Day 40

Day 40 – Hod in the Tzaddik

Hod is associated with the concept of evaluating things and formulating a proper Torah response. This is a humbling experience and not always easy to do. The tzaddik is constantly reevaluating himself in the process as the path of helping others find the way is fraught with danger for himself as well.

“How, in the chaos of life on earth, are we to keep the holy goal in sight? … Man needs counsel and aid … A helper is needed, a helper for both body and soul, for both earthly and heavenly matters. This helper is called the zaddik. He can heal both the ailing body and the ailing soul, for he knows how one is bound up with the other, and his knowledge gives him the power to  influence both.”
“The Zaddik,” Samuel Dresner, p.135

“It is the zaddikim, before whom the Lord is at all times, who humble themselves unto the dust; for when they behold the majesty of the Lord, His angels and pious ones, they are as nothing in their own eyes.” … All the day long the zaddik is immersed in the service of the Lord, and ever finds himself inadequate. He weeps and is in distress over his ‘going away’ from the service of the Lord, but in the end he bears his measure of seed.”
“The Zaddik,” Samuel Dresner, p.143

The zaddik understand the words of Amos which he spoke when he tried to explain to others why he became a prophet. “I was no prophet, Nor was I a son of a prophet, But I was a sheepbreeder and a tender of sycamore fruit.  Then the Lord took me as I followed the flock, And the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’  Now therefore, hear the word of the Lord.”(Amos 7:14-16) The zaddik knows that, “it is not easy to bestow the outpouring of heaven on another.”
“The Zaddik,” Samuel Dresner, p.143

“… the people stand as a constant challenge and threat to the zaddik.”
“The Zaddik,” Samuel Dresner, p.137

“To deliver the wicked, the zaddik goes to them and learns the wickedness of their ways. “He has no joy in this world because of worry over the danger of the yetzer hara, the it might seize him in its grasp. The zaddik, the servant of the Lord, knows the battle with the yetzer hara, and with the enemies who wait along the way of one who serves the Lord. This way is a way of danger, for he must ever live a life of anguish – how to escape from their net and how to warn others of the dangers from these enemies. The more knowledge, the more pain (Eccl. 1:18).
“The Zaddik,” Samuel Dresner, p.158