Halakhah su Geremia 11:78
Shev Shmat'ta
(Shin) ‘I have turned and planned,’ ‘I have found strength’ that the whole entire world is one man,63See the first introductory paragraph after the preface (right before Paragraph Aleph). from that which they took as obvious (Kiddushin 40b), that the world is only judged according to its majority. And if everyone was a man on his own, what does the majority have to do with this? Rather [we see] that it is all one man. And it is [found] in the Midrash (Eichah Rabbah 3:5), “‘He has filled me with bitterness, sated me with wormwood’ (Lam. 3:15) – with that which He has filled me with bitterness on the nights of Pesach, as it is written (Num. 9:11), ‘upon matsa and bitter herbs shall they eat it,’ He has filled me with wormwood on the nights of the Ninth of Av.” And it appears to me [that this can be explained] according to that which is [found] in Midrash Eichah Rabbah 1:20:
On the night of the Ninth of Av, our father Avraham entered the chamber of the Holy of Holies. The Holy One, blessed be He, grabbed his hand and strolled with him up and down. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “What is My friend [doing] in My house” (Jer. 11:15)? He said [back], “My Master, where are my children?” He said to him, “They sinned and I exiled them among the nations.” He said to Him, “Were there no righteous ones among them?” He said to him, “To do vile designs” (Jer. 11:15). He said to Him, “You should have observed the good ones among them.” He said to him, “Their many were bad, as it is written, ‘To do the many vile designs.’” He said to Him, “You should have looked at their circumcision in their flesh.” He said to him, “By your life, they refused it, as it is stated (Jer. 11:15), ‘they remove the holy flesh from upon you.’” [See there.]
And at first glance, [this is] already implied earlier. As he asked Him, “Were there no righteous ones among them?” And the Holy One, blessed be He, answered him, “‘To do vile designs.’” And [yet] he continues to ask, “You should have observed the good ones among them.” Behold, there were none! And it appears to me that [this can be explained] according to what is written in the Derashot of Rabbi Yehudah Moscato (Italy, 16th century) about that which the world is judged according to its majority – that it means if one is a murderer, another is a thief, still another takes bribes and the last one lends with interest, their prohibitions nullify one another. [This is] as we say (Zevachim 78a), “If one mixes and eats [a combination of] pigul,64Sacrificial meat disqualified by an incorrect thought. notar65Sacrificial meat disqualified by the violation of its time limit. and impure meat, he is exempt. And if so, since the majority are not ones who take interest nor murderers, they nullify each other. See there. According to this, our father Avraham first asked Him if there were truly righteous ones, and the Holy One, blessed be He, answered him, “‘To do vile designs.’” To this he said, “You should have observed the good ones,” meaning even though each one has several sins, they are good in relationship to each other; since [the transgressions] this one has, the other does not have – and [so] they can join together to nullify the transgressions of his fellow. And so with the second [individual], with the third and with all of them. [To this], the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “Their category (sugihon, which is more commonly rendered as, their many) is bad,” and prohibitions do not nullify one another (as opposed to what Avraham had thought, that people can be combined). Rather everything goes according to the category of transgressions as a whole. And [so] transgressions do not nullify one another. And they said there in Zevachim 79a about this – regarding prohibitions nullifying one another – that it is against Hillel. As he said [to] wrap the matsa and the bitter herbs and eat them together, as he holds that commandments do not nullify one another. And if commandments do not nullify one another, the same is true that prohibitions do not nullify one another. See there. And if so, it is well said that, “With that which He has filled me with bitterness on the nights of Pesach, as it is written (Num. 9:11), ‘upon matsa and bitter herbs shall they eat it’” – and if so, it is shown that commandments do not nullify one another – with this, “He has filled me with wormwood on the nights of the Ninth of Av.” Since their category is bad, the transgressions do not nullify one another.
On the night of the Ninth of Av, our father Avraham entered the chamber of the Holy of Holies. The Holy One, blessed be He, grabbed his hand and strolled with him up and down. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “What is My friend [doing] in My house” (Jer. 11:15)? He said [back], “My Master, where are my children?” He said to him, “They sinned and I exiled them among the nations.” He said to Him, “Were there no righteous ones among them?” He said to him, “To do vile designs” (Jer. 11:15). He said to Him, “You should have observed the good ones among them.” He said to him, “Their many were bad, as it is written, ‘To do the many vile designs.’” He said to Him, “You should have looked at their circumcision in their flesh.” He said to him, “By your life, they refused it, as it is stated (Jer. 11:15), ‘they remove the holy flesh from upon you.’” [See there.]
And at first glance, [this is] already implied earlier. As he asked Him, “Were there no righteous ones among them?” And the Holy One, blessed be He, answered him, “‘To do vile designs.’” And [yet] he continues to ask, “You should have observed the good ones among them.” Behold, there were none! And it appears to me that [this can be explained] according to what is written in the Derashot of Rabbi Yehudah Moscato (Italy, 16th century) about that which the world is judged according to its majority – that it means if one is a murderer, another is a thief, still another takes bribes and the last one lends with interest, their prohibitions nullify one another. [This is] as we say (Zevachim 78a), “If one mixes and eats [a combination of] pigul,64Sacrificial meat disqualified by an incorrect thought. notar65Sacrificial meat disqualified by the violation of its time limit. and impure meat, he is exempt. And if so, since the majority are not ones who take interest nor murderers, they nullify each other. See there. According to this, our father Avraham first asked Him if there were truly righteous ones, and the Holy One, blessed be He, answered him, “‘To do vile designs.’” To this he said, “You should have observed the good ones,” meaning even though each one has several sins, they are good in relationship to each other; since [the transgressions] this one has, the other does not have – and [so] they can join together to nullify the transgressions of his fellow. And so with the second [individual], with the third and with all of them. [To this], the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “Their category (sugihon, which is more commonly rendered as, their many) is bad,” and prohibitions do not nullify one another (as opposed to what Avraham had thought, that people can be combined). Rather everything goes according to the category of transgressions as a whole. And [so] transgressions do not nullify one another. And they said there in Zevachim 79a about this – regarding prohibitions nullifying one another – that it is against Hillel. As he said [to] wrap the matsa and the bitter herbs and eat them together, as he holds that commandments do not nullify one another. And if commandments do not nullify one another, the same is true that prohibitions do not nullify one another. See there. And if so, it is well said that, “With that which He has filled me with bitterness on the nights of Pesach, as it is written (Num. 9:11), ‘upon matsa and bitter herbs shall they eat it’” – and if so, it is shown that commandments do not nullify one another – with this, “He has filled me with wormwood on the nights of the Ninth of Av.” Since their category is bad, the transgressions do not nullify one another.
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Sefer HaChinukh
And through this, each and every house in all of Israel will have someone who is wise and knowledgeable in the Torah who can [then] teach all of the household of his father with his wisdom. And with this, 'the land will be filled with knowledge of the Lord.' As if there was only one sage in each city - or even ten - there would be many men who would only come in front of them once a year, and all the more so the women and the children. And even if they heard their words once a week, they would [then] go to their home and throw all the words of the sage behind their back. But when the teacher is in each and every house, dwelling there evening, morning and afternoon and constantly reminding them; then they will all - men, women and children - be careful and aware and no matter of sin or iniquity will be found among them. And through this they will merit that which is written (Leviticus 26:11-12) "And I will place My dwelling amongst you [...] and you will be for Me a nation, and I will be for you God" (while the second part of this citation is likely meant to be a very similar quote from Leviticus 26:12, the actual quote is from Jeremiah 11:4).
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