Our Gemara on Amud Aleph explores the identity of Sefer HaYashar (“The Book of the Upright”), mentioned in Yehoshua (10:13). One opinion says it refers to Bereishis, the Book of Genesis, because it chronicles the Patriarchs, who are known as yesharim—the upright ones.
The term yashar implies someone morally straight, honest, and correct. In Jewish liturgy and tradition, we often encounter three types of righteous individuals: yashar, tzaddik, and chassid. Each has a specific connotation.
I propose the following taxonomy:
- Yashar: A person who has not sinned—morally upright and consistent.
- Tzaddik: Someone who has sinned, repented, and been restored. The term is often used in contrast to evil (e.g., Devarim 25:1) or in relative context (e.g., Noach was a tzaddik “in his generation”). The restoration and repentance is also in contrast to evil. He became better than he was and more righteous than he was.
- Chassid: A person who goes beyond the letter of the law (lifnim mishuras hadin) and serves God with extra love and devotion (Rambam Deos 1:5).
In the Nishmas prayer, we find these three terms in ascending spiritual order:
“By the mouth of the upright (yesharim) You shall be praised,
By the words of the tzaddikim You shall be blessed,
By the tongue of the chassidim You shall be exalted.”
But in the High Holiday liturgy, the order shifts:
“And so, the tzaddikim shall see and rejoice,
the yesharim shall exult,
and the chassidim shall be jubilant in song.”
Why the change?
In Nishmas, the focus is on spiritual elevation through praise, so the order reflects ascending levels of holiness: yashar → tzaddik → chasid. While yashar never sinned, the tzaddik has transformed through teshuvah—and we are told that penitents can stand where the perfectly righteous cannot (Berachos 34b). But the chassid surpasses all, acting from overflowing devotion.
(You might challenge this because the actual text of the Gemara says, “The place that baaley teshuva occupied, even perfect tzaddikim are unable to stand.” This sounds like tzaddikim have not sinned and repented. However, my responses the first of all their labeled as “perfectly righteous”. Secondly, a different way to read the Gemara is: “Those who are continuously in the process of searching and repenting (baaley teshuva) occupy a place that is higher than those who believe they have completed their repentance and return.”)
However, the High Holiday liturgy describes the messianic future—a world of perfected humanity. There, the ideal person is not the penitent but the one who never sinned: yashar. Even so, the chassid, in his overflowing love for God, still represents the highest spiritual ideal.