thumb|[[Joseph (Genesis)|Joseph interprets Pharaoh's Dream (Genesis 41:15–41). Of the biblical figures in Judaism, Joseph is customarily called the Tzadik.]]

Tzadik ( ṣaddīq , "righteous [one]"; also zadik or sadiq; pl. tzadikim ṣadīqīm) is a title in Judaism given to people considered righteous, such as biblical figures and later spiritual masters. The root of the word ṣadiq, is ( ṣ-d-q), which relates to "justice" or "righteousness". When applied to a righteous woman, the term is inflected as tzadeket singularly or tzidkaniot in the plural.

Tzadik is also the root of the word tzedakah ('charity', literally 'righteousness'). The term tzadik "righteous", and its associated meanings, developed in rabbinic thought from its Talmudic contrast with hasid ("pious" honorific), to its exploration in ethical literature, and its esoteric spiritualisation in Kabbalah.

Since the late 17th century, in Hasidic Judaism, the institution of the mystical tzadik as a divine channel assumed central importance, combining popularization of (hands-on) Jewish mysticism with social movement for the first time. Adapting former Kabbalistic theosophical terminology, Hasidic philosophy internalised mystical experience, emphasising devekut attachment to its Rebbe leadership, who embody and channel the Divine flow of blessing to the world.

Etymology

Ṣedeq in Canaanite religion may have been an epithet of a god of the Jebusites. The Hebrew word appears in the biblical names Melchizedek, Adonizedek, and Zadok, the high priest of king David.

Nature of the Tzadik

Definitions

In classic Jewish thought, there are various definitions of a tzadik. According to Maimonides (based on Tractate Yevamot of the Babylonian Talmud 49b-50a): "One whose merit surpasses his iniquity is a tzadik".

According to Shneur Zalman of Liadi's Tanya, a work of Hasidic Judaism, the true title of tzadik denotes a spiritual description of the soul. Its true meaning can only be applied to one who has completely sublimated their natural "animal" or "vital" soul inclinations into holiness, so that they experience only love and awe of God, without material temptations. Hence, a tzadik serves as a vehicle (מרכבה merkavah) to God and has no ego or self-consciousness. Note that a person cannot attain such a level, rather it is granted from on High (or born with, etc.). This select level elevates the "Intermediate" person (beinoni) into one who never sins in thought, speech or action. Unlike the Tzadik, they only experience divine devekut (communion) during devoted moments of worship or study, while in mundane life they can be tempted by natural inclinations, but always choose to stay connected to holiness. In the Tanya the difference between the former Talmudic-Maimonidean and latter Kabbalistic-Hasidic conceptions is raised. Since the "Torah has 70 facets" of interpretation, perhaps both conceptions are metaphysically true:

Tzadikim Nistarim

The Talmud says that at least 36 Tzadikim Nistarim (anonymous tzadikim) are living among us in all times.

Tzaddik of the generation

Hasidim adhere to the belief that there is a person born each generation with the potential to become Messiah, if the Jewish people warrant his coming. This candidate is known as the Tzadik Ha-Dor, meaning Tzaddik of the Generation.

Miracle workers

While tzadik status, according to its above definitions, is not necessarily related to the ability to perform or call upon miracles, the term tzadik is often used loosely by the Talmud to indicate those who have achieved especially outstanding piety and holiness. In this context, the tzadik's prayers are considered especially potent, as the Talmud states: "A tzadik decrees and the Holy One (blessed be He) fulfills." This is line with the Talmudic dictum: Rabban Gamliel the son of Rabbi Judah haNasi used to say: "Make His Will your own will, that He make your will as His Will."

In Muslim countries and Israel

The veneration of tzadikim and the veneration of prophets and other figures from the Torah, Bible, and Quran overlapped significantly, as did the veneration of figures from one religion by other local religions. Certain theological concepts overlapped as well. In the Medieval Muslim worldview, places like Egypt, al-Shām (especially Syria), and Karbala were holy or blessed land, though not necessarily as much as Mecca, Medinah, and Jerusalem. Jews never regarded other cities as sacred as Jerusalem, but lands like Syria, Iraq, and Egypt were also seen holy. A more specific location often became holy when someone saw a prophet or saint in a vision and was told to build a shrine. The prophet or saint made the place holy, but their granting of holiness was limited. The holiness was perpetuated via ritual behaviors such as prayer, supplication, votive offerings, sprinkling perfume and water, laying on the shrines and tombs, living in them, circumambulation, touching, and taking soil and rocks away that were thought to heal through baraka. These actions marked the sites associated with saints and prophets as separate from their surroundings. Sites that were destroyed and never rebuilt were seen as having lost favor with God, the prophets, and the saints. Sites also became holy due to their place in scripture, eschatological tradition, legends, local performance of ritual, the import/export of sacred objects and substances, and the production and display of talismans. Saint and prophet shrines were more common in cities, but plenty have been recorded in rural areas.

