Judaism Agrees: The Righteous Save the World

It may come as a surprise to learn that rabbinic Judaism teaches that God saves mankind by ordaining that the righteous suffer for the sins of the world as an atonement.

Here’s what the 18^th century Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto wrote in this respect: 

[8] Besides this, there is also another concept that stems from both the individual and general aspects of Providence discussed earlier.

When the Highest Wisdom considered everything needed to rectify the human race and make it into the Perfected Community discussed earlier, it saw that this goal would be furthered if some people could benefit others and help them attain a place in this Community.

The rule that the Community of the Future World be restricted only to those who attained perfection in their own right is therefore not absolute. For it was also decreed that an individual can reach a level where he can partake of perfection and be included in this Community as the result of his association with a more worthy individual. The only difference is that he will remain on a lower level, since he is not included in this Community in his own right, but only through association with another.³¹

The only ones who are cast aside completely from perfection, therefore, are those who are not worthy of it at all, neither through their own merit nor through association with another. Because of this, the number who are saved from annihilation and allowed the ultimate bliss is maximized.

Those who cause others to partake in the World-to-Come will definitely be the foremost in that Community. They will be the leaders, while those who enter by virtue of their association with them will be beholden and dependent on them.

In order for this to be possible, all men were originally bound to each other, as our Sages teach us, “All Israel are responsible for one another.³² As a result of this, each individual is bound to everyone else, and no man is counted separately. God’s Attribute of Good is the stronger, however, and if the guilt for sin is shared by others, this must certainly be true of the merit associated with good deeds.

As a result of this principle, suffering and pain may be imposed on a tzaddik (righteous person) AS AN ATONEMENT for his entire generation.³³ This tzaddik must then accept this suffering with love for the benefit of his generation, just as he accepts the generation suffering imposed upon him for his own sake. In doing so, he benefits his generation BY ATONING FOR IT, and at the same time is himself elevated to a very great degree. For a tzaddik such as this is made into one of the leaders in the Community of the Future World, as discussed earlier.

Such suffering also includes cases where a tzaddik suffers because his entire generation deserves great punishments, bordering on annihilation, but is spared via the tzaddik’s suffering. In ATONING for his generation through his suffering, this tzaddik SAVES these people in this world and also greatly benefits them in the World-to-Come.

In addition, there is a special, higher type of suffering that comes to a tzaddik who is even greater and more highly perfected than the ones discussed above. This suffering comes to provide the help necessary to bring about the chain of events leading to the ultimate perfection of mankind as a whole.

According to the original plan, the sequence of worldly events required that man undergo at least some suffering before both he and the world could attain perfection. This was required by the very fact that one of the basic concepts of man’s predicament was that God should hold back His Light and hide His Presence, as discussed earlier.³⁴ This became all the more necessary as a result of the corruption and spiritual damage caused by man’s many sins, which held the good back even more and caused God’s Presence to become all the more hidden. The world and everything in it are therefore in a degraded evil state, and require that God’s unfathomable wisdom bring about numerous chains of events to achieve their rectification.

Among the most important elements of this sequence is the requirement that man be punished for his wickedness until the Attribute of Justice is satisfied. God arranged matters, however, so that select perfect individuals could rectify things for others, as discussed earlier. The Attribute of Justice therefore relates to them rather than to the rest of the world in general.  

Individuals such as these, however, are themselves perfect, and are therefore worthy only of good. The only reason they suffer is because of others, and the Attribute of Justice must therefore be as satisfied with a small amount of suffering on their part as with a large amount on the part of those who actually sinned.

Beyond that, the merit and power of these tzaddikim is also increased because of such suffering, and this gives them even greater ability to rectify the damage of others. They can therefore not only rectify their own generation, but can also correct all the spiritual damage done from the beginning, from the time of the very first sinners.

It is obvious that individuals such as these will ultimately be the foremost leaders in the Perfected Community, and the ones who are the very closest to God.³⁵ (Luzzatto, The Way of God: Derech Hashem [Feldheim Publishers, Compact Edition Hardcover 2009], pp. 121-123; emphasis mine)

The rabbis even taught that their righteousness would be sufficient enough to merit the salvation of every human being, making them all worthy to share in the life to come. Case in point:

וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים זֹאת אוֹת הַבְּרִית אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי נֹתֵן בֵּינִי וּבֵינֵיכֶם וגו' לְדֹרֹת עוֹלָם (בראשית ט, יב), אָמַר רַבִּי יוּדָן לְדֹרֹת כְּתִיב, פְּרַט לִשְׁנֵי דוֹרוֹת, לְדוֹרוֹ שֶׁל חִזְקִיָּהוּ וּלְדוֹרוֹ שֶׁל אַנְשֵׁי כְּנֶסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה. רַבִּי חִזְקִיָּה מוֹצִיא דוֹרָן שֶׁל אַנְשֵׁי כְּנֶסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה וּמֵבִיא דוֹרוֹ שֶׁל רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן יוֹחָאי. אֵלִיָּהוּ זָכוּר לַטּוֹב וְרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי הֲווֹן יָתְבִין תָּנְיִן בַּחֲדָא, מְטוֹן שְׁמוּעָה מִן דְּרַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן יוֹחָאי, אָמְרֵי הָא מָרָא דִשְׁמַעְתָּא נֵיעוֹל וְנִישַׁיְילֵיה, עָל אֵלִיָּהוּ זָכוּר לַטּוֹב לְגַבֵּיהּ, אֲמַר לֵיהּ מָן עִמָּךְ, אֲמַר לֵיהּ גְּדוֹל הַדּוֹר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי, אֲמַר לֵיהּ נִרְאֲתָה הַקֶּשֶׁת בְּיָמָיו, אֲמַר לֵיהּ הֵן, אָמַר אִם נִרְאָה הַקֶּשֶׁת בְּיָמָיו לֵית הוּא כְּדַאי לְמֶחֱמֵי סְבַר אַפָּאי. רַבִּי חִזְקִיָּה בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי יִרְמְיָה אָמַר, כָּךְ אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן יוֹחָאי, בִּקְעָה בִּקְעָה אִימָלְאִי דִּינָרֵי זָהָב, וְנִתְמַלְּאָה. רַבִּי חִזְקִיָּה בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי יִרְמְיָה אָמַר כָּךְ אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן יוֹחָאי, אִי בָּעֵי אַבְרָהָם לְמִקְרָבֵי מִן גַּבֵּיהּ וְעַד גַּבִּי, וַאֲנָא מְקָרֵב מִגַּבִּי עַד מַלְכָּא מְשִׁיחָא, וְאִין לָא בָּעֵי יִצְטָרֵף אֲחִיָה הַשִּׁילוֹנִי עִמִּי וַאֲנַן מְקָרְבִין מִן אַבְרָהָם עַד מַלְכָּא מְשִׁיחָא. רַבִּי חִזְקִיָה בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי יִרְמְיָה אָמַר כָּךְ אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן יוֹחָאי, אֵין הָעוֹלָם יָכוֹל לַעֲמֹד בְּפָחוֹת מִשְׁלשִׁים צַדִּיקִים כְּאַבְרָהָם אָבִינוּ, אִי תְּלָתִין אִינּוּן אֲנָא וּבְרִי תְּרֵי מִנְּהוֹן, וְאִם עֶשְׂרִים אִינּוּן אֲנָא וּבְרִי מִנְּהוֹן, וְאִם עֲשָׂרָה אִינּוּן אֲנָא וּבְרִי מִנְּהוֹן, וְאִם חֲמִשָּׁה אִינּוּן אֲנָא וּבְרִי מִנְּהוֹן, וְאִם תְּרֵין אִינּוּן אֲנָא וּבְרִי הֵן, וְאִם חַד הוּא אֲנָא הוּא. 

“God said: This is the sign of the covenant that I place between Me and you, and every living soul that is with you, for eternal generations” (Genesis 9:12). 

“God said: This is the sign of the covenant that I place between Me and you…for eternal generations [ledorot]” – ledorot is written [missing two vavs], to exclude two generations; the generation of Hezekiah, and the generation of the members of the Great Assembly. Rabbi Ḥizkiya omits the generation of the members of the Great Assembly and substitutes the generation of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai.

Elijah of blessed memory and Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi were sitting and studying Mishna together. They came across a teaching of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai. They said: ‘The author of the teaching is right here, let us go in and ask him.’ Elijah of blessed memory went in to him. He [Rabbi Shimon’s spirit] said to him: ‘Who is with you?’ He said: ‘It is the foremost figure of the generation, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi.’ He said to him: ‘Has a rainbow ever been sighted in his days?’ He said to him: ‘Yes.’ He said: ‘If a rainbow has been sighted in his days, he is not worthy to see my countenance.’

