Talk:Tzadik/Encyclopedia Judaica Zaddik article

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Article on Zaddik (general)

ZADDIK (Heb. cyVx; lit. "righteous man"), the title applied to an individual who is considered righteous in his relations with God and man.

Noah is described as "righteous and wholehearted" (Gen. 6:9), and the Bible is replete with praises of the zaddik. Acting justly is the zaddik's greatest joy (Prov. 21:15), and the righteous man is considered an abomination to the wicked (Prov. 29:27). The righteous live by their faith (Hab. 2:4), and when their number increases the people rejoice (Prov. 29:2). There are whole generations that are righteous (Ps. 14:5), and in the future the entire Jewish people will be righteous and thereby merit inheriting the land forever (Isa. 60:21). The zaddik will be rewarded with material prosperity, and his merit will endure forever (Ps. 112:3; Prov. 11:31). Even if he stumbles seven times, he will still rise up again (Prov. 24:16), and God will not suffer the righteous to famish (Prov. 10:3) or be forsaken (Ps. 37:25).

Nevertheless, the Bible also recognizes that there are zaddikim who undergo tribulations. Abraham pleaded against the possibility that the righteous would perish along with the wicked (Gen. 18:23), and Habakkuk described the wicked swallowing up the righteous (Hab. 1:13). Ecclesiastes also probed this dilemma, remarking that "there is a righteous man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his evil-doing" (Eccles. 7:15).

The rabbis described the righteous as individuals whose behavior went beyond merely fulfilling the letter of the law (BM 83a and Rashi ad. loc.), and as being scrupulous in monetary matters (Sot. 12a). One passage, however, suggests that the zaddik is on a lower level than he "that serveth God" (Mal. 3:18, and see Hag. 9b). According to one interpretation, Noah is only considered a zaddik because his moral standards were higher than those of his depraved generation (Gen. 6:9; Sanh. 108a; i.e., it was a relative and not an absolute standard). The rabbis praised the righteousness of the zaddikim as being greater than that of the ministering angels (Sanh. 93a), and held that if the zaddikim desired, they were capable of creative acts similar to those of God (Sanh. 65b). It was believed that the zaddik could annul the decrees of God (MK 16b), and that he is constantly remembered for a blessing by virtue of his good deeds (Prov. 10:7; Yoma 38b). The rabbis attributed the barrenness of the matriarchs to God's desire to hear the prayers of the righteous before he would bless them with children (Yev. 64a). It is because of the merit of the zaddikim that the world exists (Yoma 38b), and God will never destroy the world as long as there are 50 righteous people alive (Pd RE, 25; cf. Gen. 18:26). People are divided into three classes: the completely righteous, the completely wicked, and the intermediate class (RH 16b; cf. Ber. 61b); although the verse "For there is not a righteous man upon the earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not" (Eccles. 7:20) implies that the concept of the completely righteous is purely theoretical. The completely righteous are immediately inscribed in the Book of Life on Rosh Ha-Shanah and they are similarly forthwith inscribed for everlasting life on the Day of Judgment (RH 16b).

For the concept of the zaddik in Hasidism, see Hasidism. For the concept of the thirty-six zaddikim who inhabit the world in every generation, see Lamed Vav Zaddikim.

[Aaron Rothkoff]

Article on Hasidic interpretation of Zaddik

Hasidism - There is a large article in the Encyclopedia about Hasidism, and one of the sub-sections is about Hasidic interpretations of the zaddik (tzadik).

Kavvanah and Zaddikism

Is this program of sustained contemplation, attachment, and utter devotion to God really possible for all men? The hasidic answer is generally in the negative. This is why the doctrine of zaddikism is so important for Hasidism. The holy man, his thoughts constantly on God, raises the prayers of his followers and all their other thoughts and actions. In the comprehensive work on zaddikism, R. Elimelech of Lyzhansk's No'am Elimelekh, the zaddik appears as a spiritual superman, with the power to work miracles. He is the channel through which the divine grace flows, the man to whom God has given control of the universe by his prayers. The zaddik performs a double task: he brings man nearer to God and he brings down God's bounty to man. The zaddik must be supported by his followers. This financial assistance is not for the sake of the zaddik but for the sake of those privileged to help him. By supporting the zaddik with their worldly goods his followers become attached to him through his dependence on them, which he readily accepts in his love for them. Their welfare thus becomes his and his prayers on their behalf can the more readily be answered. The zaddik even has powers over life and death. God may have decreed that a person should die but the prayers of the zaddik can nullify this decree. This is because the zaddik's soul is so pure and elevated that it can reach to those worlds in which no decree has been promulgated since there only mercy reigns.

But if such powers were evidently denied to the great ones of the past how does the zaddik come to have them? The rationale is contained in a parable attributed to the Maggid of Mezhirech (No'am Elimelekh to Gen. 37: 1). When a king is on his travels he will be prepared to enter the most humble dwelling if he can find rest there but when the king is at home he will refuse to leave his palace unless he is invited by a great lord who knows how to pay him full regal honors. In earlier generations only the greatest of Jews could attain to the holy spirit. Now that the Shekhinah is in exile, God is ready to dwell in every soul free from sin.