“The G-d of Israel has said– the Rock of Israel has spoken to me – [Be a] ruler over men; a righteous one, who rules with the fear of G-d” (Shmuel II, 23:3)
Rabbi Abahu interprets this pasuk in a novel way (Moed Katan 16b): The G-d of Israel has said, “Speak, the Rock of Israel. I rule over man. And who rules over Me? The tzaddik. I decree and the tzaddik rescinds.”
“He will not remove His eyes from a righteous man” (Iyov 36:7)
The Midrash states (Bamidbar Rabbah, Matot, Parashah 22) that Hashem will never deprive a tzaddik of that which his eyes desire.
Hashem saw that the tzaddikim were few. He placed them in every generation, as the pasuk says (Shmuel I, 2:8), “For Hashem’s are the pillars of the earth, and upon them He set the world.” Rabbi Chiya bar Abba says in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: The world exists for the sake of even one tzaddik, as the pasuk says, “The tzaddik is the foundation of the world” (Yoma 38b).
Rabbi Eliezer asks how divrei Torah are compared to a pitchfork. He replies: Just as a pitchfork turns over the hay and moves it from side to side, so do the prayers of tzaddikim transform Hashem’s thoughts of harshness to those of mercy (Sukkah 14a).
One Sage asked his colleague, “Is it true that Hashem nullifies His decree in deference to that of the tzaddik?” His colleague answered, yes. But Hashem does not nullify the decree of one tzaddik in deference to that of another tzaddik (Ta’anit 16b).
Our Sages ask (ibid. 23a) what was the message that the Sanhedrin sent to Choni Hama’agal. They replied, “You would utter a decree and it would be done, and light would shine upon your ways” (Iyov 22:28). They implied, “You decreed below, and Hashem would make it happen Above.”
Whoever has a sick person in his house should turn to the Sage to ask for mercy, as the pasuk says (Mishlei 16:14), “The anger of the king is like angels of death, but a wise man will appease it” (Bava Batra 116a).
Since man’s soul is of Divine origin, as the pasuk says, “And He blew into his nose the breath of life,” which Onkelos translates as, “Possessing the power of speech,” it is capable of accomplishing tremendous things, even outside of its realm. Thus, it seems that according to the greatness of a person’s spirit and its bond with the worlds Above, such as the spirit of tzaddikim and Chassidim, what they say materializes quickly. This is well-known among those who possess understanding (Sefer Hachinuch, Mitzvah 231).
Sefer Ha’Ikrim (4:19) writes, “It seems to me that a tzaddik’s blessing is not a form of predicting the future. Rather, it is preparing the recipient to be fitting for Divine abundance. The one who blesses a person is merely the agent who brings down Divine blessing. For this reason, one places his hands upon the head of the one he is blessing. The amount of Divine blessing is apportioned according to the level of the one who is blessing.”
