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Righteous People and Evildoers
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“They heard the voice of the Lord God moving about in the garden with the day breeze; the man and his wife hid from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden” (Genesis 3:8).
“They heard the voice of the Lord God moving about [
mithalekh
] in the garden with the day breeze” – Rabbi Ḥalfon said: We have heard that walking about [
hilukh
] is [an expression] used regarding sound, as it is stated: “They heard the voice of the Lord God moving about [
mithalekh
] in the garden,” and that walking about is used regarding fire…
Bereshit Rabbah 19:7
(Numb. 22:2:) “Now Balak ben Zippor saw.” What is the meaning of “Now he saw?” He saw retribution which would come against Israel in the future. And he hated them more than all their enemies, as all of the [others] came with wars and subjugation which they could withstand. But this one was like a man who could extract a word from his mouth to uproot an entire nation. (Numb. 22:2:) “Now Balak [ben Zippor] saw.” It would have been better for the wicked if they had been blind, for their eyes bring a curse to the world. With reference to the generation of the flood, [it is written] (in Gen…
Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 2:1
He used to say: do His will as though it were your will, so that He will do your will as though it were His. Set aside your will in the face of His will, so that he may set aside the will of others for the sake of your will. Hillel said: do not separate yourself from the community, Do not trust in yourself until the day of your death, Do not judge your fellow man until you have reached his place. Do not say something that cannot be understood [trusting] that in the end it will be understood. Say not: ‘when I shall have leisure I shall study;’ perhaps you will not have leisure.
Pirkei Avot 2:4
“I came to my garden, my sister, my bride; I gathered my myrrh with my perfume; I ate my honeycomb with my honey; I drank my wine with my milk. Eat, friends; drink abundantly, beloved ones” (Song of Songs 5:1).
“I came to my garden” – Rabbi Menaḥem, son-in-law of Rabbi Elazar bar Avuna, said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Rabbi Yosena: It is not written here, “I came to a garden,” but rather “to my garden [
legani
]” – to My wedding canopy [
leginuni
], to the place that was the site of My initial appearance…
Shir HaShirim Rabbah 5:1:1
“A bull, or a sheep, or a goat, when it is born, shall be seven days under its mother and from the eighth day on, it shall be accepted as a fire offering to the Lord” (Leviticus 22:27).
“A bull, or a sheep, or a goat” – that is what is written: “Your righteousness is like mighty mountains” (Psalms 36:7). The mountains produce herbs and the righteous have good deeds. Alternatively, “Your righteousness is like mighty mountains” – just as mountains are fit to be sown and produce fruit, so, the righteous produce fruits for themselves and for others…
Vayikra Rabbah 27:1
“The one who presented” – that is what is written: “Arise, north, and come, south…” (Song of Songs 4:16). Rabbi Yosei said: When did the inauguration begin? It was on the twenty-third of Adar. On the first of Nisan, the days of inauguration concluded. All seven days of inauguration, Moses would erect the Tabernacle, and each and every morning he would sacrifice his offerings in it, and dismantle it. On the eighth, he erected it and did not dismantle it, as it is stated: “It was in the first month during the second year, on the first of the month, the Tabernacle was erected” (Exodus 40:17)…
Bamidbar Rabbah 13:2
“Balak son of Tzipor saw” – what did he see? He saw the calamity that is destined to befall Israel from all its enemies, as all of them would come with wars and enslavement that they were able to endure. But this [one] is like a person who expresses a matter and uproots an entire nation.
“Balak saw” – it is preferable for the wicked to be blind, as their eyes bring evil to the world. Regarding the generation of the Flood, it is written: “The sons of the great saw” (Genesis 6:2) and it is written: “Ḥam father of Canaan saw” (Genesis 9:22)…
Bamidbar Rabbah 20:2
The Gemara asks:
And
does he
not
become wicked?
Didn’t we learn
in a mishna:
Do not be sure of yourself until the day you die, as Yoḥanan the High Priest served in the High Priesthood for eighty years and ultimately became a Sadducee.
Even one who is outstanding in his righteousness can become a heretic.
Berakhot 29a:6
(Lev. 22:26-27:) “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘When a bull or a sheep or a goat is born.” This text is related (to Ps. 36:7), “Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains; Your judgments are like the great deep….” “Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains.” These are the righteous ones, in that they have been compared with mountains, where it is stated (in Micah 6:2), “Hear, O mountains, the claim of the Lord.” (Ps. 36:7, cont.:) “And Your judgments are like the great deep.” These are the wicked, since it is stated (in Exod. 15:5), “The depths covered them…
Midrash Tanchuma, Emor 5:1
Rather,
Rava said: Rav Idi explained
the matter
to me.
The verse states:
“Say you of the righteous who is good, that they shall eat the fruit of their actions”
(Isaiah 3:10).