Saints and prophets in the view of Medieval Jews and Muslims possessed baraka (which can be translated as "blessing"), an innate force which was also conferred into objects they'd used or places they'd been, both of which are very important to saint veneration. Jews also use the word qadosh ("holiness") in the same context. In both religions, God is the ultimate source of holiness, and holiness comes from being or having been in service of God. While some ideas, such as these, are shared, and saints were common in popular Jewish practice at various points in time, Judaism does not have a doctrine for sainthood in the way Islam does. This is despite the fact that saint veneration was common among Medieval Jewish communities in the region. One of the key traits throughout history, from the writing of 1 Kings to the Modern era, of a Jewish saint is their ability to produce rain. The Synagogue of Moses at Dammuh was also well regarded as a holy pilgrimage site, and in the Medieval era, other synagogues devoted to Moses and many shrines to Elijah existed. Such shrines commemorated the various places Elijah had taken refuge from King Ahab in. The Synagogue of Moses was important to both Karaite and Rabbinic Jews, and was particularly important on Shavuot (which commemorates the giving of the Torah), and on the 7th of Adar (Moses's birth

In Egypt, Israel, and Syria, some synagogues had a small room (a hevyah, "hidden enclosure") inside them that served as a shrine to Elijah, who was seen as somewhat equivalent to al Khadir. These were often in caves under the synagogue, and in Egypt and Palestine, occasionally were described as having chairs of Elijah and eternal lights inside them.

Among the tombs and shrines frequented by Jews in Iraq are the shrine of Ezekiel and the tomb of Ezra (in the 11th century said to be surrounded by the graves of seven tzadikim). Special songs were composed and sung during the pilgrimage to the former. Pilgrims often left valuable books there in hopes they would be blessed with sons, and vows of lamp oil for the eternal light were made. Pilgrims also left purses of money at Ezekiel's shrine for safekeeping until they returned from long travels. At one point there were also shrines for Daniel, Barukh ben Neriah, Rabbi Meir, and other Talmudic sages.

Lebanon

In Lebanon, Karak Nuh hosts a tomb thought to be that of Noah, an identification dating back to the Medieval era. Annual Jewish pilgrimages to tzadik's tombs were called hillūla, meaning celebration. Other saints include pious and noble individuals in general, and even sometimes personified natural features (like trees).

Animal sacrifice is a prominent part of saint veneration for Moroccan Jews, as part of Maghrebi views on obligation between humans and the supernatural. Some families also had specific saints that were their patrons, and would dedicate a small part of their home to lighting candles in their honor.

<br />"-For all כל (Yesod) joins the Heaven and the Earth"

<br />"The Tzadik is the foundation (Yesod) of the World"

</blockquote>

In the system of 10 Sephirot Divine emanations in Kabbalah, each of the 7 emotional expressions is related to an archetypal figure in the Hebrew Bible. The first emanated realm to emerge from God's potential Will in Creation is Atziluth, the World of "Emanation". As it is still nullified to Divinity, so not yet considered a self-aware existence, it is the realm where the 10 Sephirot attributes of God are revealed in their essence. In lower spiritual worlds the sephirot also shine, but only in successively lower degrees, concealed through successive contractions and veilings of the Divine vitality. Seven biblical tzadikim, righteous figures are considered as embodiments of the emotional sephirot of Atzilut: Abraham-Kindness, Isaac-Restraint, Jacob-Mercy, Moses-Endurance, Aaron-Glory, Joseph-Foundation, David-Kingship. While all seven figures are considered supreme Tzadikim, in particular contexts, either Joseph as Yesod, and Moses as inclusive soul of the community, are identified especially as archetypes for the Tzadik in general.

In the sephirot, Chesed-Abraham, Gevurah-Isaac and Tiferet-Jacob are higher spiritual powers than Yesod-Joseph, which channels the higher powers to their fulfilment in Malchut action. However, traditionally in Judaism, Joseph is referred to with the quality of "Tzadik-Righteous". While the Patriarchs lived righteously as shepherds, Joseph remained holy in Egypt, surrounded by impurity, tested by Potiphar's wife, captive in prison, and then active as viceroy to Pharaoh. As the Heavenly sephirah of Yesod-"Foundation" channels spirituality to our physical realm, so in Kabbalah and the further development in Hasidic thought, its function also parallels the human role of the Tzadik in this world:

