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Why did malachim need to argue that Binyamin HaTzadik deserved to live after he gave away his food to save eight people, invoking the principle that saving one soul saves an entire world? The shiur develops the concept that Klal Yisrael functions as an integrated spiritual entity like Adam HaRishon before the sin. Binyamin understood that losing even one Jew diminishes every other Jew, making his sacrifice to preserve the greater part of this unified reality spiritually justified.
This shiur examines the Aggadic story in Bava Basra 11a about Binyamin HaTzadik, the gabbai tzedaka who gave away his own food during a famine to save a woman and seven children. When he became dangerously ill as a result, the malachim argued before Hashem (ה׳) that he deserved to live because 'whoever saves one Jewish soul is as if he saved an entire world,' leading to his lifespan being extended by 22 years. Rabbi Zweig addresses several fundamental questions: Why does the Gemara (גמרא) use 'Omru Alav' (they said about him) rather than a standard attribution? Why was there a gezar din (heavenly decree) against him if he performed such a great mitzvah (מצוה)? Why invoke the principle of saving one soul equals saving the entire world, rather than simply citing the merit of tzedaka? What is the meaning of the 22-year extension?
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Bava Basra 11a
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