and yetzer hatov (Berachot 61B; see Ch. 1 in the original, as well as our reference to it at the end of 1:2), but we've described the scenario in modern court-trial terms, using for example, the terms "advocates" and "litigant".

[3] The benoni has been depicted as dangling in midair, in a manner of speaking; open and vulnerable to two commanding voices that alternatively disallow him to ascend *or* descend with any ease (Likut Perushim, Maareh Mekomot, p. 247). How apt and wise a portrayal of the human moral dilemma that is!

It's been pointed out incidentally that halachically, each judge (or, "advocate") in a case must state his opinion (Maskli L'Eitan). That would seem to indicate that each one of us must know and be able to state what we truly want or don't want before we can be expected to transcend anything.

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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

********************************
Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued and can be ordered from here
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). His new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled
"Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal"

Da’at Tevunot (Section 1, Chapter 4)

... can be found at ...

Toras Ramchal

"Eight Chapters" (Chapter Six, Part 3)

“Spiritual Excellence” with Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Our Current Text: Moshe Maimonides's (Rambam's) “Eight Chapters”

-- Rabbi Feldman's on going series for Torah.org

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"Eight Chapters"

Chapter Six (Part 3)

Yes, it would indeed be magnificent if we wouldn't even think of sinning, and would always do the right thing ... but that depends on what you mean by "the right thing".

For what the early philosophers considered to be bad, "the sort of acts that would make the person who'd never want to commit them (indeed) loftier than someone who does want to, but who subdues his yetzer harah so as not to" as Rambam puts is, are things that everyone considers bad. Like "murder, theft, robbery, fraud, harming an innocent person ... and the like". Every decent, civilized, reasonable person would agree that those are inherently wrongful acts, and that good people wouldn't do such things or have much trouble avoiding them.

But the sorts of bad acts that one would have to struggle to not commit, and which he'd be admired for not committing, are the kinds that aren't at all inherently, manifestly wrong. They're what Rambam terms “authority-based” prohibitions, or things we only know to be wrong because the Torah prohibits them. Who, for example, would imagine it wrong to eat meat and milk together, if left to his own devices? What's wrong with wearing wool and linen together (known as "shaatnez")? Who would ever have thought that it's wrong to cook on Shabbat?

In other words, if knowing that it's forbidden, I'm tempted to eat unkosher food, I struggle with that urge and finally determine to not eat it, I'm to be commended for my strength of character and will have managed to prove myself better than my instincts. If I'd only not murdered somebody or robbed him because I'd come to realize right then and there that would be wrong, then I'd only have revealed my baseness.

What's Rambam's point, though, in bringing this all up in this work? Granted it's an interesting question and a clever resolution to the dilemma, but it seems tangential and irrelevant to Rambam's overarching intention to have us better ourselves. But what he's doing is underscoring the fact that we only attain *Jewish* spiritual excellence when we adhere to common ethical guidelines and Torah-based ones also. For one could not be righteous in the true sense of the term as a Jew and not be sensitive to Jewish values.

Rambam ends this chapter here, but there's another matter to touch upon that he spells out elsewhere which we'll come to: how we're to repent if we don't succeed in our ethical struggles.

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman and Project Genesis

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

********************************
AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued at *at a discount*!
You can order it right now from here
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). His new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled
"Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal"

Tanya Ch. 12

... has been completed and can be found at ...

Sefer Tanya

Tanya Ch. 12 (Part 5)

“Nearly Everybody”: The Inner Life and Struggles of the Jewish Soul

(Based on “Tanya: Collected Discourses of R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi”)

by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________

Ch. 12

5.

But a benoni is still and all not a tzaddik -- despite the fact that the light of his G-dly spirit became greater than the dark foolishness of the husks in his being, and regardless of the fact that it played no part in any of his thoughts, utterances, and deeds. Since his inner being hadn't been fully disassociated from the animalistic spirit, and because his animalistic spirit reemerges -- in full flower -- as soon as the benoni finishes praying.

Why is that so? Because the only sort of love of G-d in his heart would be the sort that's naturally sequestered in our G-dly spirit all the time rather than the more exalted "fiery love" for Him, which we’ll learn about later on in this work. And so he's capable of sinning right after having prayed, and of desiring all sorts of mundane things -- both permitted and forbidden -- as if he hadn't just prayed. It's just that it wouldn't occur to him to *actually* sin.

