Until now we have been speaking of a working man who does not have the opportunity to spend all his time in Torah study and divine service. Now the discussion turns to the individual who spends all his time immersed in the study of Torah.

Even if one’s entire aspiration is in G‑d’s Torah, which he studies day and night for its own sake,

וכמאמר רז״ל: הלואי שיתפלל אדם כל היום כלוas, indeed, our Sages have said, 10 “Would that a man pray the whole day long!” Such a Beinoni is

as, indeed, our Sages have said,10 “Would that a man pray the whole day long!”

In previous chapters the Alter Rebbe explained that though the Beinoni is unsullied by sin in thought, speech or action, the internal evil of his animal soul remains strong enough to desire evil. That these desires do not find any practical expression is due

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ובזה יובן כפל לשון השבועה: תהי צדיק ואל תהי רשעNow we may understand the repetitious wording in the oath administered to every Jew before birth, “Be a tzaddik and be not a rasha”

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In the previous chapters, the Alter Rebbe discussed the difference between the tzaddik and the Beinoni. The tzaddik has no evil inclination. Since there is no longer any evil in his own soul, evil holds

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