וְהַבֵּינוֹנִי הוּא שֶׁלְּעוֹלָם אֵין הָרַע גּוֹבֵר כָּל כָּךְ לִכְבּוֹשׁ אֶת הָעִיר קְטַנָּה לְהִתְלַבֵּשׁ בַּגּוּף לְהַחֲטִיאוֹ. דְּהַיְינוּ שֶׁשְּׁלֹשָׁה לְבוּשֵׁי נֶפֶשׁ הַבַּהֲמִית, שֶׁהֵם מַחֲשָׁבָה דִּבּוּר וּמַעֲשֶׂה שֶׁמִּצַּד הַקְּלִיפָּה – אֵין גּוֹבְרִים בּוֹ עַל נֶפֶשׁ הָאֱלֹהִית לְהִתְלַבֵּשׁ בַּגּוּף: בַּמּוֹחַ וּבַפֶּה וּבִשְׁאָר רמ״ח אֵבָרִים לְהַחֲטִיאָם וּלְטַמְּאָם חַס וְשָׁלוֹם.

The beinoni is one in whom the evil never prevails to such an extent that it conquers the "small city" by clothing itself in the body and causing it to sin. This means that the three garments of the animal soul, namely, thought, speech, and action stemming from the side of kelippa , do not overpower the divine soul within him by becoming clothed in the body, specifically in the brain, in the mouth, and in the other 248 limbs, causing them to sin and defiling them, God forbid. Above, the author of the Tanya spoke of the war between the two opposing forces within man: the divine soul and the animal soul. The consequences of this war define the quintessential essence of each particular person: When the animal soul is victorious, the person is categorized as wicked; when the divine soul triumphs, he is categorized as righteous. What about the beinoni, the main subject of this book? The first thing that defines the beinoni is that he never commits a transgression. That is, the beinoni does not sin in any realm: action, speech, or thought. The brain, mouth, and 248 limbs referred to by the author of the Tanya are thus the specific parts of the body employed by these three garments. The garment of thought requires a physical brain in order to manifest itself; the garment of speech, a mouth; and the garment of action is expressed with the entire body.

רַק שְׁלֹשָׁה לְבוּשֵׁי נֶפֶשׁ הָאֱלֹהִית הֵם לְבַדָּם מִתְלַבְּשִׁים בַּגּוּף, שֶׁהֵם מַחֲשָׁבָה דִּבּוּר וּמַעֲשֶׂה שֶׁל תרי"ג מִצְוֹת הַתּוֹרָה,

Only the three garments of the divine soul alone become clothed within the body, namely, the thoughts, speech, and actions of the 613 commandments of the Torah, Not only does the beinoni completely avoid transgression, but he also does good, fulfilling the 613 commandments of the Torah. In this way, the beinoni's every thought, word, and deed is utterly devoted to fulfilling the divine will as expressed through the mitzvot.

וְלֹא עָבַר עֲבֵירָה מִיָּמָיו, וְלֹא יַעֲבוֹר לְעוֹלָם, וְלֹא נִקְרָא עָלָיו שֵׁם רָשָׁע אֲפִילּוּ שָׁעָה אַחַת וְרֶגַע אֶחָד כָּל יָמָיו.

and he never in his life committed a transgression, nor will he ever commit one. He was never in his life, not even temporarily, not even for a moment, categorized as a wicked person. This is not to say that a person who once in his lifetime committed a sin can never become a beinoni or even a tzaddik. Rather, it means that one who does achieve the level of beinoni exists in a state of mind that is utterly removed from transgression, present, past, or future. If he committed any sins in the past, he has repented to such an extent that those sins are no longer a part of his life. It is as if his negative past belongs to someone else. Why isn't such a person, who has never sinned and never will sin, whose every act is either a mitzva or in service of a mitzva, considered a complete tzaddik? What is missing? Why isn't he considered even an incomplete tzaddik but rather in the intermediate state between rasha and tzaddik called beinoni? To understand this, we must first distinguish between the garments of the beinoni's soul and the essence of his soul. Everything we have said thus far about the beinoni pertains only to the garments of his soul, the manner in which his inner self expresses itself in his behavior.

אַךְ מַהוּת וְעַצְמוּת נֶפֶשׁ הָאֱלֹהִית, שֶׁהֵן עֶשֶׂר בְּחִינוֹתֶיהָ, לֹא לָהֶן לְבַדָּן הַמְּלוּכָה וְהַמֶּמְשָׁלָה בָּעִיר קְטַנָּה,

However, the essence and being of the divine soul, namely, its ten faculties, do not have exclusive rulership and dominion over the "small city," the body, The side of holiness rules the beinoni's life in practice, but it does not change the inner makeup of his soul. He does not actually sin, but the conflict within his soul has not been resolved. The beinoni is in a perpetual state of tension: The good in him prevails over the evil only because of his active involvement in the struggle between them. His victory over the evil within is never complete. At best, he achieves a temporary cease-fire but never a full truce. The beinoni spends his life in an endless struggle. He cannot relax his vigil for a single instant, because the moment he does so, the enemy will rally and topple him.