He might indeed, though, be subject to a sudden and involuntary influx of untoward thoughts, which would confound his Divine service and Torah study. After all, as our sages said, "(There are) three sins that no one escapes from for even a day: Sinful thoughts, (lack of) concentration in prayer, and the 'dust' of slander" (Baba Battra 164B) [10]. Nevertheless, the impression left behind in his being from his prayers as well as the fear and love of G-d that's naturally sequestered in his heart do indeed help him to overcome those sorts of thoughts, and prevent them from ruling over him and from having him act out on their promptings.

That's why, in the end, the benoni's animalistic spirit doesn't take control over his untoward thoughts and thus can't force him to dwell on them. As he's able to reject them out of hand as soon as they occur to him and to be repulsed by them [11]. And he's also able to simply refuse to consciously dwell on them, act out on them, or to even utter them; since anyone who dwells on such thoughts is deemed a rasha at that point, while a benoni is never, ever a rasha -- not even for a moment.

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Notes:

[10] See our note 5 to ch. 11.

[11] That's to say that while the benoni still has to contend with untoward thoughts on some level, the same sorts of thoughts merely appear-then-disappear in an incomplete tzaddik's mind, while utter tzaddikim don't even experience them (Maskil L’Eitan).

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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

********************************
Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued and can be ordered from here
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). His new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled
"Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal"

Tanya Ch. 12 (Part 4)

“Nearly Everybody”: The Inner Life and Struggles of the Jewish Soul

(Based on “Tanya: Collected Discourses of R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi”)

by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________

Ch. 12

4.

Nonetheless since his animalistic spirit doesn't have full reign over him as it largely does in the case of a rasha, the benoni never actually sins in thought, speech, or action, as we said, and he never dwells on how to satisfy his desires. But, how? By virtue of the fact that his mind is able to control his heart. Which is to say that he can consciously decide to ignore his inner promptings and do what's right.

In fact, we *all* have this innate ability to consciously control our desires (Zohar 3, p. 224A) -- albeit with a struggle -- and to thus not succumb to sinful thoughts, utterances, or deeds [8]. And we can even distract our minds from earthly desires to the point where we can foster *holy* desires (which -- truth be known -- seems so out of character for us, as attached as we often are to the world) [9].

In any event the verse that best illustrates this phenomenon reads, "I saw that wisdom is as superior to foolishness as light is to darkness" (Ecclesiastes 2:13). What that indicates is that just as light is clearly superior to and more potent than darkness, given that just a little of it routinely dispels a lot of darkness, our animalistic spirit's all-encompassing foolishness can likewise be easily dispersed by applying just a touch of the wisdom that lies in our G-dly spirit.

After all, as our sages said, "A person only sins when the spirit of foolishness overcomes him (Sotah 3A), which is to say that left to our own devices we'd never sin, thanks to our G-dly spirit's inherent wisdom and light; we only do when we acquiesce to the darkness and foolishness that lies at the heart of our animalistic sprit. For at bottom our G-dly spirit wants to reign over our being and work its way into our thoughts, utterances, and actions, and to fulfill mitzvot by their means.

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Notes:

[8] This ability will prove to be a major theme of this work, by the way. What it comes down to is consciously and willfully changing your focus away from one thing to its extreme opposite. (The truth be known, it’s indeed the will that matters most in the process, since it’s what has ultimate control over the personality [Likut Perushim, Maareh Mekomot, p. 237]). In fact, we all exhibit this ability to set "mind over matter" in various areas of our life, as when we decide to undergo surgery, for example, even when we're afraid to, simp;y because it has to be done (Maskil L’Eitan).

[9] Let's explain the difference between a benoni and a tzaddik at this point by using the analogy of a country being threatened by an outside interloper, as cited in 9:3 above.

A tzaddik would have completely vanquished the enemy, who'd thus no longer be a threat. An incomplete rasha -- even one who engages in Torah and mitzvot most of his life -- does find the enemy coming in and out of his borders all the time. And while a benoni would have prevented the enemy from entering the city, he'd still have to be on the lookout for him all the time. But unlike the rasha, the benoni wouldn't let the enemy in (though it would always be a struggle for him -- other than at auspicious times) (Biur Tanya).

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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

********************************
Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued and can be ordered from here
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). His new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled
"Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal"

Tanya Ch. 12 (Part 3)

“Nearly Everybody”: The Inner Life and Struggles of the Jewish Soul

(Based on “Tanya: Collected Discourses of R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi”)

by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________

Ch. 12

3.

