Rabbi Elijah, the renowned Gaon of Vilna, once put the Dubner
Maggid in a difficult spot. “Please rebuke me for my faults,” he asked. “I
wish to be wise, and it is written, ‘Reprove a wise man and he will love you’
(Proverbs 9:8).”
The Maggid
was taken aback at the Gaon’s request. What criticism could be leveled against
this spiritual giant, the preeminent Talmudic scholar of his day, an
extraordinarily pious man who spent every waking moment diligently studying
Torah in his Beit Midrash?
After a few moments of
thought, however, the Maggid agreed. He requested only that he not be considered brazen
for speaking against his master.
The Righteous of Sodom
It is written, the Maggid began, that Abraham pleaded with
God not to destroy the evil city of Sodom – if fifty righteous people could be
found who lived "in the midst of the city" (Gen. 18:24). God agreed to Abraham's request, using
the same expression, that the righteous individuals be "in the midst of
the city." In fact, this phrase is repeated several times in the account.
The text of the Torah is precise; no letter is extraneous. Why not just write, "righteous in the city"? Why must they be "betoch ha'ir" - “in the midst of the
city"?
The Maggid continued:
In my humble opinion, this phrase
is exact and is mentioned for a specific reason. Abraham was referring to righteous
people who are in the midst of the city – concerned, upright citizens who visit the shops
and public places, who watch over the town’s day-to-day life.
There probably were fifty righteous
in Sodom’s Beit Midrash, scholars who studied Torah all day long and complacently
thought to themselves, "I have saved my own soul." But those scholars
would not have saved the city of Sodom. Abraham understood that there needed to
be righteous who were "in the midst of the city." Only upright
individuals who were involved in the town’s everyday matters, who supervised its
spiritual and moral affairs, would warrant saving the city from destruction.
Scholars who are locked away with
their books, with little influence on their neighbors –
and here the Maggid indirectly rebuked the Vilna Gaon, who consistently refused
to accept any communal position – such scholars are not the righteous
people of whom Abraham spoke.
(Adapted from Meshalim veSipurim, pp. 270-271)
