The righteous men

by Sam Bourne

  There were no paintings on the wall, only photographs. Perhaps a dozen of them, maybe more, all displaying a single subject. The Rebbe. Dead more than two years, he stared out from every angle, sometimes smiling, sometimes with an arm aloft, but always gazing intently. In one photograph the Rebbe stood with Rabbi Mandelbaum in a group. The others seemed to be commercially produced, specially mounted on tacky, log style slices of fake wood. It reminded Will of the souvenirs you could buy in small Italian villages, depicting the local saint.

  Rabbi Mandelbaum was back, holding an unsteady tray with a single glass of water.

  'Sit, sit,' he insisted, as he offered the tray to Will. He was puzzled. Why was he the only one to have anything to drink? TO leaned over and whispered: 'Yom Kippur has already begun. This evening. No food or drink.'

  'So why has he given me water?'

  'He's a smart guy.'

  TO had positioned herself facing her old teacher.

  'Mrs Mandelbaum?' she said in a voice at once hesitant and gentle.

  'Haya Hindel Rachel, aleyha hosholom.'

  'I'm sorry. HaMakom y'nachem oscha b'soch sh'ar aveilei Tzion v'Yerushalayim.' May the Lord comfort you amongst all those who are mourning for Zion and Jerusalem.

  Will could only watch and listen, but he knew enough body language to know TO was giving condolences.

  'Rabbi Mandelbaum, I've come here after all these years on a matter of life and death. I believe there is a sakono fur diegantseh breeye.' A risk to the whole of creation. She paused, before remembering herself.

  'This is my friend, William Monroe.' The rabbi made the slightest movement with his eyebrow, a tiny reflex that said, 'Don't think I'm naive young lady. I understand the ways of the world. I understand that a man named William Monroe is not a Jew, no matter how he is dressed. And I also understand that a word like "friend" has multiple meanings.'

  'His wife has been kidnapped. She is held hostage, here in Crown Heights. Will has spoken to a rabbi — I believe it must be Rabbi Freilich.' She glanced over at Will, who was glaring at her in surprise: Why didn't you tell me you knew his name? She carried on. 'He doesn't deny that he has taken her. But he has never explained why.' No shock registered on Mandelbaum's face. He just nodded, encouraging TO to continue.

  'We have been getting various messages, delivered by telephone.

  Text messages.' She enunciated the phrase, as if it might be unfamiliar to the aged rabbi. But he did not seem fazed by it.

  'We do not know who these messages are from. But they do seem to indicate some kind of explanation for events here and beyond. I can't be sure what they mean. But I have an idea. Which is why we're here.'

  'Fregt mich a shale.' Ask your question.

  'Rabbi Mandelbaum, will you explain to Will the idea of a tzaddik.'

  For the first time, the rabbi conveyed an emotion. He looked quizzically at TO, as if wondering what he was about to get into.

  'Tova Chaya, you know well what is a tzaddik. This much we learned together already. For this you came back?'

  'I want him to hear it from you. Will you tell him?'

  The rabbi stared hard at TO, as if trying to work out her motives. Finally and hesitantly, he turned to Will and began.

  'Mr Monroe, a tzaddik is a righteous man. The root of the word is tzedek, which is justice. A tzaddik is not just wise or learned. For that we have different words. A tzaddik is a man of special wisdom. He embodies justice itself. The English word "righteous" is the closest you have.'

  William had never heard a voice like it. The rabbi who had interrogated him so forcefully — whom he now discovered was called Freilich — had spoken with an unusual intonation, a musical lilt that bobbed up and down. But it was still a recognizably American accent. This was something else. Not German, not Eastern European exactly, perhaps a blend of the two. Was it the accent of Middle Europe Or was it, in fact, the voice of a place that no longer existed — the voice of Jewish Europe? In that sound, Will could recognize the pictures he had studied in history books of the second world war: the Jews of Poland or Hungary or Russia, their dark eyes staring out of black-and-white photographs, on the brink of a terrible fate they did not know. He heard the sorrowful, wry violins of the klezmer music he had occasionally caught on New York radio. In this one man's voice, Will Monroe imagined he could hear a lost civilization.

  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.

  Without them, the world collapses.'

  'Tova Chaya has summarized it well. There is some discussion about the origin of the idea. Some scholars think it dates back to Abraham's argument with the Almighty over the people of Sodom.'

  TO could tell Will did not know of any such argument and that Rabbi Mandelbaum was not about to explain it. She stepped in. 'Basically, God was about to destroy the entire city of Sodom because they had become sinful,' she said in a semi-whisper, keen to get this out of the way rather than opening up a new discussion with her old teacher. 'Abraham tries to make a deal, proposing that if he, Abraham, can find fifty good people in the town, then God should spare it. God agrees and then Abraham starts negotiating. In that case, he says, if you'd save it for fifty, then what about forty? God agrees to that, too. They keep haggling until finally Abraham has beaten God down to ten good men. OK, God says, find me ten good people and I'll save Sodom. So that establishes the principle that, so long as there are some truly righteous people around, the rest of us are OK. We're saved because they are in the world.'

