Photos by Alexis Hott.
The Tsadik, originally commissioned by The Shmutzik Shmates for "The Letters Project" is a strange creature rooted deep in the lower worlds. A letter associated with hiddenness, it doesn't fit clearly into the category of angel or demon, but neither is it quite the traditional idea of a Tsaddik (or "righteous one" -- a human being who is a spiritual master) although if you are truly a righteous one, the Tsadik may reveal its secrets to you.
Its face is made from willow branches harvested in early spring from Abundance Farm. On the inner layer of birchbark of its outer garment, you will find inscribed psalm 121 and Sefer Yetsirah. You might think, as you hear these scraps of bark rustling on the Tsadik's sleeves, that perhaps all trees have such hidden wisdom, scribed on the inner layers of their bark by hidden hands. The Tsitsis of the Tsadik are unusual -- they're bedecked with bells, made with a secret and inexplicable kevoneh and tied with three strings instead of four (The Tsadik is the eighteenth letter of the alphabet and has a gematria value of 90, so it's particularly attatched to multiples of three). You may find it shocking or heretical, but the Tsadik doesn't concern itself with binaries of "pious" or "heretical". The Tsadiks inner robe is bedecked with colorful ribbons, but it will only reveal its beauteous colors to those it deems trustworthy, just like the holiness of the natural world reserves its secrets for those who seek them out.
The Tsadik moves rather slowly, and observes the human world in a detached manner. It appreciates but is rather baffled by human attempts to connect with it, or to give it respect, as it knows we can never truly understand it. Sometimes it feels really sad, angry and alienated by the way humans interact with the world around them. It really wants us to seek it out truly, and always reaches back towards those who do.
The Tsadik, originally commissioned by The Shmutzik Shmates for "The Letters Project" is a strange creature rooted deep in the lower worlds. A letter associated with hiddenness, it doesn't fit clearly into the category of angel or demon, but neither is it quite the traditional idea of a Tsaddik (or "righteous one" -- a human being who is a spiritual master) although if you are truly a righteous one, the Tsadik may reveal its secrets to you.
Its face is made from willow branches harvested in early spring from Abundance Farm. On the inner layer of birchbark of its outer garment, you will find inscribed psalm 121 and Sefer Yetsirah. You might think, as you hear these scraps of bark rustling on the Tsadik's sleeves, that perhaps all trees have such hidden wisdom, scribed on the inner layers of their bark by hidden hands. The Tsitsis of the Tsadik are unusual -- they're bedecked with bells, made with a secret and inexplicable kevoneh and tied with three strings instead of four (The Tsadik is the eighteenth letter of the alphabet and has a gematria value of 90, so it's particularly attatched to multiples of three). You may find it shocking or heretical, but the Tsadik doesn't concern itself with binaries of "pious" or "heretical". The Tsadiks inner robe is bedecked with colorful ribbons, but it will only reveal its beauteous colors to those it deems trustworthy, just like the holiness of the natural world reserves its secrets for those who seek them out.
The Tsadik moves rather slowly, and observes the human world in a detached manner. It appreciates but is rather baffled by human attempts to connect with it, or to give it respect, as it knows we can never truly understand it. Sometimes it feels really sad, angry and alienated by the way humans interact with the world around them. It really wants us to seek it out truly, and always reaches back towards those who do.
