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The Foundation

...and the Tzaddik is the foundation of the world
-- Proverbs 10:25

He uprooted his feet
From the base of earth;
Therefore
Steadfast his foundation
Never wavers

The voids are before him
Always;
Therefore
The terrors of the world
Do not faze him

All rivers of sorrow flow
Along the channels of his heart
On to the valley of understanding;
Therefore
His fountain of joy
Does not falter

In the fleeting shadows
He sets his table
Dissolution is his daily bread;
Therefore
He knows
Eternal life

Solitary and without friend
Is he;
Therefore
Every man
Is his brother

Guilt knows not
His soul;
Therefore
Upon the sinner
His compassion is aroused

His seeds he scattered to the winds
All day he tilled
Stranger’s fields;
Therefore
His own orchard
Yielded hundredfold

Empty are his garners
Of cunning's harvest
Of guile's rewards;
Therefore
A flow of Heavenly blessing
Fills his larder

He cleaves to the One
The root, the all-inclusive;
Therefore
He holds, he bears,
Its countless branches of particulars

As a stranger
He treads upon the earth
Along the waysides winds his path;
Therefore
He sets
The pillars of creation.

From the Hebrew by Yanki Tauber, originally published by www.chabad.org.

Copyright © 1942-2024 Family Steinmetz. Reproduction or copying of this material is permitted if the source is cited.

Merosh Zurim

• The present (p. 17)

• The voice of the soil (p. 30)

• The leader (p. 34)

• The Trap of Time (p. 35)

• The Mission (p. 38)

• The Decree (p. 41)

• On the Doorways (p. 57)

• Freedom of Choice (p. 78)

• Mealtime Guests (p. 79)

• The Windmill of the Poet (p. 94)

• A Strange Sight (p. 96)

• In Hiding (p. 113)

• Ratzo V'Shov (p. 125)

• Eating (p. 163)