וזהו שכתוב בזהר הקדוש, דצדיקא דאתפטר אשתכח בכלהו עלמין יתיר מבחיוהי
This, then, is the meaning of the statement in the sacred Zohar,23 that “When a tzaddik departs he is to be found in all the worlds more than during his lifetime.”
Surely this should only apply to the higher worlds. How can this be true of this world? How is he to be found here to a greater extent than while he was alive?
דהיינו שגם בזה העולם המעשה
That is, even in this world of action, in the mundane world of which it is written,
היום לעשותם
“this day — to do them,”24
As the Gemara states,25 “Today is the time to do them; tomorrow is the time to receive their reward.” Man’s primary task in this world is the actual fulfillment of the commandments, while the receipt of rewards or anything akin to rewards belongs to “tomorrow”, to the World to Come.
In any event, even in this “world of action,”
אשתכח יתיר
[the departed tzaddik] is found more [than during his lifetime],
כי המעשה גדול גדל והולך, גידולי גידולין
because the action of his disciples continues to produce successive generations of offshoots,
מן אור זרוע לצדיק בשדה אשר ברכו ה׳
from the26 “light implanted for the righteous” in27 “the field which G‑d has blessed,” i.e., in the Garden of Eden.
As will soon be explained, this refers to the illumination that is drawn down into the Sefirah of Malchut in the World of Atzilut, which is known as “the field which G‑d has blessed.” The Torah and mitzvot of the tzaddik draw down into the Sefirah of Malchut an additional flow of Divine energy from the six higher Sefirot (collectively known as Z”a of Atzilut). This current arouses within his disciples thoughts of repentance and good deeds, which the Alter Rebbe calls “successive generations of offshoots” — harvests of the second generation.
המאיר לארץ וחוצות
[This light] radiates to the earth and to the outside places, i.e., to the Holy Land and outside the Holy Land,
וגם אנחנו אלה פה היום, כולנו חיים בדרכיו
and also to us, those who are here this day, all of us who live in his ways,
דרך הקדש יקרא לה
“the holy way shall it be called.”28
זאת בעבודת ה׳, במילי דשמיא
The above, regarding the increased presence of the departed tzaddik, relates to the service of G‑d, to heavenly i.e., spiritual matters; in these areas his disciples can now receive even more guidance and benefit from him than they did during his lifetime.
ובמילי דעלמא, בפירוש אתמר בזוהר הקדוש, דצדיקיא מגינין על עלמא, ובמיתתהון יתיר מבחייהון
As for mundane matters,i.e., the flow of material blessings which tzaddikim draw down to this world, it is stated explicitly in the sacred Zohar29 that the tzaddikim shield the world, and after their death even more than during their life;
ואלמלא צלותא דצדיקיא בההוא עלמא, לא אתקיים עלמא רגעא חדא
moreover, were it not for the prayer of the tzaddikim in the other world, this world would not endure a single moment.
וכל הקרוב קרוב אל משכן ה׳ בחייו, קודם לברכה
And whoever is closer to the habitation of G‑d30a [through being close to the tzaddik] during his lifetime, has precedence to the blessing that comes from and through the tzaddik.
