The Second Night's Mercy: Bound to the Tzaddik

43Surely there is one soul in Klal Yisrael who can direct his kavanos, his inner intentions, to all the lights, the attributes and the unions of the attributes, and to every kavanah of lighting the Chanukah lamp. Through his lighting he arouses great mercy from the Source of mercy upon Klal Yisrael, and upon each individual who wishes to join and bind himself to that tzaddik. The Arizal's words in his kavanos are known: he set the Name Rachum, "Merciful," for the second night.¹ Rachum is as Chazal said: "Cleave to His ways: just as He is merciful, so you be merciful."² That is, Hashem in His great mercy sends a person an occasion for compassion, so that he will have mercy on his fellow and the Holy One, blessed be He, will have mercy on him, for "with the measure a person measures, so is he measured."³ This is what the holy Torah says: "He will grant you compassion, and have compassion on you":⁴ He gives you compassion so that He may have compassion on you. The heart of compassion is to feel pain over the honor of the Shechinah, for "in all their affliction He was afflicted,"⁵ and by this a person brings Hashem to have mercy on him. And the tzaddik arouses compassion from Heaven above on the individual soul and on the whole community, as it is said, "May Your mercy prevail over Your attributes."⁶ So it is very necessary that each and every one include himself in the tzaddik of the generation.