Hasidic master Rabbi Nachum of Shtifinshti (son of Rabbi Israel of Rozhin) once entered the study hall on Hanukkah and found his disciples enjoying a game of checkers.
He asked them if they knew the rules of the game, but no one ventured a reply.
Said Rabbi Nachum: “I will tell you. The first rule is that you give up one in order to take two. The second rule is that you move only forward, but once you reach the end of the board, you can move any way you desire.”
The implication is that the complete tzaddik, who has reached “the end of the board” in the battle of life, can go whichever way he desires, because whichever route he takes is God’s will; the tzaddik is simply incapable of acting in any other way.
—Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz,