The Letter Tzadi - Hunting and Righteousness

The letter Tzadi expresses the ability to hunt something and have perfect control over it. Someone might hunt animals and do as they wish with them, as it is written, "And a person... who hunts game of any animal or bird that may be eaten and spills its blood"; someone else might hunt others with his mouth, as it is written, "And Isaac loved Esau because he ate his game"; and a righteous person hunts their evil inclination and controls it. This is the explanation of the root of the word "righteous": to hunt the evil inclination (hinted at by the letter Kuf, as explained later) and to control it.

Therefore, the deeper meaning of the letter Tzadi: completeness and perfect control. It symbolizes, in its bent form (צ׳) and straight form (ץ׳), the complete righteousperson in the present and future. As explained in the Talmud: "Bent Tzadi, straight Tzadi – the righteous person is bent [in humility in the present], the righteous person is straight [standing tall in the future]."

The letter Tzadi appears for the first time in the Bible at the beginning of a word: "in Our image," in the verse about the creation of man in the image of Hashem. For this is the completeness of man, to emulate his Creator by walking in His ways.

Pronunciation

Tzadi originates from "righteous" and from "hunt" (in the Yemenite tradition, the letter Tzadi is also called "Tzad"). Both signify perfect control. The righteous person controls their inclinations, and the hunter controls their prey. According to the Torah, one should not "kill" evil inclinations to be righteous, but rather be like a hunter who captures their various inclinations and harnesses them for their service of Hashem.

The Torah as Spice

This is the explanation in the Talmud: "[Hashem] said to Israel: My children, I created the evil inclination, and I created the Torah as its spice. If you engage in Torah, you will not be delivered into its hand." It does not say, "And I created the Torah to destroy it." Just as a dish, despite its virtues, cannot be enjoyed or eaten because it is bland without salt and other spices. A person adds spice, and it becomes suitable for eating. Similarly, the evil inclination without Torah is not fit for use and can even ruin a person's life who follows its path. But one who engages in Torah, not only studying it superficially, receives guidance and strength to control the evil inclination and turn it into a beneficial force in their service of Hashem. Thus, the Torah is to the evil inclination like spice to a dish. One who follows this path, even if they sometimes falter and fall several times, is not delivered into the hand of the evil inclination but will always rise again and learn from their falls, as stated, "A righteous person falls seven times and rises." These insights are profound for those who contemplate them. As it says in the Torah, "And you shall love Hashem with all your hearts" not in the singular 'heart' but "with all your hearts." The sages in the Mishnah explained, "with all your hearts, with your good inclination and your evil inclination." Indeed, it should be asked: Does a person have more than one heart? It should have said 'with all your heart.' Instead, "with all your hearts" means with your inclinations, which are like two hearts. The intention is that every character trait and quality within a person can be directed and employed for good, provided the person channels them towards positive paths. For example, a person with jealousy should redirect it not towards worldly possessions, which could lead to heartache and harmful actions, such as extravagant purchases beyond their means resulting in debt and foreclosure, but towards acquiring spiritual virtues, in the sense of the Talmud's saying, "Jealousy among scholars increases wisdom." By envying a friend who sets study times for Torah daily without fail, and another friend who controls themselves and conducts all actions according to the will of Hashem. Thus it is with all negative traits and seemingly negative personal qualities. This person who controls their inclinations transfers even the evil inclination to the side of holiness and the good inclination, harnessing both for their service of Hashem, and this one is called righteous. This is why the letter symbolizing the righteous is called 'Tzadi' - letters Tzad Y. Because this person places themselves on the side of spirituality (Y means spirituality). Thus, while being a hunter capturing their evil inclination, hinted at by the letter K, they also place themselves on the side of holiness. That letter Kulay hinting from another side at holiness, comes after the letter Tzadi in the order of the letters. Since the person aspires to reach holiness, even if they haven't yet achieved the level of the letter K, and have not earned the title 'holy' in the perfect sense, nevertheless by serving Hashem with both inclinations, the Tzadi connects to the K, and is called righteous.

Additionally, the letter Tzadi hints in its name at giving charity. 'Charity' from the word justice. And it is a wonder that the one who gives charity acts according to justice and truth, not only as an act of kindness as one might mistakenly think. For the money is a deposit in their hands from the Creator of the world and man and wealth – and the owner of the wealth commands the person to give from what they deposited with them to the poor they created. And this is what King David said, "For all comes from You, and from Your hand we have given You."

On a higher level, the letter Tzadi symbolizes the Righteous One of the world, Hashem. As the "Letters of Rabbi Akiva" say: "Tzadi, do not call it Tzadi, but Tzadik. This is the Righteous One of the world who does righteous acts with flesh and blood."

Its Form

The form of the letter Tzadi, like a bent Nun (humble and faithful) with the Yod (spiritual) riding on it. Because the Nun symbolizes the complete in faith and humility, while the Tzadi symbolizes the higher level, the person who is both humble and faithful, and also righteous. Meaning through the greatness of their engagement in Torah and carefulness in observing the precepts of Hashem, they earn the exalted title: righteous. Though some are humble by nature, yet are not careful enough with the commandments between man and God, such a person, even when acting this way due to lack of Torah teaching, cannot be called righteous, for they are flawed in keeping those commandments they do not observe. But the righteous person places the Yod, the service of the Creator, on the Nun, on the attribute of humility they possess. And since for such a person, even their humility is corrected and made more perfect, therefore the Nun in Tzadi is more bent than a regular Nun. This is the intent of the Talmud's answer to the question "Bent Tzadi, straight Tzadi, is humble and straightforward? The text adds fold upon fold. Hence, the Torah was given as a nod."

According to another version, the letter Tzadi is written so that the upper Yod is made in the shape of the letter Zayin. This hints at the righteous person, who despite being humble and faithful by nature, does not refrain from battling with weapons against the forces of the inclination. But organizes themselves with tools of war and increases them over their humility, battling until victory. This is the "hunt" aspect of the letter Tzadi. And according to Kabbalah, there hides an additional aspect of the "hunt" in the secret of the letter Tzadi.

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