Transcript
Good morning Boker Tov welcome back to 10 minutes of Tanya as always very grateful to our dear friends and sponsors Marilyn and Michael Fiedak this morning's shiur sponsored by Figgy Abbotts for the refuah shelaimah and successful back surgery of רויזא באשא בת פיגל גיטל should have a complete speedy and painless refuah shelaimah. We are in the eleventh chapter perek yud aleph of Sefer Tanya. The last perek we spent time defining the difference between a complete tzaddik a tzaddik gamur and incomplete tzaddik. This perek we are continuing by elaborating the difference between a complete rasha and incomplete rasha. Next perek we'll get to the beinoni halevai beinoni halevai we all arrive at the level of a beinoni. When it came to the tzaddik both the complete tzaddik and incomplete tzaddik on the outside externally are indiscernible. Both are living properly they're doing the right thing they never indulge their impulse they never do the wrong thing. So what's the difference then between the complete tzaddik and incomplete tzaddik? The difference between them is not the outer world it's the inner world. And it occurred to me I had this epiphany which may be obvious to everyone else who learns Tanya but took me a little longer which is that Sefer Tanya essentially is teaching us about the significance the importance the critical importance of our inner world our inner world. The tzaddik on the outside is doing everything right frankly the beinoni also even the beinoni externally on the outside is making all the right decisions. What's the difference then between the two types of tzaddik? What's the difference between a tzaddik and a beinoni? Nothing to do with the outer external world it's all about the internal world it's what's happening inside it's who we are it's the inner conversation it's the relationship we have with ourselves it's our internal world. And what Sefer Tanya's emphasizing is that rather than think that the only thing that matters is what we do with our actions externally we need to know that what matters too is our pnimius our internal world what's happening inside our thoughts and our inner conversation and the different parts of ourselves and the parts of who we are and the conversation the relationship we have between those parts which are any relationship with ego or evil with klippa and sitra achra versus only good. So the tzaddik gamur and tzaddik eino gamur tzaddik vetov lo and tzaddik vera lo on the outside are all tzaddik and don't even really struggle. The question is is there any residue of even seeing any ego in the world? And in our perek perek yud aleph we're saying the opposite. There's a rasha vetov lo and a rasha vera lo. The rasha vetov lo is the incomplete rasha and the incomplete rasha is the conceptual opposite of the tzaddik vera lo. How? Because the incomplete rasha rasha vetov lo this rasha may do the wrong things on the outside indulge the ego indulge the impulse make mistakes but vetov lo but it doesn't completely define who they are they're mostly good. In fact this rasha which is where we left off may only do something occasionally rarely make a mistake maybe only make a mistake not even on something d'oraissa on something biblical make a mistake on something d'rabbanan on a lesser transgression. So we saw even hirhurei aveira letzanus being frivolous being silly being cynical being sarcastic even machshava levad even thought alone hirhurei aveira even this rasha externally is doing the right things but they fantasize they dream they let them lose themselves in thought of that which is wrong and inappropriate which brings us up to what we're up to. או שהיא שעת כושר לעסוק בתורה ומפנה לבו לבטלה or another example of a transgression of an aveira that's hard to avoid even for a pious person is a person who does not take advantage to learn Torah at every moment. Learning Torah is the highest thing we can do Chabad Chochma Binah Da'as the Alter Rebbe has told us the best and highest and holiest way we can engage Hashem is with our head. So the person who has an opportunity to dive deeply into Torah to read the diary of the Almighty to go into the blueprint and the formula and the instruction manual for creation and instead they do something else frivolous and silly squander and waste that time they could have been spent learning. כדתנן באבות הניעור בלילה ומפנה לבו the Mishna teaches in Avos a person who stays awake at night and turns his heart to empty things such a person bears guilt. A person could have been coming to the Tanya shiur the Daf Yomi the Amud HaShavua the Kol HaBoker the afternoon Kollel the night learning the countless shiurim that we have learning opportunities on our own. We live in an unprecedented time. There used to be excuses what could I do I'm not near a shiur or shul today if you have a connection internet you have access to hundreds of thousands maybe millions of shiurim in every language at every level on any topic there's almost no excuse not to be learning at every opportunity. שבאחת מכל אלה היוצא ממנה נקרא רשע באותה שעה so listen to the words of the Alter Rebbe. things, speaking gossip or being cynical and sarcastic, mockery, or fantasizing about mistakes, indulgences, indiscretions, or wasting, squandering time you could have been learning, any of these things. Ucheyotzei bahem. Such a person is nikra rasha. Such a person is called a rasha. Now the Alter Rebbe adds two important words: nikra rasha when ba'eis hahi. The person is ba'eis hahi. Now how do you translate the words ba'eis hahi? Interesting. So ba'eis hahi, he translates it, Rabbi Chaim Miller, as: he's immediately classified as a rasha. Rabbi Levi, I want to translate ba'eis hahi differently because I was thinking and trying to klahr: when is the Alter Rebbe creating these categories? When? When do you earn the title tzaddik gamur, tzaddik ve'ra lo, tzaddik ve'tov lo, rasha ve'ra lo, rasha ve'tov lo, beinoni? When? It's a title, at some point you get a report card? It's an annual review? Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur? That's not your title for life. Do you renew the title once a year? Once a day? Or is that title for that act? You hear the kasha? At what point is this label? There are these five categories: two types of tzaddik, two types of rasha, or the beinoni. Good. When do we get our assignment? When do we get our card telling us what category we're in? Is that a lifelong categorization? See, the Alter Rebbe uses, again, I'm just a novice, I'm not teaching Tanya, I'm just learning it out loud, but I'm thinking those words ba'eis hahi, you're called a rasha ba'eis hahi. So Rabbi Chaim Miller, who certainly is much more of an authority, he translates, he teitches them as: the person is immediately classified as a... ba'eis hahi, you're immediately a rasha. One thought you shouldn't have had, one act you shouldn't have done, one d'rabbanan, one rabbinic rule you've... one thing, one small thing, ba'eis hahi immediately you're a rasha. I'm humbly suggesting maybe the Alter Rebbe means ba'eis hahi means: for that moment, you're a rasha. Ba'eis hahi, for that moment, because you indulge that thing, you right now are a rasha. In that act, you could be a rasha ve'tov lo, rasha ve'ra lo, for that moment, in any moment. And I say that because the Alter Rebbe is going on now to talk about you can bounce back, the teshuvah that you can do. You can reset which category you're in. So maybe that's what ba'eis hahi. Now why does even a minor transgression render the person a rasha? שהרע שבנפשו גובר בו because the evil in his animal soul overwhelmed the good. We're made up of two parts, we know there's a war, there's a battle raging inside us. Are we going to indulge the animal impulse? The desire for the physical world? Or are we going to regulate ourselves? Are we going to be sovereign over ourselves? Are we going to emphasize our divine soul? So this person, this rasha, this individual, even did something minor. Like, we call a rasha a wicked, evil, nefarious, oifvarf, low-life, right? When we think of a rasha merusha, we think of a rasha as a really bad person. In the Alter Rebbe's language, the rasha is the biggest tzaddik you ever met. They just thought the wrong thought once. Ad k'dei kach, until such a point... such a thing's a... so why? Because in that wrong thought, in that one wrong act, the animal... they indulged the animal. They let the ego overwhelm the elokus. Inside us is ego: a sense of independence, a sense of pride, a sense of ego, a sense of desire, a sense of want, a sense of what we want. And that ego is in battle, in conflict, with elokus, the godly part of who we are. And when we indulge that physical, that mundane, that material, that animal craving and appetite, we indulge the ego over elokus. In that moment, מתלבש בנפשו ומחטיאו ומטמאו. Having won control, the animal soul dresses itself in the body, causing it to sin and become defiled. And this defines the rasha. The animal soul is strong enough to overwhelm the divine soul even once and gains control even over one part of the body or the mind, regardless of how seemingly small or insignificant it is. It's enough for in that moment. It's enough for in that moment. The high-end, incomplete rasha who only has a minuscule amount of evil in his animal soul will bounce back quickly. The good news. ואחר כך גובר בו הטוב שבנפשו האלוקית. Afterwards, the good in his divine soul will overwhelm him, ומתחרט ומבקש מחילה סליחה מהשם. So this individual who generally is good and generally does the right thing and just does a shemetz, a little small something, ad k'dei kach, they're called a rasha even if it's the wrong thought, one wrong act, one wrong fantasy. The divine soul's going to kick in. I shouldn't have had that thought, I shouldn't have done that deed, I shouldn't have and they're going to have regret and remorse and they're going to seek repentance and repair *v'Hashem yislach lo*. And such an individual Hashem is going to forgive him, he's going to forgive him. That's why I translate *be'eis hi* means in that moment he's a *rasha*, but such a *rasha* who one wrong thing feels so guilty and ashamed and so badly doesn't want the ego to defeat the *elokus*, so does the *teshuvah* to restore the *elokus* as the supreme and sovereign in himself. *v'Hashem yislach lo* the Alter Rebbe's confident God will forgive him. How can the Tanya be so confident? Who says? Maybe Hashem is unforgiving that day? Who says? אם שב בתשובה הראויה על פי עצת חכמים זכרונם לברכה. Because as long as you follow the guideline of the sages, regret for the past, confession in the present, commitment for the future, if you follow the formula, so Hashem's going to forgive, Hashem's going to forgive. So why does he call it *teshuvah hareuyah pi* minimally accepted *teshuvah*? He's going to do minimum *teshuvah*, even that. Why? Because this incomplete *rasha* who may have some residue of an animal soul, indulges the ego even a small amount, so even in in a small amount of *teshuvah* will bring him back. Listen to what *Rav Chaim* Miller writes. The incomplete *rasha* is a serial offender. He goes through repeated cycles of sin, maybe we relate to this. He goes through repeated cycles of sin, remorse, *teshuvah*, and then later on sins again. Even after he's atoned, he's been forgiven, he's still capable of sin because there's a residual evil