Yartziet of the Ari Ha kodosh todayThe relationship between the Tzaddik and those who follow him are liken to a tree. The soul of the follower being that of a leaf connected to a branch that of a greater soul, the Tzaddkim and in turn they are connected to larger branches, so on and so forth til you reach the trunk and the Tzadik HaEmet. The Ari Hakodosh writes; in sha'ar Hagilgulim #38.
Thus each of the branches has smaller branches and twigs and leaves under the responsibility. The greater the Tzaddik, the more souls he has in his care meaning their rectification is in his hands, he's got the file. And know the true Tzaddik as all the souls under him. one of the foundational teaching in breslev is that of the Tzadiik Ha Emet. Rebbe Nachman teaches there is a tzaddik who is the foundation of the world. In him are rooted all the other souls, even those of other tzadiikim. (Lkutey Moharan I, 70). The Ari writes that on the pasuk "600,000 souls at my foot" bamidbar 11:21 he comments that all the 600,000 Jewish souls were parts of moshe soul (Sha'ar Hapesukim 2:3).
The Tzaddik HaEmet is a master of adaptation He knows how to speak to each individual and to relate to each individual differently. The Tzaddik has many faces, he can see into and relate to each persons needs. By his ability to adapt his words to all manner of thinking no matter whom he is speaking. He can relate to each person in a language and mushel to which this person can relate and receive 'the aitz'zah' that he needs to over come his obstacles to Holiness. Though the Tzaddik can appear as a regular person to one, yet to others strange, to each individual he can be something else. The greater the tzaddik the greater amount of faces he can posses. Thus to be able to instruct each follower on the path for him to take. And each person has the freedom to preceive him as he truly wishes. With the respect due a righteous leader or with contempt. It is written that; "The Tzaddikm are the eyes of the community" (Horiyot 5b). In (Likutey Morharan II, 67) "Through the Tzaddikim our eyes are opened, and we are given to see our true appearance, a picture of how we really look." We have to understand that the power of the True Tzaddik is that he can reach out and read his mind and offer him the helping hand that he needs to cross into the gates of holiness.
We see an example of this in Rebbe Nachman's story "The Master of Prayer' we see that the Tzaddik could relate to each group in a different way and win them over to the service of Hashem.
How do we know who to follow, how to find him, to locate the Tzaddik that's right for you to follow? You have to search for him like any thing else important to you. Whether it is for a mate or a job you must put effort into it. It is very important to find your true spiritual leader. Rebbe Nachman advises that one should search and seek very much for the great teacher. (likutey morharan I 30:2) This can only be accomplished by searching for the spiritual teachings that quench the thirst of your soul. and then you still must strive, to get all you can out of it. After you find him, its hard work to be 'Bitual'. Like I always say "If you find that you are being fed, then sit at the table. But if you are going hungry look for a different table til you find it". You have to pray a lot about this. This is the most important decision you'll make beside taking a wife. The key is are you happy and spiritually growing? One must pray to Hashem to guide him to the truth, to find this True Tzaddik . We have limited understanding so we will search for what we think we need at our level. But through prayer we can plugin at a higher level and receive guidance from above, even to the highest of levels.
Reb Nosson Writes; in one of his Torah's that there is much confusion in the world regarding the Tzaddik and how to find him, especially the True Tzaddik. First and for most there are many false leaders, those who teach Torah based on philosophies and atheism. They are not leaders at all.
Then there are those who are righteous, and even tzaddikim, but are not the True Tzaddik . How then are we to find this True Tzaddik, the Tzaddik HaEmet the leader of the generation?
We are taught that;
Any Tzaddik who teaches us to come closer to Hashem, and who instills in us a fear and love of Hashem, who bases his teaches on the sages from the Talmud and the Midrash and the Zohar the Writing's of the Ari the Shulchan Arukh he is a worthy Tzaddik and should be followed but since we are to search for the leading Tzaddik how is it that I can get to him?
It is like this the law of one who is lost, and does not know which day is Shabbos. He should count six days and on the seventh keep shabbos. He can do what he needs to survive. On the other days he has to to also keep shabbos but on his shabbos he makes kidush and havdallah on his day of rest (Shabbat 69a)
Thus until he finds out which day is really shabbos he must apply the laws of shabbos to all the days. Reb Nosson will now compare this to find the True Tzaddik. The Zohar compares the Tzaddik to Shabbos (Zohar III:144b). "Whoever seeks the True Tzaddik and can not find him must accept all the Tzaddikim. However, he should choose one Tzaddik as his "shabbos" his leader, but this is only until he can find the True Tzaddik. In the mean time he should engage in a minimum of work in order to use his time in searching for the Tzaddik HaEmet it's not easy he is likened to one who is lost in the desert.
Yet ultimately, it all depends on how much he is willing to search. With a strong enough desire, nothing can stand in his way (likutey, Halakhot, Shabbos 5:13).
We need to understand the Importance of having a connection to the True Taddik. And we will look into this and return.
Blessings Reb Nati
