Chapter Twelve

[In the previous chapters, the Alter Rebbe defined the terms tzaddik and rasha.

The tzaddik, he explained, is one in whom the good qualities of his divine soul vanquish the evil qualities of his animal soul, to the extent of completely eradicating them. A rasha, conversely, is one in whom the evil qualities of his animal soul overcome the good of his divine soul, causing him to sin in thought, speech or action.

In this, the twelfth chapter, the term Beinoni - the "intermediate man" who is neither tzaddik nor rasha - will be defined.

The Beinoni, the Alter Rebbe explains, is one whose practical conduct in thought, speech and action is dictated solely by the divine soul; it has the upper hand over the animal soul.

The Beinoni accomplishes this by not allowing himself to be dominated in any way by the animal soul, even for the shortest duration, never thinking, speaking and surely not acting in a sinful manner. The garments of the divine soul alone - namely thought, speech and action in Torah and mitzvot - are those used by the Beinoni.

Nevertheless, with respect to the essence of the divine and animal souls, i.e., their respective faculties of intellect and emotion, the divine soul does not dominate the animal soul, and the latter remains powerful enough to arouse desires for physical matters. However, through constant vigilance the Beinoni keeps these desires in check, never permitting them any practical manifestation].

The Beinoni ("intermediate man") is he in whom the evil [of the animal soul] never attains enough power to conquer the "small city" [i.e., the body, which is likened to a small city which the divine and animal soul both wish to dominate], so as to clothe itself in the body and make it sin.

That is to say, the three "garments" of the animal soul - namely thought, speech and action originating in the kelipah - [i.e., forbidden thought, speech and action, which derive their vitality from kelipah, as explained in previous chapters) are, in the Beinoni, so subdued that they] do not prevail within him over the divine soul to the extent of clothing themselves in the body - [neither] in the brain [so that the brain think forbidden thoughts with the animal soul's garment of thought] nor in the mouth [to speak forbidden words - the garment of speech] nor in any of the other 248 organs [to act in a forbidden manner - the garment of action - in none of these do the garments of the animal soul clothe themselves] to cause them to sin and to defile them, G-d forbid, [in which case he would be a rasha, not a Beinoni].

Only the three garments of the divine soul, they alone manifest themselves in the body, these being the thought, speech and action related to the 613 commandments of the Torah.

The Beinoni has *never* committed any transgression, *nor* will he *ever* transgress; the name "rasha" has never been applied to him, however temporarily, not even for a moment, throughout his life.

[The Rebbe Shlita notes: "The question is well known ...."; i.e., with regard to the statement that the Beinoni is one who has never transgressed, the following question is commonly raised:

Is it not possible, through repentance and subsequent divine service, that one attain the rank of Beinoni despite his previous sins? After repenting one can rise even to the level of tzaddik; surely, then, the rank of Beinoni is not beyond his reach!

The Rebbe answers this question in the following manner:

When the Alter Rebbe states that the Beinoni has never transgressed, he does not mean that the Beinoni never sinned in his life as a human being, but that in his life as a Beinoni he has no history of sin.

The Beinoni's present spiritual state is such that sin - in the past as well as in the future - has no place in his life. He would not sin even if he were subject to the same temptations and trials which led him to sin in the past. It is therefore true to state that from the perspective of his present state he has never sinned.

Likewise, the Alter Rebbe's statement that the Beinoni "will never sin" is to be understood in the same vein. The intention is not that it is impossible for him to sin; he does not, after all, lose his freedom of choice. Rather, as explained above, his present state is such that it precludes his sinning in the future, despite the trials that the future may bring.

To be classified as a true Beinoni, one must fulfill these conditions.

For if one's spiritual state precludes his sinning only under present conditions, but he would succumb to sin were he subject to the temptations of the past or those the future may bring, then he is, in potentia, a rasha; he could and would sin, except that the prevailing circumstances are not sufficiently conducive for him to do so.

In the same vein, the Alter Rebbe concludes, "The name `rasha' (referring to one who sins in thought, speech or action) has never (again, in his state of Beinoni) been applied to him, however temporarily .....'." For the Beinoni has reached a state where sin is precluded under any circumstances, whether of the past or future.

It remains to be understood, however, why such a lofty person is considered merely a Beinoni, not a tzaddik. This matter is now clarified].