But there *are* instances in which the benoni's inner being is actually free from the tauntings of his animalistic spirit -- though only temporarily. And that would be when he's reciting The Sh'ma or uttering The Sh'mone Esrai prayer [5]. Since those are times when distinct and extraordinary interactions between G-d and us can take place, which are termed instances of Mochin d'Gadlut (literally, "large mindedness", or "amplified awareness").

For that's when we can all attach our G-dly spirit's three mind elements (see 3:1 above) unto G-d's presence by reflecting deeply upon G-d's infinite greatness, and we can set off a sense of fiery love for Him in our hearts and cling unto Him.

"Extra light" is said to shine downward upon us from up above then [6], which then enables more light to shine upon the G-dly spirit, that in turn helps it to suppress the animalistic spirit (Likutei Biurim). The benoni's mind connects more easily to G-d then, and he can thus delve more deeply into G-d's greatness, and more easily arouse the sort of fiery love that lies dormant in the right side of his heart [7]. Those, then, are the most propitious moments in a soul’s life.

So indeed, that's when the benoni's animalistic spirit is subjugated to his G-dly spirit (the way a tzaddik's is), since his mind is attached to G-d's greatness then.

It's just that his animalistic spirit is only asleep, if you will, then, and his capacity to sin is temporarily "turned off". The point is that his animalistic spirit will still-and-all awaken just as soon as the benoni finishes praying and he once again starts to fantasize about one worldly attraction or another (though some small semblance of his prayers can and often does indeed stay with him through the day [see Maskil L’Eitan]).

(We'll explain some of the dynamic involved in reciting The Sh'ma in our forthcoming Appendix 1, based on Shaar HaYichud V’haEmunah, ch. 7; and in utteringThe Sh'mone Esrai in Appendix 2, based on Kuntres Acharon, Essay 4.)
_________________________________________

Notes:

[5] "Reciting 'The Sh'ma'" entails reading and concentrating on certain potent and affirmative verses that speak about G-d's oneness, might, love, dependability, and justice; about His expectations of us; and about the exile, including Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11: 13-21, and Numbers 15:38-41.

The "Sh'mone Esrai” is the central text of all Jewish prayer.

[6] I.e., a greater degree of immaterial, numinous "nourishment" from up above is said to shine.

[7] RSZ says that this process is in effect not only when we recite the Sh'ma and Sh'mone Esrai -- but also when we recite the blessings before the Sh'ma and after it (and hence before the Sh'mone Esrai). We're told in ch. 49 below that the first of those blessings depicts different aspects of G-d's greatness -- how the most sublime angels are nullified in His presence, how far exalted above them He is, etc. And that the second one tells of how much He loves the Jewish Nation, how He draws them close to Him, etc. Hence, after reflecting upon these blessings one is indeed ready to recite The Sh'ma in the appropriately lofty state of mind.

It's nonetheless important to point out that it's nonetheless true that the benoni's love doesn't "spill over" to the left side of his heart then, and thus doesn't "douse" the fiery love for the world in our being as it would for a tzaddik (Maskil L’Eitan).

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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

********************************
Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued and can be ordered from here
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). His new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled
"Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal"

Ma'amar HaGeulah (The Rectified World, Ch. 2)

Ma'amar HaGeulah

-- "The Great Redemption", a reworking of Ramchal's "Ma'amar HaGeulah"

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman's series on www.torah.org

__________________________________________________

"The Great Redemption"

The Rectified World: Ch. 2

Ramchal then hearkens back to what was to have been -- but almost wasn't.

"At first", he reports, "a great gate was opened upon the Holy Land ... from which all blessings and peace were to go forth" through the world. But once the Holy Temple was destroyed and we were exiled that gate was closed, and narrower passageways were opened in the heavens in their place. The point is, though, that once the redemption starts the original gate will open up again, and grow wider and wider (see para. 62), which will allow for a great deal of illumination.

The narrow passageways will begin to disappear by then, "but in stages" (Ibid.).

Ramchal adds a daunting thought. He says that once the narrow passageways were opened for the meanwhile "they were ordered and assigned to stay open throughout the exile and to not close up for even a moment", for if they did close "the world would be destroyed" (ibid.). That implies of course that we need to be grateful for the narrow passageways, to be sure, no matter how relatively minor they are by comparison. But it also has us wonder just how powerful the fuller light will be, considering the fact that everything we know of now owes its continued existence to those lesser ones!

