...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 © 1942-2025 Family Steinmetz. Reproduction or copying of this material is permitted if the source is cited.