Kabbalah Library

112. “And it came to pass, in the days when the judges judged, and there was famine in the land.” When the Creator judges the world, whom does He judge first? It is those who judge the world. They judge the world; who judges them? The Creator. Because of the corruption of the judgment, famine came to the world.

113. Famine does not come at all times, but because of the iniquity of the heads of the people. It is written, “Much food is in the fallow ground of the poor, and there is he who perishes without justice.” When there is enough food in the world, the poor plow; they sow and eat to satiation. When there is no food in the world, “there is he who perishes without justice,” there is he who stands peacefully and perishes from the world. For what iniquity? For the iniquity that they spoil the judgment and the justice, and distort it.

114. If the great ones sin without justice, that they never did justice, can it be that the Creator comes to kill the poor because of them? However, the poor ones are the vessels of the Creator, and they are close to Him. When famine comes to the world, they cry out to Him and the Creator hears them and examines the world. He sentences them for causing this sorrow to the poor, and they perish from the world prematurely, as it is written, “If he indeed cries out to Me, I will indeed hear his outcry; I will hear, for I am gracious, and I shall say, ‘And My wrath shall be kindled, and I shall kill you by the sword.’”

115. Certainly, at that time, there is one who perishes and departs from the world prematurely, without justice, for justice was not shown, and for warping and spoiling the justice. Any judge who does not spoil the judgment, his judgment is not spoiled from above, and he does not depart from the world prematurely, as it is written, “there is one who perishes without justice.”

116. There is one who passes true judgment and receives reward for it from the Creator, and there is one who passes true judgment and is caught. For example, a judge who makes precisions in order to acquit a wicked, and punishes only in true judgment, that the courthouse strikes and punishes not according to the Torah in order to build a fence for the Torah or because time caused it, and the judge removes himself from the judgment and from punishing him, and he is meticulous about the judgment, to find an opening so as to acquit him from the actual judgment, and it is a true judgment.

When the Creator judges the world, that judge is caught for it, and departs from the world prematurely. If not, it is written about him, “He has neither a great-grandson nor a grandson in his people.” When he himself is not caught, his descendant is caught.

117. There is one who does not judge truthfully, and receives reward for it, like Rabbi Aba, who saw a man embracing another man’s wife and kissing her. He took them out to the killing and killed them not because they deserved killing, but in order to make a fence for the Torah, and so it would not be said that the judge exempted them from the judgment of Torah, since they are not punishable by death. Rather, “and they made a fence for the Torah.”

The judge who does not make a fence for the Torah, has no fence in this world, meaning that of a great-grandson and a grandson who is arrested and abandoned. In the next world, those good deeds that are a fence for a person in the next world are removed from him, as we learn, “Make a fence for the Torah, so you will live long in this world and in the next world.”

118. “And a man of Bethlehem in Judah.” Wherever it is written “man,” it is a great righteous in his generation who can stand for himself, meaning his merit is great to protect himself and others. It is similar to when it is written, “man” as a fault, as it is written, “a man skilled at hunting,” “a man of the field,” which means that he is a wicked one who kills with his wickedness and destroys people and is unafraid.

119. Elimelech was great in his generation, worthy of standing for himself and for others. When he saw the hunger, he immediately escaped. This is why he was punished. From Bethlehem in Judah means from the place of the great Sanhedrin, the springing of the Torah that is there, as it is written, “Who would give me a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!”

120. Elimelech moved from a place that was springing with Torah, which is Bethlehem in Judah, to dwell in Sdeh Moav, and this is why they were punished.

121. Rabbi BON was walking along the way one day. A child encountered him and said to him, “Rabbi, would you like me to walk with you on your way and serve you on this way?” He told him, “Walk.” He followed him.

122. While he was walking, Rabbi Hiya, Rabbi Aba, Rabbi Yuda, and Rabbi Yosi met him. They said to him, “Are you walking alone and there is no one to carry your load after you?” He said to them, “There is a child over here who is following me.” Rabbi Hiya said, “You are risking your soul, since you have no one with whom to engage in words of Torah.” They sat in the field under a tree.

123. Rabbi Hiya said, “The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.” One who walks along the way should have with him someone with whom to speak of matters of the Torah. So is the way of the righteous, shining brighter and brighter: walking, and words of Torah are with him, as it is written, ‘and Torah is light.’ ‘Until midday,’ until the Shechina participates with him and does not move from him, since wherever there are words of Torah, the Shechina is there, as it is written, ‘Wherever I mention My name, I will come to you and bless you.’

124. “It is written, ‘It will be healing to your navel and a potion to your bones.’ The Torah is healing for man, for the body and the bones in this world and in the next world. It is healing for man in this world each day, for one who reads the Shema reading properly.”