מוסר אויף קהלת 7:15

In the meantime his sons arrived. The youngest one observed, “Heaven has sent my father assistance.” He continued, “ ‘There is a righteous man who is lost on account of his righteousness, etc.’ (Koheles 7:15). This needs explanation. How can a righteous man be lost on account of his righteousness? “The explanation is this: When sinners are numerous and sin and transgression rampant and there is a single righteous man among them, if he fails to rebuke them he will be punished on their account, even though he is perfectly righteous, never sinning at all. “So it is with my father. He has been held accountable for the iniquities of his townsmen. For although they all behaved brazenly towards him, he failed to rebuke them and refrained from speaking harshly to them to avoid shaming them. This is why he was subjected to these afflictions.” The boy’s father spoke up, “Clearly this is why Holy One Blessed is He punished me. For it was within my power to protest yet I refrained from doing so, shaming them neither in private nor in public.” Then another son spoke up, “[It is stated,] ‘I was mute with silence, I did not speak of the good and my pain was stirred up’ (Tehillim 39:3). That is, I saw that people were going along reprehensible paths, yet I was ‘mute with silence.’ I refrained from rebuking them to their faces and did not ‘speak of the good.’ That is, I did not speak beneficial words to turn them from the path of evil to the path of goodness and integrity. Because of this ‘my pain was stirred up’ — that is, terrible afflictions came upon me openly.” When he finished speaking Rabbi Chiya and Rabbi Yose went and kissed him, etc.