מְעֻוָּ֖ת לֹא־יוּכַ֣ל לִתְקֹ֑ן וְחֶסְר֖וֹן לֹא־יוּכַ֥ל לְהִמָּנֽוֹת׃
אַ קרומקײט װאָס מע קען ניט אױסגלײַכן, און אַ פֿעלער װאָס קען ניט גוט געמאַכט װערן.
Sha'arei Kedusha
If a Jew wishes to purify and sanctify himself and truly accept the yoke of the Heavenly kingdom upon himself, let him prepare himself with all his might to perform all 613 mitzvot with alacrity. Through their fulfillment the 613 organs and veins of his soul will become perfected, as mentioned above. This is because if he lacks even one of the 248 positive mitzvot, he still lacks an organ of his soul. About such a person scripture states,51Ecclesiastes 1:15 “A lacking which is incalculable,” which is worse than the matter of, “Anyone who has a blemish may not approach.”52This is because, as explained above, a blemish in a mitzvah is not the complete absence of the mitzvah. Therefore, one who lacks a positive mitzvah altogether, is worse off than one who performs it, but in a blemished and imperfect manner. Nonetheless, though his positive mitzvot are blemished, and since he does not transgress the negative mitzvot, he does not fall into the category of an actual “Baal Moom,” that is, a truly blemished person.
However, a Jew who fulfills the positive mitzvot, but has transgressed even one of the 365 negative mitzvot, is within the category of an actual “Baal Moom” – a blemished person. This is because the pipe (or vein) that draws sustenance to the organs has become bent [thereby obstructing the flow]. About such as person the verse states,53Ecclesiastes 1:15 “irreparably crooked.” However, the meaning of the verse is that it is only irreparable once the soul has departed from this world, because one cannot perform the mitzvot that he lacks or repent and thereby rectify the transgressions that he committed, except while he still is in this world. This is as scripture states,54Ecclesiastes 9:10 “Whatever you can accomplish while you are able, do it, for there is neither deed nor accounting nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave to which you are going.” “Deed” here, refers to performing the positive mitzvot, “Accounting” refers to repenting over the negative ones and “knowledge” refers to the knowledge gained through the study of HaShem’s-יהו"ה Torah. None of these are possible “in the grave to which you are going.”
From here we see that as long as a Jew has not fulfilled the 613 mitzvot, he is in the category of an “Imperfect Tzaddik.” It is not without warrant, that our teacher Moshe, peace be upon him, prayed for permission to enter the land 515 times, corresponding to the numerical value of the word, “and I pleaded for grace-VaEtchanan-ואתחנן-515.55Midrash Dvarim Rabba 11:1 He sought to perfect his soul by keeping the 613 mitzvot [many of which only apply in the land of Israel].
If a Jew fulfills all the mitzvot, but has not also fully acquired all the good character traits, in that he must constantly battle and conquer his Yetzer HaRa, such a person is in the category of a “Perfect Tzaddik who conquers his Yetzer.”
However, once all the good character traits become so totally imbedded in a person that they become his nature, so that he performs the 613 mitzvot with joy that comes from love, without any resistance from the Yetzer HaRa, because his physicality has become totally refined, he is called a “Perfect Chassid.” Similarly, King David said,56Psalms 109 “My heart is empty within me.”57This means that he rid himself totally of the evil inclination (Yetzer HaRa) by starving it to death. (See Talmud Bavli, Bava Batra 17a; Brachot 61b; Talmud Yerushalmi Brachot 9:5; Sotah 5:5; Orchot Tzaddikim 26:82; Tanya, Ch. 1) Furthermore, he said,58Psalms 131 “HaShem-יהו"ה, my heart was not proud, nor were my eyes haughty. Neither did I pursue matters that were too great or wondrous for me. Have I not calmed and stilled my soul like an infant nursing from his mother? My soul is like a nursing infant.” This is to say that he appears as if all his good character traits were already naturally embedded in him when he first came out of his mother’s womb. Therefore, because good character traits and the performance of the mitzvot had become so embedded in King David’s nature, he called himself a Chassid, as in the verse,59Psalms 86 “Guard my soul, for I am a Chassid.”
