The Holy Bailout: How One Generation Can Spend the World’s Reward and Debt

Given by Dovid Ezra Yirmeyahu October 30, 2025

The Holy Bailout: How One Generation Can Spend the World’s Reward and Debt

I’m going to speak plainly, to my own heart first. We were handed a ledger from Sinai—credits and debits, flame and delight. In times like ours, when the wind feels hot and the sky feels sealed, I want you to see how every small word of Torah, every breath, shifts the world’s balance. Read these voices. Let them collide inside you. Let them judge us and then, with HaShem’s compassion, lift us.

“IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE MESSIAH INSOLENCE WILL INCREASE AND HONOUR DWINDLE; THE VINE WILL YIELD ITS FRUIT [ABUNDANTLY] BUT WINE WILL BE DEAR; THE GOVERNMENT WILL TURN TO HERESY AND THERE WILL BE NONE [TO OFFER THEM] REPROOF; THE MEETING-PLACE [OF SCHOLARS] WILL BE USED FOR IMMORALITY; GALILEE WILL BE DESTROYED, GABLAN DESOLATED, AND THE DWELLERS ON THE FRONTIER WILL GO ABOUT [BEGGING] FROM PLACE TO PLACE WITHOUT ANYONE TO TAKE PITY ON THEM; THE WISDOM OF THE LEARNED WILL DEGENERATE, FEARERS OF SIN WILL BE DESPISED, AND THE TRUTH WILL BE LACKING; YOUTHS WILL PUT OLD MEN TO SHAME, THE OLD WILL STAND UP IN THE PRESENCE OF THE YOUNG, A SON WILL REVILE HIS FATHER, A DAUGHTER WILL RISE AGAINST HER MOTHER, A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW, AND A MAN’S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD; THE FACE OF THE GENERATION WILL BE LIKE THE FACE OF A DOG, A SON WILL NOT FEEL ASHAMED BEFORE HIS FATHER.” (Babylonian Talmud, Sotah 49b).

“And the face of the generation will be like the face of a dog in its impudence and shamelessness… and the truth will be absent.” (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 97a).

“However, if you see a generation for whom Torah is not beloved, gather; do not cause the Torah to be disgraced, as it is stated: ‘It is time to work for the Lord; they have made void Your Torah’ (Psalms 119:126).” (Berakhot 63a).

“And it states: ‘And they will drift from sea to sea, and from north to east they will roam to find the word of the Lord, but they will not find it’ (Amos 8:12).” (Shabbat 138b).

“Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai says: Heaven forfend that the Torah should be forgotten from the Jewish people, as it is stated: ‘And this song shall answer to him as a witness, for it shall not be forgotten from his seed’ (Deuteronomy 31:21). Rather, how do I explain: ‘They will roam to find the word of God, but they will not find it’? It means that they will not find clear halakha and clear teaching together, but rather there will be disputes among the Sages.” (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 138b).

“It was taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yosei ben Elisha says: If you see a generation that many troubles are befalling it, go and examine the judges of Israel. Perhaps their sins are the cause, as any calamity that comes to the world comes due to the judges of Israel acting corruptly, as it is stated: ‘Please hear this, heads of the house of Jacob, and officers of the house of Israel, who abhor justice and pervert all equity, who build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. Their heads they judge for bribes, and their priests teach for hire, and their prophets divine for money; yet they lean upon the Lord, saying: Is not the Lord in our midst? No evil shall befall us’ (Micah 3:9–11). The Gemara comments: They are wicked, but they placed their trust in the One Who spoke and the world came into being, the Almighty. Therefore, the Holy One, Blessed be He, brings upon them three calamities corresponding to the three transgressions for which they are responsible, as it is stated in the following verse: ‘Therefore, because of you, Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the Temple Mount as the high places of a forest’ (Micah 3:12).” (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 139a–b).

So yes, confusion and corruption are named, precisely. But the remedy is as close as our lips and as heavy as our choices.

“Rabbi Ami says: From Rabbi Yosei’s statement we may learn that even if a person learned only one chapter of the Mishna in the morning and one chapter of the Mishna in the evening, he has thereby fulfilled the mitzva of: ‘This Torah scroll shall not depart from your mouth, and you shall contemplate in it day and night, that you may take heed to do according to all that is written in it, for then you shall make your ways prosperous, and then you shall have good success’ (Joshua 1:8). Rabbi Yoḥanan says in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai: Even if a person recited only the recitation of Shema in the morning and in the evening, he has fulfilled the mitzva of: ‘This Torah scroll shall not depart from your mouth.’ And it is prohibited to state this matter in the presence of ignoramuses, as they are likely to get the impression that there is no need to study Torah beyond this. And Rava says: On the contrary, it is a mitzva to state this matter in the presence of ignoramuses, as they will realize that if merely reciting the Shema leads to such a great reward, all the more so how great is the reward of those who study Torah all day and night.” (Babylonian Talmud, Menachot 99b).