  Rabbi Mandelbaum picked up the thread. 'There is some dispute about the exact numbers. Some say thirty, some say forty-five. But from the fourth century or so, the number becomes settled on thirty-six. As Rabbi Abaye writes, "There are in the world not less than thirty-six righteous persons in every generation upon whom the Shekhina rests".'

  'Sorry. What was that word?'

  'My apologies. The Shekhina is God's radiance, the Divine Countenance.'

  Still in a semi-whisper, TO said: 'It refers to the outward appearance of God. It's kind of like a divine light,' adding with what Will felt sure was pride, 'it's feminine.'

  'I want to be sure I understand this correctly,' Will began, haltingly. 'Jewish teaching holds that there are thirty-six people alive at any one time who are truly righteous. They may be hidden away in obscurity, doing humdrum jobs, living flawed, even sinful lives. But, quietly and in secret, they perform acts of extraordinary goodness. And so long as they're around, we're all OK. They keep the world afloat.' Will finally understood the last clue: the statue of Atlas at the Rockefeller Center, carrying the whole universe on his shoulders.

  'Which means,' he said, his voice slowing, 'that if they were not around, for whatever reason, it would, literally, be the end of the world.'

  Heavily and slowly, the aged rabbi nodded. 'I'm afraid that's exactly what it means.'

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  Sunday, 8.46pm, Crown Heights, Brooklyn

  So this was why people were dying. For nothing more than a bizarre, quasi-biblical legend. The waste of life struck Will with new force: what insanity, what cruelty, for Howard Macrae or Pat Baxter to be murdered in the name of a lunatic fantasy. The end of the world indeed! It was obviously nonsense. Who could seriously believe thirty-six people kept the world alive? Will had not breathed in the empirical, sceptical air of Oxford for nothing. He had been taught to dismiss such bunkum out of hand: it made more sense to believe in fairies at the bottom of the garden.

  And yet what he thought was surely irrelevant. Someone obviously did believe it — with an intensity that made them ready to kill wholly innocent men, all over the world. If this was the killers' motive, what did it matter whether it was rational or not?

  That was what Will told himself. But still something nagged.

  Something about this man and his books; something about the respect TO had for him. Something about TO, Tova Chaya, herself. These people were not bug-eyed maniacs. They were keepers of an ancient tradition which had endured since the city of Sodom. The story of the thirty-six had been passed down quietly, generation after generation, from the days of Abraham through centuries of wanderings from Babylon to eastern Europe and, now, to America. Jews were not cranks, latching onto fantasies; not as far as he knew. His conversations with TO had always projected the same impression: that Judaism was not concerned w
ith the supernatural, so much as with the way real human beings treated each other in the here and now. They did not seem to believe in flying saucers or cripples throwing away their crutches. They were more grounded than that. So if they believed in the hidden presence of thirty-six good men, maybe there was a reason.

  Something else dulled Will's usually sceptical instincts. If he had not discovered it for himself, he would never have believed it. But Macrae and Baxter, Samak in Bangkok and Curtis in London had fitted the rabbi's description perfectly.

  They had indeed performed acts of uncommon goodness and had done so entirely in private. They had shunned publicity, just as the legend demanded. (Will's strong hunch was that, until he started digging, the righteous acts of Baxter and Macrae, at least, had been entirely unknown.) The four people he knew about had even disguised themselves as sinners, people who would be reviled rather than revered. A pimp and a politician, for heaven's sake!

  What if he accepted the existence of these lamadvavniks, just for the sake of argument? That allowed a new thought to encroach. until that moment, his sole interest had been in discovering how this strange, ancient story might lead him back to his wife. Now he felt his hands go moist at a different notion. If this myth had any grounding in reality, then the pursuit of the righteous men was not just a cruel crime. It would also bring disaster upon the world. For the first time he understood Rabbi Freilich's words to him on the telephone the previous evening. Your wife matters to you, Mr Monroe, of course she does. But the world, the creation of the Almighty, matters to me.

  Thirty-six, thought Will. It was so few. Just thirty-six people on the whole of this crowded, cramped planet, teeming with, what, six billion people? Four men were dead, he knew that.

  Did that mean there were another thirty-two dead, or dying, in far-off corners of the world, all but unnoticed?

  He remembered again his conversation with Rabbi Freilich. An ancient story is unfolding here, threatening an outcome that mankind has feared for thousands of years. So this is what he meant. The ancient story was the legend of the lamad vav, the thirty-six righteous men. The outcome feared for so long was nothing less than the end of the world.