18 Adar II, 5774 (3/20/14) – Sukkah#45 {Tani}

Today, 18 Adar II, is my brother Nachie’s Yartzeit.
Please learn this and other Torah in his memory: Menachem Tzvi ben Chaim Yitzchak. His Neshama should have an aliyah.

Abaye [45b middle]: In every generation there are no fewer than 36 Tzaddikim (righteous people) hidden in the world that accept the face of the Divine Presence every day (and we also know that in these people’s merits, the world still stands).

T’s Lesson: The world we live in is truly a very scary place. One just has to turn on the news for a few minutes to see what is considered “newsworthy.” We become aware of the horrific state that the world within which we live is in. Humankind has fallen. (Aside: Can you imagine what it would look like if the “News” only aired heart-warming and beautiful stories to carry us through the day? Those we actually want to hear and learn from? For example, “Amputee child receives prosthetic legs and walks to victory in special olympics,” or “Israel is constantly proving what an amazing little country can do to better the world”, or “Spiritual leader gives strength to thousands of followers from a single inspiring story”, or “Hundereds gain strength from the kindness given out in daily food shelters” …)
We have thousands of amazing people who support the world, but are on a different level in the open, than are these 36 hidden tzaddikim. These inspirational revealed figures teach us the lesson of how to give, while the others/the hidden teach us something different…
It is inspiring to know that there are people out there, hidden from us, who carry the weight of the world on their shoulders to keep the world going. We should gain emunah and chizuk from these people, who carry the world without any notice, honor, praise or acknowledgement, sometimes very lonely in an isolated or minimally-supportive existence. If these people can carry the world and gain no recognition, kal vachomer (how much more so) are we supposed to try to do the best we can, when we are engaged in and occupied with the world every day on so many levels, out in the open.