כִּי אִם בְּעִתִּים מְזוּמָּנִים, כְּמוֹ בִּשְׁעַת קְרִיאַת שְׁמַע וּתְפִלָּה, שֶׁהִיא שְׁעַת מוֹחִין דְּגַדְלוּת לְמַעְלָה.

with the exception of certain times, such as while reciting the Shema or praying, when there is a state of expanded consciousness on high. Only at specific times can the beinoni, after expending the requisite effort, temporarily achieve that complete and perfected state in his soul and in his divine service. The designated time for reciting the Shema and for prayer is a time of expanded consciousness on high, when the supernal intellect manifests itself in its utmost radiance and potency. By contrast, there are times of constricted consciousness, when the illumination is partial and dimmed, connoting a state of reduced consciousness and perception at all levels of creation.

וְגַם לְמַטָּה הִיא שְׁעַת הַכּוֹשֶׁר לְכָל אָדָם,

It is also an auspicious time for every person below, The times deemed by halakha as suitable for prayer are also the times when prayer is most effective. When there is a revelation of the supernal intellect on high, a state of expanded consciousness, this is also a propitious time for a person to achieve an expanded consciousness on a personal level – to achieve a full and clear awareness of the Divine in his own mind in the reality in which he finds himself.

שֶׁאָז מְקַשֵּׁר חָכְמָה בִּינָה דַּעַת שֶׁלּוֹ לַה׳ לְהַעֲמִיק דַּעְתּוֹ בִּגְדוּלַּת אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא וּלְעוֹרֵר אֶת הָאַהֲבָה כְּרִשְׁפֵּי אֵשׁ בֶּחָלָל הַיְּמָנִי שֶׁבְּלִבּוֹ,

because during those moments one binds his wisdom, understanding, and knowledge to God, focusing his mind on the greatness of Ein Sof , blessed be He. This leads one to evoke the love for God that is as fierce as sparks of fire in the right chamber of his heart, It is through the faculty of da'at, knowledge, that a person identifies with a concept that he apprehends to the point that it affects and transforms him on an emotional level as well. When a person meditates on the greatness of God and applies to it not only his faculties for abstract perception and analysis but also his da'at, his faculty for personalized and subjective apprehension, he will come to feel a fierce love for God.

לְדָבְקָה בּוֹ בְּקִיּוּם הַתּוֹרָה וּמִצְווֹתֶיהָ מֵאַהֲבָה.

so that He may cleave to Him by fulfilling the Torah and its commandments out of love. Prayer is a time to awaken the divine soul, not only through the appropriate meditations, but also through the stimulation of the divine soul's emotive faculties, as well as the person's innate receptiveness to goodness and holiness. The combination of all this impels the person to cleave to God and His Torah, which entails the fulfillment of the mitzvot, not out of a sense of duty to God, but out of love for Him, out of the desire to be close to Him and to cleave to Him.

שֶׁזֶּהוּ עִנְיָן הַמְבוֹאָר בִּקְרִיאַת שְׁמַע, דְּאוֹרַיְיתָא, וּבִרְכוֹתֶיהָ שֶׁלְּפָנֶיהָ וּלְאַחֲרֶיהָ, שֶׁהֵן מִדְּרַבָּנָן, הֵן הֲכָנָה לְקִיּוּם הַקְּרִיאַת שְׁמַע כְּמוֹ שֶׁמְּבוֹאָר בְּמָקוֹם אַחֵר.

This is the idea expressed in the biblically mandated recitation of the Shema and the blessings that precede and follow it, which are rabbinically mandated. These blessings are a preparation for the fulfillment of the recitation of the Shema , as explained elsewhere (chap. 49). The Shema is essentially the manifesto of the divine soul. The first verse, "Hear, Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one," is the divine soul's declaration of the awareness that pervades its cognitive faculties, its faculties of perception. The second verse, "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart…," is its declaration of love for God. Yet to actually achieve a love of God "with all your heart," a love that derives from both the divine soul in the heart's right chamber and the animal soul in its left, a declaration of principles by the divine soul is not enough. The animal soul too must be affected. For this purpose, the Sages instituted the preliminary blessings of the Shema, to prime the soul so that the principles contained in the Shema should take root in it and have their desired effect. The first blessing, Yotzer Or, describes the greatness of God's creation, the supernal worlds and the angels that populate them, and the manner in which they all serve their Creator, in order to impress on the animal soul, which stems from that realm, that it too is nullified before God. The second blessing, Ahavat Olam, describes God's love for us and is meant to awaken our love for Him in response "as water reflects a face to a face." Thus the blessings of the Shema are intended to bring a person to a state of awareness and emotional stimulus from which one can truly relate to the truths he expresses when he proclaims, "Hear, Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one."

וְאָז, הָרַע שֶׁבֶּחָלָל הַשְּׂמָאלִי כָּפוּף וּבָטֵל לַטּוֹב הַמִּתְפַּשֵּׁט בֶּחָלָל הַיְּמָנִי מֵחָכְמָה בִּינָה דַּעַת שֶׁבַּמּוֹחַ, הַמְּקוּשָּׁרִים בִּגְדוּלַּת אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא.

