Musar for Shabbat 63:5
אמר ר' יצחק בריה דרב יהודה לעולם יבקש אדם רחמים שלא יחלה שאם יחלה אומרים לו הבא זכות והפטר אמר מר עוקבא מאי קראה (דברים כב, ח) כי יפול הנופל ממנו ממנו להביא ראיה תנא דבי רבי ישמעאל כי יפול הנופל ממנו (ממנו) ראוי זה ליפול מששת ימי בראשית שהרי לא נפל והכתוב קראו נופל אלא שמגלגלין זכות על ידי זכאי וחובה על ידי חייב.
R. Hanin said, Which verse [teaches this]? I am become diminished<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., I have less merit to my credit. ');"><sup>8</sup></span> by reason of all the deeds of kindness and all the truth.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Gen, XXXII, 10. ');"><sup>9</sup></span>
Shenei Luchot HaBerit
In view of this, some people may be tempted to ask why were the brothers not rewarded for advancing G–d's plans instead of the ten Torah scholars becoming martyrs for a crime that had gone unpunished for so long? Neither the brothers, nor any other players on the stage of history were under compulsion to advance G–d's plans in that manner. Positive developments accrued from sinful actions, but the perpetrators can certainly not be given credit for these developments. Our sages have long formulated a principle: מגלגלין זכות על ידי זכאי וחובה על ידי חייב (Shabbat 32a). Loosely translated this means that innocent people are employed as instruments for (recognizable) positive developments, whereas guilty people are employed as the instruments for (apparently) negative developments. This whole principle needs to be elaborated on, but here is not the place for such a discussion.
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