However, a Jew who fulfills the positive mitzvot, but has transgressed even one of the 365 negative mitzvot, is within the category of an actual “Baal Moom” – a blemished person. This is because the pipe (or vein) that draws sustenance to the organs has become bent [thereby obstructing the flow]. About such as person the verse states,53Ecclesiastes 1:15 “irreparably crooked.” However, the meaning of the verse is that it is only irreparable once the soul has departed from this world, because one cannot perform the mitzvot that he lacks or repent and thereby rectify the transgressions that he committed, except while he still is in this world. This is as scripture states,54Ecclesiastes 9:10 “Whatever you can accomplish while you are able, do it, for there is neither deed nor accounting nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave to which you are going.” “Deed” here, refers to performing the positive mitzvot, “Accounting” refers to repenting over the negative ones and “knowledge” refers to the knowledge gained through the study of HaShem’s-יהו"ה Torah. None of these are possible “in the grave to which you are going.”
From here we see that as long as a Jew has not fulfilled the 613 mitzvot, he is in the category of an “Imperfect Tzaddik.” It is not without warrant, that our teacher Moshe, peace be upon him, prayed for permission to enter the land 515 times, corresponding to the numerical value of the word, “and I pleaded for grace-VaEtchanan-ואתחנן-515.55Midrash Dvarim Rabba 11:1 He sought to perfect his soul by keeping the 613 mitzvot [many of which only apply in the land of Israel].
If a Jew fulfills all the mitzvot, but has not also fully acquired all the good character traits, in that he must constantly battle and conquer his Yetzer HaRa, such a person is in the category of a “Perfect Tzaddik who conquers his Yetzer.”
However, once all the good character traits become so totally imbedded in a person that they become his nature, so that he performs the 613 mitzvot with joy that comes from love, without any resistance from the Yetzer HaRa, because his physicality has become totally refined, he is called a “Perfect Chassid.” Similarly, King David said,56Psalms 109 “My heart is empty within me.”57This means that he rid himself totally of the evil inclination (Yetzer HaRa) by starving it to death. (See Talmud Bavli, Bava Batra 17a; Brachot 61b; Talmud Yerushalmi Brachot 9:5; Sotah 5:5; Orchot Tzaddikim 26:82; Tanya, Ch. 1) Furthermore, he said,58Psalms 131 “HaShem-יהו"ה, my heart was not proud, nor were my eyes haughty. Neither did I pursue matters that were too great or wondrous for me. Have I not calmed and stilled my soul like an infant nursing from his mother? My soul is like a nursing infant.” This is to say that he appears as if all his good character traits were already naturally embedded in him when he first came out of his mother’s womb. Therefore, because good character traits and the performance of the mitzvot had become so embedded in King David’s nature, he called himself a Chassid, as in the verse,59Psalms 86 “Guard my soul, for I am a Chassid.”
Sha'arei Kedusha
Our sages, of blessed memory, stated,546Talmud Bavli, Sanhedrin 7a “The beginning of a person’s judgment is that he is judged only concerning the study of Torah, as written,547Proverbs 17:14 ‘Exemption from waters is the beginning of judgment.’”548The term “release-Poter-פוטר” here means that he exempts himself from the waters, which refers to Torah study. The term “Madon-מדון” which means “strife,” is also of the root “judgement-Din-דין” as the Talmud here indicates. Thus, the verse is understood to mean, “Excusing oneself from the waters of Torah study is the beginning of judgment.” (See Rashi to Talmud Bavli, Kiddushin 40b.) Similarly, it is written,549Joshua 1:8 “This Book of the Torah shall not leave from your mouth; you shall contemplate it day and night, so that you may guard yourself to do according to all that is written in it; for then your way will be successful, and then you will be wise.” About each moment, hour or day that a person is idle from studying the words of Torah, it is written,550Ecclesiastes 1:15 (See Rashi) “Crookedness that cannot be straightened, lacking that is incalculable.”