All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them and blessed them; each man, according to his blessing, he blessed them. (Breishis 49:28)

It’s quite amazing to note that this is how Yaakov Avinu spent the very last moments of his life, blessing his children with a telescope vision for the far future. Yaakov was not only the father of our nation but he was an authentic Tzadik. This provides for us a window into the focus of a Tzadik and gives us a template to follow.

The verse in Mishlei, from Shlomo HaMelech, the wisest of all men, states, “Blessing to the head of a Tzadik…” (Mishlei 10:6). The Vilna Gaon, the mountain peak of Torah Scholarship in perhaps the last 900 years explains these words of King Shlomo. Why is the blessing to the head of the Tzadik. He too reveals to us what is transpiring in the mind of a Tzadik and what makes a Tzadik a Tzadik. He is blessing others.

Even if the actual words of blessing do not reach the mouth and are not expressed, HASHEM combines his thoughts to become an action and the head of the Tzadik is attracting blessing. He becomes a magnet, an antenna for blessing because he is giving out and thinking thoughts of blessings for others.

This is remarkable. How often do we feel annoyed when behind a school bus that stops multiple times letting little Jewish children on and off and we miss out big time on the opportunity to bless them and the mothers who are sending them off or waiting for their safe return.

We could be and should be overflowing with good wishes for these holy children and their families at that time. Instead, the visceral reaction is the grumble about the infrastructure in town and the inconvenience we are experiencing. The Tzadik is not only excited to witness these holy events but he is showering them quietly with his blessed and holy mind.

44 years ago, when I was an unmarried Yeshiva student I went to a local Mikva here in Monsey. There I saw a most unusual person. He was old and bent downward, dressed in Chassidic garb, and he appeared to be moving as if in a trance, not like anybody I had ever seen. It was as if every movement of his limbs was intended for the sake of heaven. Later I discovered that the person I saw that day was the Ribnitzer Rebbe, a known miracle worker.

It was not long after that I was stopped at a light on Route 306 by Viola Road facing in the direction where the Ribnitzer Rebbe is now buried half a mile away. A car pulled up on my left side and I turned my head and noticed that in the passenger seat was the Ribnitzer Rebbe. His head and eyes were focused downward. He was still, unmoving. I stared and stared at his profile. He never looked up.

Parenthetically, but not unimportantly, I had not felt well for a week or so, which Boruch HASHEM was very unusual for me. As I was studying him, I heard a horn honking aggressively. I thought someone behind me wanted me to begin driving because the light turned green. From the back seat of that car in which the Rebbe was sitting, the window was rolled down and the Gabai called out to me, “The Rebbe said you’re gonna feel better and everything will be OK!” They turned left and I continued in wonder. How did he know I wasn’t feeling well?

40 years later I was having a health crisis and I went to Daven by the Ribnitzer Rebbe. The results of the tests were not as alarming as I feared. Everything was OK. Then it dawned on me, the Rebbe’s words, “The Rebbe said you’re gonna feel better and everything will be OK!” He wasn’t just speaking to me then 40 years ago but 40 years later. Amazing!

I have shared this account multiple times but only recently did I begin to appreciate another dimension. It occurred to me, “Who else is blessing the guy in the car next to him!?” That’s the mind and heart of the Tzadik revealed.