tzaddiq
Noun
Meaning
tzaddiq (plural tzaddiqs or tzaddiqim)
Alternative spelling of tzaddik
Examples
Elior, p. 65. Ideologues exhorted them to have faith, but the true answer, which marked their rise as a distinct sect, was the concept of the Tzaddiq.
Hasidism elaborated the notion of the Tzaddiq into the basis of its entire system – so much that the very term gained an independent meaning within it, apart from the original which denoted God-fearing, highly observant people.
He stressed that as Tzaddiq, his mission was to influence the common folk by absorbing Divine Light and satisfying their material needs, thus converting them to his cause and elating them.
Originally denoting an observant, moral person, in Hasidic literature Tzaddiq became synonymous with the often hereditary master heading a sect of followers.
Therefore, it was accepted "there can be no Tzaddiq but the son of a Tzaddiq".
The Tzaddiq served as a bridge between the spiritual realm and the ordinary folk, as well as a simple, understandable embodiment of the esoteric teachings of the sect, which were still beyond the reach of most just as old-style Kabbalah before.