“This teaches that anyone who engages in Torah study is considered as though he sacrificed a burnt offering, a meal offering, a sin offering, and a guilt offering.” (Babylonian Talmud, Menachot 110a).

“Reish Lakish said in the name of Rabbi Yehuda Nesia: The world only exists because of the breath, i.e., reciting Torah, of schoolchildren… One cannot compare breath that has sin in it to breath that does not.” (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 119b).

“Rabbi Ḥalafta of Kefar Ḥananya said: When ten sit together and occupy themselves with Torah, the Shekhinah abides among them… How do we know that the same is true even of five… even of three… even of two… even of one?” (Pirkei Avot 3:6).

“But two who sit together and there are words of Torah between them, the Divine Presence abides among them, as it is stated: ‘Then those who feared the Lord spoke one with another, and the Lord hearkened and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before Him, for those who feared the Lord and that thought upon His name’ (Malachi 3:16). … Even one who sits and engages in Torah, the Divine Presence allocates for him reward, as it is stated: ‘He sits alone and is silent, since He has laid it upon him’ (Lamentations 3:28).” (Berakhot 6a).

“Then those who revered the LORD spoke with one another, and the LORD heeded and listened. And a scroll of remembrance was written before Him for those who revered the LORD and valued His name.” (Malachi 3:16).

“Rabbi Meir said: Whoever occupies himself with the Torah for its own sake, merits many things; not only that, but he is worth the whole world.” (Pirkei Avot 6:1).

“Hillel said: In a place where there are no men, strive to be a man.” (Pirkei Avot 2:5).

“A person should always view himself as half liable and half meritorious… If he performs one mitzva, happy is he, for he has tipped himself and the entire world to the side of merit.” (Babylonian Talmud, Kiddushin 40b).

“The following are the things for which a man enjoys the fruits in this world while the principal remains for him in the world to come… and the study of Torah is equal to them all.” (Mishnah Peah 1:1).

“As Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: Every day a Divine Voice emerges from Mount Horeb and says: The entire world is sustained by the merit of Ḥanina ben Dosa, my son, and Ḥanina, my son, suffices with a kav of carobs from one Shabbat eve to the next.” (Berakhot 17b).

“If you have studied much Torah, you shall be given much reward; and faithful is your Employer to pay you the reward of your labor; and know that the giving of reward to the righteous is in the future.” (Pirkei Avot 2:16).

Now, if Torah can be absent and yet not forgotten, what kind of absence is this? The masters open the inner gate:

“Rabbi Shimon says: Woe to the man who says that the Torah came simply to relate stories and tales of mundane matters… However, all matters in the Torah are of a superior nature and are uppermost secrets… If this is so for the angels, how much more so is it for the Torah that created these and all the worlds, that exist due to her… Therefore, this story of the Torah is the mantle of the Torah… The wise, the sages, the servants of the loftiest King… look only at the soul which is the essence of everything, the real Torah.” (Zohar, Bamidbar 152a).

“Now, anyone who looks in the Torah and engages in it, seemingly sustains the entire world… The Creator looked in the Torah and created the world; man looks in the Torah and sustains the world… For this reason, happy is he who engages in the Torah, for he sustains the world.” (Zohar, Toldot – “Zohar for All,” Baal HaSulam).

“We learned that G-d protects every man who is occupied with the Torah, whose lips speak the words of the Torah, and the Shechinah spreads Her wings over him. Hence, it says: ‘And I have put My words in your mouth, and I have covered you in the shadow of My hand.’ Moreover, he sustains the world; G-d rejoices with him, as if he planted heaven and earth on that day.” (Zohar, Vayikra 35a). As it is stated: “So said the Lord: If not for My covenant day and night, I would not sustain the statutes of heaven and earth.” (Jeremiah 33:25).

