[Avodah] The Definition of a Tzadik

Prof. L. Levine llevine at stevens.edu
Sun Oct 25 09:58:31 PDT 2020


The following if from RSRH's commentary on Bereishis 6

9 These are the products of Noach. Noach, a righteous man, was morally pure in his times: Noach walked with God.

A  Tzadik is one who gives everyone and everything their due.  A Tzadik is objective toward everything; he looks at everything from the standpoint of his duty, and not from the standpoint of his own personal interests. The primary meaning of Tzedek is social justice;

When I once related this to someone while walking home from shul he said, "There is no mention of piety."  I let this comment go,  but I should have replied, "This IS piety."

See http://www.hakirah.org/Vol%206%20Fried.pdf

<https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hakirah.org%2FVol%25206%2520Fried.pdf&data=04%7C01%7Cllevine%40stevens.edu%7C6c51f256928846bf66a208d879036948%7C8d1a69ec03b54345ae21dad112f5fb4f%7C0%7C1%7C637392402859508991%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=LtkrbG0w4AKqggYHbN5YVDJiU4OrSoZeJakriM8SqmA%3D&reserved=0>RSRH also writes on this pasuk

Tamim, on the other hand, is usually construed with halach and derech. The
primary meaning of derech is a person's development toward the perfection
of his own personality, his gradual progression from step to step. The Tzadik who acts and performs deeds pays no attention to his own personality. In the case of derech , however, the aim is the satisfaction of one's self and the perfection of one's personality, which, accordingly, includes also the physical aspirations. Tamim derech is one who remains pure even when satisfying his physical aspirations.

Later on in his commentary on this pasuk  Rabbiner Hirsch writes, "It is far more difficult to remain morally pure in an age of immorality than to remain honest in an age of dishonesty."

YL



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