The essence of the Tanya is really based upon this famous verse in the Torah, “For this thing is very close to you in your mouth and in your heart to do it.” The problem with this verse, is that it has no real structure to it. Is it coming to teach us about the three garments of the soul – thought, speech and action? We could say that the mouth is speech, the heart is thought and doing it is action. But that makes no sense. Why does the verse indicate our connection with the Torah in a rather confused manner. It goes neither in order of thought, speech to action, nor in the order of action to speech and then thought. Rather, it seems somewhat jumbled up!
It is not for nothing that it is mentioned this way. As we learn in chapter 17 of the Tanya – a follow up from chapter 16 regarding the service of the Beinoni. The Beinoni does not function exactly like the Tzaddik and it happens that sometimes he cannot bring the excitement of the Mitzvah observance into his heart – as the Tzaddik is able to do. The Tzaddik rules his heart and is able to control it as he wishes to. But the Beinoni only has true control over his mind.
Because he can control his mind, he is able to stimulate his mind with the love he has for God and bring that into his heart in order to perform the Mitzvot. Then, as we learnt in chapter 16, God joins the good thought with the good deed, giving the deed wings with which to ascend into the higher spiritual worlds.
Now we understand a glimpse into that verse. The verse is not sharing with us the order of the garments of the soul. Rather it is telling us that the Torah (or fulfilling Mitzvot etc.) is close to our mouths (so that we can study it) and now we must read the next few words as a sentence to itself – and in our hearts to do it. It is close in our hearts to do the Mitzvot, because the Beinoni can stimulate himself intellectually to become excited in performing the Mitzvot.
However, this is really a blessing and a gift from God. The Rasha (evil person) has no such gift from God. The gift is there only for those who are already striving for ascending in levels of holiness. But the Rasha is not interested in this. And as the Torah and Tanya say about him – he is considered dead even while alive! For him, it is superfluous to speak about the Torah being close to his heart to do it – because he simply has no interest in doing it in the first place!
However, if he abandons his ways and does Teshuvah (he repents,) then of course he is to be accepted in every sense of the word as a person back on the path again, striving for ascending the levels of holiness in cleaving to God and His Torah, and then surely God will be by him too in bringing him to know that the Torah is indeed close to his mouth and in his heart to do it.