And
this verse is difficult, as
is there a righteous person who is good and is there a righteous person who is not good? Rather,
this verse should be understood as follows: One who is
good
both
toward Heaven and toward people is a good righteous person;
one who is
good toward Heaven but bad toward people is a righteous person who is not good.
…
Kiddushin 40a:8-9
is a disadvantage for the righteous,
as a righteous individual gains no pleasure from this so-called beneficial act.
As it is stated
by God to Laban:
“Take heed to yourself that you speak not to Jacob either good or bad”
(Genesis 31:24).
Granted,
speak no
bad; this is rightly so,
i.e., understandable.
But
speak no
good? Why not? Rather, learn from here
that even something that would be
a
good
benefit to the wicked
like Laban,
is a disadvantage for the righteous.
Yevamot 103b:1
The Torah said
that it is better that
he should die
now when he is still
innocent, and
he should
not die
later when he is
guilty.
This is
because the death of the wicked is beneficial to them and
also
beneficial to the world,
while the death
of the righteous is detrimental to them and detrimental to the world.
The
sleep and wine of the wicked is beneficial to them and beneficial to the world,
while that
of the righteous is detrimental to them and detrimental to the world…
Sanhedrin 72a:2
“Jacob remained alone, and a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn” (Genesis 32:25).
“Jacob remained alone, and a man wrestled with him.” “Yeshurun, there is none like God, Who rides the heavens in your assistance” (Deuteronomy 33:26). Rabbi Berekhya said in the name of Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon: “There is none like God,” but who is like God? It is Yeshurun, the best and most praiseworthy among you. You find that everything that the Holy One blessed be He is destined to perform in the future, He had them performed earlier, by means of the righteous in this world…
Bereshit Rabbah 77:1
Rabbi Yoḥanan says:
Sanhedrin 92b:16
The passage continues:
“The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, He that rules over men must be righteous, ruling in the fear of God”
(II Samuel 23:3). The Gemara asks:
What is
this verse
saying?
What does it mean?
Rabbi Abbahu said: This is what
the verse
is saying: The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me:
Although
I rule over man, who rules over Me?
It is
a righteous person.
How is it possible to say that a righteous person rules over God, as it were?
As I,
God…
Moed Katan 16b:22
The Gemara cites a related statement:
Rabbi Elazar raises a contradiction: It is written
in one verse:
“The Lord is good to all
and His compassion is over all His works” (Psalms 145:9),
and it is written
in a different verse:
“The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
to the soul that seeks Him” (Lamentations 3:25). He explains: This can be
compared to a person who has an orchard. When he waters
it,
he waters all of it.
Perforce, the water reaches all parts of the orchard, and he cannot discriminate between trees…
Sanhedrin 39b:2-5
But if the one who was sodomized testified that the accused sodomized him
with his consent,
he is testifying that
he
himself is
wicked,
having been complicit in the forbidden act,
and the Torah said: “Do not put
your hand with
a wicked
person to be an unrighteous
witness”
(Exodus 23:1). Therefore, the testimony is rejected.
Rava says: A person is his own relative and
therefore may not testify about himself. Therefore,
a person cannot render himself wicked
by his own testimony…
Sanhedrin 9b:8
Rabbi Abahu and Rabbi Ḥiyya the Great, Rabbi Abahu said: Right from the beginning of the creation of the world, the Holy One blessed be He foresaw the actions of the righteous and the actions of the wicked. That is what is written: “For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish” (Psalms 1:6). “The earth was emptiness and disorder” – these are the actions of the wicked. “God said: Let there be light” – these are the actions of the righteous. But I do not know which He desires, whether it is the actions of these, or the actions of those…
Bereshit Rabbah 2:5
Apropos the righteous,
Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said
that
Rabbi Yoḥanan said: No righteous person departs from this world until another comparable righteous person is created, as it is stated: “And the sun rises and the sun sets”
(Ecclesiastes 1:5); before the sun sets the new sun has already risen.
Before the sun of Eli was extinguished, the sun of Samuel of Ramah
had already
shone
(see I Samuel, chapter 3), and so on throughout the generations. And
Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said
that
Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The Holy One, Blessed be He…
Yoma 38b:13-14
The Sages taught
in a
baraita
: When
a wicked
person
comes into the world, wrath comes into the world, as it is stated: “When the wicked comes into the world, contempt also comes, and with ignominy, reproach”
(Proverbs 18:3). When
a wicked
person
is eliminated from the world, good comes into the world, as it is stated: “And when the wicked perish there is jubilation”
(Proverbs 11:10). When
a righteous
person
passes from the world, evil comes into the world, as it is stated: “The righteous perishes and no man lays it to heart…
Sanhedrin 113b:3
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