In the previous section we worked out the definition of the beinoni: the stirrings of his heart are never accepted by him willingly at all. In this section we complete the definition, and we will see that it does not apply only to matters between a person and G-d, but equally to matters between a person and his fellow.
"ואינו מקבלו ברצון אפילו להרהר בו ברצון" - "and he does not accept it willingly, not even to entertain the thought of it willingly":
The Alter Rebbe underscores just how carefully the beinoni guards himself, even in the smallest matter of thought. To dwell on such a thing willingly, certainly not. "וכל שכן להעלותו על הדעת לעשותו" - "and how much more so to so much as consider actually doing it," G-d forbid. Planning out how one would carry out a transgression is not a passing thought at all; it is something incomparably more serious, and in this the beinoni certainly does not fail.
Even talking about the matter is out of place. Sometimes the yetzer's counsel dresses itself up as good advice, and suggests to a person that he recount the improper thoughts that came to him and show just how unworthy they are, so long as he goes on occupying himself with them. It is like a person who is willing to be talked about even unfavorably, as long as he stays at the center of the picture; so too these improper thoughts, which want to remain at the center even when one is speaking against them. The real advice is to turn one's attention elsewhere: simply not to engage with them at all.
And the reason: "כי המהרהר ברצון נקרא רשע באותה שעה" - "for one who entertains such a thought willingly is called a rasha at that moment," and the beinoni is never a rasha, not even for a single moment. For him such a possibility simply does not exist, since one who accepts it willingly is a rasha, and the beinoni is not a rasha. With this the definition of the level of beinoni is complete: exactly where he stands, and that anything against G-d's will simply does not exist by him at all.
In matters between a person and his fellow as well:
In the closing lines of the chapter the Alter Rebbe elaborates and makes clear that this is not said only about thoughts, words and deeds that look like matters between a person and G-d: violating Shabbos, forbidden foods, idolatry, immorality and bloodshed, which make up a large portion of the 248 positive mitzvos and 365 prohibitions. Even when a small thought against another Jew arises in a person, and even if that other person has wronged him, such a thought turns the one who holds it into a rasha, for by Torah law it is forbidden to think badly of another Jew, and in this there is no difference between matters between a person and G-d and matters between a person and his fellow.
These are his words: "וכן בדברים שבין אדם לחברו, מיד שעולה לו מהלב למוח איזו טינה ושנאה חס ושלום, או איזו קנאה או כעס או קפידה ודומיהן - אינו מקבלן כלל במוחו וברצונו" - "and so too in matters between a person and his fellow: the moment there arises from his heart to his mind some ill feeling or hatred, G-d forbid, or some envy or anger or resentment and the like, he does not accept them at all in his mind and will." The beinoni is not prepared to accept willingly in his mind any one of these traits:
Ill feeling and hatred - when the heart sends up to the mind a feeling of hostility toward one's fellow over something he did.
Envy - an unworthy trait that sits in the depths of the heart; sometimes there is nothing at all between him and his fellow, and he is simply envious of his success.
Anger - an unworthy trait that sits in the revealed part of the heart, when a person is boiling and hot.
Resentment (kepeidah) - "felt" mainly in the mind, and it is subtler: a certain dissatisfaction with the matter, without the boiling of anger.
Worth noting: of tzaddikim it was said that their kepeidah can bring about, G-d forbid, unpleasant consequences; whereas the kepeidah of an ordinary person changes nothing, and sometimes the other person does not even know about it. And nevertheless, by the beinoni all of these simply do not exist and have no place in him.
"ואדרבה, המוח שליט" - to do the very opposite:
It is not enough that these traits are not accepted; the Alter Rebbe demands of the beinoni a higher level: "ואדרבה, המוח שליט ומושל ברוח שבליבו לעשות ההפך ממש" - "on the contrary, the mind rules and governs the spirit in his heart to do the very opposite." When we spoke of the mind ruling the heart in matters between a person and G-d, it sounded relatively easy: the mind rules over the heart and removes the craving for a forbidden food. But the mind rules over the heart even at a moment when someone has hurt him badly, and it has the power to remove the anger so that he is not angry at him at all. That is a far harder demand, and even so, in this too the mind rules by the beinoni.
