Ki Seitzei: Is Every Yid a Big Tzadik?

By Yoni Laub

With hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube and streams on Spotify, “Every Yid’s a Big Tzaadik” has swept through Klal Yisrael as one of the most viral songs that the Jewish Music industry has seen in recent memory. The catchy and upbeat song starts off by referencing the pasuk that refers to Noach as “Ish Tzadik” through the lyrics of “Noach was a big Tzadik” before the beat drops and the song exclaims that “Every Yid’s a Big Tzadik!” But at almost every concert, farbrengen, or wedding when people sing and dance to this song there’s often at least one person on the side wondering if the premise of this song is true. Is every Yid really a big tzadik?

In our Parsha we learn about the fascinating case of the Ben Sorer U’Moreh (wayward son). The Ben Sorer U’Moreh seems to be far from a Tzaddik. He is described explicitly by the Torah as rebellious and is deemed a glutton for his excessive consumption of meat and wine, an addiction that ultimately leads him to steal from his own parents. As a response, the Ben Sorer U’Moreh is punished by Skilah (death by stoning) and is made into a public example for Klal Yisrael on how not to act. But while the Ben Sorer U’Moreh is clearly a sinner, the punishment seems harsher than it should be. Aside from the case of Ben Sorer U’Moreh, the punishment for theft is never death.

The Gemara in Sanhedrin, in the aptly named perek Ben Sorer U’Moreh, answers this question by explaining that the Ben Sorer U’Moreh is not being killed for what he did, but for what he will do. The Gemara shares the tragic path of the Ben Sorer U’Moreh: After he steals from his parents, he will be kicked out of his house. Needing to fuel his addiction and now living on the streets, the Ben Sorer U’Moreh will resort to mugging people for their money to buy more meat and wine. At some point, someone will fight back and the Ben Sorer U’Moreh will kill him in self defense. So the Ben Sorer U’Moreh isn’t killed for having stolen money; he is killed because if he isn’t dealt with now he will go down a far worse path and become a murderer.

It still seems excessive for someone to be killed because of what he’s on track to do if he continues down this wayward path. Moreover, Rav Aharon Kotler points out that even in this worst case scenario, where the Ben Sorer U’Moreh murders someone, the punishment for murder is typically Hereg, which is considered to be a lesser form of punishment than Skilah. So how could it be that the Ben Sorer U’Moreh receives a harsher punishment than what he would deserve if he actually spiraled into the worst case scenario of killing someone. Rav Aharon answers by saying that the Ben Sorer U’Moreh isn’t being killed for what he did, or even what he will do, but for what his essence is. His essence is one of complete evil and that needs to be removed from our community and be brought as a public example.

However, the Gemara in Sanhedrin adds another detail about the Ben Sorer U’Moreh; it never happened. Despite pesukim in the Torah explaining the case and the Gemara spending multiple blatt debating its parameters, most Amoraim assume that there never has been a Ben Sorer U’Moreh. The Kochavei Shamayim explains that perhaps the reason that it never happened is because the person that Rav Aharon Kotler is describing does not exist. There’s no such thing as a Jew whose essence is completely evil. The Rambam says in Hilchos Teshuva that every Jew has free will, and therefore has the potential to be as great as Moshe Rabbeinu. Given that potential, one could never be completely evil.

So is Every a Yid a Big Tzadik? No. But every Yid has the capacity to be one.

Have a heilege Shabbos!