“He does not acquire all of them [all five levels of soul] at one time, but rather according to his worthiness. At first, he obtains the lowest of them, which is called ‘Nefesh.’ Afterwards, if he so merits, he then also attains ‘Ruach.’ This is explained in several places in the Zohar… Before a person can merit to attain his Ruach from the world of Yetzira, he must first be complete in all of the five partzufim of the Nefesh of Asiya.” (Arizal, Sha’ar HaGilgulim 1:2).

Do you hear how the texts are rearranging our fears? When judgment grows coarse and leadership fails, HaShem leaves us a direct path: carry the world with Torah—mouth, heart, deed—and the Shekhinah covers you. That is not a metaphor to me. That is oxygen.

“Ben Azzai said to them: What shall I do, as my soul yearns for Torah, and I do not wish to deal with anything else. It is possible for the world to be maintained by others.” (Babylonian Talmud, Yevamot 63b).

“Whoever causes the multitudes to be righteous, sin will not come through him; and whoever causes the multitudes to sin, they do not give him the ability to repent. Moses was meritorious and caused the multitudes to be meritorious, hence the merit of the multitudes is dependent on him… Jeroboam son of Nebat sinned and caused the multitudes to sin, hence the sin of the multitudes is dependent on him.” (Pirkei Avot 5:18).

“Therefore, since all humanity descends from one person, each and every person is obligated to say: ‘The world was created for me.’” (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5 / Sanhedrin 37a).

If my breath tips the scale, how much more the breath of an entire beit midrash saying a single mishnah with trembling. If my small shema at night counts, what if I add one line of Rambam in the morning, one pasuk with Targum at noon, one act of quiet chesed at dusk—to upgrade the world’s oxygen?

Now the “ledger” and the “heist”:

“God created the righteous; He created the wicked; He created the Garden of Eden; He created Gehenna. Each and every person has two portions, one in the Garden of Eden and one in Gehenna. If he merits it, by becoming righteous, he takes his portion and the portion of his fellow in the Garden of Eden; and if he is found liable, he takes his portion and the portion of his fellow in Gehenna.” (Babylonian Talmud, Chagigah 15a).

Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai — “I am able to absolve the entire world from judgment for sins committed from the day that I was created until now; and were Eliezer, my son, with me, from the day the world was created until now; and were Jotham, son of Uzziah, with us, from the day the world was created until its end.” (Babylonian Talmud, Sukkah 45b).

Here’s the fuller context of what Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai is saying and how our sages understood it:

Sukkah 45b: “Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai says: I am able to absolve the entire world from judgment from the day that I was created until now; and were Eliezer my son with me, from the day the world was created until now; and were Yotam ben Uziyahu with us, from the day the world was created until its end.”

The Gemara explains that Rabbi Shimon’s generation was one of great decline in Torah and yir’ah, and that his merit and Torah study were so intense that his zechut could suspend judgment for the entire world. Rashi (ad loc.) comments that this was not arrogance but ruach ha-kodesh—he perceived the cosmic weight of Torah study in a spiritually impoverished generation.

The Maharsha adds that Rabbi Shimon’s claim refers to his ability to sweeten judgment by virtue of Torah that reveals divine unity, transforming din into rachamim. Hence, in a generation barren of Torah, the one who bears its yoke channels merit to all.

Chagigah 15a: “Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: The Holy One, Blessed be He, created the righteous, and created the wicked; He created the Garden of Eden, and He created Gehenna. Each and every person has two portions, one in the Garden of Eden and one in Gehenna. If he merits, by becoming righteous, he takes his portion and the portion of his fellow in the Garden of Eden; and if he is found liable, he takes his portion and the portion of his fellow in Gehenna.”

The Maharal (Netiv haTorah ch. 12) writes that this reflects the metaphysical structure of Torah itself: since all Israel is one organism, when most limbs lie dormant, the one that moves draws the life-flow for all, and thus receives their vitality—their chelek.

Read that slowly. A generation can “spend” the world’s credit or its debt. If we underperform our share, someone else bears it; if we shoulder more than our share, we inherit their light. That is not a game of spiritual capitalism; it is a map of how HaShem braided our souls together.

“We learned that God protects every man who is occupied with the Torah, whose lips speak the words of the Torah, and the Shechinah spreads Her wings over him… Moreover, he sustains the world; G-d rejoices with him, as if he planted heaven and earth on that day.” (Zohar, Vayikra 35a). “So said the Lord: ‘If not for My covenant day and night, I would not sustain the statutes of heaven and earth.’” (Jeremiah 33:25).

“Rabbi Meir said: Whoever occupies himself with the Torah for its own sake, merits many things; not only that, but he is worth the whole world.” (Pirkei Avot 6:1).