Rabbi Ḥizkiya said in the name of Rabbi Yirmeya: Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai once said as follows: ‘Valley, valley be filled with gold dinars.’ And it became filled. Rabbi Ḥizkiya said in the name of Rabbi Yirmeya: Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai once said as follows: ‘If Abraham would wish to do so, he could draw near everyone If he would want to, he could draw all of them closer to God and grant them a share in the World to Come, on the basis of his own merit. from his contemporaries through to my contemporaries, and I would draw near everyone from my contemporaries until the advent of the messianic king. And if he does not wish to do so, Aḥiya the Shilonite could join me and together we could draw near everyone from Abraham to the advent of the messianic king.’ Rabbi Ḥizkiya said in the name of Rabbi Yirmeya: Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai said the following: ‘The world cannot endure if there are fewer than thirty men living who are as righteous as Abraham our patriarch. If there are thirty [in the world at present], I and my son are two of them. If there are twenty, Twenty righteous people of a higher caliber. I and my son are among them. If there are ten, I and my son are among them. If there are five, I and my son are among them. If there are two, I and my son are they. If there is only one, it is I.’ (Gen. R. xxxv. 3)

These statements of the rabbis confirm the New Testament teaching that salvation and forgiveness of sins come through the perfect merits and sufferings of Christ:

“God put Yeshua forward as the kapparah for sin through his faithfulness in respect to his bloody sacrificial death. This vindicated God’s righteousness; because, in his forbearance, he had passed over [with neither punishment nor remission] the sins people had committed in the past;” Romans 3:25-26

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in that the Messiah died on our behalf while we were still sinners. Therefore, since we have now come to be considered righteous by means of his bloody sacrificial death, how much more will we be delivered through him from the anger of God’s judgment! For if we were reconciled with God through his Son’s death when we were enemies, how much more will we be delivered by his life, now that we are reconciled! And not only will we be delivered in the future, but we are boasting about God right now, because he has acted through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, through whom we have already received that reconciliation…

“But the free gift is not like the offence. For if, because of one man’s offence, many died, then how much more has God’s grace, that is, the gracious gift of one man, Yeshua the Messiah, overflowed to many! No, the free gift is not like what resulted from one man’s sinning; for from one sinner came judgment that brought condemnation; but the free gift came after many offences and brought acquittal. For if, because of the offence of one man, death ruled through that one man; how much more will those receiving the overflowing grace, that is, the gift of being considered righteous, rule in life through the one man Yeshua the Messiah! In other words, just as it was through one offence that all people came under condemnation, so also it is through one righteous act that all people come to be considered righteous. For just as through the disobedience of the one man, many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the other man, many will be made righteous. And the Torah came into the picture so that the offence would proliferate; but where sin proliferated, grace proliferated even more. All this happened so that just as sin ruled by means of death, so also grace might rule through causing people to be considered righteous, so that they might have eternal life, through Yeshua the Messiah, our Lord.” Romans 5:8-11, 15-21

“God made this sinless man be a sin offering on our behalf, so that in union with him we might fully share in God’s righteousness.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

“Even though he was the Son, he learned obedience through his sufferings. And after he had been brought to the goal, he became the source of eternal deliverance to all who obey him,” Hebrews 5:8-9 8

“You should be aware that the ransom paid to free you from the worthless way of life which your fathers passed on to you did not consist of anything perishable like silver or gold; on the contrary, it was the costly bloody sacrificial death of the Messiah, as of a lamb without defect or spot.” 1 Peter 1:18-19

“Indeed, this is what you were called to; because the Messiah too suffered, on your behalf, leaving an example so that you should follow in his steps. ‘He committed no sin, nor was any deceit found on his lips.’ When he was insulted, he didn’t retaliate with insults; when he suffered, he didn’t threaten, but handed them over to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the stake, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness — by his wounds you were healed. For you used to be like sheep gone astray, but now you have turned to the Shepherd, who watches over you.” 1 Peter 2:21-25

“My children, I am writing you these things so that you won’t sin. But if anyone does sin, we have Yeshua the Messiah, the Tzaddik, who pleads our cause with the Father. Also, he is the kapparah for our sins — and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.” 1 John 2:1-2

“Here is how God showed his love among us: God sent his only Son into the world, so that through him we might have life. Here is what love is: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the kapparah for our sins.” 1 John 4:9-10

If imperfectly righteous humans are able to suffer for the sins of others, and merit their salvation, how much more the perfectly righteous and pure Son of God who is the eternal divine Word made flesh?

Scriptural references taken from the Complete Jewish Bible (CSB).

Further Reading

Judaism on the Atoning Death of the Righteous