A Prayer to Merit Searching for the Tzaddik and His Spirit and Soul While He is Still Alive, Because After He Departs

To search for the spirit of the tzaddik while he is still alive, without rest, and to serve him with heart and soul.

Everyone agrees that a man cannot make a stipulation with her, neither before she is betrothed nor after she is divorced, because as long as she is not forbidden to her husband, he cannot make a stipulation with her, only from the time she is actually his wife. For the Baal Shem Tov said that if he still had his first wife, he would have ascended to Heaven in the middle of the Medzhybizh marketplace in the middle of the day for all to see. It would not have been like Eliyahu HaNavi in the desert, where no one saw except Elisha. They did not want to believe Elisha that Eliyahu HaNavi had passed away when he told them that he ascended to Heaven in a whirlwind. They went to search for him in the fields and deserts for three days and three nights, without pause and without a second's break, until Elisha rebuked them and said to them, "Believe me that you will never find him." Elisha gave gold chains and gold rings to all the searchers as compensation for the futile search they conducted for three days and three nights. For they should have searched for the soul of the tzaddik, and searched for his Ruach HaKodesh (Divine Inspiration). Because the main spiritual work is to search for the tzaddik during his lifetime, and to connect, cleave, and completely nullify oneself to him. For the primary test is during his lifetime, and the second he passes away, there is no longer a test. Then everyone believes in him without exception, and they say, "It is a pity we lost out and did not search during his lifetime. It is a pity we lost such a tzaddik and did not go to him in his life to receive the radiant glow of his face. And it is also a pity that we disputed him." Because a person, without paying attention, follows his evil inclination and inadvertently disputes the tzaddik. Therefore, now that we have merited in our generation such awesome tzaddikim, we must take our lives in our hands. We must not sleep, nor slumber, nor move an eyelid until we find the true tzaddikim. We must serve them and minister to them with heart and soul, day and night without pause, and not for the sake of receiving a reward. Through this, we will receive from the remnant of their spirit and the immense greatness of their soul, endlessly and boundlessly, until the Fiftieth Gate (of holiness) is revealed to us in absolute perfection—to us and to the entire generation.

For the success of all Anash (members of our fellowship), that they may merit beautiful and affordable apartments. Yaakov Shoham, community real estate agent.

B"H 6003

To merit searching for the tzaddik and his spirit and soul while he is still alive, because after he departs from the world, everyone believes in him without exception. And to know that we have merited in our generation awesome tzaddikim, and we must always serve them and minister to them with heart and soul, not for the sake of receiving a reward, so that we may merit that they be revealed to everyone in perfection.

To search for the spirit of the tzaddik while he is still alive, without rest, and to serve him with heart and soul.

Everyone agrees that a man cannot make a stipulation with her, neither before she is betrothed nor after she is divorced, because as long as she is not forbidden to her husband, he cannot make a stipulation with her, only from the time she is actually his wife. For the Baal Shem Tov said that if he still had his first wife, he would have ascended to Heaven in the middle of the Medzhybizh marketplace in the middle of the day for all to see. It would not have been like Eliyahu HaNavi in the desert, where no one saw except Elisha. They did not want to believe Elisha that Eliyahu HaNavi had passed away when he told them that he ascended to Heaven in a whirlwind. They went to search for him in the fields and deserts for three days and three nights, without pause and without a second's break, until Elisha rebuked them and said to them, "Believe me that you will never find him." Elisha gave gold chains and gold rings to all the searchers as compensation for the futile search they conducted for three days and three nights. For they should have searched for the soul of the tzaddik, and searched for his Ruach HaKodesh (Divine Inspiration). Because the main spiritual work is to search for the tzaddik during his lifetime, and to connect, cleave, and completely nullify oneself to him. For the primary test is during his lifetime, and the second he passes away, there is no longer a test. Then everyone believes in him without exception, and they say, "It is a pity we lost out and did not search during his lifetime. It is a pity we lost such a tzaddik and did not go to him in his life to receive the radiant glow of his face. And it is also a pity that we disputed him." Because a person, without paying attention, follows his evil inclination and inadvertently disputes the tzaddik. Therefore, now that we have merited in our generation such awesome tzaddikim, we must take our lives in our hands. We must not sleep, nor slumber, nor move an eyelid until we find the true tzaddikim. We must serve them and minister to them with heart and soul, day and night without pause, and not for the sake of receiving a reward. Through this, we will receive from the remnant of their spirit and the immense greatness of their soul, endlessly and boundlessly, until the Fiftieth Gate (of holiness) is revealed to us in absolute perfection—to us and to the entire generation.

For the success of all Anash (members of our fellowship), that they may merit beautiful and affordable apartments. Yaakov Shoham, community real estate agent.