"The Book of the Righteous"

Hi,

"Shemuel II 1:18 says, 'And [King David] said to teach the Judeans the bow; this is recorded in Sefer haYashar [The Book of the Righteous].' What is Sefer haYashar?

"Rabbi Chiyya bar Abba cited Rabbi Yochanan: This is the book of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, who are called righteous [yesharim], as in Bamidbar 23:10, [when Bilam said:] "'May my death be that of the righteous [yesharim].'...

"Rabbi Eliezer said: This is Mishneh Torah [Devarim]. Why is it called Sefer haYashar? Devarim 6:18 says, 'You shall perform that which is righteous [yashar] and good.'...

"Rabbi Shemuel bar Nachmeni said: This is the Book of Shoftim [Judges]. Why is it called Sefer haYashar? Shoftim 17:6 says, 'In those days there was no king in Israel; one would do that which was righteous [yashar] in his eyes.'..."

(Talmud, Avodah Zarah 25a)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Noach was righteous "in his generations"

^Hi,

"In his generations"

Rabbi Yehudah and Rabbi Nechemiah [debated]:

• Rabbi Yehudah said: In his generations he was righteous – but were he in the generation of Moshe or the generation of Samuel, he would not have been righteous.
• In the neighbourhood of the blind, they call the one-eyed man "of sufficient light";
• This may be compared to one who had a cellar of wine, and who opened one barrel and found it to be vinegar, and then a second, and then a third which he found to be off. They told him, "This is off!" To which he replied, "Is there any better?" And they said, "No."
• So, too, in his generations Noah was righteous, but were he in the generation of Moshe or of Samuel he would not have been righteous.
• Rabbi Nechemiah said: If in his generations he was righteous, then had he been in the generation of Moshe or the generation of Samuel, how much more so!
• This may be compared to a jug of persimmon oil sealed tightly and placed among graves, and yet its smell wafts out. Were it away from the graves, how much more so!
• This may be compared to an innocent girl living in the neighbourhood of zonot without having a bad reputation. Were she in the neighbourhood of the righteous, how much more so!
• So, too, in his generations Noah was righteous, how much more so were he in the generation of Moshe or the generation of Samuel.

^טבדורותיו

רבי יהודה ורבי נחמיה:

• רבי יהודה אמר בדורותיו היה צדיק, הא אלו היה בדורו של משה או בדורו של שמואל לא היה צדיק.
• בשוק סמייא צווחין לעווירא סגי נהור
• משל לאחד שהיה לו מרתף אחד של יין, פתח חבית אחת ומצאה של חומץ, שניה כן, שלישית ומצאה קוסס, אמרין ליה קוסס הוא, אמר להון ואית הכא טב מינה א"ל לא
• כך בדורותיו היה צדיק הא אלו היה בדורו של משה או בדורו של שמואל לא היה צדיק
• רבי נחמיה אמר ומה אם בדורותיו היה צדיק, אלו היה בדורו של משה או בדורו של שמואל על אחת כמה וכמה!
• משל לצלוחית של אפרסמון מוקפת צמיד פתיל, ומונחת בין הקברות, והיה ריחה נודף, ואלו היה חוץ לקברות עאכ"ו
• משל לבתולה שהיתה שרויה בשוק של זונות ולא יצא עליה שם רע, אלו היתה בשוקן של כשרות על אחת כמה וכמה
• כך ומה אם בדורותיו היה צדיק אלו היה בדורו של משה או בדורו של שמואל על אחת כמה וכמה. 

(Midrash, Bereishit Rabbah 30:9)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

A righteous person makes the world go around

Hi,

¹"These are the generations of Noach; Noach was a righteous man, complete"

• This is the meaning of Mishlei 10:25, "When the storm passes, and there is no wicked person, and the righteous person is an eternal foundation."
• "When the storm passes, and there is no wicked person" – This refers to the generation of the flood.
• "And the righteous person is an eternal foundation" – This refers to Noach.

• Mishlei 12:7: "Overturn the wicked and they will not exist, and the house of the righteous will stand."
• "Overturn the wicked and they will not exist" – This refers to the generation of the flood.
• "And the house of the righteous will stand" – This refers to Noach.

• Thus it says, "These are the generations [product] of Noach."

Alternatively: "These are the generations of Noach"

• Mishlei 14:11: "The house of the wicked will be destroyed, and the tent of the righteous will flower."
• "The house of the wicked will be destroyed" – This refers to the generation of the flood.
• "And the tent of the righteous will flower" – This refers to Noach.

²Alternatively: "These are the generations of Noach"

• Iyyov 24:18: "He is swift upon the face of the water, their portion is cursed in the land, he will not turn to the path of the vineyards."
• "He is swift upon the face of the water" – It was decreed that they would be destroyed with water.
• "Their portion is cursed in the land" – As if to say: "May the One who punished the generation of the flood." And why so much?
• "He will not turn to the path of the vineyards" – They intended nothing other than to plant vineyards.
• But Noach intended otherwise, only to bear fruit and multiply in the world, and to produce children, as it is written, "These are the generations [products] of Noach."

