Chapter 28

Chapter Summary

This chapter explains the Jewish tradition of the Tzadikim Nistarim, the "hidden righteous ones." In some versions there are always thirty-six of them, called the Lamed-Vav Tzadikim, and the world survives because of their goodness. Robinson connects this idea to the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, where God agrees to spare the city if even a few good people can be found. The hidden righteous are ordinary and humble people scattered around the world. They don't know who the others are, and usually don't even know they are one of the thirty-six. Anyone who claims to be one proves they aren't, and they live normal lives but when a crisis comes, they step forward, act, and then quietly disappear again. In the second half, the narrator wonders whether other "secret actors" might be shaping history. He admits these may just be stories people tell to make the world feel like it makes sense, and says things don't really work that way. The chapter ends with the idea that "the stories of secret actors are the secret action," even if the hidden heroes aren't real. Believing in them can inspire ordinary people to act like them. I think this is what Robinson does well in because he is essentially inviting readers to become those leaders that could stop the climate change. I chose Chapter 28 because it surprised me the most (I wanted to step out of my usual comfort zone, so there is a pattern when it came to the chapters I chose). In a novel full of central banks, carbon policy, and scientists, I liked how Robinson suddenly stops to tell an old Jewish legend. That made me wonder why would a novel about climate change include a legend about hidden righteous people, and what does it say about who can actually stop the crisis? I guess my answer to that is that Robinson uses the legend to argue that solving climate change depends less on famous leaders and more on ordinary people acting at the right moment, and believing this story can push people to become those people.

How does this chapter function throughout the entire arc of the novel?

Chapter 28 is like the counterweight to the novel's focus on powerful institutions because much of the book follows Mary negotiating with central banks and governments, but this chapter reminds us that change also depends on people no one notices. I think this chapter is also hinting at something the novel itself has because Robinson asks whether secret actors might be shaping history, and the Ministry has its own secret "black wing" that acts behind the scenes.

Annotations and Hyperlinks

"Tzadikim Nistarim...Lamed-Vav Tzadikim": https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/sukkah-45/; https://jewishvirtuallibrary.org/lamed-vav-x1e92-addikim

This chapter opens with the Tzadikim Nistarim, or "hidden righteous ones." This idea goes back to the Talmud, which is the central collection of Jewish law and teaching, where a Rabbi named Abaye taught that the world always has at least thirty-six righteous people in it. The number comes from Hebrew numerology, where every Hebrew letter also stands for a number, and the letters lamed and vav add up to thirty-six. Abaye found the number hidden in a word from the Book of Isaish, which is interesting because scholars still don't fully agree on where the number thirty six first came from. In the Talmud, these thirty-six were described as holy people. The idea that they are hidden came later, through Jewish mysticism and folk stories. Over time, they became humble, ordinary people, often with simple jobs whose goodness keeps the world from falling apart. In Yiddish they became known as lamedvovniks, and in many stories, one of them steps forward during a moment of danger, saves the day, and then disappears back into everyday life. I think this matters a lot in the novel because it could just easily focus on famous leaders or powerful governments, but instead, Robinson starts with the idea that the world might be held together by people nobody really notices. I think this sets up one of the biggest ideas in the book, and that's the fact that real change doesn't start with powerful people, but with ordinary people doing the right thing. I also like this opening a lot because I feel like it's more honest than the usual one hero saves the world story. Climate change is too big for a single person to fix, so I think it makes sense that the solution would be spread out across thousands of people, like how the glaciologists in Antarctica aren't famous, they're just scientists who keep showing up. What I find most interesting is that Robinson's version of "hidden righteous" people includes bureaucrats, economists, and engineers (people that most of us would never think of as heroic, except maybe bureaucrats). 

"the story of Sodom and Gomorrah...fifty good men...(and ten, and then one)": https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2018%3A23-33%3B%20Jeremiah%205%3A1&version=NRSVUE; https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.18?lang=bi&aliyot=0

Robinson connects the story to the thirty-six righteous to one of the most famous stories in the Bible: Sodom and Gomorrah. In the Book of Genesis, God tells Abraham that he plans to destroy the cities because of their wickedness. Abraham pushes back and starts bargaining, so God agrees. Abraham keeps lowering the number from forty-five to finally ten, and each time, God agrees to spare the city for the sake of those few good people. However, in the book Robinson writes that the bargaining goes down to "ten, and then one." When I looked up the Genesis passage to check Robinson's verson, I noticed the bargaining actually stops at ten, which sent me looking for where 'one' came from. That's when I found it in the Book of Jeremiah, where God says he would pardon Jerusalem if even one person could be found who acts justly and seeks truth. There is a darker side to the story that Robinson doesn't talk about, because in Genesis, ten good people are not found, and Sodom is destroyed, and the legend of the righteous is hopeful but it has a warning. The world is only saved if those few good people actually exist and are willing to act. However, I do think Robinson's change from ten to one is on purpose because dropping the number to one makes the story feel more personal, like it's not about some group of good people somewhere else, it's about whether you would be that one person.

