My beloved, my brethren and friends, who are (to me) as my soul.. .
The Lord be over them, they should live a life forevermore, and their offspring with them, a seed of truth— the blessed of the Lord are they from now to everlasting.
Following the enquiry after their welfare as is becoming those that love His Name, I have come to comfort the smitten "that sigh and groan," and to console them doubly for salvation with what my ear has heard and noted for itself on the saying of our sages, of blessed memory, that "He has left life unto all the living."
The righteous lives by his faith, and by the fear of the Lord which leads to life, and by the flashes of fire of the flame of his love (of G‑d, which to him) supercedes life, to absorb therein the life of his ruach all the days of his duration. And when it comes about that the Lord takes up (and) gathers unto Himself his ruach and neshamah, and he ascends from one elevation to another— to the peak of levels, he, then, leaves the life of his mach, his effectuation on which he has laboured previously among Israel [the labour of the righteous is unto the living ], to every living being. That is, (he leaves it to) the soul of every living being bound to his soul by the thick ropes of a magnanimous love, and an eternal love, that will not be moved forevermore. For he who is the man that desires life to become attached unto the Lord of life, his soul will become attached through his service; (his soul) will be bound up in the bundle of life with the Lord, in the life of "The breath (ruach) of our nostrils of whom we said: in his tzel we shall live among the nations." (This) he left unto us, in each and every one corresponding to the degree of his genuine alliance and his pure love, a pure love of truth from "The inward of man and a profound heart." For "As waters (reflect) the face..."; and "spirit (ruach) rouses spirit, and brings forth spirit." Thus his ruach remains truly in our midst, when he sees his children, the work of his hands, in his midst sanctifying His blessed Name. For (His name) is magnified and sanctified when we walk in the right way that he has shown us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths forevermore.
And this is the meaning of the statement in the sacred Zohar that "When the tzadik departs he is to be found in all worlds more than in his life-time." That is, he is to be found more even in this world of action ["this day to do them" ], because the action keeps growing growths of the second degree from the "Light implanted for the righteous" in the field which the Lord blessed; (this light) radiates to the earth and the outside places, and also to us— those that are here this day, all of us that live in his ways, "The holy way shall it be called." This is as regards the service of G‑d, with respect to heavenly matters. As for mundane matters, it is stated explicitly in the sacred Zohar that the tzadikim shield the world, and after their death even more than in their life. Were it not for the prayer of the tzadikim in that world, the world would not endure a single moment. And whoever is closer unto the habitation of the Lord, during his life-time, has precedence to the blessing.
An elucidation of the above .
It is stated in the sacred Zohar that when the tzadik departs he is to be found in all worlds more than in his life-time ... Now this needs to be understood. For, granted that he is to be found increasingly in the upper worlds, because he ascends to there; but how can he be found more in this world ?
This may be explained along the lines of what I received on the saying of our sages, of blessed memory, that "He has left life unto all the living."
As is known, the life of the tzadik is not a physical life but a spiritual life, consisting of faith, awe, and love. Thus of faith it is written: "And the tzadik lives by his faith." Of awe it is written: "The awe of the Lord is for life." And of Ipve it is written: "He who pursues tzedakah and chesed, will find life," and chesed refers to love.
These three attributes are prevalent in every world to the topmost of levels, all proportionate to the levels of the worlds— one higher than the other by way of cause and effect, as known.
Now, while the tzadik was alive on earth, these three attributes were contained in their vessel and garment on the plane of physical space. This is the aspect of the nefesh bound to his body. All his disciples receive but a radiation from these attributes, and a ray [from them] radiating beyond this vessel by means of his holy utterances and thoughts. That is why our sages, of blessed memory, said that a person cannot comprehend his master ... But after his passing, as the nefesh [which remains in the grave] is separated from the ruach [i.e. these three attributes] which is in the Garden of Eden, whoever is nigh unto him can receive a part from the aspect of his ruach [which is in the Garden of Eden], because it is no (longer) within a vessel, nor on the plane of physical space. Thus is known the saying of our sages, of blessed memory, with reference to our father Jacob, peace be to him, that "The Garden of Eden entered with him." Likewise it is stated in the book Assarah Maamarot that the sphere of the Garden of Eden spreads itself around every person, and in this sphere are recorded all his good thoughts and utterings of Torah and Divine worship; ( and likewise to the contrary, Heaven forfend: they are recorded in the sphere of the Gehenna, which spreads itself around every person ). Thus it is very easy for his disciples to receive their part of the essential aspects of their master's ruach, i.e. his faith, his awe and his love wherewith he served the Lord, and not merely a ray thereof which radiates beyond the vessel. For the essential aspect of his ruach is raised, elevation upon elevation, to become absorbed in his neshamah which is in the upper Garden of Eden, in the supreme worlds.
Now it is known that something sacred is never wholly and totally uprooted from its place and original level, even after it has reached the highest point. Thus it is this original aspect, remaining below, in the lower Garden of Eden, in its place and original level, which extends itself among his disciples; each one according to the level of his alliance and closeness to (the tzadik) during his lifetime and after his death out of a magnanimous love. For the efflux of anything spiritual is but by means of a magnanimous love. Thus it is stated in the sacred Zohar that the spirit (ruach) in a mode of the willingness of the heart (re'uta deliba) elicits a spirit from above; thus only when he will prepare himself towards his G‑d with a great preparation and immense effort to receive these attributes in the way that his master taught him, and as the saying of our sages, of blessed memory: "If you have laboured and (claim to have) found— believe it."
Now, there is yet another type of radiation to his disciples. However, it does not vest itself truly in their mind— as is the case with the first one, but radiates over them, from aloft. It stems from the ascent of his ruach and his neshamah to the source whence it was hewn, that is to the "orchard of the holy apples" (chakal tapuchin kadishin). (This ascent) effects a unification there (yichud) by means of the elevation of the mayin nukvin of all his doings, his Torah, and the Divine Service which he served all the days of his life. And in the chakal tapuchin kadishin are implanted most sublime lights corresponding to the nether ones, i.e. his Torah and worship. The illumination of these supernal lights radiates over all his disciples who became servants of the Lord through his Torah and worship. And this radiation, which is over them from aloft, instills in their heart thoughts of repentance and good deeds. And all the good deeds born from this radiation [radiating from the lights implanted in the orchard mentioned above] are called "growths of the second degree." But this radiation is in great latency and concealment, just like the sun radiating to the stars from below the earth. Thus it is stated in the Tikunim, in reference to Moses our Master, peace to him, that after his passing his radiation extends in every generation to the sixty myriad souls, just like the sun radiating to the sixty myriad stars from below the earth.
What he wrote to his relative-by-marriage, the Rabbi, famous Gaon, G‑dly and holy man of the Lord, "Lamp of Israel, pillar of the right hand, mighty hammer," our master R. Levi Yitzchak, may his soul rest in Eden, head of the Bet Din of the holy community of Berdichev, to console him on the passing of his son, the pious rabbi, R. Meir, may his soul rest in Eden.
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