The Lamed-Vov

A Legend to take to heart…asap please!

Painting by Peter Leventhal

Today is Good Friday. I was intending to write some thoughts about Holy Week; as a recovering Catholic and former alter boy, I have memories of this week I still find precious, warm, and paradoxical (why in the world is it called “Good Friday” if we recognize this day as Jesus’ crucifixion? — don’t answer, I’ve looked into the matter since). But I lost control of the writing of it, so I abandoned it. Instead, some of it may be resurrected for a Sunday Short post this coming Sunday—the Super Bowl of Holy Week: Easter! (Hey, see what I did there??? Gonna “resurrect” some of my writing? For Easter Sunday? Get it? Aren’t I too clever for my own good? Don’t answer, I’ve looked into the matter since.)

Instead, today, something very different.

Well, kind of.

Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen

I love books. Most of the books I read, I read for the purpose of change. I want to be changed in some way by what I read, by the writers of the words found in books that I want to love. This is to say, I want to learn something—about myself, about other people, about how other people exist in the world, about the world itself. If a book touches me in some way, by definition, I’m changed. Sometimes I think I can draw a single line from one book to the next—like metaphorical breadcrumbs left along a forgotten trail but leading to some destination I may or may not be intending to go toward. Maybe it’s truer (at least I choose to believe), those breadcrumbs just endlessly spiral in quantum, fractal designs, the point being that there is no destination along this particular trail—the trail itself is what I’m seeking. So, suffice it to say, I’m not going anywhere—I’m trying to Be Here, Now. And books help me to do that.

I first came across the name Rachel Naomi Remen in an OnBeing podcast with Krista Tippett (found here). Remen is a formidable and influential physician who discovered later in her life she was a great writer as well—and she had stories that needed telling. So I picked up a box set of two of her National Bestsellers: Kitchen Table Wisdom and My Grandfather’s Blessings. And I’ve haven’t been the same since.

Who am I? Who are you? Could we be…?

In My Grandfather’s Blessings, I read something that has stuck with me. And it will continue to stick with me because I was challenged by it in so many deep ways. Both of Dr. Remen’s books are compilations of stories from her life—with many coming directly from the wisdom she garnered at her grandfather’s knee. Her grandfather was a scholar of the Kabbalah—the mystical teachings of Judaism.

Here are the passages that changed me (there were more, but these…goodness me!), from pages 8 and 9 in my Riverhead Books paperback copy:

The story he told me was very old, and dates from the time of the prophet Isaiah. It is the legend of the Lamed-Vov. In this story, God tells us that He will allow the world to continue as long as at any given time there is a minimum of thirty-six good people in the human race. People who are capable of responding to the suffering that is part of the human condition. These thirty-six are called the Lamed-Vov. If at any time, there are fewer than thirty-six such people alive, the world will come to an end.

“Do you know who these people are, Grandpa?” I asked, certain that he would say “yes.” But he shook his head, “No, Neshume-le,” he told me. “Only God knows who the Lamed-Vovniks are. Even the Lamed-Vovniks themselves do not know for sure the role they have in the continuation of the world, and no one else knows it either. They respond to suffering, not in order to save the world but simply because the suffering of others touches them and matters to them.

It turned out that Lamed-Vovniks could be tailors or college professors, millionaires or paupers, powerful leaders or powerless victims. These things were not important. What mattered was only their capacity to feel the collective suffering of the human race to respond to the suffering around them. “And because no one knows who they are, Neshume-le, anyone you meet might be one of the thirty-six for whom God preserves the world,” my grandfather said. “It is important to treat everyone as if this might be so.”

The Lamed-Vov.

I want this legend to be true. But can you imagine—“If at any time, there are fewer than thirty-six such people alive, the world will come to an end”?

No one knows who the Lamed-Vov are. For all we know, not even the Lamed-Vov know that they are among the Lamed-Vov (thereby gladly eliminating every transactional, in-it-only-for-the-money, televangelistic, christian nationalistic, greedy, bigoted, and hypocritical preacher!). I mean, if you knew you were actually one of God’s Chosen to save the world, how would you know that? It’s against the rules to self-proclaim it! Would God give you a special platinum card to carry around? Give you a special role in life? (Well, that’s not true since a Lamed-Vovnik can be any role). How about brand you in some way? A special birthmark, say, or eye color, or skin-tag, or butt dimple, or spoken language, or… what? None of that can be true, right? Otherwise, the Lamed-Vov would risk being found out. And could you imagine what this culture, this world of ours, would do if it were to discover who were among The Lamed-Vov? (Gosh, we might treat them like Super Bowl MVP’s, or Academy Award winning actors, or Taylor Swift. Or Donald Trump. WTF?). For certain, they’d become fodder for tabloid journalism—TMZ’d followed 24/7, every aspect of their being examined under the microscope of social media scrutiny, and their reputations inevitably destroyed in a matter of hours because, yeah, that’s what our culture and world does now, to those deemed special. And no one is “specialer” then those chosen by “The MAN” himself (note: I used this gender characterization intentionally as this is the characterization traditionally used to interpret God in the orthodox Kabbalah and Old Testaments. Otherwise, I’d have used “WOMAN” or “BEING” or “TAO” instead.)

