T123 PNC - Bind to Tzaddik of Generation — Follow Without Deviation (1 seg)

The foundation upon which everything depends is binding oneself to the tzaddik of the generation — and accepting his words in all matters, great and small, without deviation, neither to the right nor to the left. As the Sifri (Parashat Shoftim) teaches: 'Even if he tells you that right is left and left is right — listen to him.' This teaching is not about blind obedience to error; rather, it reflects the principle that the tzaddik has a perspective on spiritual reality that transcends the ordinary person's perspective. What appears 'wrong' or 'reversed' from a limited viewpoint may be exactly right from the tzaddik's elevated vantage point. The binding to the tzaddik is the essential infrastructure of spiritual growth: without it, a person wanders without direction, making decisions based only on his own limited perception. With it, he has access to a vision of reality that is far more complete than his own.