Then the evil in the left chamber of his heart is subservient and nullified to the good that spreads throughout the right chamber of his heart from the wisdom, understanding, and knowledge in the brain, which are all bound to the greatness of Ein Sof , blessed be He. Above, the author of the Tanya described the process by which the divine soul's love for God is stimulated to the point that it spills over into the left chamber of the heart, the abode of the animal soul, transforming the animal soul's passions into a love for God. In the tzaddik, this process is complete and is now the permanent state of affairs. The beinoni achieves this only at special times, such as during prayers or the recitation of the Shema. At such times, the dominion of the beinoni over the evil is not merely external, through control of his actions, speech, and conscious thoughts, but involves the entire soul – both its cognitive perceptions and its emotive faculties – alive and ardent in striving for the Divine. The passions of the other element in his soul are stilled, and he has no wish or desire other than to give himself completely over to his Creator and pour out his soul to God.

אֲבָל אַחַר הַתְּפִלָּה, בְּהִסְתַּלְּקוּת הַמּוֹחִין דְּגַדְלוּת אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא, הֲרֵי הָרַע חוֹזֵר וְנֵיעוֹר בֶּחָלָל הַשְּׂמָאלִי וּמִתְאַוֶּה תַּאֲוָה לְתַאֲוֹת עוֹלָם הַזֶּה וְתַעֲנוּגָיו.

However, after the prayers, when the expanded consciousness of the greatness of Ein Sof , blessed be He, is withdrawn, the evil is reawakened in the left chamber of his heart, and he lusts for the pleasures and delights of this world. When the time of prayer and the distinct spiritual opportunity it represents concludes, the beinoni again becomes like everyone else. Again the beinoni is tempted by worldly pleasures, each according to his nature and the manner in which the animal soul relates to the material world. The time of prayer was a time of slumber and submission for the evil within, a submission that entailed not an absolute negation, not an essential transformation, but only a temporary departure. Immediately after his prayers, the beinoni reverts to his previous state, with the evil within again rising against the good in battle.

רַק מִפְּנֵי שֶׁלֹּא לוֹ לְבַדּוֹ מִשְׁפַּט הַמְּלוּכָה וְהַמֶּמְשָׁלָה בָּעִיר, אֵינוֹ יָכוֹל לְהוֹצִיא תַּאֲוָתוֹ מִכֹּחַ אֶל הַפּוֹעַל,

However, since the evil does not maintain exclusive rights to the rulership and dominion over the "small city," it is incapable of bringing its latent lusts to fruition The beinoni has a desire for the pleasures of the material world, but he is not a rasha. There is a basic, quintessential difference between the two. When the wicked person lusts for something, he actually carries out his desire, if not in deed, then in conscious, willful thought. On the other hand, the animal soul of the beinoni is incapable of giving expression to those lusts. The initial urge, the craving, transpires in the beinoni with the same intensity and force that it does in the rasha, but for the initial urge to be implemented in practice, it must gain control of the person, and the beinoni never allows that to happen. The ultimate verdict of the internal tribunal as to what should actually be done is not in the hands of evil, and without the divine soul's consent, it is unable to carry out its desires.

לְהִתְלַבֵּשׁ בְּאֶבְרֵי הַגּוּף בְּמַעֲשֶׂה דִּבּוּר וּמַחֲשָׁבָה מַמָּשׁ, לְהַעֲמִיק מַחֲשַׁבְתּוֹ בְּתַעֲנוּגֵי עוֹלָם הַזֶּה אֵיךְ לְמַלּאוֹת תַּאֲוַת לִבּוֹ.

by actually becoming clothed in the body's limbs, in action, speech, and thought, so that it may contemplate the pleasures of this world, devising how to gratify his heart's cravings, theoretically or practically, There are several stages whereby evil becomes clothed in the mind. The beinoni has no control over the initial stage, because a person is completely unaware of any impulses that occur prior to entering his mind. He is not conscious of the drives and urges rising within him until they somehow express themselves in the form of a conscious thought. Once this impulse has entered his consciousness, however, he has the willpower to control his thoughts. There is a world of difference between one who willfully thinks sinful thoughts, whether thoughts of actually committing a sin or simply contemplation of the sin itself, and one in whom sinful thoughts arise that he immediately banishes the moment they enter his awareness. The beinoni is able to exercise such control.

