In these chapters, the Rebbe Rashab revisits the theme that yeshus can taint a person’s Divine service and create discord between individuals and within a community. He explains that even as one serves G‑d with joy, it is possible for that service to be self-oriented. It is possible that one may ultimately be seeking his own satisfaction. To avoid this problem, one needs to needs to cultivate an approach of bittul.
Similarly, even avodah inspired by humility and anguish can be tainted by yeshus. Deep down, a person may feel a certain sense of gratification from the very fact that he has come to experience that humility and anguish. Moreover, he will seek to make himself feel greater by disparaging others. When he sees someone else’s success — whether in Divine service or in material matters — instead of being happy for him, he is envious. True, the Rebbe Rashab explains, envy can be positive — but only when one’s service is characterized by bittul. By contrast, when a person is bloated with yeshus, his envy breeds friction and discord.
At this point, the Rebbe Rashab distinguishes between yeshus and other character flaws. A typical character flaw is associated with a specific negative quality, a product of one of the seven impure emotive attributes. Such a flaw can be corrected, even transformed, and channeled positively for use in the realm of holiness. By contrast, yeshus is a comprehensive failing that drags a person away from holiness altogether and leads to all the other negative traits. It is therefore crucial to carefully identify any trace of yeshus and root it out of our characters entirely.
Based on the above concepts, the Rebbe answers some of the questions raised at the beginning of the maamar, explaining the specific nature of the kelipah of Midian, which represents discord and baseless hatred, and is therefore the antithesis of G‑d’s name Havayah.
The kelipah of Midian is more harmful than that of the seven idolatrous Canaanite nations. Whereas the seven nations reflect the specific emotive attributes of kelipah, Midian is a broader problem that characterizes kelipah as a whole, and thus stands in direct opposition to the unity inherent to G‑dliness. That is why the war against Midian is described as “exact[ing] the retribution of G‑d (Havayah) from Midian,” for the two are diametrically opposed.
