Tzaddik (Holy Person)
Eternal Matters That Transcend Time
To those of great understanding, time is not seen as relating to the past (as it appears to most people). As a result, the things of this world, even the most important, claim no place with them.
In their study, therefore, they are compelled to turn always to eternal matters that transcend time: divine matters and supernal spirituality.
Such people are those who love God, who walk in the light of His countenance constantly.
Arpelei Torah, p. 53
The Actions of Exalted Souls
Every action of exalted souls is united with their thoughts. This unity is great within them. Their actions are not symbolic, merely revealing their thoughts. Rather, their actions are literally revelations of life as those revelations appear on the level of the physical world. Those actions correspond literally to the revelation of thought within the world of intellect and thought.
All of this holy, exalted glory and beauty makes its appearance. It is a product of the supernal and wondrous unification in the heights o that exalted state. There, the lights and containers are of one material, one type, one being. He, His life-force and His self are one within them.
Then the words of such an exalted soul are alive, enduring, faithful and lovely—forever and ever.
Orot Hakodesh III, p. 96
Emptiness
There are souls to whom clinging to the divine is the foundation of their life. When they maintain only a minimal involvement with the Torah and its commandments, they feel a depth of suffering that stems from an emptiness affecting the quality of their souls.
Such people are able to comprehend the great destruction wrought by evil-doers, those who forget God.
Such people can comprehend to what a degree these evil people’s image is marred, and how truly pitiable they are—these people who, wise in their own eyes and believing that they lack nothing, follow the dictates of their evil heart.
Orot Hakodesh IV, p. 447
Everything Shall Rise
The paths of this world, its ways and customs, oppose the mighty manifestation of the secrets of the Torah.
Nevertheless, the righteous prevail over everything. They live their lives with scrupulous perfection, in accordance with the verse, “The secret of Hashem goes to those who fear Him.”
In truth, the entire world is subjugated to them on an inner level—even during times of concealment. Ultimately, the honor and spiritual reign of the righteous, who stand always before God, will reach all the glory of its revelation.
The righteous themselves realize that in truth the world and all its customs, which appear so opposed to the light that is supernal and divine, and to its eternal demands, really support and sustain it, and are dependent upon it. Everything proclaims glory and song without cease to the supernal holiness of God.
Just as the praise of the Holy One, blessed be He, rises from the righteous, so does it rise from the wicked. Just as the praise of the Holy One, blessed be He, rises from the Garden of Eden, so does it rise from Gehinnom. In the end, everything shall rise, shall be sweetened and sanctified.
The wisdom of the righteous rings out before them in an exhilaration of inspired spirit. They see the future in the light of present being. In this way, they give life to the present with the light of the future, drawing the pleasantness of the world-to-come into this world. Thus, they increase peace and blessing, serenity and Edenic refinement. All beings and life are blessed and refined, elevated and sanctified, saturated with the dew of life, and filled with the blessings of worlds.
Arpelei Torah, p. 79
The Supernal Treasure
Some people are so saintly, so great is their tendency toward supernal holiness, that their hearts are empty of any love for this world. They lack even that portion of love for this world that is fit to exist in a person’s heart.
As a result, they find imperfection in their human character, and they cannot be leaders in this world.
And so they must retrieve their love for this world. They do so through prayer, which deals with impermanent things; and through the in-depth study of Jewish law and this-worldly discussions of the Torah, in all their detailed ramifications. Then they have a love for the world that becomes a love of holiness, and which unites with the love of Torah.
Through these people, the world is elevated.
As far as these supernal tzaddikim, these individuals of the spirit, are concerned, the things of this world can claim no place of importance. These people correctly assess what the supernal treasure and illumination is, and their intent is to cultivate it continuously and draw it into the entire world.
It is an absolute truth that their service is not at all the same as the paths of service of others, who are constantly enclosed within the confines of this world and its desires, within the prisons of the body and its proclivities. When we see something in them that astonishes us, we should have no critical thoughts, for all their ways flow from a very exalted holiness.
Orot Hakodesh III, p.305
Natural Men
Holy people in truth must be natural men, for whom all the qualities of the nature of the body and spirit partake of the quality of life and health. In their ascent, they are able to raise along the world and all its being.
Arpelei Torah, p. 16