כִּי הַמּוֹחַ שַׁלִּיט עַל הַלֵּב [כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בְּרַעֲיָא מְהֵימְנָא פָּרָשַׁת פִּנְחָס (זהר, חלק ג רכד, א)] בְּתוֹלַדְתּוֹ וְטֶבַע יְצִירָתוֹ. שֶׁכָּךְ נוֹצַר הָאָדָם בְּתוֹלַדְתּוֹ, שֶׁכָּל אָדָם יָכוֹל בִּרְצוֹנוֹ שֶׁבְּמוֹחוֹ

because the brain controls the heart (as stated in Raya Meheimna , Parashat Pinḥas [Zohar 3:224a]), through its inborn, natural character. This is how every person is inherently created, so that every person is capable of using the will

לְהִתְאַפֵּק וְלִמְשׁוֹל בְּרוּחַ תַּאֲוָתוֹ שֶׁבְּלִבּוֹ שֶׁלֹּא לְמַלּאֹת מִשְׁאֲלוֹת לִבּוֹ בְּמַעֲשֶׂה דִּבּוּר וּמַחֲשָׁבָה, וּלְהַסִּיחַ דַּעְתּוֹ לְגַמְרֵי מִתַּאֲוַת לִבּוֹ אֶל הַהֵפֶךְ לְגַמְרֵי,

in his brain to restrain himself and control the spirit of lust in his heart by not gratifying his heart's desires in action, speech, and thought. Rather, he is able to completely divert his mind from fulfilling his heart's lusts, redirecting it instead to the completely opposite direction, This axiom is fundamental to this chapter and to the entire book: The brain can control the heart, not only as a result of special training or extraordinary effort on the part of the mind but because this is the way a person was created. A fundamental quality of the human being grants his mind the power to rule over the desires of the heart, certainly in his speech and actions but even in his thoughts. This does not mean that exercising this innate ability is easy, that all one needs to do is to think a certain thought and the heart will automatically follow the mind. It means that a person can consciously compel himself not to think certain thoughts. He cannot prevent them from entering his mind, but he has sufficient control to prevent their realization. If, for instance, someone is told not to think about polar bears, he cannot stop the thought of them from coming to mind, but he can prevent himself from thinking about them by immediately turning his mind to something else as soon as the thought arises. That "the brain controls the heart" does not imply that the mind can stop any activity of the heart or develop it by force of will alone. Rather, it expresses the axiom that a person in a state of awareness and consciousness can supervise himself and refrain from certain actions and certain thoughts by not completing every thought that arises in his mind. This ability not to think through every thought but rather to disrupt it at a certain point is an innate advantage of the mind over the heart, of conscious will over unconscious drives. The beinoni is the one who uses this power to repel thoughts that arise from the evil in his soul. Unlike the tzaddik, the beinoni cannot prevent the eruption of these impulses, but he can prevent them from reaching fruition, rejecting them as soon as they sprout and rise.

וּבִפְרָט אֶל צַד הַקְּדוּשָּׁה, כְּדִכְתִיב: "וְרָאִיתִי שֶׁיֵּשׁ יִתְרוֹן לַחָכְמָה מִן הַסִּכְלוּת כִּיתְרוֹן הָאוֹר מִן הַחוֹשֶׁךְ" (קהלת ב, יג).

in particular to the side of holiness, as it is written, "I saw that there is advantage to wisdom over folly, like the advantage of light over darkness" (Eccles. 2:13). In addition to the general power of the mind to control the heart, the divine soul has an advantage in its struggle to overpower desires originating in the animal soul. The nature of that additional advantage is expressed in the quote from Ecclesiastes, which compares the superiority of wisdom over folly – that is, of good over evil – to the superiority of light over darkness.

פֵּירוּשׁ, כְּמוֹ שֶׁהָאוֹר יֵשׁ לוֹ יִתְרוֹן וּשְׁלִיטָה וּמֶמְשָׁלָה עַל הַחוֹשֶׁךְ, שֶׁמְּעַט אוֹר גַּשְׁמִי דּוֹחֶה הַרְבֵּה מִן הַחֹשֶׁךְ, שֶׁנִּדְחֶה מִמֶּנּוּ מֵאֵלָיו וּמִמֵּילָא,

This means that just as light has an advantage over darkness, utterly dominating it, so that a little physical light banishes a great amount of darkness, which is automatically banished from the light as a natural consequence, The advantage of light over darkness is not merely qualitative in the sense that light is better than darkness, nicer, more useful, and more pleasant, but it is also quantitative: Only a little light banishes a large amount of darkness. Light possesses an innate superiority over darkness, the superiority of positivity over negativity. Light need not battle darkness because with its very appearance it repels not only an equal amount of darkness but a great deal of darkness. When two substances that have no advantage over another are brought into contact, such as when a solid is immersed in water, the volume of water displaced exactly equals the volume of the solid immersed. But when one takes a small candle into a dark room, the volume of darkness displaced greatly exceeds the volume of the candle's flame.

כָּךְ נִדְחֶה מִמֵּילָא סִכְלוּת הַרְבֵּה שֶׁל הַקְּלִיפָּה וְסִטְרָא אָחֳרָא שֶׁבֶּחָלָל הַשְּׂמָאלִי [כְּמַאֲמַר רַבּוֹתֵינוּ ז״ל (סוטה ג, א): "אֶלָּא אִם כֵּן נִכְנַס בּוֹ רוּחַ שְׁטוּת״ וכו׳]

so too a great deal of the folly of the kelippa and sitra aḥara located in the left chamber of the heart is banished as a natural consequence (in accordance with our Rabbis' statement "A man commits a transgression only if a spirit of folly enters him…" [Sota 3a]) Elsewhere, the author of the Tanya further develops this concept, stating that no one who has any true awareness of what he is doing, however weak-minded he might be, would ever sin unless a spirit of folly entered him. At such a time, he can commit acts that fill him with shame and self-abhorrence when he regains his awareness, perhaps immediately after his deed or even in the midst of his deed. In retrospect, he cannot bear to think that he has done such a thing, yet he has done it because "a spirit of folly enters him."