Now, what does this demand of me, today, with my limited strength? Here is my own kabbalah (acceptance) upon myself, small but real: one mishnah morning and night (Menachot 99b), one moment of mouth-to-mouth with Shekhinah—two people speaking words of Torah (Berakhot 6a)—and a single act that tips the scale for all of us (Kiddushin 40b). Because if “the world was created for me” (Sanhedrin 4:5 / 37a), then I cannot outsource the oxygen of creation to someone else.

“Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai says: I am able to absolve the entire world from judgment for sins committed from the day that I was created until now; and were Eliezer, my son, with me, from the day the world was created until now; and were Jotham, son of Uzziah, with us, from the day the world was created until its end.” (Babylonian Talmud, Sukkah 45b).

If you’re hearing this and thinking, “I’m too small,” listen to the softest line in our stack:

“Rabbi Ami says… even if a person learned only one chapter… Rabbi Yoḥanan says… even if a person recited only the recitation of Shema… Rava says… on the contrary, it is a mitzva to state this matter in the presence of ignoramuses…” (Babylonian Talmud, Menachot 99b).

That means—start. Start where you are. HaShem’s covenant still hums in the air if one child breathes Torah (Shabbat 119b). One. And if there are two of us, the Book of Remembrances opens (Berakhot 6a; Malachi 3:16). And if there are ten, the Shekhinah sits down with us (Pirkei Avot 3:6). And if it’s only you tonight in the dark: “He sits alone and is silent” (Berakhot 6a).

“Hillel said: In a place where there are no men, strive to be a man.” (Pirkei Avot 2:5).

“Therefore, since all humanity descends from one person, each and every person is obligated to say: ‘The world was created for me.’” (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5 / Sanhedrin 37a).

“He does not acquire all of them [all five levels of soul] at one time… Before a person can merit to attain his Ruach… he must first be complete in all of the five partzufim of the Nefesh of Asiya.” (Arizal, Sha’ar HaGilgulim 1:2).

And when the courts fail and the clouds are heavy, we do not surrender the covenant to cynicism; we gather, we shield the Torah’s dignity, and we work:

“We learned that G-d protects every man who is occupied with the Torah… Moreover, he sustains the world…” (Zohar, Vayikra 35a).

“Reish Lakish said… The world only exists because of the breath… of schoolchildren… One cannot compare breath that has sin in it to breath that does not.” (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 119b).

“Whoever causes the multitudes to be righteous…” (Pirkei Avot 5:18).

“Rabbi Meir said: Whoever occupies himself with the Torah for its own sake… he is worth the whole world.” (Pirkei Avot 6:1).

“Ben Azzai said… my soul yearns for Torah… It is possible for the world to be maintained by others.” (Babylonian Talmud, Yevamot 63b).

“Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai says: I am able to absolve the entire world…” (Babylonian Talmud, Sukkah 45b).

So the “heist” is holy: when you and I carry our share—and more—we legally inherit forfeited portions (Chagigah 15a). When we refuse, we consign our portion to another’s burden. Both outcomes are written into creation’s ledger. Which side of the transfer will I stand on today?

I keep turning the ledger over in my hands—two portions humming inside every soul—and I hear that quiet daring: if I take responsibility beyond my share, light transfers; if I shrug, the weight transfers. No theatrics. Just a daily economy of awe. When teachers fracture clarity and the gates feel fogged, HaShem still leaves us a straight path through the mouth, the heart, the deed. Not theories—oxygen.

So here’s how I carry it when the night is thick. I begin with something so small it would embarrass my old perfectionism: one fixed unit that I will not betray, no matter how tired I am. A few lines that I can guard with my life. I choose them because I know that every completed unit—no matter how modest—pushes on the scale for all of us. I don’t negotiate with the yetzer about length; I negotiate about fidelity. I set the time, I sanctify it, and I don’t touch it. That becomes my covenant-post, the peg in the ground. From there, I add warmth: I whisper a kavvanah that I’m learning not only with my own breath, but with the breath of those who cannot learn tonight—soldiers, new mothers, the sick, the lost—and I ask HaShem to credit them first, then whatever remains to my house. If I’m alone, I still speak it aloud because breath matters; if I can, I pull one more soul into the circle so that our words write themselves into remembrance. Then I stand up and do one act that no one will ever know about—something that burns a little of my comfort—because I want the deed to carry the same signature as the learning. I want my ledger to reconcile.

