Q&A: Completely Righteous People
Completely Righteous People
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I have no problem thinking of people who are completely wicked—Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong, etc.
It’s clear that there are also many righteous people, but it’s hard for me to think of people who are completely righteous, at the same level of righteousness that the people above were wicked. Do you think such a righteous person could exist? Do you know any? And what does a person need to do in order to aspire to that?
Answer
I don’t see a question here. Is it hard for you to think of one? Then make more of an effort. Do you have some argument? Please present it.
Discussion on Answer
???
There’s no one way for either this or that
It seems to me that there is a difference between wicked people in the moral sense and wicked people in the religious sense. For example, Ahab was completely wicked in the religious sense, but in the moral sense he was apparently righteous until the story of Naboth’s vineyard. Separating between the different cases would help focus the question.
If someone asked me how to be completely wicked, I’d simply tell him, “genocide.” If someone asked me how to be completely righteous, I wouldn’t know how to answer. Should he study Torah all day? Be a doctor? A businessman? An athlete? A community rabbi?
Someone pluralistic might say there’s no such thing, and each person has to find his own path and contribute in the way that suits him best.
As a monist, do you think there is one clear-cut way by which a person can aspire to be completely righteous?