The Danger of the Righteous Man

The Tzaddik is always striving for attachment (dveikut), and is attached to the upper worlds.

However, because he has a constant desire for the good of Israel - that the Holy Blessed One do good for them, bestowing upon them every blessing and abundance - because of this, he descends a bit from his own level and his attachment.

But nevertheless he is doing good, even when he descends from attachment. Because when he sees people, his desire and temptation for their good is so great, that he is able to put fear of God and love of God into their hearts, and their hearts become awakened to divine service.

There are three ways that a person becomes a tzaddik:

1. Through reincarnation. That is, he was a tzaddik in his first incarnation and so it is easier to become a tzaddik again.

2. Through the merit of his ancestors, who were tzaddikim. So because of their merit, they have been given honor in the upper realms, and their children are made into tzaddikim.

3. Through the decree of the Holy Blessed One, Who, at the creation of the world, said, "These will be the names in the Tribe of Reuven, these will be the names in the tribe of Shimon..." And so now, when a person comes into the world, and is given the name of some tzaddik who was already in the world, this causes that person to become a tzaddik as well, because it awakens the light of the tzaddik who is in the upper world.

The true, holy tzaddik, whose every thought is pure and totally refined, lives in a constant state of attachment and holiness. So that even when he is speaking with people, and it seems like he is speaking of physical, worldly things, the truth is that all of his thoughts are focused on the Blessed Creator, even during these matters.

It says in the Talmud, "The Holy Blessed One melds good intention to action."

We must explain this language of "melding." For when a person thinks a thought, how can we be certain their true motivations. Is their intention really to do the mitzvah or study Torah for its own sake, and not because of some external pressure? For some other person might indeed be studying Torah or performing a mitzvah, but have some other motivation in mind.

So instead the Holy Blessed One melds their action to the intention of the tzaddik, as if the tzaddik had done the action.

The tzaddik knows how the reincarnation of souls works, and so he knows if a particular person has a holy soul, and from what world that soul was taken. Moses and Aaron where on this level, and they knew about reincarnation. That is why they are commanded to, "Lift the heads of the Children of Israel, by their skulls." That is, raise them up according to their souls' incarnation.

But what about simple people, whose souls are not on such a high level? They, too, need elevation, to have their "heads lifted." But what can they do? How can they be raised when they are down below? For this, one needs a tzaddik to tie them to their ancestors, and include them in whole of Israel. And then they will be raised up with them.

The tzaddik is able to "flip" Judgment into Mercy. Even when death has been decreed on a person, God Forbid, he can nullify the decree and bring him back to life. The reason that the tzaddik has the power to do this is that the tzaddik ascends in his prayers to the upper worlds, where everything is pure Mercy, unmixed with Judgment. In that place, there has been no decree issued, and so he draws life down from there to this person.

The verse (in Psalm 11) says, "For God is righteous (tzaddik), and loves righteousness."...

So we see that the Blessed God is called, 'merciful,' and 'compassionate,' and 'righteous.' For when a person serves the Creator, they awaken this trait in the above worlds, and then we call God by this trait. So a person should serve the Creator with all these traits, in order to awaken them above. And when a person awakens the trait called, 'tzaddik,' the Blessed God is then called 'tzaddik' in all the worlds. And then all the great forces of mercy are released unto the world, and all judgments are converted into great mercy, through the work of this tzaddik. And that is why it says, "God is a tzaddik." That is, God is called by the name tzaddik when the tzaddik draws this trait down through his service.

"What kind of debate is for the sake of Heaven? The debate between Hillel and Shammai. And what kind of debate is not for the sake of Heaven? The debate of Korach and his crew."

The idea here is this: We see many antagonists standing against the tzaddikim, and speaking about them with arrogance and disdain. So how can we tell if their intention is to critique and disparage true tzaddikim, or if their intention is pure [for the sake of Heaven], as many of them will tell you? There are even great Torah scholars involved in this debate, who say their intention is for the sake of Heaven.

This is how we can tell if they speak the truth, that their intention is for the sake of Heaven: If their fellowship is harmonious, if they are all friends in every way, then we know that their intention is also truly for the sake of Heaven. For this is the way of true and complete tzaddikim - their souls are all bound together in great love and affection, and they love their friends more than they love themselves. And no one is jealous of his brother, and when he sees his friend's greatness, his soul is happy and his heart rejoices, and he hopes his friend will become greater and greater.

But when we see these antagonists who have no spirit of friendship, but are all just on fire with debate. But they have no desire for friendship, and their hearts are separate and divided, and no one of them recognizes the greatness of his friend, and what they really desire is what their friend has, whether it is money or greatness, this is a sign that a bitter fire rages in their camp, and it is nothing but wickedness in their hearts that causes them to be jealous of their fellow, and to speak against the tzaddikim, who are the true servants of God.