מִפְּנֵי הַחָכְמָה שֶׁבַּנֶּפֶשׁ הָאֱלֹהִית שֶׁבַּמּוֹחַ, אֲשֶׁר רְצוֹנָהּ לִמְשׁוֹל לְבַדָּהּ בָּעִיר

by the wisdom in the divine soul that is in the brain, which is compared to light. The divine soul desires to exercise exclusive control over the small city The faculty of wisdom in the divine soul has the power to repel the spirit of folly that stems from kelippa for two reasons. First, wisdom is light in contrast to the darkness of folly. Folly operates in a space of conscious darkness: It has no explanation and justification but is only lust and sometimes mere blind foolishness. Second, wisdom is in fact the wisdom of the holy divine soul and has the advantage of holiness and good over kelippa and evil. The light embodied by the faculty of wisdom wishes not merely to overpower but specifically to "exercise exclusive control" over the body. There exists no middle ground between holiness and spiritual impurity wherein a compromise can be reached.

וּלְהִתְלַבֵּשׁ בִּשְׁלֹשָׁה לְבוּשֶׁיהָ הַנִּזְכָּרִים לְעֵיל בְּכָל הַגּוּף כּוּלּוֹ כַּנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל, שֶׁהֵם: מַחֲשָׁבָה דִּבּוּר וּמַעֲשֶׂה שֶׁל תרי"ג מִצְווֹת הַתּוֹרָה כַּנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל.

by being clothed in its aforementioned three garments, namely, the thoughts, speech, and actions of the 613 commandments of the Torah, as mentioned above (chap. 4), permeating the entire body, as mentioned above (chap. 9). The thoughts, speech, and actions of the Torah's commandments are the exclusive garments of the divine soul. Only in these expressions of the soul, of the Torah and the mitzvot, can the holy divine soul be clothed and manifest. The author of the Tanya emphasizes the 613 mitzvot, that is, the entire gamut of mitzvot, to convey that it is specifically through fulfilling all the commandments that the entirety of the 613 "limbs" of the divine soul become clothed and manifest. The resultant revelation of holiness is complete, leaving no room for the evil of the other side.

וְאַף עַל פִּי כֵן אֵינוֹ נִקְרָא צַדִּיק כְּלָל

Nevertheless, he is not at all categorized as a tzaddik, The beinoni immediately rejects all thought of transgression and never performs a sinful act. Moreover, his actions and thoughts are clothed only in the holy garments of Torah and mitzvot. Yet, despite the fact that the beinoni never transgresses even the most subtle of sins, he is not a tzaddik. There is still a great distance and a most fundamental difference between the two.

מִפְּנֵי שֶׁיִּתְרוֹן הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר לְאוֹר נֶפֶשׁ הָאֱלֹהִית עַל הַחוֹשֶׁךְ וְסִכְלוּת שֶׁל הַקְּלִיפּוֹת הַנִּדְחֶה מִמֵּילָא, אֵינוֹ אֶלָּא בִּשְׁלֹשָׁה לְבוּשִׁים הַנִּזְכָּרִים לְעֵיל, וְלֹא בְּמַהוּתָהּ וְעַצְמוּתָהּ, עַל מַהוּתָהּ וְעַצְמוּתָהּ שֶׁל הַקְּלִיפָּה.

because this advantage that the light of the divine soul possesses over the darkness and folly of the kelippa , which is automatically banished, is only in its three aforementioned garments but not in the essence and being of the divine soul, which has no advantage over the essence and being of the kelippa . The beinoni exercises the advantage of light over darkness, of wisdom over folly, only in the expressions of his soul but not in the essence of his soul. When two thoughts of equal magnitude, one of holiness and the other of the profane, struggle for supremacy, the former will oust the latter. But even if a person spends his entire lifetime thinking only holy thoughts, this will in no way banish the underlying forces of evil in his soul. The beinoni has transformed the external face of his soul, the manner in which his soul expresses itself outwardly (speech and deed) and inwardly (thought), but the soul itself has not been changed, not its unfathomable depths nor its consciously felt wishes, desires, and passions. These exist within the beinoni exactly as they exist within the rasha, the only difference being that the beinoni prevents the implementation and fruition of any evil desires in practice.