Nonetheless, the eventual slow closing of the narrow passageways will bring on a period of great darkness here below for a time, until the original gate would have begun to reopen. And "a lot of courage ... will be needed then, since the times will be so terribly bleak and troublesome", as the forces of evil will have "hardened their hearts" even more so than earlier on, in the process (see para. 63).

That's to say that there there'll be a stretch of time in which the great light would have to wait in the wings before it could reappear. And in the course of that stretch of time, evil will edge its way through before it couldn't appear any longer (much the way a flu grows more and more virulent until the antibodies take hold and squelch it).

Having touched on the presence of evil once again, Ramchal then begins to explicate more about the enmity between good and evil. He starts off rather enticingly by offering that he's about to solve some great mysteries which will enable us "to see how things are connected to each other" in the process (see para. 64). We'll turn to that next, and follow it with a discussion of a number of esoteric ideas to the end of the book.

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman and Torah.org

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

********************************
AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued at *at a discount*!
You can order it right now from here
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). His new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled
"Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal"

Tanya Ch. 12 (Part 2)

“Nearly Everybody”: The Inner Life and Struggles of the Jewish Soul

(Based on “Tanya: Collected Discourses of R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi”)

by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________

Ch. 12

2.

It's vitally important to understand, though, that the only reason why a benoni doesn't actually sin is because of the fact that his three outer "garments" aren't overtaken by his animalistic spirit [3]. That's to say that while it's true that he doesn't think, say, or actually do anything wrong -- nonetheless "inside" those garments where he himself lies, a benoni *can* be overtaken by his animalistic spirit (unlike the tzaddik who’s no longer subject to that).

So, his righteousness is in a certain, broad sense only "skin deep", in that in his core he isn't fully, essentially righteous; it's just that no one would know that, given how righteous all his thoughts, utterances, and actions are [4].

That's certainly not to say that he's a hypocrite or self-delusional. Only that despite his overt and thoroughly honest goodness and devotion, deep in his being he's still-and-all open to sins and shortcomings. Hence unlike a tzaddik, a benoni is always engaged in an inner struggle (Biur Tanya); always at risk of lapsing. _________________________________________

Notes:

[3] See 4:2 for a discussion of the soul's "garments".

[4] Of course, only an individual himself and G-d Almighty can really know what anyone is and whether or not his righteousness goes to the core. But one can often-enough "read" another's mind in a sense if he's familiar enough with that person's patterns of actions and utterances. Of course no such reading is foolproof, since there are many well-trained individuals (like actors, con-men, and even well-meaning teachers of different stripes) who can indeed mislead others, but the point is still largely valid.

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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

********************************
Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued and can be ordered from here
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). His new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled
"Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal"

Tanya Ch. 12 (Part 1)

“Nearly Everybody”: The Inner Life and Struggles of the Jewish Soul

(Based on “Tanya: Collected Discourses of R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi”)

by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________

Ch. 12

1.

Now, since it's the "benoni" state that offers us the most hope, in light of the fact that so few of us are or will ever actually be tzaddikim, let's explore it in depth and contrast it with the tzaddik and rasha states.

A benoni is depicted as someone whose animalistic biases are still there within and haven’t be transmuted to goodness as they had been in a tzaddik’s heart, all right. But they nonetheless never vanquish or conquer his G-dly biases (the way a rasha's animalistic biases do) [1]. And as a result, the benoni is said to *never sin*, be it in thought, speech, or in action; and he’s able to funnel all his thoughts, utterances, and actions into mitzvot instead of sins [2].

So let's examine the benoni's makeup in more depth.

__________________________________________

Notes:

[1] The nub of untoward thoughts do occur to the benoni though, which distract him from Torah study and from his mitzvah-life and have him long for worldly things, as we'll see later on in this chapter. But they don't *vanquish or conquer* him (Likutei Biurim), though they certainly do gnaw away at his being on some level.

[2] Curiously, the benoni is actually portrayed as being someone who has "*never sinned in his life* nor *ever would*". We're never told that a tzaddik never sinned or never would, so how could that be! Is a benoni then greater yet than a tzaddik? He's really not, by definition; so what's RSZ's point?

