In the previous section we studied the avodah of the beinoni (the intermediate person) in coming to loathe evil. Now we complete the chapter: there is a possibility that a person reaches a third level, in which this loathing is given to him as a gift from Above.
There is a well known story about the Arizal. He had a student, Rabbi Shmuel, one of the Arizal's circle, the author of the sefer Midrash Shmuel. One day this student walked into the Arizal's shiur, and the Arizal stood up before him, before his own student, and said to him: "The spirit of the Tanna Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair has entered you." The Arizal, who knew and saw what was happening, saw that he was still Rabbi Shmuel; it was simply that at that moment the spirit of Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair had entered him.
From here we see that there can be situations in which a person receives this as a gift from Above. This is the level of a beinoni at its highest, where he comes exceedingly close to the level of a tzaddik.
Why does the Gemara link loathing evil together with the avodah that is higher than it? Because these are the two halves of "turn from evil and do good," and in a tzaddik the two exist as one. As we learned over the course of an entire chapter, a true tzaddik, a tzaddik gamur, genuinely loathes evil, and the measure of his loathing of evil is exactly the measure of his love for Hashem. The two are interlocking vessels, in precisely the same dose and in precisely the same way. And when a person trains himself to loathe evil, evil will truly become loathsome to him.
Chapter 15:
With Chapter 14 we concluded a complete subject in Tanya. Chapter 15 continues with that very same subject, but adds an interesting emphasis to it. Let us first set out two ways of describing a person:
"He behaves like a Jew": this is technical conduct. He does what he is supposed to do.
"To be a Jew": this is a loftier state. Not only is he technically doing what he is supposed to do, but inwardly, in his very soul, he genuinely stands in a more elevated place.
In this chapter we will see that even within the beinoni himself there are stages. True, we have already identified three levels within the beinoni, but here we will see two stages, and there is a great deal of encouragement in them. Many people, in fact almost all of us, know ourselves well enough to admit that in order to stand firm and hold our ground in Torah and mitzvos, hard work is demanded, constantly, daily, at every step of the way; and that if a person does not hold his ground and does not fight, he is liable to fall. This chapter contains much encouragement in this regard, and further on there will be an additional point added to it.
Anyone familiar with the language of the Prophets knows that sometimes, to our physical, fleshly eyes, the verses seem to be repeating themselves, sometimes even within a single verse, saying the same idea over again in different words, in poetic phrasing, as is the way of song. (Shiras HaYam is a good example, where the same theme returns in slightly different language.) But it is well known that in Torah every single word is precise, and there is no repetition merely for the sake of beauty and poetic style. So too in this verse in the prophet Malachi, where something very interesting is going on.
The Alter Rebbe opens: "ובזה יובן מה שכתוב" ("And with this we can understand what is written"), and he brings the words of the verse: "ושבתם וראיתם בין צדיק לרשע בין עובד אלוקים לאשר לא עבדו" ("And you shall return and see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves G-d and one who does not serve Him"). When one tries to understand the verse simply, it looks as though it is saying the same thing twice: the difference between a tzaddik and a rasha is the difference between "one who serves G-d" and "one who does not serve Him" - the tzaddik is the one who serves G-d, and the rasha is the one "who does not serve Him." That is how it appears, as though the prophet is restating one idea in two different expressions. But in truth this is not so.
The Gemara in Chagigah asks this very question: "A tzaddik is the same as one who serves G-d, and a rasha is the same as one who does not serve Him" - surely it is one and the same thing. And the Gemara answers that it is not so: "one who serves Him" and "one who does not serve Him" are both tzaddikim. (In the language of the Tanya later in the chapter: both are beinonim. The Alter Rebbe will explain to us that tzaddik and rasha are two levels, while "serves Him" and "does not serve Him" are two levels within the beinoni, as we will see, im yirtzeh Hashem, further on.)
And if we are speaking of two tzaddikim, what then is the difference between "one who serves G-d" and "one who does not serve Him"? To this the Gemara says: "One who reviews his lesson a hundred times is not comparable to one who reviews it a hundred and one times." In other words, "does not serve Him" is one who reviewed only a hundred times, and "serves Him" is one who reviewed a hundred and one, and he is a tzaddik. From the plain meaning of the Gemara we can understand the difference between "does not serve Him" and an actual rasha: the rasha is simply not in order, whereas "does not serve Him" is perfectly in order, since he did learn a hundred times. But the difference between "serves Him" and a tzaddik is not so clear from the Gemara's words. And here the Alter Rebbe comes and says something most interesting in Tanya: "serves Him" and "does not serve Him" are both at the level of beinoni.
