Breslov’s Seventh Pillar: The Tzaddik – Yeshua?
Is it a Jewish idea that a Messiah preceded Creation and was involved in Creation and that he will redeem all of Creation – especially mankind, and also judge mankind? The article below is from Breslov. Here we focus on the 7th pillar of “The Seven Pillars of Faith,” regarding the “Tzaddik,” meaning “Righteous One.” We will find that our beliefs in Yeshua are indeed very Jewish! Although Breslov’s Mashiach is Nachman, parallel principles of The Tzaddik are also found in the Brit Hadashah pointing to Yeshua, as you can see in our notes, which are starred (*) below.
The seventh fundamental is attachment to the True Tzaddik:
1. The soul of Mashiach preceded the world (Pesachim 54a). It is the root of the souls of Israel, and the entire Creation:
Shmot Rabbah 40:3 -All souls were included in the soul of Adam. ADaM is the acronym for: Adam, David and Mashiach.
…for “The entire universe was only created to attend him” (Berakhot 6b) and “The Tzaddik is the foundation of the world” (Proverbs 10:25).
* Colossians 1:15 – He who is the image of The Unseen God and is The firstborn of all creation.
* The belief was general that the sending of the Messiah was part of the Creator’s plan at the inception of the Universe. “Seven things were created before the world was created: Torah, repentance, the Garden of Eden (i.e. Paradise), Gehinnom, the Throne of Glory, the Temple, and the name of the Messiah” (Pes. 54a). In a later work there is the observation: “From the beginning of the creation of the world king Messiah was born, for he entered the mind (of God) before even the world was created” (Pesikta Rab. 152b)
2. The Holy One, blessed-be-He, took counsel with this soul in the creation of His Universe, as it is written: “With whom did He take counsel, who gave Him understanding and guided Him in the way of judgment?” (Isaiah 40:14).[Bereshit Rabbah 8:6.]
* John 1:1-3 – 1 In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and apart from him nothing came into being that has come into being.
3. He gave God a guarantee that he will repair the Universe. [Tikkuney Zohar 69, 111b; Zohar, III:216a.]
* John 1:29 – The next day he saw Yeshua coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
* Romans 8:20-23 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly forour adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.
4. All the acts of devotion of all the world, all the incarnations, refinements and tests, and the revelation of faith – all are through him, as it is written: “He is faithful in all My house” (Numbers 12:7). [Tikkuney Zohar 69, 112a.]
* Matthew 3:17 – And behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
5. To him God has given sovereignty and kingship…
* Matthew 28:18 -And Yeshua came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
“The Tzaddik rules in the fear of God” (II Samuel 23:3).
* The Revelation of Yeshua to Yochanan states: “Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.” [Revelation 14:7]
6. He is the Heavenly court. [Sefer HaMiddot, Tzaddik A:54.]
* Hebrews 12:2 – Fixing our eyes on Yeshua, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
* Matthew 25:31-32 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on His glorious throne. “All the nations will be gathered before him; and he will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats…”
7. The revelation of God’s hand – God’s control over every detail in the spiritual and material realms – is through him.
* Ephesians 1:19-23 …and how surpassingly great is his power working in us who trust him. It works with the same mighty strength he used when he worked in the Messiah to raise him from the dead and seat him at his right hand in heaven, far above every ruler, authority, power, dominion or any other name that can be named either in the ‘olam hazeh or in the ‘olam haba. Also, he has put all things under his feet and made him head over everything for the Messianic Community, which is his body, the full expression of him who fills all creation.
8. He reveals prayer, as it is written: “And I am prayer” (Psalms 109:4).
* The full verse of Psalm 109:4 is “In return for my love they act as my accusers; But I am in prayer.” This mirrors Yeshua’s prayer when he prayed as his tormentors crucified him, saying in Luke 23:34, “But Yeshua was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”
9. He is the Chariot of the Shechinah. [Rashi, Genesis 17:22.]
* John 14:9 – “He who has seen me has seen the Father.”
10. He is the holiness. [Bava Batra 75b; Tzaddikim are called kodesh, holy.]
* Hebrews 4:15 – For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
11. He is the vitality of the whole universe. [In the Kabbalistic Sefirot, the world at large is considered Malkhut; The Tzaddik is called Yesod. Through Yesod sustenance comes down to the whole world.]
* Colossians 1:16 – For by him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities– all things have been created through him and for him.