Part of the answer lies in something we'll learn in ch. 14. RSZ writes there that anyone can *become* a benoni at any time, which means to say that the benoni state is a fluid rather than a fixed one: no one is born a benoni and no one is denied the opportunity to become one. Thus we can say that when one does indeed become a benoni he rises above and severes his personal ties to all past sins, and that that new lofty states affirms that he'll never sin in the future either (Likutei Biurim, Maskil L’Eitan, Tanya M'vuar). And that's why he can be said to have never sinned or to never sin.

But some frankly see this explanation as rather far-fetched (Likutei Biurim). After all, we're advised to reiterate all our past sins year after year in our confessions on Yom Kippur (see The Gates of Repentance 4:21), which seems to affirm that our sins are never fully gone, on one level; and we're likewise taught to never rest assured that we won't ever sin in the future (see Pirke Avot 2:4 and ch. 30), thus we can never be sure we'll never sin in the future.

So we'd offer another explanation, based on a statement made in ch. 7. We're taught there that when we sin, our souls attach itself on to the other side and we become removed from G-d. Now, could there be anything more daunting or exasperating for anyone trying to draw *closer* to G-d than that?

"What could I possibly do to reverse that and return to G-d?" such a person would wonder. What we're told he -- or any one of us in such straits -- could do is *long* to return to Him. But not just simply and honestly -- rather, "with an intensity *that even the righteous can't muster*"; an intensity that's truly "heartfelt and thoroughgoing" (ch. 7).

The point is that a benoni is thus the ideal and true penitent at bottom.

He's someone who had gone awry in the past, come to realize how far off the mark he'd wandered, then managed to undo and *redo* himself. And that while he'd indeed distanced himself from G-d, it was that very distance that had him draw close; i.e., his "illness" itself had enabled him to produce enough "antibodies" to be fully healed. So in a certain sense a benoni could be considered greater than a tzaddik. Since "the reward conforms to the efforts made" (Pirke Avot 8:23) and the benoni has in fact worked harder at his service to G-d than a tzaddik (see Biur Tanya; and Hilchot Teshuvah 7:4,7).

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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

********************************
Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued and can be ordered from here
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). His new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled
"Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal"

Da'at Tevunot (Section 1, Ch. 3)

... can be found at ...

Toras Ramchal

Tanya Ch. 11

... has been completed and can be found at ...

Sefer Tanya

"Eight Chapters" (Chapter Six, Part 2)

“Spiritual Excellence” with Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

Our Current Text: Moshe Maimonides's (Rambam's) “Eight Chapters”

-- Rabbi Feldman's on going series for Torah.org

**********************************************************

"Eight Chapters"

Chapter Six (Part 2)

Not only are we to be admired for resisting temptation, but we're taught that the Talmud deems someone who wants to sin but somehow manages not to, as being even loftier and of a *higher* spiritual caliber than someone who doesn't struggle with the temptation.

That's to say, for example, that if I were to somehow be tempted to bite into a piece of cake on Yom Kippur, really dallied with the idea of doing that, knew I certainly shouldn't, then resolved right there and then not to take that bite, that I'd be more admirable for my victory than someone who didn't eat that Yom Kippur simply because he didn't care to or wouldn't think to.

"In fact," Rambam points out, our sages even said that "the greater and more perfect a person is, the *stronger* his craving for sins, and the greater his suffering for having to deny himself them"! As they put it, "The greater the person, the greater the yetzer harah“(Sukkah 52A). That's to say that not only is our yetzer harah native to our humanity, but it also acts as a barometer of our inner standing (though that's certainly not to imply that we're then allowed to act out on it!)

And not only that, but they also said that "the more the person who subdues his yetzer harah suffers in the process" -- the harder his struggle -- " the greater his reward", since “one’s reward is commensurate with his suffering“ (Pirke Avot 5:19).

Further yet, he adds, "they even commanded us to subdue our yetzer harah" rather than deny its power over us, "and warned us never to say (something like), 'I personally wouldn’t want to commit that sin even if the Torah didn’t forbid it'". That's to say that the sages wanted us to acknowledge the difficulty of certain things required of us that simply don't come easily to us, to buck up in the face of the challenge, and to emerge triumphant.

In fact, “Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel said, Never say, ‘I just couldn't eat meat and milk, ... wear shatnez, ... or marry someone forbidden to me’" since that would truly be wrong. Instead he would have us acknowledge the travails and constraints, and to say instead, "I can (do those things, and am even inclined to doing them despite how wrong they are), but what can I do -- my Father in Heaven forbids me to!’“ (Sifra, Kedoshim).

We're to own-up to the lure and temptation of the forbidden, to admit that we want to give in to it, but to resist it at bottom because G-d wants us to. For we're human indeed and open to untoward suggestion, but that we want deep down to draw close to the Almighty most of all.

But then again, wouldn't it be rather noble of us to never even *consider* sinning and to just naturally be drawn toward goodness? Aren't people who are inherently repelled by sin very lofty indeed? So, there must be something to be said for what those early philosophers held.

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman and Project Genesis

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

********************************
AT LONG LAST! Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued at *at a discount*!
You can order it right now from here
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). His new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled
"Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal"

Tanya Ch. 11 (Parts 3 & 4)

“Nearly Everybody”: The Inner Life and Struggles of the Jewish Soul

(Based on “Tanya: Collected Discourses of R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi”)

by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________

Ch. 11

3.

For once a rasha of this ilk -- once someone like most of us! -- regains himself and regrets what we did, and asks G-d to forgive him for his sins, He indeed will, and he’ll be a full-fledged penitent [6]. That is, as long as he takes our sages' advice as to how to completely undo the various sorts of sins we tend to lapse into [7].

Understand as well, nonetheless, that though he'd indeed be forgiven if he does teshuvah -- he nevertheless remains a rasha essentially (Likutei Biurim), since he's still capable of lapsing into sin (Tanya M’vuar)!

We'll get back to this troubling notion soon enough, but let's now speak about people we're more comfortable denouncing as rashaim.

4.

Though there's a wide variety of them as well, out-and-out rashaim are generally the sort of people who lapse into more serious sins and do, say, or think some rather bad, and even some awful and horrible things -- perhaps again and again, and time after time.

But some of them can also regret their sins and think of repenting (thanks to the native goodness in their G-dly spirits). It's just that they haven't the wherewithal to conquer one sin or another they'd become habituated to, so they *don't* tend to repent.

They're termed "rashaim (who are) full of regrets" (see Reishit Chochma, Sha’ar HaYira, Ch. 3). But at bottom all such rashaim have is regret, and little more.

In point of fact, though, some out-and-out, thoroughgoing rashaim *never* regret what they do and never even consider repenting. And that’s because their animalistic spirit had so overtaken their G-dly spirit that the latter leaves its place in their heart and merely "hovers overhead" instead [8].
__________________________________________

Notes:

[6] First, understand that his regret wouldn't be hypocritical, as we might think, but rather a partial [albeit flawed] victory in an inner conflict between his two disparate spirits (Biur Tanya).

Second, realize that if he so uproots his untoward desire that it was as if he hadn't committed that particular sin -- or any other, then he'd have become a benoni (Likutei Biurim), which will be discussed in the following chapters.

Moshe Chaim Luzzatto explains the dynamics behind the efficacy of regret in The Path of the Just, where he writes that "the uprooting of the *will* to (commit a particular sin) is equivalent to uprooting the act itself". For by virtue of the fact that "the penitent recognizes his sin ... and regrets having done it as much as he'd regret a vow he'd made inadvertently, sincerely wishes he had never done that thing, is terribly pained in his heart that he'd ever done such a thing ... -- such an uprooting of the (sin) from his will is likened to rescinding the vow, and he is forgiven (i.e., absolved)" (Ch. 4).

Assumedly, though, as Maimonides would put it, he'd have to have come to the point where "He who discerns all concealed things" -- G-d Almighty -- "would affirm that he'd never again commit that sin" (Hilchot Teshuva 2:2), which would be a decidedly solid and thorough point to have come to.

[7] See Yomah 86A (as well as RSZ's Iggeret HaTshuvah 1) where it's said that sins are indeed forgiven as a consequence of teshuvah, but not necessarily right there and then. For, one who doesn't fulfill an imperative but then repents is forgiven immediately; while one who commits a transgression but then repents isn't forgiven until the following Yom Kippur; and one who commits a transgression that incurs excision or capital punishment but then repents is only forgiven after having suffered tribulations.

Also see 7:4 above, and Hilchot Teshuvah Ch. 2. And see the late Lubavitcher Rebbe zt”l’s insightful, rather exhaustive yet concise layout of the degrees of teshuvah one might achieve or not manage to, depending on his spiritual rank; the various categories of sins different sorts of rashaim might be more or less prone to; and what might inspire some rashaim to repent which might not influence others as cited in Likut Perushim 11:1.