  • In the Divine, Yesod is the 9th Sefirah, in the middle balanced column, connecting all the higher sefirot, centred on Tiferet-"Beautiful" emotional harmony, to the last sefirah Malchut- realisation in "Kingship". In the flow of Divine Creative lifeforce, this represents the connecting channel between Heaven and Earth, between the "Holy One Blessed Be He" (Tiferet Divine transcendent male manifestation of God), and the "Shekhinah" (Malkuth indwelling Divine immanent female presence of God). The 16th century Safed Kabbalists introduced the prayer "For the sake of the union" of these principles before Jewish observances.
  • In the soul, Yesod is contact, connection and communication with outer reality of malchut, similar to the way the foundation of a building connects it with the earth.
  • In the bodily form of man and woman, Yesod corresponds to the organ of procreation, analogously where the Tiferet body descends towards action, expressed in the procreative power to create life. This relates to the Circumcision "Covenant of Abraham", the Jewish "Sign of the Covenant" with God. As the Torah describes two levels of Jewish covenant, physical "covenant of circumcision" and spiritual "circumcision of the heart", so women are considered born already physically circumcised. Joseph's resistance to Potiphar's wife represents his perfection of the "Sign of the Covenant". Yesod is the foundation of a person's future generations, the power of generating infinity in the finite.
  • Yesod is identified with the righteous tzadik, "the tzadik is the foundation of the world". As Jewish mysticism describes different levels of Tzadik, Kabbalah sees this verse as particularly referring to the one perfect tzadik of the generation. In the tzadik, God's infinite-transcendent light becomes manifest in this finite-immanent world. The tzadik procreates spiritually through revealing Divinity in new Torah interpretations, and through awakening return to God in his generation.
  • Yesod connects beginning to end in God who encompasses all. In the Bible, Abraham began the Yesod covenant of circumcision, though his sefirah is Chesed love-kindness, the first emotional expression. Love creates the unity of spiritual covenant. For Abraham this descended into action, to become expressed in the physical covenant of circumcision. Yesod expresses this descent, uniting spiritual and physical. "Foundation" is the beginning of a building and the conclusion of planning. Yesod is the power to bring action to conclusion, to reveal that the beginning and end are united in God, "the end is wedged in the beginning, and the beginning in the end".
  • Each Sefirah contains an inner dimension, as a soul motivating its outer Kabbalistic emanation function. Hasidic thought explores the Divine motivation within, by psychologising Kabbalah through man's experience. The inner motivation of Yesod is Emet-truth, each person's desire for their actions to reflect their true soul intention, fulfilling in action God's essential intention for Creation. The Tzadik experiences the wish for Divine purpose consummately.

Intellect in the supernal soul of the community

<blockquote>

"..To love the Lord your God, to listen to His voice, and to cleave to Him.."

<br />"Cleaving to a Torah scholar is as cleaving to the Divine Shechinah"

<br /><br />The leaders of Israel over the masses stem from the intellect of Adam's soul

<br />"In every generation there is a leader like Moses"

</blockquote>

  • The soul of the Tzadik is an inclusive, general soul of the community. In Kabbalah, gematria (numerical value) has significance, because Creation is formed through Divine "speech" as in Genesis 1. The gematria of Yesod (יסוד) is 80, 8 times 10, forming reduced value of 18 (חי Life), as a tzadik is called truly alive spiritually. 80 is the value of Klal (כלל), the "community", the extension of Kol (כל), the term in Kabbalah for the sephirah of Yesod. The "Tzadik of the generation" is a "general soul" (neshama klalit) of the generation, in which each individual soul is included. Hasidic thought focuses on this parallel, and its application for each person. Through the personal connection of each soul to the tzadik, their Yechidah soul-essence becomes revealed, through the revelation of the Yechidah of the Tzadik.

Breslov Hasidut

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov explained how only a true leader can awaken the most genuine Jewish faith: this leader is the Tzadik.

Variants as first names

  • Hebrew: Tzadik, Zadik, or Tzadok
  • Amharic, Tigrinya: Tsadik (ጻድቅ) or Tsadkan (ጻድቃን)
  • Arabic: Sadiq, Sadeq (صَادِق)
  • Persian: Sadegh or Sadeq

See also

  • Gadol
  • Gaon
  • Sydyk
  • Saint
  • Wali

References

Sources

  • Frumer, Assaf. Kol Hanikra Bishmi (Hebrew)
  • Lessons In Tanya
  • Pevzner, Avraham. Al HaTzadikim (Hebrew). Kfar Chabad. 1991
  • Kuntres HaHishtatchus The classic Maamar explaining the significance of visiting the grave of a Tzaddik. (In English) chabad.org
  • Maaneh Lashon An English rendition of the prayers to be said at the graveside of the righteous.
  • Torah sources concerning Tzaddikim
  • Connotations of the Kabbalistic sephirah Yesod-Foundation from inner.org
  • Connotations of the inner dimension of Yesod: Emet-Truth from inner.org