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239 7 Messiah and the Light of the Messiah in Reb Nahman’s Thought Hillel Zeitlin The Transgenerational Zaddik and his Conquests The statement of Rabbi Nahman ben Simhah of Bratslav “My flame will continue to burn until the Messiah comes,” might sound to some ears as a mere Hasidic flourish. They are words that seem to have been uttered in the throes of prayer, or in the midst of a plea for mercy, and stem from a passionate desire to press a stamp of eternity on the teachings of Likkutei Moharan. Reb Nathan, R. Nahman’s most important disciple, however, saw in these words a real and palpable portend—that this is actually how it will come to be. That is, that R. Nahman, according to his disciple Reb Nathan of Nemirov,1 was the last among the trailblazers (mishreiderekh ) or precursors to precede the King-Messiah. After him, there will be no other precursors until the Redeemer himself arrives in the full splendor of his illumination. So one is moved to ask: great zaddikim have existed both in the time of R. Nahman as well as after him: so how can one claim that there will be no more holy men until the coming of the Messiah? How is it possible to believe that R. Nahman was, so to speak, the last station in the world’s journey to the era of the Messiah? The answer is that there have been and there will yet be zaddikim, and great ones at that. There is, however, a difference—according to Reb Nahman— between a zaddik, even a great one, and Zaddik ha-Emet, the Zaddik of Truth or, stated differently, Zaddik ha-Dorot, the Transgenerational Zaddik. R. Nahman is, according to R. Nathan the greatest Zaddik of Truth of the last generations and it is his flame that will smolder until the Messiah comes. What, however, does it mean to be the Transgenerational Zaddik? He is the one who opens the primal, uppermost and untouched celestial chambers, who draws down effluence from distant worlds—emanations and illuminations like no one that preceded him—who reveals the splendors of holiness that were concealed for so many generations; a zaddik who is spoken of like one spoke of Moshe Robeynu, Moses Our Teacher: In every house of mine he is loyal,2 a zaddik in whose hand lies the key to all worlds from the highest to the lowest and who, when he unlocks no one can relock, and when he locks no one can unlock. Let us take the debate even further. We ask Reb Nathan. If this is so, then what about those zaddikim who are the foundation of the world like R. Yitzchak Berdichever,3 about whom R. Nahman himself had said, he 240 Hillel Zeitlin is the glory of the generation (pe’ar ha-dor) the “glory of our entire community”? And what about the Seer of Lublin,4 Reb Elimelich5 and Reb Zusia6 his brother and what of the Rabbi of Lyady,7 the founder of Chabad? What about the Koznizer Maggid8 or the Neschitzer Maggid?9 What of R. Avraham Ha-Malach10 and so on and so on? Did the Divine Presence not repose on all of these zaddikim, and not only the young R. Nahman (taken from this world when he was still young)? Was he, alone, elected by the Divine Presence to be His redeemer and savior? Did the other zaddikim not open towers in the highest chambers? Did they not draw down the effluence of blessing onto the head of the holy nation? Did they not set Jewish hearts aflame with love for their heavenly father? Did they not hold many men back from sin and did they not endeavor to repair the world in God’s kingdom? Are they not among the souls God consulted before He created the world as it states, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:11 With whom did He council? Who advised Him? With the souls of the zaddikim, undoubtedly; with the souls of the righteous. Is it not said of them, “These were the potters and those that dwelt among Netaim and Gederah; they dwelt there in the king’s service” (Chron. I 4:23) according to the interpretation of our sages? Should we not consider each one of them as an instrument of God decrees and the zaddik annuls? Why do you proffer the crown of the...

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