[8] What that indicates for one thing is that one’s G-dly spirit is never totally vanquished and undone, no matter the depths to which we might sink; and that it's ready to descend at anytime, no matter how rarely it may be asked to. It also alludes to how little some people sense its presence.

Understand as well that while here are *degrees* of hovering, including hovering close overhead, somewhat at a distance, etc.; nonetheless at bottom, it's still a gift from G-d that such a state exists (Maskil L’Eitan).

Let it also be said outright that one could be utterly removed from and opposed to Torah, and still call upon his G-dly spirit (ibid.).

RSZ cites the sages' statement that "the Shechina is present whenever ten Jews (of whatever moral stripe) eat together" (Sanhedrin 39A) at this point in the text as proof of this. For what that indicates is that the Shechina can't help but dwell where there are 10 Jews -- even if they're utter rashaim (Biur Tanya).

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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

********************************
Rabbi Feldman's translation of "The Gates of Repentance" has been reissued and can be ordered from here
Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has also translated and commented upon "The Path of the Just", and "The Duties of the Heart" (Jason Aronson Publishers). His new work on Maimonides' "The Eight Chapters" will soon be available.
Rabbi Feldman also offers two free e-mail classes on www.torah.org entitled
"Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal"

Tanya Ch. 11 (Parts 1 & 2)

“Nearly Everybody”: The Inner Life and Struggles of the Jewish Soul

(Based on “Tanya: Collected Discourses of R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi”)

by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

__________________________________________

Ch. 11

1.

As we'd said in ch. 6, "each and every thing in this world has a parallel, mirror opposite" -- including our ethical and spiritual standing. So just as there are complete and less-than-complete tzaddikim, there are likewise complete and less-than-complete wrongdoers, *rashaim*. A complete and utter rasha (singular of rashaim) is someone who's hopelessly out-and-out wicked, while a less-than-complete rasha is one whose goodness has been overwhelmed and "outnumbered" by his or her wrongfulness, to be sure, but less so.

In short, a rasha is someone whose goodness which is nestled in his G-dly spirit is overcome by the wrongfulness in his animalistic spirit. But know too that there are as many different grades of rashaim as there are of tzaddikim.

In point of fact and highly ironically (as well as emblematic of our age, we’d dare say), we'd sometimes consider some rashaim to be rather *good and wholesome* people who "happen to lapse", as we’d put it, from time to time. Indeed according to RSZ, a rasha might even sin in only very minor ways and only once-in-a-great-while. So we'll clearly have to delineate just what a rasha is and what he’s not.

2.

We'll start off by examining the makeup of less-than-complete, let's say ordinary, everyday, run-of-the-mill rashaim. By definition, they're people who are guilty of either uttering, thinking, or doing forbidden things. But as we suggested above, the sins they commit might be rather innocuous.

They might for example dally with only minor, hands-on prohibitions; or they might say something ambiguous about someone that might only insinuate something bad about him rather than out-and-out slander him [1]; or they might speak disparagingly or sarcastically about something or another (which is forbidden of us), but certainly not vengefully or acrimoniously [2]; they might only think or fantasize about sinning (by having lewd thoughts, for example) without actually planning to act out on those thoughts [3]; or they might be free to study Torah and decide not to, and delve into inanities instead (see Pirke Avot 3:4) -- though not into actual heresy. In fact, they might not even really enjoy these lapses (Biur Tanya) and only fall into them out of sheer force of habit or upbringing, laziness, apathy and the like.

Nonetheless, despite the seeming "normalcy" and "reasonableness" of their sins, and *even though they might have committed no other sins in their lifetime* such individuals are still considered rashaim at that point [4]! For at bottom, anyone who sins -- whose animalistic spirit overtakes him and has him do something wrong -- is a rasha [5].

But all is not lost for the many of us who are guilty of this of course, G-d forbid!
__________________________________________

Notes:

[1] This is referred to as uttering the "dust" (i.e., the merest whisp) of slander. The classic example of that entails responding vaguely to a stranger's question as to where he could find a hot meal in town by saying that he could always find one in so-and-so's house, since there's always something on the fire there (Erichin 16B). The statement is somewhat slanderous because of its nebulousness. It could either indicate that so-and-so is always prepared for guests (to his credit) -- or that he's simply a glutton. Thus, a speaker who meant to praise so-and-so would have been guilty of besmirching his character if his listener took what he said the wrong way.

