{
  "bookId": "kuntrass-hiskashrus",
  "part": "1",
  "torah": "7",
  "title": "Chapter 6 — The Tenth Trial",
  "hebrewTitle": "פֶּרֶק ו — הַנִּסָּיוֹן הָעֲשִׂירִי",
  "sourceUrl": "/reader/kuntrass-hiskashrus/1/7",
  "plainUrl": "/reader-plain/kuntrass-hiskashrus/1/7/",
  "segments": [
    {
      "index": 1,
      "he": "",
      "en": "Drawing close to the Tzadik is the essential matter for everything, as mentioned above. And even if the Baal Davar should say to him that through this he has a loss in the service of G-d and in drawing people close to him — that he could help many people and merit sinners who would listen to him — and he imagines that through the Tzadik's name this would harm him, that his words would not be heeded and considered, etc., and more arguments and enticements such as these — nevertheless, drawing close to the Tzadik stands higher and more exalted than everything, as we said above regarding emunah and the unity of the Name — that the whole world together is not worth anything compared to the name 'Jew' and to faith in G-d. So it is regarding the name of the Tzadik — who is included in the Name of G-d — and closeness to him, etc."
    },
    {
      "index": 2,
      "he": "",
      "en": "As is brought in Sefer Etz HaDaas Tov by our teacher Rav Chaim Vital, of blessed and holy memory — regarding the matter of the trial of our father Avraham, peace be upon him, in the commandment of milah [circumcision]: the matter was so difficult before him that he said to G-d, blessed be He, that he receives guests and brings the entire world close to G-d, blessed be He — so that they would know of Him and thank His Name, etc. — but when he circumcises himself, all of them will distance themselves from him and he will no longer be able to fulfill the commandment of hospitality and chesed l'Avraham [kindness associated with Avraham], nor will he be able to bring the world close to G-d, blessed be He."
    },
    {
      "index": 3,
      "he": "",
      "en": "And G-d replied to him: \"I forgive you everything. All the hospitality and kindness in the world and the closeness of others to Me — is worth nothing before Me compared to the milah. And I forgive you all the aforementioned holy forms of service — and only this do for Me,\" etc. See there."
    },
    {
      "index": 4,
      "he": "",
      "en": "And likewise regarding the matter of drawing close to the Tzadik — even if it seems to you that you can merit the many, etc., that is nothing compared to drawing close to the True Tzadik. For the True Tzadik is the sign of the covenant of circumcision — as brought in the holy Zohar: he is the sign of the Tzadik [\"maan d'natir bris hu tzadik\" — one who guards the covenant is called Tzadik] — with whose seal one is sealed. And through this all Israel are called Tzadikim — even the simple ones — by virtue of being circumcised. As brought in the Torah \"You commanded righteousness\" [Tehillim 119:138]. And in truth, bris milah is equal in weight to the entire Torah and commandments and \"the statutes of heaven and earth,\" etc., as our Sages, of blessed memory, stated."
    },
    {
      "index": 5,
      "he": "",
      "en": "And likewise the matter of the Akeidah [Binding of Yitzchak] — which is the tenth trial — about which G-d, blessed be He, requested of our father Avraham, peace be upon him: \"Please have mercy and stand in the trial, so that they will not say that all the previous trials are nothing.\" And what made the trial so great? — Only because he had always proclaimed that G-d, blessed be He, does not desire human sacrifice (as the nations practiced by sacrificing to their idols) — only kindness, charity, and justice is His desire. And now, that he himself would take his only son born to him in his old age and offer him as a burnt offering — what would people say about this? As the Satan said to him: \"Has a word been tried upon you, and you found it wearisome?… Is not your fear, your folly?\" [Iyov 4:2,6 — as applied by Chazal to the Satan's argument at the Akeidah] — and this is the matter of desecration of G-d's Name."
    },
    {
      "index": 6,
      "he": "",
      "en": "And G-d, blessed be He, told him not to look at anything — to stand in the trial, and let them say what they say and speak what they speak. Even if the entire world would distance itself from him — and he would have no opening and countenance before them — nevertheless he should perform his mesirah nefesh in the binding of his son, and nullify his honor entirely before the will of G-d, blessed be He. And likewise regarding the matter of drawing close to our Rebbe, of blessed memory, and of being called by his holy name."
    },
    {
      "index": 7,
      "he": "",
      "en": "And our Rebbe, of blessed memory, himself said that after passing through all the trials, they set before one the tenth trial — the Akeidah of Yitzchak, the Rosh HaShana of our Rebbe: the covenant of Avraham and the Akeidah of Yitzchak — namely, that one should not dispute him. This is the tenth trial, and one must stand in this trial and endure humiliations and the \"shedding of blood\" from one's relatives and one's father and one's mother and the whole world — which appears superficially as if it were a desecration of G-d's Name: that one is not listening to one's fathers and previous teachers, etc. All of this one must break through and stand in the trial [in the aspect of the Akeidah of Yitzchak] — to endure, and to hold firmly to the Tzadik's name and draw close to him, which stands higher and greater than everything, as mentioned above."
    },
    {
      "index": 8,
      "he": "",
      "en": "As our Rebbe, of blessed memory, stated: it is impossible to be a truly upright person except when one draws close to the True Tzadik. Before the Tzadik is found in the world, etc. — but after the Tzadik is already in the world, it is impossible to be a Jew if one does not draw close to him."
    },
    {
      "index": 9,
      "he": "",
      "en": "The rule is that it is impossible to describe, speak about, or assess at all the greatness of the matter of drawing close, cleaving, and bonding to the True Tzadik — which stands above everything. As our teacher and guide, Rav Avraham ben Rav Nachman, of blessed memory, used to say: \"I am a dwarf standing on a giant's shoulders\" — on my own I am small, but by virtue of the giant I am taller than all. Therefore each person must understand that all of his Judaism and his completeness and the healing of his soul and his success depend only upon this — his closeness to the True Tzadik. And let him yearn and long for this, and let his essential focus and striving be only to merit this, and let him gladden himself with it. May G-d, blessed be He, grant us to merit this in truth. Amen, so may it be His will."
    },
    {
      "index": 10,
      "he": "",
      "en": "And it would be fitting to print a book by the name \"Tzadik\" in which would be clearly compiled all the greatness of the matter of closeness to the Tzadik from all the books — and particularly from the books of our Rebbe, of blessed memory — along with all the particulars of the matter of drawing close, and all the topics contained therein — the whole of it, all in all."
    },
    {
      "index": 11,
      "he": "",
      "en": "The final chapter identifies the supreme challenge — and supreme merit — of the Tzadik-bond as the \"Tenth Trial,\" parallel to Avraham's Akeidah:"
    }
  ]
}