Editing Tzadikim Nistarim (section)

==Origins==
The existence of thirty-six righteous people is first mentioned in the [[Talmud]]:<ref name="Zwerin_YKKN02"/>
"There are no fewer than 36 righteous people in the world who greet the [[Shekhinah]] in each generation."<ref>[https://www.sefaria.org.il/Sanhedrin.97b.3?ven=William_Davidson_Edition_-_English&vhe=Wikisource_Talmud_Bavli&lang=bi Sanhedrin 97b], [https://www.sefaria.org.il/Sukkah.45b.6?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en Sukkah 45b]</ref>

Another Talmudic passage mentions the righteous people, most unknown, who sustain the world. However, it gives a number other than 36:
{{quote|A [[Homer (unit)|homer]] of [[barley]], and a letech of barley" ({{Bibleverse|Hosea|3:2|HE}}) - [this refers to] 45 righteous who cause the world to be sustained ...  30 in the [[Talmudic academies in Palestine|land of Israel]] and 15 here [in [[Talmudic academies in Babylonia|Babylonia]]]. [[Abaye]] said: And most of them can be found in the synagogue, under the upper room [i.e. among the unhonored masses].<ref>[https://www.sefaria.org/Chullin.92a.19?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en Chullin 92a]; see also [[Jerusalem Talmud]] Avodah Zarah 2:1</ref>}}

These two sources were combined into the idea that 36 righteous people sustain the world. The combination may have derived from the fact that to "greet the [[Shekhinah]]" was associated with [[Temple in Jerusalem|Temple]] service and that was considered to sustain the world{{dubious|How is the one derived from the other? Explain. Were 36 righteous ppl on Temple payroll?|date=January 2021}} ([[Pirkei Avot]] 1:2).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bhol.co.il/forums/topic.asp?cat_id=24&topic_id=1179129&forum_id=1364|title = פורום: עצור כאן חושבים - ל"ו צדיקים נסתרים - המיתוס והאגדות – בחדרי חרדים}}</ref>

The idea of 36 righteous became fully fleshed out in later generations:
{{blockquote|As a mystical concept, the number 36 is even more intriguing. It is said that at all times there are 36 special people in the world, and that were it not for them, all of them, if even one of them was missing, the world would come to an end. The two Hebrew letters for 36 are the ''lamed'', which is 30, and the ''vav'', which is 6. Therefore, these 36 are referred to as the ''Lamed-Vav Tzadikim''.<ref name="Zwerin_YKKN02">{{cite web |url= http://www.americanet.com/Sinai/resources/sermons/Zwerin_YKKN02.html|title= The 36 - Who Are They? |last= Zwerin |first= Rabbi Raymond A. |date= September 15, 2002 |publisher= americanet.com |access-date= 3 August 2010 |location= Temple Sinai, Denver |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20030118221508/http://americanet.com/Sinai/resources/sermons/Zwerin_YKKN02.html |archive-date= January 18, 2003}}</ref>}}

The idea is particularly prominent in [[Hasidic Judaism]]. [[Tzvi Elimelech Spira of Dinov]], for example, wrote that "in every generation, there are great righteous people who could perform wondrous acts, but the generation is not deserving of that, so the stature of the righteous people is hidden and they are not known to the public; sometimes they are woodchoppers or water-drawers."<ref>''Bnei Yissachar'', Nisan, 2:5</ref>

===Revealed and hidden righteous===


Commenting on {{Bibleverse|Daniel|12:3|HE}} ("...those who lead the masses to righteousness will be like the stars forever and ever"), the [[midrash]] explains that "just as the stars are sometimes revealed and sometimes hidden, so, too with righteous people. And just as there are innumerable clusters of stars, so, too, there are innumerable clusters of righteous people," which indicates that there are significantly more than 36 in the world.<ref>[https://www.sefaria.org/Sifrei_Devarim.47.6?ven=Sifrei_by_Rabbi_Shraga_Silverstein&vhe=Sifrei_Devarim,_Hebrew&lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en Sifrei Devarim 47:6]</ref>