of the animal soul. So even after *teshuvah* in the Tanya's eyes, he remains an incomplete *rasha*. Why? Because until he obliterates, until he trains, until he transforms the animal soul, yeah, right now he's bounced back, but he knows, he knows, just give some time and the animal is going to roar again inside him. The wrong thought, the wrong deed, he's going to indulge it again. The Tanya's classification of *tzaddik* and *rasha* looks at your inside, your propensity for evil based on what lurks in your animal soul. In the Tanya's eyes, even after you've done *teshuvah*, you are still a *rasha* as long as you have not uprooted the cause of those sins, the residual evil in your heart. בשלושה חילוקי כפרה רבי ישמעאל דורש כמו שנתבאר במקום אחר. He'll explain it elsewhere in *Igeres HaTeshuvah*, the minimally accepted repentance, so because you're caught in this vicious cycle, you do the minimum repentance to bounce back. But until you do something about that animal soul, it's going to rage. As I was learning this this morning, preparing it to learn it again out loud with you, I like to think about our relationship with Hashem using the metaphor of the relationships he's created for us in this world and in life. The *mekubalim*, the Kabbalists, teach הסתכל באורייתא וברא עלמא. God looked in his Torah and created a world. It's not that he created the world and now that becomes the metaphor to know him. So it's not that we have relationships of a mother and a father and children and a husband and a wife and a king and a servant and a king and a and a who serves the king? A citizen? And the master and the servant. Every metaphor you could think of, *eved rabo*, *adon rav*. It's not that you have all these metaphors, oh, and then they come in handy, they're useful to relate to Hashem. It's the opposite. Hashem wants us to know different aspects of our relationship with him, so he created these relationships because each are a metaphor for our relationship with him. Which is the holiest and the highest metaphor? Which is the most accurate and precise? Which is the most lofty that we should strive, the relationship we want with Hashem? Like a master and a slave? Like an employer and employee? Like a king and a resident? Like a parent and a child? No, the highest is Rabbi Akiva taught *kol hashirim kodesh*, שיר השירים קודש קודשים, *Mishnah Yadayim*. All songs are holy, the holiest song is the Song of Songs. Which is the metaphor that's the most precise, the most lofty, the most we should our greatest ambition? A husband and wife. The love, the longing of *Shir HaShirim* of a husband and a wife. That's what we want. So if that's true that Hashem created the whole institution of husband and wife, romance, love, intimacy, he created all of that so that we could connect to him in those ways. So let's apply that metaphor here now. It means, it means that, you know, the *tzaddik* is the one who in a relationship regulates everything, always does the right thing, makes time, has conversation, takes out the garbage, eats *milchigs* every now and then, always does the right thing for the marriage, and always even has the right thoughts, never does the wrong thing, not in the world of speech, thought, or action. *Ella mai*, *ra lo*, this *tzaddik vera lo* still knows there's such a thing as other beautiful women. I don't look at them, I don't think about them, I don't dream about them. I don't talk to them, I don't flirt with them, I'm not interested in them, but I know that in the world there is such a thing and such a temptation even though I don't give in to it. That's a tzadik ve-ra lo if you use that metaphor. Right, the tzadik ve-tov lo is the one who says, you're the only woman in the world, I don't even notice, think about, care about, I have no concept of, you're all there is, and I always do the right thing when it comes to that relationship and I'm not even conceptually don't even have a connection to any other possibility. That's a tzadik ve-tov lo. Then you get to the rasha. The rasha in this Tanya, the Alter Rebbe we just learned, is like you once didn't take out the garbage exactly when you said you would. You're a rasha in the relationship. You didn't gamble away all the money or have an affair or you just didn't like a de-rabbanan. You just didn't take out the garbage in time. You missed a garbage pickup. You're a rasha. You could be a rasha ve-tov lo. It means that's all you did. Generally you're amazing and you're good. You could be a rasha because you do all the right things in the relationship, but you once thought about another beautiful person you once saw. You once remembered that eppes you had a girlfriend at one point in your life. Even in the world of thought, that's enough to be a rasha in the relationship. Again, just taking our metaphor even further. And there are vicious cycles where this person in the relationship doesn't act out, isn't disloyal, but is human. And there's a cycle and they feel bad, but then they know it's going to come back. So as long as that ego and that animal indulgence, fantasy, action is there, that's a rasha. That's a rasha. And that's section two. We'll pick up next week the end of perek yud-alef, מי שרע גובר בו יותר. Till now we talked about the rasha ve-tov lo. They only occasionally, they only infrequently, they only a little bit, even once and that's enough to be a rasha. Then we get to the rasha ve-ra lo, the rasha gamur, the rasha who habitually, the rasha who overwhelms, the evil overwhelms the good in them. That'll be the end of this perek and after that perek yud-bet will be the Beinoni. Halevai Beinoni. Halevai Beinoni that we can get to that level. Have a wonderful day.
