• • 1 John 1:1; 2:1-2 

 

“Tzaddik” - Rabbi, Righteous One

• • Given to a person who is considered righteous
  • Maimonides - “One whose merit surpasses his iniquity is a Tzadik.”
  • One who has submitted his very nature and inclinations to holiness, so he can experience only love and awe of God, without material temptations
  • A vehicle to God
  • No ego or self-consciousness
  • Can not be attained, must be granted from on High or born with it

 

Tzadikim Nistarim - Hidden Righteous Ones

• • Talmud - 36 anonymous tzadikim living among us at all times
  • Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism
  • Gematria 36: lamed = 30 and fav = 6. Known as “Lamed Vavniks”
  • Purpose is to justify humankind in the eyes of God
  • Concept is similar to Sodom and Gomorrah - Ge 18:26
  • World would come to an end without all of them
  • Identities unknown to each other
  • If one realizes his true purpose, he will not reveal it
  • If a person thinks there one, then they are not
  • Since a person does not know that they are one, all people should act as if they are one
  • Some Hasidic stories consider Rabbis to be one of the Lamedvavniks
  • One of the 36 could be the Jewish Messiah
  • Hasidim believe there is a person born each generation that could be the Jewish Messiah, if the Jewish people warrant his coming

 

Zealot

• • A person who is fanatical and uncompromising in pursuit of their religious, political, or other ideals
  • A member of Jewish society aimed at a world Jewish theocracy and resisting the Romans in 1st century
  • Fought at Masada, 1,000 persons
  • Zealous on behalf of God
  • Sect formed by Judas of Galilee in 6 CE after tax reform by Romans

 

“Dikaion” - Secular

• • 6th century Greek
  • Difficult to determine sense of the term
  • Scholars interpreted it as denoting the council of a monastery
  • A legal person
  • A Korean law firm

 

“Dikaios”

• • Righteous, Just
  • Conformity to God’s own being, his will, standard of righteous

 

“Dikaiosune’”

• • Approval of God
  • Refers to what is deemed right by the Lord
  • What is approved

 

Individual Responsibility To Live Righteous Life

• • Ez 18:1-32
  • Repent and Live - v. 32