Rabbi Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin: Life-Changing Teachings from “Tzidkat HaTzadik”

Rabbi Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin (d. 9 Elul 5660 / 1900), was a towering Chassidic thinker and one of the most original voices in Jewish spirituality.

He was a descendant of the Shelah, orphaned at age six, and raised by his uncle Rabbi Yosef HaKohen Rabinowitz (author of Kafos HaZahav). Together they moved to Krenik, where the young prodigy became known as “The Ilui of Krenik.”

At age 12 he began composing halachic responsa, and at 13 authored a scholarly work on the sages of Israel, Zikaron LaRishonim. He passed away after a difficult illness, leaving no children.

Following are 24 remarkable teachings from his foundational work Tzidkas HaTzaddik.

1. Regret It? Your Sins Are Already Being Cleansed

Rabbi Tzadok writes a powerful encouragement: “The anguish a person feels over his sins is literally the suffering of Gehinnom for that sin.” Therefore: “One who feels shame over a sin — his sin is forgiven.”

2. Even Sin Occurs by Divine Will

A radical teaching: “The essence of teshuvah is when God illuminates a person’s eyes so that his intentional sins become merits — because he recognizes that even his sins occurred through God’s will.”

3. Everything in the World Happens by God’s Will

Rabbi Tzadok continues: “When one reaches this great light — realizing that every misdeed emerged from God’s knowledge and will, then all become merits, and he merits full atonement.”

4. The Essence of a Person: Their Thought

Rabbi Tzadok famously taught: “A person is where his thoughts are.” And: “The essence of a human being is not the body but the soul — meaning the faculty of thought, desire, and intention.”

5. What Is Kabalat Ol Malchut Shamayim?

Although accepting God’s sovereignty is fulfilled in Shema, Rabbi Tzadok writes: “Its obligation continues constantly — one must never remove this yoke, even for a moment.”

6. The Essence of Prayer

“In prayer, the central element is the desire and longing to pray.”

7. All Traits Possess Goodness

Rabbi Tzadok taught a transformative view of human nature: “Every trait implanted in the soul of a Jew has good within it. No trait is purely evil; one must learn to use each according to God’s will.”

8. Working on Middos: Daily, With Heavenly Help

“All human effort in conquering desire is only temporary beauty... the yetzer arises again tomorrow. Real success comes only by asking God for help.”

9. Why Do the Wicked Flourish?

“Do not wonder when you see the wicked increasing. God is the master of the vineyard and knows exactly how to tend His vineyard at every moment.”

10. No Desire for Holiness?

“If one feels no desire for divine service, the solution is to cast his burden upon God, and from his humility and recognition of his deficiency, he will arouse divine mercy.”

11. Believe in God — and Then Believe in Yourself

One of Rabbi Tzadok’s most famous teachings: “Just as a person must believe in God, he must afterward believe in himself — that God has a special relationship with him… and delights in his soul.”

12. A Surprising Tikkun for Faults and Impurity

“The rectification is to believe with complete faith that there is no ‘chance’ in the world — everything is guided by God.”

13. Mesirut Nefesh in Thought Can Save From Death

“If a person truly accepts in his heart that if God’s will is for him to die, he accepts it with love — this can annul a decree of death.”

14. Accepting a Life of Torah Requires Letting Go

“When accepting the yoke of Torah, a person must commit to abandon worldly pleasures that contradict God’s will.”

15. Fear Comes From Sin, and It Sweetens Judgment

“Human fears arise from sins… and these fears are themselves a form of Gehinnom that sweetens judgments.”

16. Feeling Fear? It’s a Message From Heaven

“When fear falls upon a person, he should immediately pray to be saved — this fear was sent from Heaven to prompt his prayer.”

17. Suffering or Fear? It Means God Wants to Give You Good

“When God wants to bestow good upon a person but wants him to pray first, He arranges a fear or distress to stir him to pray.”

18. What Is Shabbos? The Root of the Entire Week

“On Shabbos one can sweeten all the days of the week and transform them for the good.”

19. Do Not Cause Pain to Any Living Being

“One must be careful not to cause suffering to any creature — even for the sake of a mitzvah.”

20. Your Strongest Desire Is Your Vessel for Blessing

“Every person has a unique desire. In that very area of strongest passion lies his vessel to receive God’s blessing — if he returns to God with all his heart and recognizes this desire was planted by God.”

21. The Root of All Sin: Pride

The Cure: Humility. “All harmful thoughts and impulses come from the roots of jealousy, desire, and honor. The root of these is arrogance, and the cure is humility, which aligns a person with God’s will.”

23. A Broken Heart Is Always Answered

“One who lacks and seeks wholeness — God cannot fail to answer him. ‘God is close to the brokenhearted.’”

24. Struggling With Distracting Thoughts?

“The remedy for impure or distracting thoughts is the mitzvah of tzitzis and tefillin.”