The benoni (בינוני), the intermediate person, is the central figure of the Tanya, and chapter twelve defines him precisely.
The benoni has never sinned. Not once. Not in action, not in speech, not in sustained thought. The three garments of his animal soul, its impure thoughts, words, and deeds, have never gained enough power to control his body. Only the three garments of the divine soul operate through his limbs, his mouth, his brain. He is, by any external measure, a perfectly righteous person.
Internally, the benoni is at war. The essence of his divine soul, its ten inner faculties, does not hold "undisputed sovereignty" over the small city of his body. During prayer, when the mind is focused on God, the divine soul rules. But outside those elevated moments, the animal soul reasserts itself. Desires return. Distractions crowd in. The benoni must fight them off, again and again, forever.
Rabbi Schneur Zalman draws the battle lines. During the Shema and the Amidah, the benoni binds his intellectual faculties to God and arouses burning love in the right side of his heart. In those moments, the evil in the left side of the heart is genuinely subdued. But afterward, the evil can reawaken. And so the benoni lives in a cycle: elevation during prayer, struggle during the rest of the day, elevation again, struggle again.
The crucial distinction: the benoni's evil nature is never destroyed. It is contained. The tzaddik (a righteous person) has transformed his evil into good. The benoni has only suppressed it. But here is the Tanya's great consolation. And the reason the book is subtitled "The Book of the Benonim." This level is achievable by every person. You do not need to transform your nature. You do not need to eliminate desire. You need only to win the battle, every single time it is fought, for the rest of your life. That is enough. That is the whole purpose of creation.
The benoni (intermediate) is he in whom evil never attains enough power to capture the “small city,” 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 act, originating in the kelipah, do not prevail within him over the divine soul to the extent of clothing themselves in the body—in the brain, in the mouth, and in the other 248 parts1 “Brain”—thought; “mouth”—word; “the other limbs”—act.—thereby causing them to sin and defiling them, G–d forbid. Only the three garments of the divine soul, they alone are implemented in the body, being the thought, speech, and act engaged in the 613 commandments of the Torah. He has never committed, nor ever will commit, any transgression; neither can the name “wicked” be applied to him even temporarily, or even for a moment, throughout his life.2 Though the benoni has never committed a sin in his life, he is still not deemed a tzaddik as long as his natural impulses have not been completely sublimated, as explained further in this chapter. On the other hand, past offences need not preclude one from attaining the rank of benoni, if there was proper repentance. At any rate, the rank of benoni, as defined in the Tanya, is far superior to the rank of tzaddik as defined generally when it is applied to one whose good deeds exceed the bad. Cf. above, ch. 1. However, the essence and being of the divine soul, which are its ten faculties,3 Above, ch. 3. do not constantly hold undisputed sovereignty and sway over the “small city,” except at appropriate times, such as during the recital of the Shema or the Amidah, which is a time when the Supernal Intellect is in a sublime state;4 מוחין דגדלות i.e., the supernal sefirot of chochmah, binah, daat (chabad), are in a state of greatness. and likewise below, this is a propitious time for every man, when he binds his chabad (intellectual faculties) to G–d, to meditate deeply on the greatness of the En Sof, blessed is He, and to arouse the burning love in the right part of his heart, to cleave to Him by virtue of the fulfillment of the Torah and its commandments out of love. This is the essential aspect of the Shema, the recital of which is enjoined by the Torah5 Maimonides, Hilchot Keriat Shema 1:1. and of the blessings which precede and follow it, which are a Rabbinical enactment,6 Ibid., 1:7. the latter being the preparation for the fulfillment of the recital of the Shema, as is explained elsewhere.7 Reference is made here to the text of the blessing in the daily liturgy, which are designed to inspire surrender and ecstasy. Cf. below, ch. 49. At such time the evil that is in the left part is subjected to, and nullified in, the goodness that is diffused in the right part, from the wisdom, understanding, and knowledge (chabad) in the brain, which are bound to the greatness of the En Sof, blessed is He.8 The evil nature is then temporarily repressed, but not sublimated. However, after prayer, when the state of sublimity of the Intellect of the En Sof, blessed is He, departs, the evil in the left part reawakens, and he begins to feel a desire for the lusts of the world and its delights. Yet, because the evil has not the sole authority and dominion over the “city,” it is unable to carry out this desire from the