The Letter Tsadi — study | Rav Ziegler zatsal
Letter study · צ · value 90

The Letter Tsadi

The righteous one, and why he stays hidden
A teaching of Rav Haim Ziegler zatsal · Éditions Gueoula
Translated from the French original; the French version remains the reference text.
The Letter Tsadi
The righteous one, and why he stays hidden

The tsadi came forward in the name of צַדִּיק (tzadik), the righteous one.

It was answered: you are too hidden — and true righteous ones do not show themselves.

It also opens צָרָה (tsarah), distress: the righteous one’s road passes through it.

Tradition speaks of thirty-six hidden righteous in each generation.

📖 Read the lesson
1 The Zohar account
“Master of the world, create the world through me, for through me begins tzadik, the righteous one. I carry the mark of those who uphold the world.”

The answer came: you are the letter of the righteous, and you are precious to Me. But you are too hidden: true tzadikim are modest and do not reveal themselves. And through you also begins tsarah, distress.

2 Why the righteous hides

A righteous man who shows himself stops being what he is. The letter carries that rule: what upholds the world upholds it without naming itself.

Tradition counts thirty-six hidden righteous in each generation. No one knows who they are — that is the condition of their being so.
3 Distress, and the value

The tsadi also opens distress. The world needs righteous ones, and their road does not run through comfort.

Ninety: the last full figure before a hundred, like a work almost brought to term.

Did you follow the study?

Four questions on the letter tsadi.

1
Which word did the tsadi invoke?
“I carry the mark of those who uphold the world.”
2
What objection was made to it?
True tzadikim are modest and do not reveal themselves.
3
How many hidden righteous does tradition count per generation?
No one knows who they are — that is the condition.
4
Which other word begins with tsadi?
The righteous one’s road does not run through comfort.

Result