Let us be precise in the wording of the verse, "עובד אלוקים," for every word in it is exact. A tzaddik is not called "oved" but "eved." And the grammatical difference between them is this: "eved" (servant) is an adjective, a description of the person's state; "oved" (serving) describes an action, that right now he is in the middle of the work, in the exertion, the investment, the battle.
And what is hinted at in this difference? One of the hardest trades there is, is to take the hide of an animal, process it, and turn it into parchment for tefillin and a Torah scroll. Processing hides is the tanner's work, exceedingly hard labor: before him lies the hide of an animal, foul smelling and in a repulsive state, and he must toil over it with hard labor, strip away the repulsive part, and slowly, slowly clothe it in holiness, until it becomes parchment for a Sefer Torah, for tefillin, or for a mezuzah.
The beinoni is "oved": he is fighting all the time. Deep inside him sits his animal, the nefesh habahamis, and his task is to strip the hide off it, to bring the animal in him down and turn it into parchment for tefillin, into something holy. He is working, and working hard.
The tzaddik is "eved": he is not "oved," since he does not have an animal getting in his way. As we learned at great length, the tzaddik stands in a rare, G-dly state of soul. He is an "eved," a servant of Hashem, who is already past the work. He is already a "walking Sefer Torah," not a hide sitting at the tanner's in the middle of being processed.
[Was the tzaddik too once at the same starting point where the beinoni stands? Seemingly yes, except that he was created with the potential to reach the level of tzaddik, and this is the meaning of "You created tzaddikim." The beinoni, by contrast, is not in that category at all, and no matter how much he works he will not arrive at that stage, because he was not created to be such a person, as we discussed at length in the previous chapters.]
Here is another interesting distinction. Normally, when we say "eved" we attach to it the name Havayah: "Moshe, eved Hashem." Yet here the prophet specifically uses the expression "oved Elokim." Why?
The difference between the name Havayah and the name Elokim: "Elokim" has the same gematria as "hateva" (nature), and it is the attribute of din and gevurah, of judgment and severity, generally indicating concealment and hiddenness. As the verse says, "For a sun and a shield are Hashem Elokim": the sun shines and the shield contracts the light. The name Havayah is like the sun, and the name Elokim is what conceals. And the name Havayah, as is known, alludes to that which is above nature, "He was, He is, and He will be, as one."
The beinoni is "oved Elokim": he finds himself in a state of concealment and hiddenness, and his task is to fight and to remove the concealment within him. Furthermore, "Elokim" is the gematria of "hateva": his entire avodah is to battle his own nature. He has an animal nature and character, and day after day he fights against his animal character. He is "oved Elokim," working with his nature.
The tzaddik is "eved Hashem": he already stands in the state of "eved," an adjective, a "walking Sefer Torah," whole and complete through and through. Therefore one does not attach to him "eved Elokim" but "eved Hashem," the name Havayah which is above nature. The tzaddik is not battling nature; his entire avodah and involvement is with G-dliness and holiness, which is above nature.
These, then, are two entirely different things: "eved Hashem" and "oved Elokim."
Let us lay out the idea in general terms, and we will see it in the actual wording of the chapter as we continue. The beinoni is called "oved," and within the beinoni himself there are two types: there is a beinoni who is called "oved Elokim," and there is a beinoni who is called "one who does not serve Him," who is not working. What is the difference? Every one of us can find it in his own daily life:
"Oved Elokim": there are things that are hard for us, where it is very difficult to stand firm and not stumble, and if we did stand firm and did not stumble, it took an enormous and very difficult effort. Something that we have to exert ourselves for: that inner state of exertion is what is called "oved."
"One who does not serve Him": there are things that for us are easy and simple, that no longer require any effort at all. Something that demands no exertion from us is, for us, "does not serve Him" - not because we are tzaddikim gemurim, but because on that particular thing we get no credit for effort, since it has already become routine for us, clear and settled.
In summary: in this section we completed Chapter 14: the third level within the beinoni, in which loathing evil comes as a gift from Above (as in the story of the Arizal and his student Rabbi Shmuel), and the relationship between loathing evil and "do good," which in the tzaddik are interlocking vessels. We also opened Chapter 15: the precision of the verse "And you shall return and see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves G-d and one who does not serve Him"; the words of the Gemara in Chagigah that "serves Him" and "does not serve Him" are both at the level of beinoni; the difference between "eved" and "oved" (the analogy of processing hides); the difference between "eved Hashem" and "oved Elokim" (above nature, as against battling one's nature and battling concealment and hiddenness); and the two types within the beinoni.
In the next section we will work through the material in the actual wording of the chapter, and delve more deeply into the two types within the beinoni: "oved Elokim" and "one who does not serve Him."