Sefer Shel Tzaddikim
Sefer Shel Tzaddikim (Book of the Righteous) is a work written by the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, containing Torah teachings addressed to those who stand at the level of a tzaddik as defined in the Tanya — that is, individuals who are entirely free of the yetzer hara (evil inclination), having subdued it completely.
The Tanya is known as the Sefer Shel Beinonim — the "Book of the Intermediate" — because it was written for the Jewish people at large, all of whom can aspire to attain the level of the beinoni, the person who, while still possessing an inner struggle, never allows the evil inclination to express itself in thought, speech, or action. In parallel with that work, the Alter Rebbe labored over the Sefer Shel Tzaddikim, intended to guide the tzaddikim of the generation in their own distinct path of divine service.
The Burning of the Book edit
The manuscript was destroyed by fire in 5572 (1811–1812), when broad portions of the Alter Rebbe's Torah writings and personal manuscripts were lost to flames. Among the works consumed were sections of his Shulchan Aruch HaRav (his monumental halachic code), the Sefer Shel Tzaddikim, and additional works.[1]
The Frierdiker Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, related that the Alter Rebbe had indeed composed the Sefer Shel Tzaddikim — and that it was consumed in flames at the very time that the "Shpola Zeide" (the Sabba of Shpola) passed from this world.
The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, commented on this account: "An explanation of the connection between the passing of the Sabba of Shpola and the burning of the book I have not heard — but I heard both matters together, in one breath, and it is implied that the two are related."[2]
Noam Elimelech edit
There is, however, a tradition preserved among Chabad Chassidim that the Alter Rebbe himself said: while his own work is a Sefer Shel Beinonim, the Noam Elimelech — the foundational work of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk — is the Sefer Shel Tzaddikim. Indeed, beyond the dozens of titles and descriptions by which the tzaddik is called throughout that book, the Noam Elimelech imparts the ways of the righteous: their sacred qualities, their manner of conduct, and the channels through which they draw down blessing and abundance upon the Jewish people.[3]
Notes edit
- ↑ Among Chassidim it is told that this fire was connected to the passing of the Sabba of Shpola. See the Rebbe's letter on the subject: Igros Kodesh, vol. 9, letter 2853.
- ↑ Farbrengen, Shabbos Parshas Mikeitz, 5722 (1961–1962). Igros Kodesh, ibid.
- ↑ Or Yekaros, p. 250.