In the previous section we dealt with the level of the tzaddik gamur, the complete tzaddik. In this chapter the Alter Rebbe comes to teach us what actually exists in practice: it is possible that in certain specific matters a person has reached a state in which he has turned the not-good into genuine good, but only in the tiniest of areas. Now we will look at the name Chazal gave to the complete tzaddikim, bnei aliyah ("men of ascent"), and at the two reasons for this title.
We learned that the complete tzaddik has two titles, and each one expresses a different state in his soul:
"Tzaddik gamur" - in relation to his yetzer tov, his good inclination: he is complete and absolute in good.
"Tzaddik v'tov lo" ("a tzaddik for whom it is good") - in relation to his nefesh habahamis, his animal soul: all of it has been transformed into good, and therefore "it is good for him."
The title bnei aliyah, which the Gemara uses in the words of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, is likewise explained in two ways, and the two explanations correspond to these two titles.
The first reason - overturning the evil and elevating it to holiness:
In a tzaddik who is not complete, the animal dimension still exists, even if it exists in so minute a form that it is barely felt. In the complete tzaddik it does not exist at all, since all of it has been transformed into good. These are the Alter Rebbe's words: "שלכן נקראים בני עלייה, שמהפכים הרע ומעלים אותו לקדושה" - "and this is why they are called bnei aliyah, for they overturn the evil and elevate it to holiness." They lifted and upgraded the animal side within themselves and raised all of it up into holiness. This title, then, describes their work with the nefesh habahamis, and it corresponds to the title "tzaddik v'tov lo."
The source of this in the introduction to the Zohar:
It is told there that when Rabbi Chiya wished to ascend to the heichal, the chamber, of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, he heard a voice go forth and proclaim: "מאן מנכון די חשוכא מהפכן לנהורא, וטעמין מרירא למתקא, עד לא ייתון הכא" - "who among you has turned darkness into light and the bitter taste into sweet, before coming here?" Entry into this chamber is not open to every person; it is conditional upon a defined condition, and the reason is simple: Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai was among the bnei aliyah of the very highest rank, and his chamber in the upper worlds is the chamber of the complete tzaddik. The condition for entry is therefore the very essence of what bnei aliyah are: turning the bitter into sweet and the darkness into light.
From this proclamation a further principle emerges: "עד לא ייתון הכא" - "before coming here." This work is possible only here, in this world. Whatever a person did not manage to accomplish in this world, he can no longer accomplish there.
The second reason - service for the sake of Above:
A second reason for the title bnei aliyah lies specifically in the good side within them, and it corresponds to the title "tzaddik gamur": their service of G-d is on a level that is unique and rare even among tzaddikim. To appreciate this, we must distinguish between the different ways in which a Jew fulfills the will of his Creator:
Fear of punishment and hope for reward: a person who learns and fulfills because he fears punishment or seeks reward. This level is not to be belittled, as in the well known words of Chazal, "may it be His will that the fear of Heaven be upon you like the fear of flesh and blood." Still, in this way he is not really seeking the mitzvah itself but himself: that things should be good for him and not bad for him.
A thirst for attachment: a person filled with a great longing and thirst to be attached to the Creator of the world, not for reward and not out of fear of punishment, but because he knows that this is the truth and this is the purpose. The path to that attachment is Torah study and the fulfillment of mitzvos, and that is why he does them. This is a very lofty level, and those who stand in it are tzaddikim, but they are not bnei aliyah, because in the end he is still seeking something for himself: his own attachment.
Bnei aliyah: unique and rare tzaddikim, whose every action is solely for the sake of the Holy One, blessed be He, and not for their own need at all.
The well known Midrash says that the Holy One, blessed be He, desired to have for Himself a dirah betachtonim, a dwelling place in the lower realms. He could have come and dwelled in the world on His own, and He has no need of us whatsoever; but He chose that the way He would come here should be precisely through souls in physical bodies, who fulfill mitzvos and sanctify the world, and through them He comes and dwells below. This is why the tzaddik who is one of the bnei aliyah says: I do not keep Torah and mitzvos for my own sake but for His sake. When I learn Torah and fulfill mitzvos, I am drawing Him, blessed be He, down into the world. That is the aliyah, the ascent: action that is not for one's own need but purely for the need of Above.
In the Alter Rebbe's own words: "ועוד נקראים בני עלייה, מפני שגם עבודתם בבחינת ועשה טוב בקיום התורה ומצוותיה הוא לצורך גבוה ומעלה מעלה עד רום המעלות" - "they are also called bnei aliyah because even their service in the aspect of 'do good,' through fulfilling the Torah and its mitzvos, is for the need of Above, higher and higher, to the very summit of levels." "Gavoha" ("Above") is a name for the Holy One, blessed be He. He does not act for his own need but for the need of Above, "higher and higher," and he does not seek himself at all. And as is known, there are gradations and worlds in this: there are tzaddikim whose reach is in this world, and there are those whose reach is in a higher world, whereas the service of bnei aliyah reaches "to the very summit of levels."
A striking expression of this is found in the Alter Rebbe's famous statement: "I do not want Your Gan Eden and I do not want Your World to Come, I want only You" - "ועמך לא חפצתי," not what is with You, but You Yourself. This is the matter of bnei aliyah: they seek only the will of the Creator, and not their own will.
The Alter Rebbe continues: "ולא כדי לדבקה בו יתברך בלבד, לרוות צמאון נפשם הצמאה לה'" - "and not merely in order to cleave to Him, blessed be He, to slake the thirst of their soul that thirsts for G-d." They do not fulfill Torah and mitzvos even as a means to their own attachment to the Creator and to the quenching of their soul's thirst. This level is not to be taken lightly, and fortunate is the one whose entire service flows from the desire to be attached to the Creator of the world; it is only that here we are dealing with rare levels, and the one who thirsts is, in the final analysis, seeking the satisfaction of his own soul.
And in explanation of the verse "הוי כל צמא לכו למים" ("Ho, everyone who thirsts, go to the water"): seemingly, one who is thirsty for water knows by himself that he must go to the water, and he needs no proclamation or call. But the word "הוי" is a term of announcement and alert, from which we learn that the verse is not speaking of one who thirsts for water itself. It is explained in Tanya elsewhere that the thirsty one referred to here does not thirst for Torah but for attachment to the Creator, and he is searching for how to attain it. To him the prophet calls out: if you are thirsty, go to the water, and "there is no water other than Torah." And even so, this person too goes to the water in order to quench his own thirst, and the bnei aliyah do not seek even that.
In summary: in this section we learned that the complete tzaddik has two titles, "tzaddik gamur" in relation to his good inclination, and "tzaddik v'tov lo" in relation to the nefesh habahamis that has been entirely transformed into good, and that corresponding to them the title bnei aliyah is explained in two ways. The first: that they overturn the evil and elevate it to holiness, as told in the introduction to the Zohar about Rabbi Chiya and the condition for entering the chamber of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, "מאן מנכון דחשוכא מהפכן לנהורא" - and from there we learned that this work is possible only in this world. The second: that their service in "do good" is for the need of Above alone, to the very summit of levels, and not for their own need, not even in order to quench their soul's thirst for attachment.
In the next section we will continue with the language of the chapter and with the Alter Rebbe's further words about the greatness of the bnei aliyah.