jax
The Force is Strong With This One
Hi all,
I first came across this years ago but just wanted to share. The basic gist of the legend of the Lamed Vovniks Tzaddikim surfaces in the Talmud when Yahweh intends to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and gets into a debate with Abraham whether to kill EVERYONE and destroy everything.
This is the legend of the Lamed Vov Tzaddikim or thirty-six righteous ones. According to the Talmud the world requires a minimum of thirty-six righteous individuals in order to exist. There follows an argument about what happens if there are not thirty-six in the world? How will the world be redeemed?
The thirty-six hidden ones have the potential to save the world. They appear when they are needed, at times of great peril, called out of their anonymity and humility by the necessity to save the world: because they can, and because we need them.
The well-known writer Rachel Naomi Remen tells of hearing of the Lamed-Vov from her grandfather. “The story he told me is very old and dates from the time of the prophet Isaiah. It is the legend of the Lamed-Vov.
In this story, God tells us that He (sic) will allow the world to continue as long as at any given time there is a minimum of thirty-six good people in the human race. People who are capable of responding to the suffering that is part of the human condition….If at any time, there are fewer than thirty-six such people alive, the world will come to an end.
“Do you know who these people are, Grandpa?” I asked, certain he would say “Yes.” But he shook his head. “No,” he told me “only God knows who the Lamed-Vovniks are. Even the Lamed-Vovniks themselves do not know for sure the role they have in the continuation of the world, and no one else knows it either. They respond to suffering, not in order to save the world but simply because the suffering of others touches them and matters to them.”
I'm not suggesting there is an exactness to this number - there is an obvious esoteric non-literal meaning - or the effect and perhaps it is a romantic attraction to this idea on my part but I have held on to this tidbit and sharing it here as I sometimes think of it in relation to what goes on in this group as a representation of this idea and at the same time wondering if it has been considered and or relevant?
While I understand I may not be presenting this concept in its sharpest form I can't help but think that there is something of substance behind this idea. Has anyone else heard of it, come across it, know of it or have any further understanding?
Thanks for your time,
Jacqueline
I first came across this years ago but just wanted to share. The basic gist of the legend of the Lamed Vovniks Tzaddikim surfaces in the Talmud when Yahweh intends to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and gets into a debate with Abraham whether to kill EVERYONE and destroy everything.
This is the legend of the Lamed Vov Tzaddikim or thirty-six righteous ones. According to the Talmud the world requires a minimum of thirty-six righteous individuals in order to exist. There follows an argument about what happens if there are not thirty-six in the world? How will the world be redeemed?
The thirty-six hidden ones have the potential to save the world. They appear when they are needed, at times of great peril, called out of their anonymity and humility by the necessity to save the world: because they can, and because we need them.
The well-known writer Rachel Naomi Remen tells of hearing of the Lamed-Vov from her grandfather. “The story he told me is very old and dates from the time of the prophet Isaiah. It is the legend of the Lamed-Vov.
In this story, God tells us that He (sic) will allow the world to continue as long as at any given time there is a minimum of thirty-six good people in the human race. People who are capable of responding to the suffering that is part of the human condition….If at any time, there are fewer than thirty-six such people alive, the world will come to an end.
“Do you know who these people are, Grandpa?” I asked, certain he would say “Yes.” But he shook his head. “No,” he told me “only God knows who the Lamed-Vovniks are. Even the Lamed-Vovniks themselves do not know for sure the role they have in the continuation of the world, and no one else knows it either. They respond to suffering, not in order to save the world but simply because the suffering of others touches them and matters to them.”
I'm not suggesting there is an exactness to this number - there is an obvious esoteric non-literal meaning - or the effect and perhaps it is a romantic attraction to this idea on my part but I have held on to this tidbit and sharing it here as I sometimes think of it in relation to what goes on in this group as a representation of this idea and at the same time wondering if it has been considered and or relevant?
While I understand I may not be presenting this concept in its sharpest form I can't help but think that there is something of substance behind this idea. Has anyone else heard of it, come across it, know of it or have any further understanding?
Thanks for your time,
Jacqueline
