12
votes
Accepted
Custom of standing when a tzaddik passes by
Leviticus 19:32
מִפְּנֵי שֵׂיבָה תָּקוּם, וְהָדַרְתָּ פְּנֵי זָקֵן
Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man
The Talmud (Kiddushin 32b) understands this to ...
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8
votes
Accepted
How is it that Abraham didn't ask that four save a city, yet four did so?
Rav Ozer Alport in his Parsha Potpourri Points to Ponder addresses this issue:
Question: How was Lot able to intercede in order to save one of the cities (Tzo'ar) from destruction (19:18-22) when ...
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8
votes
Is Yishmael a nabi (prophet) or tzaddik of some sort?
There are a couple sources that indicate that Yishmael was a tzaddik at certain points in his life.
Rashi to Breishit 25:17 notes that the the word ויגוע is only used by tzaddikim, and is used here ...
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8
votes
Accepted
Visiting the graves of Tzadikim on chol hamoed
There are a whole bunch of Poskim that answer this question online.
Rav Eliezer Altshuler says that people go to Kivrei Tzadikim to pray, which is always allowed, and that there are different customs ...
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7
votes
Accepted
Encyclopedia of Tzaddikim
For Tannaim and Ammoraim, see Erkhei Tannaim V'Amoraim by R. Yehuda ben Kloinmus of Speyers (Vol. I), (Vol. II). It includes an alphabetical list of all the Tannaim and Amoraim, and an examination of ...
- 35.1k
7
votes
Accepted
Why was Shaul prophecising naked?
It is true that just from reading the words in the pasuk, it appears that Shaul was unclothed, but if you look at the different mefoshim, most seem to say that he just "Stripped" himself of ...
- 1,404
7
votes
Accepted
Why are the big heroes of the Tanach not perfect?
In his commentary to Genesis 12:10 R. Samson Raphael Hirsch writes:
Yet even if we were incapable of explaining the strange events in this story; even if we were forced to conclude as the רמב"ן ...
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6
votes
Accepted
the tzaddik decrees it and HaKadosh Baruch Hu fulfills it
Those exact words do not appear. However, in Taanis 23a, there is a braissa that presents the idea:
תנו רבנן מה שלחו בני לשכת הגזית לחוני המעגל (איוב כב, כח) ותגזר אומר ויקם לך ועל דרכיך נגה אור ...
- 17.4k
6
votes
Why does HaShem desire the tefillos of the righteous?
The OP states: "...He created this world only to bestow good on us."
1) If G-d is infinite and
2) He can give infinitely
3) And He created the world in order to bestow good upon us...
Then G-d by ...
- 10.6k
6
votes
Accepted
"Do not be overly righteous...why be left desolate?" -(artscroll translation)
The commentaries there give various explanations. Rashi explains (there) that it refers to an excess of a normally positive trait, as by Shaul who displayed excessive compassion on those for whom ...
- 35.1k
5
votes
Rabbi Nachman on connecting to Tzaddikim and Tefillah
Yes, one attaches oneself to G-d, but that is not in conflict with the comment of Rabbi Nachman.
A better translation would be: Everyone needs to intend during their prayer, that he will bind himself ...
- 13k
5
votes
Why Job was subjected to pain and misery despite he was a pious man?
here's one reason from Rabeinu Bachye in Chovos Halevavos gate 4.
If one asks: Behold we see some tzadikim (very righteous people) which
do not receive their livelihood except after hard and ...
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5
votes
Accepted
Rashi and the death of Tzadikim
Ravina himself asks this question to R. Hama Bar Buzi who suggested this, as recorded in Bava Batra (16b). Rav Hama bar Buzi answered that we only say this when the term gevia and asifa are both used. ...
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5
votes
Accepted
How can a person promise to be מליץ יושר for a person after their death?
The concept of Tzadikim interceding on behalf of others in heaven predates Mattan Torah. Yaakov buried Rachel in Kever Rochel in order that she should daven for those being led into Golus when the ...
- 4,343
4
votes
Definition of Baal Nefesh
Jastrow demonstrates (מר IV, p. 834) through a number of Talmudic sources that the term was popular during the Second Commonwealth and the meaning is, specially in this construct, "master over his ...