But we're told that *everyone* is guilty of the "dust" of slander (Babba Battra 165A) -- tzaddikim apparently included. "Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: Most (people are guilty) of robbery, some (are guilty) of lewdness, but all (are guilty) of ... the 'dust' of slander". Apparently then RSZ must contend that the statement isn't to be taken literally, and that while indeed *virtually* everyone is guilty of it, some aren't. We'll return to this point shortly since it touches on a larger issue.

[2] One disparages another by insulting or discouraging him. Rabbeinu Yonah cites different examples of disparagement (The Gates of Repentance 3:174-177), but the most innocent of all is disparaging someone jokingly rather than out of meaness or worse, which is apparently the sort of disparagement RSZ is referring to here.

[3] RSZ points out in the text itself that we're taught that thinking about sinning is actually more serious and onerous than sinning itself (see Yomah 29A). But what's wrong with merely *thinking* about sinning if you don't actuate your thoughts? It's explained that since by definition thoughts aren't actions, it's harder regretting having had them and thus harder to repent for them (Biur Tanya), and that's why they're more serious. But that still begs the question as to why the fantasies themselves are forbidden.

Some say that since your thoughts are deeper within your being than your actions are, it follows that thinking about sinning taints you on a far deeper level than actions do (see Maskil L’Eitan). Others say that it’s because thought is a very significant phenomenon, so when you “stain” it, it would be like staining fine linen as opposed to staining the coarse wool of physical actions; or it's because the very fact that you’re thinking of something untoward goes to show just how attached to it you are (Likut Perushim, Maareh Mekomot, pp. 224-225).

Yet if thinking of sinning is worse than actually doing so, then why in fact is someone who thinks of sinning listed here among those on the lower, less serious scale of rashaim? Because at bottom some forbidden thoughts are less damaging than others.

[4] As we're taught later on, even if you commit a minor transgression you still and all do go against G-d's Will and thus sever yourself from His Presence (Ch. 24; see Maskil L’Eitan).

[5] See note 10 to the previous chapter for the sinful convictions a rasha could also have.

Let's refer back now to what we said at the end of note 1 above. There are other statements that indicate that no one is utterly without sin. We're told that "there is no one so righteous upon earth that does good and does not sin" (Ecclesiastes 7:20), that "there is no man who does not sin" (1 Kings 18:46; 2 Chronicles 6:36), and we're even advised not to be "too righteous" (Ibid. 7:16). Rambam asserts that “each and every person has his merits and his offences” (Hilchot Teshuvah 3:1), that "it is no more possible to be born either inherently lofty or flawed than it is to be born instinctively adept at a trade" (Sh'mone Perakim, ch. 8), and that prophets -- whom Rambam asserted were of greater rank than the pious (Ibid. Introduction) -- "couldn’t prophesy unless (they had) acquired all the intellectual virtues and *most* of the more significant personal ones" (Ibid., ch. 7, italics added), indicating that they were not without their flaws, however minor.

Hence, many would argue against RSZ's position and posit that *no one* is uttery righteous.

Another point to be made is that we might wonder how the world manages to go on if the great preponderance of us are rashaim. After all, weren't many in antiquity destroyed as a consequence of their immorality, like the people of the Generation of the Dispersion and of Sodom?

For Rambam records that "If a country's inhabitants' merits outweigh their offenses, the country is considered righteous; while if its inhabitants' offenses outweigh their merits, it's considered evil. And the same is true of the world at large, as well" (Hilchot Teshuva 3:1). He then goes on to report there that "when the offenses of (the world's) inhabitants outweigh their merits, *it's to be destroyed immediately*" (Ibid 3:2, italics added). Since the world hasn't been destroyed, it might stand to reason then that humanity as a whole is in fact more righteous than wrongful.

Rambam does provide us, though, with an insight about the state of things that might help to explain this conundrum. He points out that "the determination of all this isn't based on the number of offenses or merits (we each commit) so much as *their relative worth*. For there are some merits that compensate for several offenses ... and ... some offenses that compensate for several merits" (italics added). After all, not everything we do and experience is laid out plain and mathematically explicit.

His point is that the determination of the value of our thoughts, utterances, and actions "can only be made by All-knowing G-d; since only He knows the relative worth of our merits and offenses." Thus it could indeed be argued that we're less wrongful than we appear to be since we do still exist.

(c) 2007 Rabbi Yaakov Feldman

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

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