Sam Bourne - The righteous men

He pulled himself back into the present, determinedly concentrating on what the rabbi was saying.

'Our tradition speaks of two kinds of tzaddikim, those who are known and those who are hidden. The hidden are understood to be on a higher plane than those whose holiness is public. They are righteous and yet they seek no fame or glory.

They have none of the conceit that comes with public life.

Even their closest neighbours have no idea of their true nature.

Often they are poor. Tova Chaya will remember the folk stories she read as a child: tzaddikim who lived as if in secret, working with their hands. They might be poor or do very humble jobs. In folk tales, they are often blacksmiths or cobblers; maybe a janitor. And yet, these men perform deeds of the highest goodness. Holy deeds.'

'But no one knows who they are?' The question just popped out of Will's mouth.

'Precisely. Indeed,' and at this the rabbi allowed himself a smile, 'the tzaddik will often go to great lengths to put people off the trail, so to speak. Our writings are full of stories of tremendous paradox: the holiest men, found in the unholiest places. It's deliberate: they want to conceal their true nature behind a mask, so they disguise themselves as crude, even unpleasant men. Tova Chaya might remember the story of Rabbi Levi Yitzhok of Berditchev?'

'God's Drunkard.'

I'm glad. You have not forgotten all we studied together. God's Drunkard is indeed the story I have in mind. In that story, the holy Rabbi Levi Yitzhok finds that when it comes to divine grace, he is outshone by Chaim the Watercarrier an ignoramus who is shicker from morning till night.' TO and the rabbi chuckled together.

'So some of the most righteous men appear in the very opposite form?'

'Yes. Consider it a kind of divine joke. Or proof that Judaism is a profoundly democratic philosophy. The holiest are not those who know the most, or who have the most letters after their name. Nor is this group made up of those who pray most energetically, fast most assiduously or observe the commandments most diligently. The measure of holiness is the just and generous treatment of our fellow human beings.'

'So this man, this drunkard, he was good to his fellow man?'

'He must have been very good.' The three of them sat in a brief silence, punctuated by the sound of the old man breathing noisily.

'There is a story. One of the oldest.' Again the beginning of a smile was playing on his lips. Will suddenly saw behind the beard and the accent; he saw a rather charming man.

Now elderly and hunched, in his youth he would, Will realized, have been quite a charismatic teacher.

Rabbi Mandelbaum was out of his chair, shuffling around the table to reach the bookshelf just behind Will's head. 'Here, this is from Talmud Yerushalmi, from the tractate dealing with fast days. Tova Chaya, did we study this together?'

Will was getting lost. 'Sorry, where is this from?'

TO stepped in. 'It's from what's known as the Palestinian Talmud: the book of rabbinic commentary written in Jerusalem.'

'When?'

Rabbi Mandelbaum, now back in his seat and flicking through pages, answered without looking up. 'This story comes from the third century of the common era.' The common era. A euphemism for 'anno domini', the year of our lord, referring to Jesus Christ — a phrase no believing Jew could use. 'This is probably the oldest story of its kind.' His eyes were scanning the text. 'OK, so we don't need all the details but in this story, Rabbi Abbahu notices that when a certain man is in the congregation, the community's prayer for rain gets answered. When he's not there, no rain. Anyway, it turns out this man works in, of all places, a whorehouse! Excuse me Tova Chaya, to speak of such things.'

'You mean,' said Will, 'he's a pimp? And yet he is one of the righteous men?'

That's what the Talmud says.'

Will felt an ice shard slide down his back. He shuddered, his shoulders trembling. He could not hear what TO or the rabbi were saying. In his head there was room for only one voice.

It belonged to Letitia, the woman he had met in Brownsville.

He could hear her words loud and clear. The man they killed last night may have sinned every day of his God-given life — but he was the most righteous man I have ever known. She had said that about Howard Macrae who, like the man in that third-century congregation, earned his living as a pimp.

'… the stories almost seem to delight in this kind of paradox,' the rabbi was saying. 'Good men disguised as humble men or even as great sinners.'

Will's head was throbbing. Pat Baxter, the militia crazy mixing with gun-toting fanatics, yet who had never been arrested and had given one of his own organs to a total stranger. Gavin Curtis, despised as a corrupt politician, yet funnelling money to the world's poorest people. Samak Sangsuk, just another high-rolling Thai businessman, yet quietly ensuring that the Bangkok underclass found dignity in death.

Will could hardly keep up with his own thoughts. He remembered Curtis's curiously humble car as he fled the press ruck. And what had Genevieve Huntley said about the kidney donor? Mr Baxter's greatest request was anonymity. That was the one thing he asked of me in return for what he did. All of these man had done noble deeds — and all had done them in secret.

'How many of these righteous men are there?'

The rabbi instantly looked at TO. 'This you don't know?

This you've forgotten?'

'I didn't forget, Rabbi Mandelbaum. But I wanted Will to hear it from you. To hear it all.'

'There are thirty-six tzaddikim in each generation. You know perhaps that in Hebrew, each letter also has a numerical value?

In Hebrew, thirty-six is expressed by the Hebrew characters lamad, and vav, which is equivalent to the letter v in English. Lamad is thirty and vav is six. In Yiddish, these righteous men are known as the lamadvavniks: the thirty-six just men who uphold the world.'

Will jolted, his antennae twitching the way they did when he heard the words that would make a news story.

'Excuse me, what do you mean by "uphold the world"?'

He saw TO was nodding, a half-smile on her lips that seemed to say, At last we're getting to the heart of the matter.

'Ah, well this is the whole point of the story. I am sorry Mr Monroe, I'm getting old. I should have mentioned this at the start. Please, let me get past.' The rabbi was reaching for yet another book; one of the few in the room in English. The Messianic Idea in Judaism by Gershom Scholem. 'Someone gave this to the seminary. I think it tries to explain these matters to the general reader-'

Will was almost scratching at his own skin in frustration.

He nodded politely, his eyes wide, doing all he could to encourage the rabbi to cut the academic footnotes and get on with it.

'Ah yes, here we are. Scholem says that Jewish tradition "speaks of thirty-six tzaddikim, or just men, on whom — though they are unknown or hidden — rests the fate of the world".'

He was skim-reading further down the page. '"Already in the biblical Proverbs of Solomon, we find the saying that the just man is the foundation of the world and therefore, as it were, supports it".'

'Hold on, Rabbi Mandelbaum.' It was TO, suddenly on the edge of her seat. 'Where in Proverbs is that reference?'

Slowly, the rabbi turned back a page. 'Chapter 10, Verse 25.

Instantly, TO reached into her bag and pulled out her pile of Post-it notes, written after the text message clues had led them to Proverbs 10. She thumbed through them until she found the one she wanted. She smiled and passed it to Will.

Verse 25: As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more; but the righteous is as an everlasting foundation.

'A foundation,' said TO quietly. Now looking at Will: 'The righteous men are the foundation on which the world stands.