So therein lies my challenge as articulated to a degree by Dr. Remen’s grandfather. Immediately after reading those passages initially, I got a very familiar feeling deep inside me—that I had just read something I knew was going to change me for the rest of my life. And that’s exactly what happened. I’ve learned to trust that feeling. That feeling, that one-of-a-kind feeling, is pure mystical magic.

I’ve gone back to those books often, but typically start with those passages always first. The Legend of the Lamed-Vov, as articulated in the ancient Kabbalah, lays down a metaphorical gauntlet for us all, at least if you are willing to join this dance. Again, but differently:

Lamed Vavniks are 36 ordinary people whose inherent purity of spirit empowers them to rescue humankind from ultimate destruction. They appear in the Book of Genesis, which describes the destruction of two sin-ridden cities, Sodom and Gomorrah. God informs Abraham that God will save Sodom if presented with ten righteous men. Legend says that at all times there are thirty-six people, known in Yiddish as the lamed vavniks, whose good works protect humankind from disaster.

The select “Thirty-Six” have access to the Shekhina, the Divine Presence of God. With this special access to God’s intimate nature, the “Thirty-Six” are able to bear the burden of the world’s problems. The “Thirty-Six” is known in Hebrew as the tzadikim nistarim, the Hidden Righteous Ones. The “Thirty-Six” are oblivious that they are chosen. Were they to find out that they are part of this group, chaos would erupt.

The “Thirty-Six” do not know each other, as anonymity is part of the honor bestowed upon them. (Bold highlights mine!)

(Source: Hebrew Union College)

Like I said, I want this Legend to be true. And because that’s the case, I’m best advised to live my life as if it were true. So…if the Lamed-Vov are anonymous, how am I to treat anyone I meet? How am I to treat you? How am I to treat Taylor Swift? Or Meryl Streep? Or Patrick Mahomes? Or Volodomyr Zelensky? Or my neighbor flying a MAGA flag? Or (GULP) Donald Trump?

And to extend the Legend’s more subtle implication, and biggest challenge, how am I to act as if I happen to BE one of the Lamed Vov? They are, after all, “oblivous that they are chosen.” So, what if me???

HOLY FUCK!!!

Actually, the teaching, this Legend, is wise in this exact profound way. Because no one knows, because we don’t know, because I don’t know—because it just might include me, I should have my act together and act like I’m one of them. Why wouldn’t I? Because if I am, and I’d come to find this out at some point down the road, that would be a pretty earthshaking thing to learn I had a part to play should the world fall to shit. (Oops, slipped into Yiddish again there, sorry.) That would mean I didn’t do my part and/or our numbers slipped below the mystical threshold of thirty-six.

Told ya I was changed for having read this book. Sometimes, I cannot predict just how I get changed. Sometimes I learn the entire world is depending on me. And I am depending on every single other person as well—because, who knows, YOU might be among the thirty-six too. (Ask yourself if YOU act like it?)

So let’s pause to imagine…

… because after learning about the Lamed-Vov, we should pause. And imagine what this world would be like if every single person acted as if every other person they met was a member of the Lamed-Vov. AND if every person themselves acted as if THEY were a member too.

There is nothing to lose here, and everything to gain. So why don’t we?

Because I might be, because you might be, because the homeless individual on the sidewalk holding a cardboard sign that says “I’m just hungry” might be, or the billionaire might be, or the immigrant who was captured unlawfully by ICE and sent to El Salvador might be, or the ICE agent himself who cuffed the immigrant might be—aren’t we best advised to act as if each and every single one of us are?

(Spoiler Alert: We are! Best advised to act that way, that is.)

“It is important to treat everyone as if this might be so,” responded Neshume-le’s grandfather.

Just imagine the world we’d have then. Though it does beg the question:

How are we to act as a chosen Lamed-Vov even if we don’t know that we don’t know that we might be?

What if the Lamed-Vov could not do it? What then? “How do the Lamed-Vovniks respond to the suffering, Grandpa?” I asked, suddenly anxious. “What do they have to do?” My grandfather smiled at me very tenderly. “Ah, Neshume-le,” he told me. “They do not need to do anything. They respond to all suffering with compassion. Without compassion, the world cannot continue. Our compassion blesses and sustains the world.”

“It is important to treat everyone as if this might be so.”

“Without compassion, the world cannot continue.”

Amen to that.

And maybe that’s why there might be only thirty-six among us. Because that high standard, living a life of complete compassion for all other Beings, being the high bar that it is, seemingly eliminates a WHOLE bunch of people … right from the start—if actions are to be a determinate, that is. (Sorry ICE agent guy, you coulda been…just sayin’. Same goes for your boss, too, btw.)

But then again, God IS said to move in mysterious ways. So….

---

Always and Ubuntu,

~ k

🙏🏼

“Our compassion blesses and sustains the world.” This should be the only Commandment we need! (Hey, btw, ever wonder why the 10 Commandments say nothing about compassion? Or love? 🤔)

Postscript: I also used something else from Dr. Remen’s mind and heart that truly impacted the way I led schools when I was a principal. We, as a staff, read this together multiple times—to remind us exactly what we were doing every time we showed up at school to be with our kids. The essay I include here, a six minute read, that also changed me, is entitled “Helping, Fixing, or Serving?” I hope you read it.

Helping, Fixing, or Serving: Three different ways of seeing life.