^אאלה תולדות נח נח איש צדיק תמים

• ההוא דכתיב (משלי י) כעבור סופה ואין רשע וצדיק יסוד עולם
• כעבור סופה ואין רשע, זה דור המבול
• וצדיק יסוד עולם, זה נח
• (שם יב) הפוך רשעים ואינם ובית צדיקים יעמוד
• הפוך רשעים ואינם זה דור המבול
• ובית צדיקים יעמוד, זה נח
• ההוא דכתיב אלה תולדות נח

ד"א אלה תולדות נח

• כתיב (שם יד) בית רשעים ישמד, ואהל ישרים יפריח
• בית רשעים ישמד, זה דור המבול
• ואוהל ישרים יפריח, זה נח.

^בד"א אלה תולדות נח

• כתיב (איוב כד) קל הוא על פני המים תקולל חלקתם בארץ לא יפנה דרך כרמים
• קל הוא על פני המים, גזרה שנגזרה עליהם שיאבדו במים
• תקולל חלקתם בארץ, כלומר מי שפרע מדור המבול.
• כל כך למה? לא יפנה דרך כרמים, שלא היתה כוונתן אלא למטעת כרמים
• אבל נח לא היתה כוונתו אלא להפרות ולהרבות בעולם ולהעמיד בנים שנאמר אלה תולדות נח. 

(Midrash, Bereishit Rabbah 30:1-2)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Take care of your property

Hi,

"...From here we see that the righteous hold their property as even more beloved than their lives. Why? Because they won't extend their hands in theft." [As I understand it: They are careful with their property, to avoid any temptation to steal.]

מיכן לצדיקים שממונם חביב עליהן יותר מגופן, וכל כך למה? לפי שאין פושטין ידיהן בגזל

(Talmud, Sotah 12a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Don't be a punisher

Hi,

"It is not appropriate for the righteous to involve themselves in punishing people."

(Proverbs 17:26, as understood by Talmud Berachot 7a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The righteous endure

Hi,

"It is written, 'And a righteous person is the foundation of the world (Proverbs 10:25).' This teaches that even after death, a righteous person is still a foundation of the world, protecting it."

(Vilna Gaon to Proverbs 10:25)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Fasting which is not accompanied by good deeds

Hi,

"The completeness I desire is that which is recorded in Yirmiyahu, 'Let the one who is praised be praised for this: Have insight and know Me, for I am Gd who performs generosity and justice and righteousness in the land, this is what I desire.'

"This means: I desired for you to perform generosity and justice and righteousness in the land, to walk in My ways. Fasting and eating are not among My actions, for I neither eat nor drink. Fasting is non-eating, and it is not relevant for Me, for one cannot refrain from anything other than that which one normally practices."

(Abarbanel to Zecharyah 7, pg. 221)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The scent of Abraham

Hi,

"What did Avraham resemble? A pitcher of perfume placed in a cemetery, such that no one knew it scent. One person took it and moved it from place to place, and its scent began to waft through the world.

"So Avraham lived among idolaters. Gd declared: Why did you dwell among wicked people? Depart from them and spread word of your great deeds in the world! And so it is written (Bereishit 12): 'Go, for yourself.'"

(Midrash Tanchuma, Lech Lecha 3)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Righteous in his generation

Hi,

[Bereishit 6:9 says that Noach was "righteous in his generation."]

"'In his generation' - Rabbi Yehudah and Rabbi Nechemiah disagreed.

"Rabbi Yehudah said: He was righteous for his generation, but had he been in the generation of Moshe or Shemuel he would not have been considered righteous....

"Rabbi Nechemiah said: If he was righteous in his generation, his righteousness would have been all the greater [alternatively: it is all the more certain that he would have been righteous] in the generation of Moshe or Shemuel."

(Midrash, Bereishit Rabbah 30:9)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The Value of Momentary Righteousness

Hi,

"And R’ Yitzchak said: We only judge a person according to his actions at that time, as it is written, “For Gd has heard the voice of the youth, as he is there.”"

(Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 16b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The value of preparing for a mitzvah, Part I

Hi,

"Immediately after Yom Kippur people involve themselves in mitzvot of Succah and Lulav and do not perform transgressions. Therefore, the first day of Succot is identified as “First” in the Torah – because it is the first of the year’s accounting of sins."

(Tur Orach Chaim 581)

to be continued...

Moadim l'simchah,
Mordechai

What righteous people do

Hi,

"Pure righteous people do not complain about evil, but increase righteousness.

"They do not complain about heresy, but increase faith.

"They do not complain about ignorance, but increase wisdom."

(R' Avraham Yitzchak haKohen Kook, Arpilei Tohar)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Improve this day, and it becomes your own

Hi,

"The most minimal level among the righteous is that they improve the sanctity of each day by fulfilling that day's obligations. When the day comes for them to depart from this world, all of those days are now theirs."

(R' Dovid Shlomo Eibeschitz, Arvei Nachal, Chayyei Sarah I)

Have a great day,
Mordechai