כִּי מַהוּתָהּ וְעַצְמוּתָהּ שֶׁל נֶפֶשׁ הַבַּהֲמִית שֶׁמֵּהַקְּלִיפָּה שֶׁבֶּחָלָל הַשְּׂמָאלִי לֹא נִדְחֶה כְּלָל מִמְּקוֹמוֹ בַּבֵּינוֹנִי אַחַר הַתְּפִלָּה,

This is because the essence and being of the animal soul, which stems from the kelippa in the left chamber of the heart, is not at all banished from its place in the beinoni upon the conclusion of his prayers, During his prayers, the beinoni was completely engrossed in holy matters, completely consumed by his fervor, by a single-minded, self-negating bond with God. The love of God burned in his heart, extinguishing all other loves. The subjugation of evil to good was not merely in practice but in essence. His entire being lay within the realm of holiness. But the beinoni does not pray all day. There remain the hours after the conclusion of his prayers.

שֶׁאֵין רִשְׁפֵּי אֵשׁ אַהֲבַת ה׳ בְּהִתְגַּלּוּת לִבּוֹ בֶּחָלָל הַיְּמָנִי,

when the fiery sparks of love for God are not manifest in the right chamber of his heart. All that the beinoni experienced during prayer recedes as if it never was. Earlier, when he was consumed by love and expressed it in his prayers, his experience was genuine. At the time, his heart truly and wholly belonged to God. However, this is not the beinoni's normal state of being but a state brought on by a special effort to rouse in himself an all-consuming love for God. After the prayer, all that remains within him is the potential for such love.

כִּי אִם תּוֹכוֹ רָצוּף אַהֲבָה מְסוּתֶּרֶת, שֶׁהִיא אַהֲבָה הַטִּבְעִית שֶׁבַּנֶּפֶשׁ הָאֱלֹהִית, כְּמוֹ שֶׁיִּתְבָּאֵר לְקַמָּן.

Instead, only his interior is inlaid with latent, concealed love, which is the innate love that is in the divine soul, as will be explained below (chap. 18 and onward). The hidden love, though it may not manifest as an emotional experience, implies a very deep relationship. It represents a fundamental, quintessential bond between a person and God that exists beyond consciousness and, in a certain sense, is deeper and more basic than any experience of love.

וַאֲזַי, יָכוֹל לִהְיוֹת סִכְלוּת הַכְּסִיל הָרַע בְּהִתְגַּלּוּת לִבּוֹ בֶּחָלָל הַשְּׂמָאלִי לְהִתְאַוֹּת תַּאֲוָה לְכָל עִנְיְינֵי גַּשְׁמִיּוּת עוֹלָם הַזֶּה, בֵּין בְּהֶיתֵּר בֵּין בְּאִיסּוּר חַס וְשָׁלוֹם, כְּאִלּוּ לֹא הִתְפַּלֵּל כְּלָל,

Then it is possible for the folly of the evil fool to be revealed in the left chamber of his heart, lusting after all physical matters of this world, be it permissible or prohibited, God forbid, as if he had never prayed at all. Because this love is not experienced openly by the soul, because it does not manifest itself in the form of an actual craving and passion to cleave to God, now that the revealed love the beinoni experienced during prayer has receded, the "evil fool" – the evil inclination – can once again rear its ugly head. When holiness is not expressed in its full intensity and maximal revelation in the beinoni's heart, then the "spirit of folly" is manifest, which allows the forces of evil to rise up in his soul. The experience of holiness can linger in the beinoni after his prayers, and the author of the Tanya will discuss the various ways in which the beinoni might prime himself so that this experience will leave a mark on the soul and manifest itself as a tangible feeling. But in essence, the love that is evoked in the beinoni during prayer is confined to a specific time frame, after which it is no longer operative. When the divine soul ceases to manifest itself throughout his being, the beinoni is again exposed to rising alien passions, which exist within him as they do in the rasha. The time of prayer has effected a change in him, but the change is temporary and does not effect a fundamental change in the beinoni' s soul. Immediately afterward he reverts to the person he had been before as if he had never prayed.

אֶלָּא שֶׁבִּדְבַר אִיסּוּר אֵינוֹ עוֹלֶה בְּדַעְתּוֹ לַעֲשׂוֹת הָאִיסּוּר בְּפוֹעַל מַמָּשׁ חַס וְשָׁלוֹם.

However, with regard to a prohibited matter, it does not occur to him at all to carry out the prohibition in practice, God forbid. One of the definitions of a beinoni is that he is so far removed from certain things – that which is prohibited outright by the Torah – that they do not occur to him as practical possibilities. In this sense, the thought of something that is prohibited can perhaps occur even to the beinoni, yet the thought of actually carrying out that outright prohibited act in practice never occurs to him. He knows that for him it is completely and forever out of the realm of possibility. He bears no connection to such an act in the slightest.

אֶלָּא הִרְהוּרֵי עֲבֵירָה הַקָּשִׁים מֵעֲבֵירָה

Yet thoughts of transgression, which are worse than transgression itself, Even though it never occurs to the beinoni to actually commit a prohibited act, he nevertheless thinks about it. Such thoughts are regarded as more severe than transgression itself because they involve the faculty of thought, the most intimate of the soul's garments.

יְכוֹלִים לִפְעוֹל לַעֲלוֹת לְמוֹחוֹ וּלְבַלְבְּלוֹ מִתּוֹרָה וַעֲבוֹדָה.

can manage to rise to his mind and distract him from Torah study and the service of God. Thoughts of sin, even if they are devoid of any possibility of execution, are extremely damaging to the soul. Even if the circumstances are such that preclude any possibility of the thought being translated into action, it evokes basic lusts and confuses a person who was occupied at that time with Torah study and mitzvot.

וּכְמַאֲמַר רַבּוֹתֵינוּ ז״ל: "ג׳ עֲבֵירוֹת אֵין אָדָם נִיצּוֹל מֵהֶן בְּכָל יוֹם: הִרְהוּר עֲבֵירָה וְעִיּוּן תְּפִלָּה״ כו׳.

As our Rabbis state, "There are three sins from which any person is not spared each day.  They are having sinful thoughts, committing sins concerning deliberation in prayer, and uttering malicious speech" (Bava Batra 164b). "Sinful thoughts" are not thoughts of actually committing a sin in practice but merely the contemplation of sinful things. A sin pertaining to "deliberation in prayer" is the failure to properly concentrate on one's prayers due to distractions. "Malicious speech" in this context does not actually refer to speaking ill of others, which is an outright sin that one can and must avoid at all times, but the semblance of slander, talk that might, in some roundabout way, imply something negative about another. These transgressions are not committed intentionally, and they are extremely difficult to avoid even with a concentrated effort and the mind's control over the heart. Their occurrence is inherent to the state of beinoni, whose inner self has not undergone any fundamental change, for whom the evil within is dominated by the good but has not been transformed into good. The evil continues to ferment within him and gives him no rest. In the same way that the good remains within the wicked person and fills him with remorse, giving him no rest, so too does the evil in the beinoni constantly plague him, exposing him daily to the "three sins."

רַק שֶׁלָּזֶה מוֹעִיל הָרְשִׁימוּ בַּמּוֹחִין

However, it is for this that the impression remaining in his intellect after prayer proves beneficial, When a person studies and prays and attains a state of love and attachment to God, even if only temporarily, the memory of it remains. Even if he does not repeat the experience, the impression of that occasion lingers within him This impression is an expression of the fact that the experience still exists in the recesses of his soul and that it only needs to be revealed and revived. Moreover, even after the feeling is no longer manifest and felt in the heart, it leaves marks in the brain in the form of memories. The mind, which is a partner in the experience of love, took notes in the wake of that experience that could be applied in the future: What does this experience mean? What are the practical implications? In what manner do people act when in love? How does one maintain feelings of love? Equipped with these points in his mind, one can forge ahead even when the experience of love and connection to God is not active. These markers are so powerful that they allow the person to even reevoke those feelings of love.

וְיִרְאַת ה׳ וְאַהֲבָתוֹ הַמְּסוּתֶּרֶת בֶּחָלָל הַיְּמָנִי

in addition to the fear and love of God concealed in the right chamber of his heart: In addition to the impression remaining in the soul of the beinoni from the experience of prayer, a latent sense of awe and love of God inherent to the essence of the soul exists within every person at all times.

לְהִתְגַּבֵּר וְלִשְׁלוֹט עַל הָרַע הַזֶּה הַמִּתְאַוֶֶּה תַּאֲוָה, שֶׁלֹּא לִהְיוֹת לוֹ שְׁלִיטָה וּמֶמְשָׁלָה בָּעִיר לְהוֹצִיא תַּאֲוָתוֹ מִכֹּחַ אֶל הַפּוֹעַל לְהִתְלַבֵּשׁ בְּאֶבְרֵי הַגּוּף.

that he may prevail and exercise control over this evil that evokes lust, preventing the evil from exercising control and dominating the "small city" by translating its lusts from potentiality to actuality and becoming clothed in the body's limbs. Through the combination of the impression left by the experience of love and awe in prayer and the latent potential for love and awe in every soul, it is within the beinoni's grasp to attain love and awe in their truest sense. He is now able to prevail over the evil within him, and the beinoni's power is such that even without the ongoing experience of love and awe of God that the tzaddik experiences, he can draw strength from the impression left by his prayers and from his latent love of God to completely control every aspect of his life, never allowing his animal soul to bring its lusts to fruition.

וַאֲפִילּוּ בַּמּוֹחַ לְבַדּוֹ לְהַרְהֵר בָּרַע, אֵין לוֹ שְׁלִיטָה וּמֶמְשָׁלָה לְהַרְהֵר חַס וְשָׁלוֹם בִּרְצוֹנוֹ שֶׁבְּמוֹחוֹ,

Even in the mind alone, in terms of thinking evil thoughts, evil has neither the control nor dominion to cause him to consciously think such thoughts in his mind, God forbid, So great is the power of the beinoni that even sinful thoughts never develop into conscious, structured thoughts.

שֶׁיְּקַבֵּל בְּרָצוֹן חַס וְשָׁלוֹם הִרְהוּר זֶה הָרַע הָעוֹלֶה מֵאֵלָיו מֵהַלֵּב לַמּוֹחַ כַּנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל,

so that he would willingly accept this evil thought that automatically rises from the heart to the mind, God forbid, as mentioned above (chap. 9). These thoughts arise spontaneously within the beinoni because the divided heart with which he was born has not been rectified. His heart is like that of every person: He desires what everyone desires and lusts after what everyone lusts after, each according to his tastes and station.

אֶלָּא מִיָּד בַּעֲלִיָּיתוֹ לְשָׁם דּוֹחֵהוּ בִּשְׁתֵּי יָדַיִם וּמַסִּיחַ דַּעְתּוֹ מִיָּד שֶׁנִּזְכָּר שֶׁהוּא הִרְהוּר רַע, וְאֵינוֹ מְקַבְּלוֹ בְּרָצוֹן אֲפִילּוּ לְהַרְהֵר בּוֹ בְּרָצוֹן, וְכָל שֶׁכֵּן לְהַעֲלוֹתוֹ עַל הַדַּעַת לַעֲשׂוֹתוֹ חַס וְשָׁלוֹם.

Rather, as soon as the unwanted thought merely rises there in his consciousness, he utterly rejects it, and immediately diverts his mind to other matters when he recalls that this is an evil thought. He does not willingly accept it, even to merely entertain it willingly and all the more so to consider actually committing the transgression, God forbid, Despite the beinoni's inability to prevent these kinds of thoughts from entering his heart, he is capable of repelling them immediately upon their entering his consciousness. Not only is he capable of doing so, but he does so in practice. He certainly does not entertain the thought of actually committing a prohibited act, a more egregious stage where one no longer confines the thought to his imagination but consciously schemes how to commit the act. This is similar to the distinction between consciously thinking of committing the act and thinking about how to actually implement it.

אוֹ אֲפִילּוּ לְדַבֵּר בּוֹ, כִּי הַמְּהַרְהֵר בְּרָצוֹן נִקְרָא רָשָׁע בְּאוֹתָהּ שָׁעָה, וְהַבֵּינוֹנִי אֵינוֹ רָשָׁע אֲפִילּוּ שָׁעָה אַחַת לְעוֹלָם. וְכֵן בִּדְבָרִים שֶׁבֵּין אָדָם לַחֲבֵירוֹ,

or even speaking about it, because one who willingly thinks about committing a transgression is considered wicked at that time, and a beinoni is never categorized as wicked, even for a moment. The same applies to matters between one person and another. Up to now, the discussion has dwelled on sinful desires that relate to man's duties toward God, such as the desire for non-kosher food. But the same applies to negative desires and behaviors in all that pertains to a person's relationship with others.

מִיָּד שֶׁעוֹלֶה לוֹ מֵהַלֵּב לַמּוֹחַ אֵיזוֹ טִינָא וְשִׂנְאָה, חַס וְשָׁלוֹם, אוֹ אֵיזוֹ קִנְאָה אוֹ כַּעַס אוֹ קְפֵידָא, וְדוֹמֵיהֶן, אֵינוֹ מְקַבְּלָן כְּלָל בְּמוֹחוֹ וּבִרְצוֹנוֹ.

The moment any animosity and hatred toward another rises from his heart to his mind, God forbid, or any envy, anger, or a grudge, and the like, he does not accept them in his mind and will at all. The beinoni is not a person who never gets angry. But he has sufficient control over himself not to indulge his anger and allow it to take root and develop into a full-fledged emotion.

וְאַדְּרַבָּה, הַמּוֹחַ שַׁלִּיט וּמוֹשֵׁל בָּרוּחַ שֶׁבְּלִבּוֹ לַעֲשׂוֹת הַהֵפֶךְ מַמָּשׁ, לְהִתְנַהֵג עִם חֲבֵירוֹ בְּמִדַּת חֶסֶד וְחִיבָּה יְתֵרָה מוּדַעַת לוֹ

On the contrary, the mind controls and dominates the spirit in his heart, causing him to do the exact opposite, treating his friend with kindness and displaying extra affection toward him,

לִסְבּוֹל מִמֶּנּוּ עַד קָצֶה הָאַחֲרוֹן וְלֹא לִכְעוֹס חַס וְשָׁלוֹם, וְגַם שֶׁלֹּא לְשַׁלֵּם לוֹ כְּפָעֳלוֹ חַס וְשָׁלוֹם, אֶלָּא אַדְּרַבָּה לִגְמוֹל לְחַיָּיבִים טוֹבוֹת, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בַּזֹּהַר (חלק א רא, א) לִלְמוֹד מִיּוֹסֵף עִם אֶחָיו.

tolerating him to the utter extreme and not becoming angry, God forbid, nor taking revenge, God forbid, but rather, on the contrary, bestowing favors on offenders, as it is written in the Zohar (1:201a) that one should learn from the way Joseph conducted himself with his brothers. Even if the beinoni was hurt in some way by another, he possesses the inner fortitude to not retaliate against the perpetrator, but rather to demonstrate a disproportionately kind attitude toward him. The