Hold On! The Double-Edged Lesson
Meshivat Nefesh #25
What is a tzaddik?
A tzaddik is a consciousness-bridge.
His job is to help those who feel distant from God become aware that, “His glory fills all of the world,” that there is no place devoid of the Divine Presence. It is possible to immediately attain closeness to God no matter where we are and no matter what we’ve done…as long as we keep our focus on the fact of His ever-presence. So the tzaddik shares the lesson of God’s absolute accessibility with all those who feel that they’re at a distance.
But when it comes to those people who earnestly try to serve God, the tzaddik has a different lesson to teach. Through his own example of constant upward striving, the tzaddik shares the consciousness that the one who already feels a degree of closeness has so much further to go. God is absolutely infinite, and so there is never a point at which one can say that he has arrived.
The tzaddik himself bridges these states of awareness, and incorporates both of them into his consciousness at all times…so that he can share the double-edged lesson wherever it is needed.
Beloved Creator,
Please help me to apply
each aspect of the double-edged lesson as required.
Because You know even better than I do
how I swing from one extreme to the other,
of feeling impossibly distant from You
or too complacent in Your nearness.
Please send me the right teachers
who will help me to stay in balance
from moment to moment.
(Based on Likutei Moharan II:7)
