{"id":80958,"date":"2020-10-05T14:14:09","date_gmt":"2020-10-05T11:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=80958"},"modified":"2020-10-05T14:14:09","modified_gmt":"2020-10-05T11:14:09","slug":"tzedek-tzadik-tzedakah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/tzedek-tzadik-tzedakah\/","title":{"rendered":"Tzedek, Tzadik, Tzedakah"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Our psalm is presented as a nighttime prayer of David. This\u00a0 becomes clear from the psalmist\u2019s noting: \u201cYou have visited me at night\u201d (<\/span>17:3<\/span><\/a>) and from the conclusion of the Psalm: \u201cI, in righteousness, will behold Your face; I will be sustained with the image of You upon awaking\u201d (<\/span>verse 15<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n

David\u2019s beholding God\u2019s face seems to contradict what God said to Moses: \u201c\u2026You cannot see My face, for man may not see Me and live\u201d (<\/span>Exodus 33:20<\/span><\/a>). Perhaps for this reason,<\/span> Midrash Bereshit Rabbah 21:7<\/span><\/a> provides a dramatic rereading of the concluding verse of our Psalm. David is depicted creatively as saying, When Adam, who was created in the image of God, awakes from the deep sleep that God cast upon him (<\/span>Genesis 2:21<\/span><\/a>), I, David, \u201cwill behold\u201d that God has \u201cmade man like one of us\u201d (<\/span>Genesis 3:22<\/span><\/a>). [And though banished from the Garden of Eden (<\/span>Genesis 3:23<\/span><\/a>), Adam and his descendants, if righteous, will be granted the reward of eternal life].<\/span><\/p>\n

Elimelech Weisblum of Lizhensk, one of the founding <\/span>Rebbes<\/span><\/em> of the Hasidic movement, in his<\/span> Noam Elimelekh<\/span><\/a>, derives from the mention of \u201crighteousness \u2013 <\/span>tzedek<\/span><\/em>\u201d at the conclusion of our Psalm, that if even a righteous person considers himself to be a <\/span>tzadik<\/span><\/em>, he will \u201cfall from his [elevated] status \u2013 <\/span>nofel mi-madregato<\/span><\/i>\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bava Batra 10a<\/span><\/a>, understands <\/span>tzedek<\/em> <\/span>in our Psalm as equivalent to <\/span>tzedakah<\/span><\/em>. <\/span><\/i>God is said to not be like His creatures of flesh and blood. For when a person brings a gift to the king, he does not know whether the king will accept it. And even if the king accepts the gift, the one who brought the gift does not know if he will be invited to see the face of the king. However, when a person gives just a <\/span>pruta<\/span><\/em> (copper coin of minimal value) to a poor person, he merits to receive the Divine Presence, as it is stated: \u201cI, in righteousness [understood here as referring to <\/span>tzedakah<\/span><\/em>], will behold Your face\u201d (<\/span>Psalms 17:5<\/span><\/a>). This Talmudic discussion goes on to relate that Rabbi Elazar would first give a <\/span>pruta<\/span><\/em> to a poor person and then pray: \u201cI, in righteousness [again referring to <\/span>tzedakah<\/span><\/em>], will behold Your face\u201d (Psalms 17:5).<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>Gemara<\/span><\/i> continues by interpreting the continuation of the verse: \u201cI will be sustained (<\/span>\u2018<\/span><\/i>esbba\u2019ah<\/span><\/em>) with the image of You upon awaking\u201d. This refers to <\/span>Talmidey Chakhamim<\/em> <\/span>(Torah scholars), who in the intensity of their learning banish sleep from their eyes in this world. And the Holy One, Blessed be He, sustains them from the radiance of the Divine Presence (<\/span>masbi\u2019an mi-ziv ha-Shekhinah<\/span><\/em>) in the World to Come.<\/span><\/p>\n

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