And what is "to do the very opposite"? That the very envy and the very anger be turned into love. This principle emerges from an explicit ruling in the Rambam: one who sees two people who need his help, one unloading a burden and the other loading, one of them his friend and the other his enemy who causes him the greatest troubles, it is a mitzvah to go first to the enemy, in order to bend his own yetzer and break it. This ruling is not something the Rambam says on his own; it is founded on the wording of the verse in the Torah, which says "your enemy." It emerges that what is required here is greatness and strength of soul, to tell one's good friend that the Torah is commanding him right now to subdue his yetzer and to go first, specifically, to the other one.
The Alter Rebbe continues: "להתנהג עמו במידת חסד וחיבה יתירה מודעת לו" - "to conduct himself toward him with the trait of kindness and with an abundant affection made known to him." That very person, whom he has every reason in the world to be angry at, is the one toward whom he must act with the trait of chesed. And not merely affection: the basic affection that every Jew deserves he owed him already before he was wronged; now, after being wronged, what is asked of him is an affection greater than the one that came before.
And it makes no difference whether that person keeps Torah and mitzvos or not. In chapter 32 we will learn how one is to conduct himself even with someone who does not keep Torah and mitzvos, and how much one must love him with a genuine love.
Here we must distinguish between affection and love. Love is not an abstract concept; it is measured in deeds: "ואהבת את ה' אלוקיך" - "you shall love the L-rd your G-d." And how do we know a person loves? By his binding tefillin on his arm and affixing a mezuzah on the doorposts of his home. So too "ואהבת לרעך כמוך" - "you shall love your fellow as yourself." Love is recognized in the doing of actual things.
From here the Alter Rebbe goes on to spell out what is required:
"לסבול ממנו עד קצה האחרון" - "to bear from him to the utmost limit," to the very edge of one's capacity, even though the other causes him suffering and gets in his way.
"ולא לכעוס חס ושלום" - "and not to become angry, G-d forbid," a powerful work on oneself, which a person must aspire to.
"וגם שלא לשלם לו כפועלו חס ושלום" - "and also not to repay him according to his deed, G-d forbid," not to pay him back in kind.
"אלא אדרבה, לגמול לחייבים טובות" - "but on the contrary, to repay the guilty with good," to do good specifically to one who does not deserve it.
Not to repay him according to his deed: this is precisely the prohibition of "לא תיקום ולא תיטור" - "do not take revenge and do not bear a grudge." "Do not take revenge" means not paying him back according to his deed, even when a person tells himself that he is not angry at all and only wants to teach him a lesson. "Do not bear a grudge" means that even if he is not teaching him a lesson and speaks with him pleasantly, he does not hold on to hatred for him in his heart. And one should know: "do not take revenge and do not bear a grudge" was not said regarding one who loves him, but even regarding one who hates him, and this is what the Torah demands of a Jew. As for the excuse of "teaching him a lesson," that responsibility is not his at all; the fact is that before he was wronged, when he did not yet know the man, he did not seek to teach him anything. That is a sign, then, that his motive for acting is not a desire to educate, but a desire to quiet his own anger.
"To repay the guilty with good": this is the expression we use with regard to the Holy One, blessed be He. And what is a "chayav," a guilty one? The opposite of a zakai: a person who is not acting properly, who has done things that are not good. And even with him one must act with goodness.
It is worth adding here the words of our Sages, that a person is obligated to bless over the bad just as he blesses over the good. And even when the bad was caused to him by a human being, and he does not see in it the hand of Heaven but the work of a man, the halachah does not change: it makes no difference who brought the bad upon him, and he is obligated to bless over it. And consequently, there is no room to be angry at him at all.
In summary: in this section we completed the definition of the beinoni. He does not accept willingly even a passing thought, and all the more so does he not entertain any plan to act, and he does not even speak about the matter, since it is the yetzer's counsel to keep him occupied with it even by way of negation. We saw that all this applies to matters between a person and his fellow as well: ill feeling, hatred, envy, anger and resentment are not accepted in his mind and will, and on the contrary, the mind rules and governs the spirit in his heart to do the very opposite: to act with the trait of chesed and with abundant affection, to bear to the utmost limit, not to become angry, not to repay according to his deed, by the law of "do not take revenge and do not bear a grudge," but rather to repay the guilty with good.