T132 PNC - Tzaddik Famous in One Land — Spring Travels Underground (1 seg)

There is a tzaddik who is renowned and greatly respected in one country or region, yet in the neighboring country he is not recognized or valued at all. Then in a third land, he again becomes renowned. This is compared to a spring of water that emerges visibly in one place, then travels underground for a distance until it reemerges at another location. The spring is the same spring throughout — its water never changes — but it is only visible and accessible in the places where it surfaces. Similarly, the tzaddik's spiritual light and influence are constant, but they are perceived and received only in the places and times where the spiritual 'surface' is receptive. The teaching: the value of a tzaddik is not determined by how many people recognize him. His inner reality is constant regardless of external recognition. Those who cannot see him are like people standing over the underground stretch of the spring — the water flows beneath them, but they do not perceive it.