T173 PNC - Through Writing Tzaddik Recognizes Soul — Root of Faith / World of Emunah (1 seg)

Through writing, the true tzaddik can recognize the soul of the writer and the soul's inner dimension — and also the writer's faith and the root of his faith. This is because faith itself possesses vitality and a root: there exists a 'world of faith' (olam ha'emunah) from which a person's faith flows and in which it is rooted. When a person writes, especially when writing honestly and from the heart, the spiritual fingerprint of his soul's connection to this world of faith is expressed in the writing. The true tzaddik, who has access to these deeper dimensions, can read that fingerprint. This is one reason why correspondence with the tzaddik is spiritually significant: the letter is not merely text but a spiritual self-revelation. The tzaddik's ability to read the soul through writing is an extension of his capacity to 'know souls' (yediat nefashot) — the prophetic-level perception of the inner spiritual reality of others.