"exemplars of humility, anavah... if anyone were to claim himself to be one... proof that actually he was not": https://reformjudaism.org/learning/sacred-texts/learn-about-middot/modesty-middah-anavah; https://voices.sefaria.org/sheets/592640?lang=bi

One of the most important traits of the hidden righteous is humility, which Robinson calls it by its Hebrew name anavah. Additionally, he also points out a smart paradox that if anyone ever claimed to be one of the Hidden Righteous, that claim would prove they were not, and that true goodness in this tradition is not one that announces itself. Humility in Jewish thought doesn't mean thinking of yourself as worthless, and there's a well known Hasidic teaching that you should carry two notes in your pockets, one in each. The point is to have both of those in your mind at the same time because you have to know you're small, but also know that your actions count. They don't see themselves as special in any way whatsoever, but when the moment comes they still go and do it. In Robinson's view, the people who actually matter are the ones you never see and the ones who don't want to be seen. This is like a hopeful message for the book because it means you don't have to be a hero to make a difference, you just need to be ready when the time comes. I do think the two notes idea is very interesting, especially when thinking about climate change. I think climate changes makes it really easy to fall into one pocket or the other, because you either feel so small that nothing you do matters, which can lead to giving up or you feel so confident that you stop being careful. 

"They live their lives like anyone else, and then, when the crucial moment comes, they act": https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2017/9/28/russian-officer-who-prevented-nuclear-disaster-in-1983; https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/man-who-saved-world-nuclear-annihilation-dies-77-180964934/

When I read this line, I thought back to my high school history class where we learned about the Cold War. There is a real-life example that is similar to this statement. On September 1983, a Soviet officer called Stanislav Petrov was on duty in a bunker outside Moscow when the early warning system indicated the the US had launched five nclear missiles at the USSR. He had only a few minutes to decide whether to report it as a real attack (which would have been the trigger for a nuclear war). Instead he went with his gut, and decided not to believe in the computer (he was correct). Petrov's story is that the climate crisis may well be down to people we'll never hear of, and the most important decisions may not be taken by the President or celebrity. It may be taken by an engineer who spots a mistake, scientist who keeps on gathering data, etc. It's the story of the hidden righteous and it's a reminder that the world can be saved by ordinary people and that any one of us might just be one of them.

"The stories of secret actors are the secret action": https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/its-science-over-capitalism-in-conversation-with-kim-stanley-robinson/

At first this might sound like a riddle, but the answer is that stories change how people behave. The legend of the thirty-six may not be literally true, but if you believe that any ordinary person, including yourself could be one of the hidden people holding the world together, you might start acting like it. In that sense, the story is the secret action, and I think it works discretely inside people's mind, shaping what they do without anyone noticing. Robinson has said in interviews that "the stories we tell each other will make the difference" in how humanity responds to climate change. I think this also explains why Robinson wrote a novel instead of a policy report because a report can tell you what should happen, but a story can make you believe it's possible. I think in a way, the novel is trying to be the legend of the thirty-six for climate change (maybe that's a stretch, but when I continue to read into the later chapters, it does almost feel that way).

Works Cited

The Contemporary Torah. Jewish Publication Society, 2006. Sefaria, www.sefaria.org/Genesis.18?lang=bi&aliyot=0.

Daley, Jason. “Man Who Saved the World from Nuclear Annihilation Dies at 77.” Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Sept. 2017, 

www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/man-who-saved-world-nuclear-annihilation-dies-77-180964934/.

Kadden, Barbara Binder. “Modesty - Middah Anavah.” Reform Judaism, Union for Reform Judaism, 

reformjudaism.org/learning/sacred-texts/learn-about-middot/modesty-middah-anavah.

Kress, Alex. “Anavah-Humility: Living a Life of Humility.” Voices on Sefaria, voices.sefaria.org/sheets/592640?lang=bi.

“Lamed Vav Ẓaddikim.” Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2007. Jewish Virtual Library, jewishvirtuallibrary.org/lamed-vav-x1e92-addikim.

Mirovalev, Mansur. “Russian Officer Who Prevented Nuclear Disaster in 1983.” Al Jazeera, 28 Sept. 2017, 

www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/9/28/russian-officer-who-prevented-nuclear-disaster-in-1983.

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Bible Gateway, 2021, 

www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2018%3A23-33%3B%20Jeremiah%205%3A1&version=NRSVUE.

Robinson, Kim Stanley. “Chapter 28.” The Ministry for the Future, Orbit, 2021.

Robinson, Kim Stanley. “It’s Science over Capitalism: Kim Stanley Robinson and the Imperative of Hope.” Interview by James Bradley. The MIT Press Reader, 11 Oct. 2022, thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/its-science-over-capitalism-in-conversation-with-kim-stanley-robinson/.

Ronis, Sara. “Sukkah 45.” My Jewish Learning, 21 Aug. 2021, www.myjewishlearning.com/article/sukkah-45/.