In the previous chapter, chapter 10, we dealt at length with the levels of the tzaddikim, and we saw that these are rare levels which do not belong to us in the plain sense of the word. In chapter 11 the Alter Rebbe turns to defining the rasha at his two extremes - the "rasha vetov lo" (a wicked man who has some good in him) and the "rasha vera lo" (a wicked man who is entirely evil) - and above all he will explain that within each of these levels, and especially within the level of "rasha vetov lo," there are tens of thousands of gradations. As is his way, he sets before us the two ends of the scale: the very highest and the very lowest, and from them the student can work out for himself everything that lies in between.
The opening of the chapter:
The Alter Rebbe opens with the words "וזה לעומת זה" ("and this is the counterpart of that"), the language of King Shlomo in Koheles: "G-d made this as the counterpart of that." Everything the Holy One created in His world He created in balance: for every positive side there exists a corresponding negative side. So too in our subject: "רשע וטוב לו לעומת צדיק ורע לו" - the "rasha vetov lo" stands as the counterpart of the "tzaddik vera lo."
In the previous lesson we learned the definition of the "tzaddik vera lo": a tzaddik in whom some evil still remains, except that in him the evil is nullified to the good (and within that itself there are many levels). The "tzaddik vetov lo," by contrast, is one in whom there is nothing but good. The precise mirror image of the "tzaddik vera lo" is therefore the "rasha vetov lo," since the structure is identical, only reversed: in the tzaddik vera lo the small measure of evil is nullified to the good, while in the rasha vetov lo the small measure of good is nullified to the evil.
It is worth noting that the two extremes are not precisely the "tzaddik vetov lo" and the "rasha vera lo." Once we finish the chapter and arrive at the definition of "rasha vera lo," it will become clear that he does not in fact stand at the exact opposite pole from the "tzaddik vetov lo."
Defining the "rasha vetov lo":
So what does the expression "rasha vetov lo" actually mean? The Alter Rebbe says: "שהטוב שבנפשו האלוקית, שבמוחו ובחלל הימני שבליבו, כפוף ובטל לגבי הרע" - "that the good in his divine soul, which is in his brain and in the right chamber of his heart, is subordinate and nullified to the evil," whose source is the kelipah in the left chamber. As we learned in chapter 9, the divine soul holds two positions in a person's body, and the animal soul (nefesh habahamis) holds one:
The divine soul: the brain, and the right chamber of the heart.
The nefesh habahamis: the left chamber of the heart, the seat of the kelipah.
In the "rasha vetov lo" the good is present, but it is subordinate. The one who rules and dictates, the one who is active and who speaks, is the evil; the good is there in a state of subordination and bittul.
The Alter Rebbe adds: "וזה מתחלק גם כן לרבבות מדרגות חלוקות" - "and this too divides into tens of thousands of distinct gradations." One cannot offer a single precise definition of a "rasha vetov lo," because we are speaking of countless types, which differ from one another in the quantity of the bittul and in its quality:
In terms of quantity: to what extent the good is nullified to the evil, and how often. Is the bittul total or partial, constant throughout the year or extremely rare?
In terms of quality: in which matters the evil prevails. If it manages to trip a person up in serious matters, then the bittul is on a serious level; if only in lighter matters, the quality is entirely different.
The highest level within "rasha vetov lo":
Since we have tens of thousands of gradations before us, the Alter Rebbe presents only the two extremes: first the highest example, and then the lowest. Both are defined as "rasha vetov lo," and the difference between them lies in the quantity of the bittul and in its quality.
These are his words regarding the highest level: "יש מי שהכפיפה והביטול אצלו מעט מזעיר, ואף גם זאת אינו בתמידות ולא תדיר לפרקים קרובים, אלא לעיתים רחוקים" - "there is one in whom the subordination and nullification are of the very slightest measure, and even that is not constant, nor frequent at close intervals, but only at rare intervals." The subordination of the good to the evil is truly momentary, and even that does not happen on any regular basis.
At first glance the sentence looks like the same idea repeated in different variations, but as is well known, every expression in Tanya is exact, and one can learn these words not only in the plain sense but through the precision of the wording itself. The key to understanding it is found in the language of the Gemara in tractate Sukkah.
The three names of the yetzer hara:
Rava in the Gemara describes the way in which the yetzer hara enters and comes to rule over a person: at first it is like a man who happens by the house only rarely, uninvited and for a short while, and asks no more than to hang his hat on the peg; afterwards it asks to stay as a guest for a longer stretch; and in the end it takes over the house entirely, until the owner himself has to ask its permission. In the language of the Gemara, the yetzer hara "at first is called a passerby, then it is called a guest, and finally it is called the man of the house." Rashi explains: "man" is the master of the house, "guest" is the regular lodger, and "passerby" is one who is merely passing through on his way.
The Alter Rebbe wants to stress that in the "rasha vetov lo" of this highest level, the yetzer hara is neither the man of the house, nor a guest, nor even a passerby, and in the three parts of his phrase he rules out all three stages:
"אינו בתמידות" - "it is not constant": it is not the master of the house who rules on a permanent basis.
"ולא תדיר לפרקים קרובים" - "nor frequent at close intervals": it is not even a guest who turns up regularly.
"אלא לעיתים רחוקים" - "but only at rare intervals": even the name "passerby" is hard to apply to it, since it is a rare thing for it to be here at all.
It should be emphasized that so long as the yetzer hara does not bring a person down in one of the three garments - thought, speech or action - he is still not called a rasha. Here we are speaking of someone whom it does actually trip up, at rare intervals.
And in what does it trip him up? "מתגבר הרע על הטוב לעיתים רחוקים" - "at rare intervals the evil overpowers the good," and then "וכובש את העיר קטנה הוא הגוף" - "and conquers the small city, which is the body." At that moment the yetzer hara takes control and conquers the body, meaning the operational systems through which a person comes to stumble in sin. But even then it is not a complete conquest: "לא כולו, אלא מקצתו לבד, שיהיה סר למשמעתו ונעשה לו מרכבה ולבוש להתלבש בו באחד משלושה לבושיו" - "not all of it, but only a part of it, so that this part submits to its command and becomes for it a chariot and a garment in which to clothe itself, in one of its three garments." The person does not stumble with all his limbs, nor in every sin, but only in part, and that part alone submits to the command of the yetzer hara and becomes like a chariot whose driver is the evil. Even the clothing itself is limited: in one of the three garments only.
To summarize: in this portion we learned the opening of chapter 11, in which the Alter Rebbe sets the "rasha vetov lo" opposite the "tzaddik vera lo" on the basis of "G-d made this as the counterpart of that." We defined the "rasha vetov lo" as one in whom the good of his divine soul, which is in his brain and in the right chamber of his heart, is subordinate and nullified to the evil that comes from the kelipah in the left chamber, and we saw that this level divides into tens of thousands of gradations which differ in the quantity of the bittul and in its quality. We also explained its highest level, in which the subordination is "of the very slightest measure" and even that is neither constant nor frequent, in light of the language of the Gemara in Sukkah about the "passerby," the "guest" and the "man of the house," and in light of the partial nature of the conquest of the "small city" in one of the three garments alone.
In the next portion we will continue with the words of the Alter Rebbe, and take up the lowest extreme of the level of "rasha vetov lo" as well as the definition of "rasha vera lo."