Glossary · Torah Ohr · Likkutei Torah
Beinoni
בינוני
The intermediate person (beinoni)
The intermediate person: one whose mind must always conquer a heart still rooted in worldly things; good and evil both “judge” him. He cleaves to G‑d in prayer, then turns to his affairs.
The word Most often בבינונים or ספר של בינונים cites the Tanya (e.g. “בבינונים פי״ח,” Tanya ch. 18), not the person. In Torah Ohr, Vayera, following the Tikkunei Zohar’s “one long, one short and one intermediate,” בינוני is the middle line of the sefiros, compassion between Chesed and Gevurah. Elsewhere it simply means middling (a middling eye, middle garments).
Where it’s explained
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 10, ¶5One who must always conquer his heart with his mind, since the heart is deeply rooted in worldly things while the mind inclines to cleave to G‑d, and so must always fight. Shaarei Kedushah calls him a tzaddik, and one whose contemplation has rooted it in his heart a chassid; Tanya calls the first a beinoni and the second a tzaddik.
שצריך תמיד לכבוש את הלב בשכלו מאחר שהלב מושרש מאד בעניני עוה״ז אלא שהשכל נוטה לדבקה בו ית׳
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 20, ¶23“Both judge them”: the beinoni has both times, cleaving to G‑dliness during prayer and afterward turning to his affairs. Even through his subduing of the other side (iskafya), the supernal delight is drawn into the Torah.
וזהו בחי׳ בינונים זה וזה שופטן ויש בהם משני העתים הנ״ל שבשעת התפלה הוא דבוק באלקות ואח״כ פונה לעסקיו
- Torah Ohr, Parshas Zachor 1, ¶24Yaakov had only one heart and delighted in Havayah; his sons, all the souls to the end of the generations, said “in our heart there is only One.” The beinonim are below that level, yet they too can say it: this is iskafya, and through it too Havayah’s oneness is revealed “with all your heart.”
גם בחי׳ הבינונים שהם למטה ממדרגה זו אעפ״כ אין בלבנו אלא אחד. והיינו בחינת אתכפייא
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 3, ¶17The souls of beinonim are sparks of Binyamin. Yosef, the tzaddik, drew love in delights to them, as the goblet hidden in Binyamin’s sack: in the beinoni this love, the tzaddik’s level, must be present without his knowing of it, for revealing what is above his level could bring him to self-importance.
כי בבינונים שהם ניצוצים דבנימין צ״ל אהבה זו באופן שלא ידע בעצמו מזו האהבה הגבוה דבחי׳ אהבה בתענוגים שהוא מדרגת צדיק
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 6, ¶14The main intent of the mitzvos is that through them G‑d “keeps the mitzvos” above, adding light in Atzilus; that is for tzaddikim, whose nefesh, ruach and neshamah have no evil at all. For beinonim, the main intent of their mitzvos must be refining their own nefesh, ruach and neshamah.
אך זהו דוקא בצדיקים שאין רע בנר״נ שלהם כלל. אבל בבינונים עיקר הכוונה במצוה שלהם צ״ל לברר הנר״נ שלהם עי״ז
Stated differently
Whether in the beinoni the evil ever rules over the good
בינונים זה וזה שופטן שפעם מתגבר כח הרע ומושל על הטוב ופעם מתגבר כח הטוב ומושל על הרע“Both judge them” means that at times the power of evil prevails and rules over the good, and at times the good over the evil, “one people shall be stronger than the other”; so this is not yet refinement (birur), which is the good ruling over the evil always.
אלא שמ״מ אמרו רק שופטן ולא מושלים ח״ו כי אין שליטה להרע ח״וAfter praying with self-sacrifice one may still desire alien things; this is “both judge them,” but they said only “judge,” not “rule”: the evil has no dominion, it only states its opinion like a judge whose view is not followed, and G‑d stands at his right to save him.
Main sources
Likkutei Torah, Shelach 10, ¶5Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 20, ¶23Likkutei Torah, Masei 3, ¶17Likkutei Torah, Masei 10, ¶3Likkutei Torah, Balak 2, ¶25Likkutei Torah, Shelach 16, ¶11Torah Ohr, Parshas Zachor 1, ¶24Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 6, ¶14
Where it appears
In 44 paragraphs of 29 maamarim.
- Likkutei Torah, Beshalach 1 ¶33
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 4 ¶13
- Likkutei Torah, Nasso 3 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 1 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Balak 2 ¶25
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 17 ¶8
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 17 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Va’eschanan 9 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 16 ¶12
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 7 ¶2 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Emor 2 ¶4
- Likkutei Torah, Balak 1 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar 20 ¶23
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 10 ¶3
- Likkutei Torah, Pekudei 1 ¶9 ¶14 ¶18 ¶30
- Likkutei Torah, Pekudei 2 ¶5 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 10 ¶5
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 18 ¶11
- Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 5 ¶14
- Likkutei Torah, Vayikra 5 ¶2 ¶3 ¶4 ¶5 ¶6
- Likkutei Torah, Masei 3 ¶15 ¶17 ¶18
- Likkutei Torah, Balak 3 ¶33
- Likkutei Torah, Tzav 5 ¶5 ¶9
- Torah Ohr, Parshas Zachor 1 ¶24
- Likkutei Torah, Tazria 6 ¶9 ¶14
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 6 ¶14 ¶15
- Torah Ohr, Vayeira 1 ¶25 ¶26
- Torah Ohr, Vayeira 2 ¶19
- Likkutei Torah, Shelach 16 ¶11
Written with AI from the paragraphs of Torah Ohr and Likkutei Torah, each entry checked by a second AI reader and every Hebrew quote checked by code; not yet reviewed by a person. Our English: CC BY-NC 4.0.