Chasidut do Przysłów 10:25

The tzaddik is the foundation of the world (Prov. 10:25).

Tzaddik yesod olam (Prov. 10:25) is the verse that teaches that the tzaddik is the foundation of the world. The physical world that we see is sustained by the spiritual gifts and flows of blessing that God continually pours into it. This shefa eloki—divine abundance of good—comes through the purest human soul, the tzaddik. The tzaddik loves every Jew and all of God’s creatures with thoroughly dedicated affection.⁷⁷The Maharal (Rabbi Yehudah Loew of Prague, 1512-1609, a great Kabbalist, philosopher, and educator) in his commentary to the Aggadah explains that a Jewish leader such as the High Priest is the heart of the nation. All limbs are connected to the heart and receive their life from it, and all Jews are attached to the tzaddik and are nourished through him (Makkos 11a). “The tzaddik, the leader and shepherd of Israel, is the very heart of the people of Israel” (Chasidic Dimensions, pg. 115, quoting Tikkunei Zohar 21:50b).
The tzaddikim of all times share the common denominator of absolute attachment, commitment, and devotion to God, Torah and Israel. As such they follow and share in the qualities of the first and greatest leader and shepherd of Israel: Moses. In fact, they are regarded as extensions and reflections of Moses. Thus it is said that there is not a generation without a leader like Moses. This is not simply in terms of an analogy, but in a quite real sense: an extension and emanation of Moses exists in every generation, in every tzaddik….
This Moses-aspect goes further: Moses had a neshamah kelalit, a comprehensive soul. His soul was a root-soul which compounded all the souls of his generation: they were all rooted in his soul. Thus it is also with the tzaddikim-leaders of every generation: they, too, are comprehensive root-souls compounding the souls of their respective generations. In this sense they are the leaders and the shepherds of their generations in every respect that Moses was in his. For the head of the generation is the whole of that generation (Chasidic Dimensions, pgs. 101-102).
The tzaddik’s overwhelming love for creation leads him to be gentle to all. As a result, even when rebuking sinners he will express his displeasure in muted terms:
I remember that they once related to my father, of blessed memory, that when our great master, Rabbi Ahron Rokeach of Belz, may his merit protect us, was in Munkatch policemen came to arrest him. These evildoers beat him, pushed him, and treated him so roughly that he could not stand their evil, and he said, “They are slightly strange, these Goyim.” This was already a very harsh critique for his standards. I remember when they related this to my father he smiled slightly. This is the way of tzaddikim, they are good to all (Rabbi Yekutiel Yehudah Halberstam [1905-1994], the Rebbe of Tzanz-Klausenberg, in his book Imros Tzaddikim, pg. 22, Story 5). His love of existence connects all of creation to the tzaddik, and they receive their life through him.⁷⁸See Tanya, Chapter 2. Even the sinners are connected to the tzaddik, and they benefit from him. The Almighty will periodically cause the tzaddik to sin, so that he can fall to the realm of sinners, connect with them, and then mystically elevate their souls with his subsequent return and elevation.
The Rebbe of Klausenberg explained that the tzaddik loves his nation; that is why his personal penances for his own misdeeds are performed for the sake of all the sinners in the nation, and thousands of souls are uplifted in a hidden and mystical manner through his personal improvement.
The true path of the Baal Shem Tov and his disciples was that they would perfect themselves first before they would pass judgment on others. When the Baal Shem isolated himself in the Carpathian Mountains, he rolled in the snow to atone for his misdeeds, and he broke the frozen ice atop the river in order to immerse himself in the waters beneath the ice. During those moments tens of thousands of Jews felt the removal of the foreskins covering their hearts and remembered their Maker. This is the meaning of the verse, “There is no speech and there are no words; their sound is unheard” (Ps. 19:4) and despite that, “Their line goes forth throughout the earth, and their word reaches the farthest ends of the land” (v. 5). In this manner the Baal Shem’s students made thousands of returnees to the faith. The masters R. Elimelech of Lizhensk (1717-1786) and Rabbi Aharon of Karlin (1736-1772) brought eighty thousand Jews back to observance. They accomplished this through the maxim of Hillel, “Love the creations and bring them closer to Torah.” They loved all. They knew to defend and find merit in the behavior of Jews, and they accepted all guilt upon themselves. As Rabbi Yishmael stated in the Mishnah, “Children of Israel, I am your atonement.” Through fixing their own internal minute flaws, they caused the entire world to be filled with a spirit of teshuvah, return to God (Imros Tzaddikim, pg. 23-24).
Our forefather Abraham brought people to observance through meeting them and impressing upon them the truth of monotheism. Our forefather Isaac was very restricted; he did not venture forth into human society, yet he too brought thousands of strangers under the rubric of observance. Isaac’s influence was affected in the tzaddik mode. When he learned Torah, or improved himself, these acts caused thousands of others to move closer to monotheistic belief and practice (Rav Wolfson).
Even as the tzaddik is the channel for the Divine effluences to the world in general, so he is also an intermediary for the people of his generation to ascend to Divinity.
A common denominator establishes a relationship. On the spiritual level, any commonality, even if limited to a single aspect, already establishes an inherent oneness. When joining different parts of water they become one for every species attaches itself to its own kind. So, too, the tzaddik is unified with those who became sanctified through his holiness and is able to raise them along with him. Moreover, as he is the comprehensive soul of his generation, he can elevate all and everything that is rooted in his soul. By means of his own good deeds and service of G-d he can elevate even the souls of the wicked.
In this context, the tzaddik will sometimes appear involved with mun-dane affairs. He is seen engaging in mundane speech or the telling of seemingly inconsequential stories, or otherwise dealing with the masses on their own level. This behavior would seem incompatible with his sub-lime status. Externally he appears to have lowered and degraded himself, to have stepped aside from his attachment to G-d. In truth, however, he is and remains in a constant state of deveikus [attachment to God] in all he does. His anomalous behavior is but for the establishing of a relation-ship with the simple and the lowly. Thus he is able to raise them to higher levels (Chasidic Dimensions, pgs. 109-110).
R. Aryeh Leib, the author of Aryeh de-Bei Ila’ah, once said,
When I was a young man I thought that I would lead the entire world to a path of holiness. As the years went by I realized, I cannot change the entire world, but I thought that at least I will change my entire hometown. Eventually I saw that this too was unattainable so I decided that I will correct my entire family. Now in my old age I say, “I wish and hope that I will be able to fix myself.” I believe that the meaning of this saying was that in his older years he recognized that when he learns Torah in holiness and purity he does not need to seek out sinners and impress upon them to return to observance, the holiness that shines in the world from his Torah will accomplish that job for him (Imros Tzaddikim, pg. 32).