T143 PNC - Receiving Counsel from Sages — Sweetens Judgments / Tzaddik Is Abundance (3 segs)

The greatness of one who receives counsel from the sages of the generation is that it sweetens the divine judgments. When a person needs counsel and does not know how to act, he is in a state of constriction — his intellect is constricted and he cannot see the way forward. This constriction is itself a form of divine judgment (din), because judgment is the constriction of divine flow. When the sage gives counsel, he expands the person's intellect and opens the way forward — and this expansion is the sweetening of judgment. The person who seeks counsel is not showing weakness; he is actively engaging in the spiritual work of sweetening din.

The verse teaches: 'Salvation is in the abundance of counselors' (Proverbs 11:14). Furthermore, the tzaddik himself is called 'abundance' — as our Rabbis taught (Taanit 9a): 'Moses, since his merits are abundant, is like many.' Therefore, receiving the advice of the tzaddik — even from a single tzaddik — is like receiving the counsel of many. The tzaddik contains within himself the spiritual wealth of many, because his connection to the divine root is so complete that a single word of his guidance carries the weight and breadth of many counselors.

Even when the person receives only one piece of advice from the tzaddik, this act of receiving itself is a form of teshuvah. The constriction that existed before — the inability to see clearly, the din — begins to dissolve. The expansion of consciousness that comes from receiving genuine guidance is exactly what teshuvah is: a return to clarity, to expanded awareness, to the place where divine flow is not blocked. Therefore, seeking counsel from the sages of the generation is not merely practical wisdom but a profound spiritual act with the power to sweeten all the judgments that hang over a person.