Machshava:

Ethics 

Collections: Rabbi Weinberger: Tanya

Description

P. 30 in the Tanya, and p. 92 in the commentary, 11th perek. Although the "rashah ve'tov lo" (wicked person with good in him) is part of the "program," he still struggles with failure and sins. The difference to the truly wicked person is how relatively infrequently he sins and the degree of his body's involvement in the sins (e.g., speech, thought, action) - he has not completely surrendered. Varying severities of sins - some involve only parts of the body; other sins involve only a thought. Although thoughts are generally less severe, they can sometimes be much harder to clean out than bodily sins. A person does not necessarily have to be actively involved in doing the wrong thing - having time to do the right thing (e.g., learn Torah, say Tehillim) and wasting that time on other pursuits [Rav Weinberger was not talking about a normal amount of time spent on a healthy hobby].