- 11.8k
4
votes
For a righteous man can fall seven times and rise - why seven?
As noted by @DannySchoemann, Ralbag writes in his commentary to Proverbs (24:16) that in this context, seven simply means many:
הצדיק יפול פעמים רבות ויקום בכל פעם ופעם
The righteous person ...
- 35.1k
4
votes
Does a Tzadik have a Yetzer Harah?
You are asking many questions. I will answer the one in the title.
The gemara says explicitly that, the greater a person, the greater his yetzer hara (Sukka 52a)
כל הגדול מחבירו יצרו גדול הימנו
...
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4
votes
Is there an online archive with quality photos of gedolim?
Gedolim Gallery is a Youtube video gallery.
Gedolim Pics seems to have a variety of Gedolim Pictures available for purchase.
Feel free to look through the rest of the google search results.
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4
votes
Any Stories of Tzadikim Praying for their Children?
וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אַבְרָהָ֖ם אֶל־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֑ים ל֥וּ יִשְׁמָעֵ֖אל יִחְיֶ֥ה לְפָנֶֽיךָ׃
And Avraham said to G-d: "May Yishmael live in Your service."
Bereishis 17:18
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3
votes
Looking for tzaddikim who didn't disintegrate after burial
I heard second hand in the name of Rabbi Yosef Blau, Mashgiach Ruchani of Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, who heard it from his father in law Rav Pinchos Teitz who was part of the Chevra ...
- 15.2k
3
votes
What's the real reason that asking departed tzadikim to pray for us is not considered "beseeching the dead"?
The most simple answer to the question as formulated here is that even praying directly to a dead person would appear to not be in violation of 'beseeching the dead' as defined by the Gemara. See ...
- 6,394
3
votes
Was Yitro a prophet?
@mevaqesh cites נתנאל בירב פיומי as having said.
“Seven prophets prophesied to the nations of the world before the
giving of the Torah: Laban, Jethro, Balaam, Job, Eliphaz, Bildad and
Zophar.”
...
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3
votes
Accepted
Asking a Human to Interecede with God
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein writes (Igrot Moshe vol. 8 OCH ch. 43) that even according to those who forbid prayers to angels as intermediaries in any circumstance, utilizing human intermediaries is ...
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3
votes
Rashbi's generation was completely righteous, so why were they killed?
Rambam, Hilchos Teshuvah, 3:1
"Each and every person has merits and sins. A person whose merits exceed his sins is [termed] righteous. A person whose sins exceed his merits is [termed] wicked. If [...
- 10.6k
3
votes
Why wasn't Metushelach saved?
One of the reasons for not having the flood in that time is part of what we see from Avraham and his asking for S'dom to be saved if there were ten righteous people. Once the count got to ten, Avraham ...
- 42.6k
3
votes
Is there any source that claims a person who dies on Rosh haShanah is a Tzaddik?
I found something regarding Yom Kippur
Based on Ketubot 103b
והתניא כשחלה רבי נכנס ר' חייא אצלו ומצאו שהוא בוכה אמר לו רבי מפני מה אתה בוכה והתניא מת מתוך השחוק סימן יפה לו מתוך הבכי סימן רע לו פניו ...
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3
votes
Why was Shimon Hatzadik so-called?
R. Shimon ben Tzemach in his commentary thereto writes:
ולא נתפרש בשום מקום למה נתייחס בשם צדיק יותר משאר התנאים כי כולם היו צדיקים ונראה כי כך היו קוראים אותו כל העם כי בדורו לא היה צדיק יותר ממנו
...
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3
votes
Accepted
Why was Shimon Hatzadik so-called?
It is worth noting the Magen Avos commentary on the Mishna where it says:
ולא נתפרש בשום מקום למה נתייחס בשם צדיק יותר משאר התנאים כי כולם היו צדיקים ונראה כי כך היו קוראים אותו כל העם כי בדורו לא ...
- 25k
2
votes
the tzaddik decrees it and HaKadosh Baruch Hu fulfills it
The closest text we have is a Medrash but in the plural:
כְּשֶׁהַצַּדִּיקִים גּוֹזְרִים הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מְקַיֵּם דִּבְרֵיהֶם, when the tzaddikim decree, Hashem fulfills their words.
...
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