potential into the actual by clothing itself in the bodily limbs, in deed, speech, and persistent thought to the extent of concentrating his attention on the enjoyment of the mundane pleasures as to how to satisfy the lust of his heart, because the brain rules over the heart [as explained in Raaya Mehemna, Parashat Pinchas]9 Cf. Zohar III:224a. by virtue of its innately created nature. For this is how man is created from birth, that each person may, with the willpower in his brain, restrain himself and control the drive of lust that is in his heart, preventing his heart’s desires from expressing themselves in action, word, or thought, and divert his attention altogether from the craving of his heart toward the completely opposite direction, particularly in the direction of holiness.10 The doctrine of the inherent supremacy of intellect over emotion is one of the basic, though not original, tenets of Chabad. Comp. Maimonides, Guide 3:8. Thus it is written, “Then I saw that wisdom surpasses folly as light surpasses darkness.”11 Ecclesiastes 2:13. This means that just as light has a superiority, power, and dominion over darkness, so that a little physical light banishes a great deal of darkness which is therewith inevitably superseded as a matter of course and necessity, so is much foolishness of the kelipah and sitra achara [as, indeed, our Sages say, “A man does not sin unless a spirit of folly enters into him”12 Sotah 3a.] inevitably driven away by the wisdom that is in the divine soul in the brain, whose desire is to rule alone in the “city” and to pervade the whole body, in the manner already mentioned,13 Above, ch. 9. by means of her three garments, namely, thought, speech, and act of the 613 commandments of the Torah, as explained earlier. Nevertheless, such a person is not deemed a tzaddik at all, because the superiority which the light of the divine soul possesses over the darkness and foolishness of the kelipah, wherewith the latter is expelled forthwith, exists only in the aforementioned three garments, but does not extend to its very essence and being in relation to those of the kelipah. For in the benoni, the essence and being of the animal soul from the kelipah in the left part remains entirely undislodged after prayer. For then the burning love of G–d is not in a revealed state in his heart, in the right part, but is only inwardly paved with hidden love that is the natural adoration in the divine soul, as will be explained later. Therefore it is possible for the folly of the wicked fool to rise openly in the left part of his heart, creating a lust for all material things of this world, whether permitted or, G–d forbid, prohibited, as if he had not prayed at all. Nevertheless, in regard to a forbidden matter, it does not occur to him to actually violate the prohibition, G–d forbid, and it remains in the realm of sinful thoughts, which are more serious than actual sin,14 See ch. 11, n. 4. and which can be forceful enough to rise to his mind, to distract him from the Torah and Divine service, as our Sages said, “There are three sins against which a man is daily not safeguarded: sinful thoughts, distraction in prayer….”15 “…and slanderous gossip.” Bava Batra 164b. However, the impression [of prayer] on the intellect and the hidden [i.e., innate] fear and love of G–d in the right part [of the heart] enable one to prevail and triumph over this evil of passionate craving, depriving it from gaining supremacy and dominion over the “city,” and from carrying out this desire from the potential into the actual by clothing itself in the bodily organs. Moreover, even in the mind alone, insofar as sinful thoughts are concerned, evil has no power to compel the mind’s volition to entertain willingly, G–d forbid, any wicked thought rising of its own accord from the heart to the brain, as discussed above.16 Beg. ch. 9. But no sooner does it reach there than he thrusts it out with both hands and averts his mind from it the instant he reminds himself that it is an evil thought, refusing to accept it willingly, even to let his thoughts play on it willingly; how much more so to entertain any idea of putting it into effect, G–d forbid, or even to put it into words. For he who willfully indulges in such thoughts is deemed wicked at such time, whereas the benoni is never wicked for a single moment. So, too, in matters affecting a person’s relations with his neighbor, as soon as there rises from his heart to his mind some animosity or hatred, G–d forbid, or jealousy or anger, or a grudge and suchlike, he gives them no entrance into his mind and will. On the contrary, his mind exercises its authority and power over the spirit in his heart to do the very opposite and to conduct himself toward his neighbor with the quality of kindness and a display of abundant love, to the extent of suffering from him to the extreme limits without becoming provoked into anger, G–d forbid, or to revenge in kind, G–d forbid; but rather to repay the offenders with favors, as taught in the Zohar,17 I:201a. ff. that one should learn from the example of Joseph toward his brothers.