12. Through him all devotions rise up to Heaven. (Only Moses was able to erect the Tabernacle (Exodus 40). Only with the help of Moses, the Tzaddik, were the people’s contributions to the Tarbanacle to any avail.)
* John 14:13 – “Whatever you ask in my name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
13. All arousal to Teshuvah is through him.[Likutey Moharan I, 17; love and fear of God are taught by the Tzaddik.]
* John 14:6 – Yeshua said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me.
14. Through our attachment to the True Tzaddik – through the knowledge of all the above and through following the Tzaddik’s guidance, a spark of the light of the holiness of the Tzaddik is drawn into us, each person according to their level. Even if you are very far removed from holiness, closeness to the True Tzaddik will at the very least bring you to realize how far you are from truth and from the path of the just, and how sunk you are in the opposite. You will then long for the truth and pray to come closer to God without falling into despair and depression. You will know that God is calling you and that you are precious in His eyes. The same applies to those on a higher level as well, each one on his own level: the closer they are to the True Tzaddik, the more they draw the holiness of the Tzaddik in upon themselves and walk in his pathway, knowing that everything is in the hand of God and praying constantly that they should come closer. Amen.
* 2 Corinthians 3:18 – But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
* Philippians 3:8-12 Not only that, but I consider everything a disadvantage in comparison with the supreme value of knowing the Messiah Yeshua as my Lord. It was because of him that I gave up everything and regard it all as garbage, in order to gain the Messiah and be found in union with him, not having any righteousness of my own based on legalism, but having that righteousness which comes through the Messiah’s faithfulness, the righteousness from God based on trust. Yes, I gave it all up in order to know him, that is, to know the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings as I am being conformed to his death, so that somehow I might arrive at being resurrected from the dead. It is not that I have already obtained it or already reached the goal – no, I keep pursuing it in the hope of taking hold of that for which the Messiah Yeshua took hold of me.
15. Parts of the soul of the Tzaddik are to be found in the whole creation, especially in God’s People, and especially in all the true Tzaddikim. [Tikkuney Zohar 69, 112a]
* Colossians 1:17 – He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
* John 14:26 – “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.
16. Five times in the history of the world the path of truth has been renewed: through Moses our Teacher, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, Rabbi Yitzchak Luria – the ARI, Rabbi Israel the Baal Shem Tov, and “The Flowing Stream, the Source of Wisdom” (Proverbs 18:4) – Rebbe Nachman. From him until Mashiach there will be nothing new. [Chayey Moharan 279.]
* John 1:14 – And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
* John 14:6 – Yeshua said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
17. Wherever the concept of Tzaddik is found in Likutey Moharan the reference is to the above Tzaddik.
* Of course, Yeshua’s followers believe it refers to Yeshua.
* Acts 17:3 – Messiah had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Yeshua whom I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah.”
18. Prayer and the soul of Mashiach were revealed especially in King David.
* David’s Psalm 22 is what Yeshua quotes from when he is praying on the cross in Matthew 27:46 when he says “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
19. …Each person must receive from this Tzaddik…This is the spark of Mashiach, the preparation for the redemption. Everyone must know of this Tzaddik…This is why we are waiting so intently for the Redemption, when things will be restored as they should be. This was what the Sages were referring to when they said, “Get yourself a teacher and acquire a friend” (Avot 1:6) – i.e. as friends, together you will receive from this Teacher.
* Matthew 24:14 – “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
* Matthew 28:19 – “Go therefore and make disciples (students) of all the nations…teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.”
They said: “Everyone who makes a quotation in the name of the one who said it brings redemption into the world” (Avot 6:6). In other words one should know from whom everything derives and what is the source of the Torah. Through this one brings closer the redemption of the world and the redemption of one’s soul.
* Ephesians 1:7 – In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
20. One should know that there has never been such a unique figure as “The Flowing Stream, the Source of Wisdom” in all the world. For he prepared the weapons with which our Righteous Mashiach will fight in order to put the world in order. May this be God’s will. Amen.
* 1 John 4:9 – By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.
[End of original Breslov article]
From all this we see that God continues to teach the Jewish people about Messiah, yet still through veils, types, shadows and object lessons. We know it is prophesied that all Israel will be saved when the “fullness of the Gentiles comes” (Romans 11:25), according to Zechariah 12:10 –
“and I will pour out on the house of David
and on those living in Yerushalayim
a spirit of grace and prayer;
and they will look to me, whom they pierced.”
They will mourn for him
as one mourns for an only son;
they will be in bitterness on his behalf
like the bitterness for a firstborn son.
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