One Must Travel to the Tzadik to Search for His Loss

188 - One Must Travel to the Tzadik to Search for His Loss Know that one must travel to the tzadik to search for one's loss, for before emerging into the world's air, a person is taught and shown all that he must accomplish, work toward, and attain in this world. Upon entering the world's air, it is immediately forgotten, as our Rabbis, of blessed memory, stated (Niddah 30b). Forgetting is an aspect of loss, as our Rabbis called the forgetter a "loser" (Avot 5:7: "quick to hear and quick to lose"). One must search for this loss, which resides with the tzadik. The tzadik searches for his own loss until finding it, then for others', eventually locating the losses of the entire world. Therefore, come to the wise one to seek and recognize your loss, and to retrieve it from him. However, the tzadik returns the loss only after examining if you are not a deceiver or liar, as written (Deuteronomy 22:2): "Until your brother seeks it, and you shall return it to him" – until you examine your brother to ensure he is not a deceiver (Bava Metzia 27b).