Creating God’s Presence in One’s Consciousness

Born in Kreuzberg, Russian Empire (today Jēkabpils, Latvia), Tsadok (Tsadek, Tsodek) ha-Kohen Rabinowitz was brought up in a prominent family. Acknowledged as a rabbinic prodigy when a child, Tsadok ha-Kohen became a Hasid of Mordekhai Yosef Leiner, the rebbe of Izhbits. Expanding on his teacher’s ideas in his own writing, Tsadok ha-Kohen adopted a historical-theological view of the development of Torah, both Written and Oral, which posited that the development of secular wisdom (i.e., Greek and other gentile philosophy) paralleled the creation and evolution of Torah. Arguing that the emergence of talmudic thought was the result of the triumph of ancient Judea over Hellenistic culture, Tsadok ha-Kohen viewed Torah as a dialectical process that would eventually yield total enlightenment with the coming of the Messiah. He incorporated his thinking—especially the concept of negative begetting positive—into his writings on personal ethics and right behavior as well, contributing significantly to Hasidic philosophy during his life. Tsadok ha-Kohen succeeded Judah Leib Eger as rabbi of Lublin in 1888.