The l'vav-WHATS? Part 1

This is the first part in a series of explorations into some positive energy we can bring to the world! Let's start with the legend of the hidden saints.....

Our holy books say that every generation actually has a minimum (there may be more) of 72 holy men, 36 who live in Israel, and 36 who live outside of Israel. Personally, I think if we were to include women, the number would be amazingly high!

L'vavnik is short for lamed vav-nik. Lamed and Vav are two letters in the Hebrew alphabet which numerically represents 36. Note that "lamed" is not the past tense of the verb form of the English word lame. Lame in the English language has a long "a" sound, while "lamed" in Hebrew has a short "a" (as in the word father), like lah-med. Hebrew uses its letters to also be numbers. So lamed and vav together add up to equal 36.

Legends tell that in this world, there are always Tzadikim Nistarim, or the Hidden Righteous Ones. We do not even know the total number of Tzasikim Nistarim. Of these many righteous, there are also a special 36, lamed vav, who are usually poor, unknown, obscure, and no one guesses that they are the ones who bear all the sorrows of the world, who lift and encourage and show compassion.

When one of the Lamed Vav dies, another is immediately chosen to take that place. Neither the Tzadik Nistar nor the lamed vav know they are such. As long as the Lamed Vav continue to serve humanity and G!d in this fashion, the world will go on, our legend says.

What is the difference between the lamed vavniks and the other "generic" hidden righteous? The Sage Abaye taught that there are at least thirty-six of these secret, righteous Jews in every generation who receive the Divine Presence. However, Rava countered with a source that suggests there are eighteen thousand hidden righteous Jews. The Talmud reconciles this apparent contradiction by stating that only thirty-six see the Divine Presence with completely illuminated vision whereas all the others see with occluded vision (Sanhedrin 97b). There are also thirty hidden righteous gentiles upon whose merit the nations subsist (Chullin 92a).

The number thirty six itself is symbolic, meaning twice the value of “Chai” or life (18 in Hebrew numerology), but the origins of this tradition may go back much further. The famous professor of Kabbalah, Gershom Scholem, once theorized that the tradition of the Lamed Vavniks reaches back to ancient pagan astrological beliefs in 36 ruling deities of the sky (each governing 10% of the 360 degree horizon), which became a concept of 36 great leaders in Hellenistic thought.

But the more conventional Jewish explanation is that the concept of righteous people saving the world derives from the Torah, in Genesis, when Abraham asks G!d to spare the cities of Sodom and Gemorrah as long as 10 righteous individuals can be found. Naturally, the Talmud contains a number of different opinions on the true total of the hidden righteous, as already mentioned.

In today's world, thirty six might not do it. Perhaps there are 18,000 righteous, based on the book of Ezekiel. Or perhaps there are about 75, and they certainly include non-Jews as well as Jews. It is a universal tradition that has parallels in some of the Christian saints, Buddhism’s bodhisattvas and in Islamic Sufi mysticism there is a belief in 40 hidden saints who sustain the world.

How do the Lamed Vavniks keep the world going? Some say by the practice of compassion. As Dr. Naomi Remen relates in her book, My Grandfather’s Blessing, her grandfather told her as a child: “Anyone you meet might be one of the thirty-six for whom G!d preserves the world…It is important to treat everyone as if this might be so… [The Lamed-Vavniks] respond to all suffering with compassion. Without compassion the world cannot continue. Our compassion blesses and sustains the world.”

But what can the tradition of the lamed-vav mean to us today?  Is it just a quaint folk tale, or is there something there to inform and inspire us? The idea of the Lamed-Vavniks offers hope that the individual can somehow affect the whole world. Indeed, according to the Talmud and to Maimonides, we don’t really know the weight of our every individual act on the world as a whole. Think about the Butterfly Effect!

The concept of being G!d’s partner, like the legend of the lamed-vavniks, is that it may really be the little people behind the scenes, or the tiny acts of kindness enacted by the people behind the scenes, who are going to save the planet. It is the original version of the saying, “think global, act local.” Your small individual deeds may ultimately have a global impact.

In order to heal our planet, we need to do more than advance our technology. We need to develop our character, our compassion, our hearts and souls. Lamed-vav, 36, represents twice the value of the word, “life.” Sometimes I think we have to work twice as hard to be righteous today. We have to cultivate twice the kavannah (intention), in order to live a good life amidst the continual distractions of media and materialism/consumerism. And in addition to thinking of other people, our generation has to be lamed-vavniks of preserving G!d’s creation, this life sustaining earth, as well.

One of my favorite authors, Rabbi Rami Shapiro, theorizes that we all take turns being the lamed-vavniks. He says, “The tipping point for maintaining human life on this planet is thirty-six people practicing the sacred art of lovingkindness at any given moment. These need not be the same thirty-six people at each moment, however. I believe that people step into and out of the lamed-vavnik role. . .Right now, at this very moment, there must be thirty-six acts of loving-kindness occurring on the planet, or the collective weight of human ignorance, fear, anger, and greed would crush humankind. The fact that ….the world is still functioning means that someone, or rather thirty-six someones, are carrying out the lamed-vavnik obligation. But what about the next moment? Can you really afford to let … the entire world rest on the shoulders of others? Or should you consciously pitch in and take up the challenge of being a lamed-vavnik yourself? And, if you do choose to step in, can you afford to do so alone, or should you bring a few others along with you? . . .Once you realize that the whole world depends on you…you will not lack in opportunities to serve. Just remember that you are a hidden saint. While it is fine to invite others to join with you, make sure you don’t advertise your own saintliness. While being a lamed-vavnik may be good for your soul, it doesn’t belong on a resume.” In other words, take delight in doing small acts of kindness and compassion without always getting credit for it.

Today, it may take a village to learn to be a lamed-vavnik. I know it takes more than a village to raise a rabbi...I said so at my ordination. ;-) With the scale of the world’s population now, thirty six righteous individuals aren’t enough. Perhaps if we could develop entire lamed-vavnik communities, we could have the critical mass to tip the balance of human history in a new direction.

The humble, poor person, or the struggling person, or the impatient mother in the grocery store you see before you may be one of the 36…  or it might be your turn today, even if only for a few minutes as Rabbi Shapiro suggests. 

In any case, it never hurts, never ever, to act as if when it comes to the lamed vavniks, or the Tzadik Nistar, or the hidden righteous gentiles. The more light we can bring into the world, the less darkness we have to muddle through. Rather than focusing on the darkness, the selfish and egotistical, rather than pointing out the wrongs, why not spend our thoughts, time, and energies on simply going about doing good and spreading smiles and being the compassion the world so badly needs?

It is for us the world was created, and we need to step up and take on the responsibility of being this change, of being intentional in our smallest acts, of spreading kindness and compassion. If not you, then who?