Part I; Likkutei Amarim, Chapter 10
The whole chapterג וְצַדִּיק שֶׁאֵינוֹ גָמוּר, הוּא שֶׁאֵינוֹ שׂוֹנֵא הַסִּטְרָא אָחֳרָא בְּתַכְלִית הַשִּׂנְאָה, וְלָכֵן אֵינוֹ מוֹאֵס גַּם כֵּן בָּרַע בְּתַכְלִית.
3The “incompletely righteous” is he who does not hate the sitra achara with an absolute hatred; therefore he does not also absolutely abhor evil.
דוְכָל שֶׁאֵין הַשִּׂנְאָה וְהַמִּיאוּס בְּתַכְלִית, עַל כָּרְחֲךָ נִשְׁאַר אֵיזֶה שֶׁמֶץ אַהֲבָה וְתַעֲנוּג לְשָׁם, וְלֹא הוּסְרוּ ״הַבְּגָדִים הַצּוֹאִים״ לְגַמְרֵי מִכֹּל וָכֹל, וְלָכֵן לֹא נֶהְפַּךְ לְטוֹב מַמָּשׁ, מֵאַחַר שֶׁיֵּשׁ לוֹ אֵיזֶה אֲחִיזָה עֲדַיִין בַּ״בְּגָדִים הַצּוֹאִים״, אֶלָּא שֶׁהוּא בָּטֵל בְּמִיעוּטוֹ וּכְלָא חֲשִׁיב, וְלָכֵן נִקְרָא צַדִּיק וְרַע – כָּפוּף וּבָטֵל – לוֹ. וְעַל כֵּן, גַּם אַהֲבָתוֹ לַה׳ אֵינָהּ בְּתַכְלִית, וְלָכֵן נִקְרָא צַדִּיק שֶׁאֵינוֹ גָמוּר.
4And as long as the hatred and scorn of evil are not absolute, there must remain some vestige of love and pleasure in it, and the fouled garments have not entirely and absolutely been shed; therefore the evil has not actually been converted to goodness, since it still has some hold in the filthy garments, except that it is nullified because of its minute quantity and is accounted as nothing. Therefore such a person is called a righteous man, in whom the evil is subjugated and surrendered to him. Accordingly, his love of G–d is also not perfect, with the result that he is called “incompletely righteous.”
ה וְהִנֵּה, מַדְרֵגָה זוֹ מִתְחַלֶּקֶת לְרִבְבוֹת מַדְרֵגוֹת בְּעִנְיַן בְּחִינַת מִיעוּט הָרָע הַנִּשְׁאָר מֵאַחַת מֵאַרְבַּע יְסוֹדוֹת הָרָעִים, וּבְעִנְיַן בִּיטּוּלוֹ בְּמִיעוּטוֹ בְּשִׁשִּׁים עַל דֶּרֶךְ מָשָׁל, אוֹ בְּאֶלֶף וּרְבָבָה וְכַיּוֹצֵא עַל דֶּרֶךְ מָשָׁל. וְהֵן הֵם בְּחִינוֹת צַדִּיקִים הָרַבִּים שֶׁבְּכָל הַדּוֹרוֹת, כִּדְאִיתָא בַּגְּמָרָא, דִּתַמְנֵיסַר אַלְפֵי צַדִּיקֵי קָיְימֵי קַמֵּיהּ הַקָּדוֹשׁ־בָּרוּךְ־הוּא.
5Now, this grade is subdivided into myriads of degrees in respect of the quality of the minute evil remaining [in him] from any of the four evil elements, as well as in relation to its proportionate abnegation by reason of its minuteness, such as, by way of example, one in sixty, or in a thousand, or in ten thousand, and the like.6 Such are the gradations of the numerous righteous men who are to be found in every generation, as mentioned in the Gemara, viz., “Eighteen thousand righteous men stand before the Holy One, blessed is He.”7
ואַךְ עַל מַעֲלַת צַדִּיק גָּמוּר, הוּא שֶׁאָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן יוֹחָאִי: ״רָאִיתִי בְּנֵי עֲלִיָּה וְהֵם מוּעָטִים כוּ׳״, שֶׁלָּכֵן נִקְרָאִים ״בְּנֵי עֲלִיָּה״, שֶׁמְּהַפְּכִין הָרָע וּמַעֲלִים אוֹתוֹ לִקְדוּשָּׁה, כִּדְאִיתָא בַּזֹּהַר בַּהַקְדָּמָה, שֶׁכְּשֶׁרָצָה רַבִּי חִיָּיא לַעֲלוֹת לְהֵיכַל רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן יוֹחָאִי, שָׁמַע קָלָא נָפִיק וְאָמַר: ״מַאן מִנְּכוֹן דִּי חֲשׁוֹכָא מְהַפְּכָן לִנְהוֹרָא וְטָעֲמִין מְרִירוּ לְמִיתְקָא עַד לָא יֵיתוּן הָכָא וְכוּ׳״:
6However, it is with regard to the superior quality of the “completely righteous” that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said, “I have seen superior men (benei aliyah), and their numbers are few….”8 The reason for their title of “superior men”9 is that they convert evil and make it ascend to holiness, as is written in the Zohar in the Introduction,10 that when Rabbi Chiya wished to ascend to the hechal (heavenly shrine) of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, he heard a voice come out and say, “Which of you, before coming here, has converted darkness into light and bitter taste into sweetness? [Otherwise] do not approach here,” and so forth.
Kehot Publication Society · CC BY-NC · sefaria.org
Kehot Publication Society · CC BY-NC · sefaria.org