With such indoctrination it is no wonder that we have not produced another baal shem tov or anything close in 300 years {while by the natural order of evolution we should have had many bigger than the Besht by now}. By the time one even dreams of expanding beyond convention, one already “know” that he is not a Zaddik and will never be one.
In the following Torah of the Besht we get a glimpse into the inner making of a Zaddik. It is one of extreme good and extreme evil. For whatever is present within Bilaam {Moses’ opposite} is also present in Moses {see Degel, Ki Tisa and Pri ha’aretz, Matoys}. The great tzaddikim and sinners have everything in common- only the zaddik uses the bad to reject it and inch closer to the good while Bilaam uses the good for the achievment of evil.
“and so I have heard from my Master ZLH”H, {who explained the verse} “And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see” etc. {“God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here I am”}, for the Shechina consists of all the worlds the inanimate {domem}; the vegetative {tzomeach}; the animal {chai}; and the speaking {medaber}, and all creations of the world are good or bad, and {therefore} it was a surprise to Moses {Moyshe Rabeinu} A”H that the complete union is the Shechina how is it that it contains two opposites in one dimension good and bad and this is the union.
And so too the name of Moses contains everything, good and bad. And this is what it says “Moses your Master is a gambler {Kuvyustus- see Tosfos Becoyres 5a and Chulin 91b} vechulu and how can the union {possibly} come through him vechulu. But in truth all works out well, for the bad is a stool for the good as {in the concept of} “and Pharaoh brought closer” {the Beshtian interpertation of “hikriv” in place of the traditional “came closer”} vechulu. Or when one sees the deeds of the wicked and one {knows that one} is not in that category, one experiences pleasure, and the advantage of the good over bad, and this pleasure spreads throughout all worlds {and this is all caused} by the bad. And the bad nearly has an elevation through this, but once it goes above {this level} the operators of evil are dispersed and the words of the wise are charm”
Toldos, Lech Lecho, 15a
“for Moses was afraid that perhaps he is the Husk {klipeh} until god said “Moses, Moses” {only} then he said “here I am”… for when {God} said “Moses” the first time he did not say “here I am” for it was wondrous to him how the union is achieved. For when the lowest level revealed itself in the {burning} bush, all opened {revealed itself} {from} the upper sources {all the way} down. {and Moses couldn’t understand} why the bush does not get consumed, that the bad symbolized by the Bush- does not get consumed and destroyed {by the divine symbolized by the fire}- until he {God} told him a second time “Moses” that this union is {to be} done by him {Moses} and the connection and tying {together of} the lowest level to the highest vechulu {only} then {did} he say “here I am”- and the words of the wise charm for I have {been} brief”Toldos, BPY, 126c
Even after enlightenment, Moses, the Zaddik, still encompasses the bad. Until Moshiach’s coming, when all will achieve enlightenment, the Zaddik is doomed to the lowest of the low in order to reach the highest of states. It is only through constant collision with the bad; through falling into evil, that the Zaddik continuously defines and purifies the good.
Here are the words of the Besht himself:
“at times, the holy soul descends from a high and lofty place to the Husk, and the Husks are happy with the happiness of the souls that descended amongst them. And this is {the meaning of the verse} “those who descend unto the sea” talking about the soul that has descended into the sea of the Husk KN”L. however, the Husks do not know that {the continuation of the above verse} “their work is in the great sea” meaning that these holy souls are active {and at work} while they descend into the great sea {as} they bring up souls from the Husk. And this is the mystery of “he bringeth down to the Sheol, and bringeth up” {I Samuel 2:6} meaning that brings the soul down to Sheol, and he brings up {other souls} when they achieve their work… the soul that is not from such a straight place falls on it a fear and trembling when god lowers her to the Husks, not so a soul which is from a high and lofty place- fear shall not rise on her head. And all this pertains to her decent, but when she rises, with the mystery of “decent is for the purpose of ascent” in the mystery of the “returning light”, she raises many sparks in the mystery of “a great nation came out of Egypt”…for they {the Zaddikim} want to rise to a place as high as the sky, and BECAUSE of this they decent to the abyss in the Husk…and this is the mystery of “the soles of Moshiach” that as these souls will be done collecting these souls {stuck} in the soles of that impurity, {the soles} which are the end of that impure body {the Husk}, then Moshiach will come…
Besht’s commentary to Psalm 107, this concept spans across the whole commentary; the need to go to the lowest in order to elevate all those energies stuck in the Husk, once the Husk empties of divine sparks- it remains lifeless, without a divine soul to sustain it, and the redemption of the universe is achieved.
So, as it turns out, the Zaddik, according to the Besht, is the one who fearlessly explores the abyss as he is continuously aware that the husk is just an illusion packed with trapped divine energies. One must descend into the belly of the beast to bring these treasures back to the divine.
How this exodus and transformation happens, and what techniques one should employ to rise again- is discussed at length by the Besht in many other places- we have already touched on some of them. This is not its place, but in a nut shell, the Tzaddik gets so familiar with darkness that he knows its true essence, divine energies in disarray.
{let me just once more emphasize on our need to know the darkness within us, otherwise we may never learn its true essence and break on through to the other side of light}
What I have learned here is that the Tzaddik by definition contains the greatest darkness and it is through this darkness that he may rise to “the heights of the sky”!
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