Week 6: The Middot and the Tzaddik
Day 37 – Gevurah in the Tzaddik
“The judgment of the tzaddik is mercy.”
Gevurah is the aspect of restriction, going back to the beginning of Creation. It also has application with regard to the creation of certain individuals, given specific tasks by G-d:
“In a number of instances in the Torah, we find that the souls of certain Tzaddikim were prepared long before they actually came to fulfill their special mission in life. Jeremiah was told, “Before you were created in the womb you were destined to be a prophet.” (Jeremiah 1:5). At Creation, the verse states that, G-d created ha’Adam, (the Man)” (Genesis 2:7). The Midrash tells us “the Man” refers specifically to Avraham. But if the world was created for Avraham why was he not created as the first man? The answer is that Avraham came later so that should man sin, there would always be Avraham to rectify these sins (Bereshit rabbah 14:6). And again, Moshe was prepared as the redeemer .. Mordechai prepared for the redemption (Bereshit Rabbah 30:8). In fact, from the Talmud we know that Mashiach was created prior to the world (Pesachim 54a).”
Crossing the Narrow Bridge, Chaim Kramer, p. 314
Utilizing the concept of restriction, the tzaddik is able to block out the superfluous and focus on key spiritual concepts.
“… because of the physical restraints imposed upon him by this world, man – almost without exception – finds it nearly impossible to perceive this spiritualism. The Tzaddik is the exception. He does have a grasp of the spiritual. He can discover the level and the route – and not only his own, but those of others as well … A Tzaddik knows on what to concentrate his energies and how to focus on it, and he knows how then to bring his understanding down to a level that even ordinary people can comprehend.”
Crossing the Narrow Bridge, Chaim Kramer, p. 320
This ability of the tzaddik gives him and additional level of understanding not present in the ordinary person to take on certain problems, for the benefit of others:
“Empty space and contraction are Lurianic concepts which pertain to processes which preceded the creation of the world … When He decided to create the world, He contracted Himself creating a space empty of His light. In this empty space He created the world. It is the very fact that our existence is locate in a space devoid of Divine knowledge and speech, claims rabbi Nachman, which precipitates heretical doubt and questioning. These problems are unanswerable. Therefore both the tzaddik and the ordinary believer, need to remain silent in the face of this void. However, there is an essential difference between the tzaddik’s silence and that of the ordinary individual. Whereas the ordinary person is called upon to faithfully ignore these problems and move beyond them, one of the tzaddik’s tasks is to wrestle, with the heretical beliefs which stem from this emptiness so that he may elevate the souls trapped within.”
The Scroll of Secrets, Zvi Mark, p. 96