One Tzaddik Holds Up the World
When an angel came to destroy the world for lack of thirty tzaddikim, Rashbi insisted that he alone could stand in for them all.
A story ofRebbi Shimon bar Yochaiרבי שמעון בר יוחאיProfile ›
It is told that one day Rebbi Shimon bar Yochai went out and saw the world turn dark and dim, its light covered over. His son, Rebbi Elazar, said, "Come, let us see what Hashem wants." The two of them set out and met an angel as huge as a mountain, with thirty tongues of fire pouring from his mouth.
"What do you intend to do?" asked Rebbi Shimon. The angel answered that he meant to destroy the world, since thirty righteous people could not be found in the generation. Rebbi Shimon asked him to go before Hashem and say that Bar Yochai was in the world. The angel went and returned with an answer: destroy the world, and pay no attention to Bar Yochai.
When the angel came back, Rebbi Shimon told him that if he did not go again, he would be sent to the place of Aza and Azael, never to enter Heaven. Then he argued step by step, as Avrohom once did over Sodom. If thirty were missing, twenty should do, and if not twenty, ten. If ten could not be found, two, for by two witnesses a matter stands, and he and his son were the two. And if not even two, then there was one, and he was that one, for the righteous one is the foundation of the world.
Then a voice came from Heaven: happy is your portion, Rebbi Shimon, for Hashem decrees above and you annul below. Of you it is written that Hashem fulfills the will of those who revere Him.
Source: Zohar Chadash, Vayera (on Bereishis 18:18)
There are moments when everyone assumes someone else will speak up, apologize or hold the line. Today, look for one such moment in your family, shul or workplace and be that person, quietly and without waiting to be asked. It may be a kind word to someone being left out, or a call you have been putting off. Rashbi did not argue that the world did not need saving. He simply said he was one who could help. You do not have to carry everything, only the piece that is yours.