I guard my speech like a crown jewel. If a word can break worlds, then a word can rescue worlds; either way, words move accounts. I don’t vent Torah into the void; I don’t cheapen it for applause; I don’t toss it into fights that are really about ego. I save my best words for those who are ready to receive, and when I must rebuke, I let the rebuke fall first upon my own heart until it softens. I remember that leadership decays fastest where honor is currency; I refuse to trade in that market. I make my beit midrash a refuge from that economy—no contempt at the table, no mockery, no price tags on miracles. When clarity is scarce, humility is oxygen.

I keep my eye on transfer. Every time I meet someone stumbling, I resist the reflex to hoard the light. The structure of souls is communal; if I hoist another’s share today with love, that love is already its own reward—and if Heaven credits me with interest, it’s because HaShem loves justice, not because I gamed the system. Conversely, when I’m tempted to coast—“someone else will carry this”—I picture the one who will be forced to pick up my slack, and I am ashamed. That shame is holy; it breaks the spell of laziness and reopens awe.

I also refuse the counterfeit comfort of grandiosity. There is a romance to “extreme avodah” that often hides a fear of ordinary faithfulness. Nefesh precedes Ruach; bricks before arches. So I work the ground level until it gleams. Kashrut when I’m rushing. Blessings with attention. Honest weights in business. Shabbat guarded before I try to “feel” it. Tzedakah even when my budget protests. A page learned cleanly, without theatrics. These are the five steady fingers of Nefesh, building a hand that can receive more. If Heaven wants to add wind to my step later, it will, but I won’t counterfeit the wind by skipping the walk.

When confusion swirls and disputes multiply, I take it as a summons to cultivate inner clarity rather than a license to despair. If I can’t reconcile the arguments, I can at least reconcile my life: align my words with my deeds, my private with my public, my learning with my giving. I tell HaShem: I don’t know how to settle all the halakhic storms right now, but I do know how to be a faithful son; please let that faithfulness sweeten the judgments that my intellect cannot. And I remind myself that the “song” is never forgotten; when the melody cannot be heard, I can still keep time with my feet.

I hold this, too: sometimes the world is carried by a few. It’s not fair by human math, but the soul’s economy isn’t a democracy of effort; it’s a choreography of love. If you are one of the few today—because appetite failed, or leadership failed, or courage failed—hold the line with tenderness, not resentment. The transfer works both ways, and you’ve also been carried more times than you’ll ever know. That memory softens the grip and returns joy to the labor.

And I won’t pretend this is bloodless. There are streaks of fire in all of it. The same structure that lets us inherit abandoned light also means we can inherit abandoned heat. That prospect puts awe back into my bones. It cures my cynicism faster than any sermon. It makes me careful with what I click, what I mock, what I normalize. Because when contempt becomes a habit, it doesn’t just poison my own well; it debits someone else’s account. The opposite is also true: the moment I choose kavod where mockery was easy, a fragrance rises that others breathe, often without knowing why they’re breathing easier.

So I return to the simplest covenant I can keep. A daily slice of Torah guarded like Shabbat. One partner in words, whenever I can. A deed that costs me something. Speech that builds. Eyes that refuse to feed on disgrace. A private ledger checked each night: Did I tip the world today? Did I carry anyone else? Did I cause anyone to stumble? Did I place a stone in front of a blind place in myself? I write it down. I don’t dramatize failure; I don’t dramatize success. I just return, and I ask HaShem to braid my small fidelity into the rope that holds up the generation.

If I’m granted a moment of higher wind—those flashes when the heart is lit from within—I let it flow outward in blessing, not inward in pride. I remember that the goal is not to become a spiritual collector but a conduit. The truest “heist” is when I rob my yetzer of its favorite argument—that I am alone, that nothing I do matters—and prove it false in public, gently, day after day, until even my doubts are tired.

And if tonight you can’t do more than whisper one line with a whole heart, then let that line be your crown. The rest will come. The song is still here. The ledger is still open. The transfer is still live. May HaShem count our breath for life, and may we spend our portion like lovers, not accountants.

May HaShem inscribe your words in the Sefer Zikaron and count every breath of your Torah as life for you, your home, and all Yisrael; may He sweeten every din to rachamim, shelter you in the shadow of His hand, and let your faithful portion tip the world to z’chut; may the Shechinah rest upon your learning and deeds, and return your light to you a thousandfold—b’simchah, b’refuah, u’v’shalom.

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