The Beard of the Ben Ish Chai, or the Segula of Looking at Portraits of Tzadikim
One day, Baba Sali gazed at a portrait of the Ben Ish Chai for a long time—about ten minutes, without taking his eyes off it.
Those around him were surprised by the tzadik’s behavior and asked why he was looking at the portrait for so long when it was before his eyes every day.
The righteous man replied:
“Do you know that the beard of the Ben Ish Chai is the beard of Adam before the sin?”
The granddaughter of Baba Sali, Rabbanit Leah Ben Abu, explains that according to Kabbalah, the structure of beard growth is very significant—it contains many hidden meanings. A righteous person whose beard resembles that of Adam before the sin is on a very lofty spiritual level.
The Sages advise keeping portraits of righteous people in one’s home and gazing intently at their faces.
The segula is that the holiness and righteousness of the tzadikim influence the person looking at them.
In addition, as
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov teaches in
Likutey Moharan (4:8), there are three levels of attachment to a tzadik. Through this attachment, the three levels are rectified, and everything undergoes rectification. They are:
- Looking at the tzadik;
- Giving tzedakah to the tzadik;
- Confessing before the tzadik.
The first level—
looking at the tzadik—nullifies negative traits that stem from:
“domem”—the mineral form of existence—
“etzev” (sadness, melancholy), and
“tzomeach”—the plant form—
“ta'avah” (desire).
“Parperaot LeChochmah” goes further: the tzadik’s likeness, understanding, and wisdom are concealed in his writings. Therefore, a person who wishes to gaze deeply at the tzadik must study his writings as well.
The Secret of the Beard
Tehillim 133 – The Anointing Oil and Aaron’s Beard
The Secret of Hair—Why Women Do Not Have Beards
The Secrets of Hair, the Part, the Forelock—and Why Women Do Not Grow Beards
(Based on a lesson by Rav Yisrael Yakovov and Rabbi Nachman of Breslov’s book Likutey Moharan, 4:8)
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