The Torah likes using concrete and clear terms for good and evil, wicked and righteous. A wicked person is called a rasha and a righteous person is called a tzadik. These are difficult constructs because all of us are seemingly a mix of light and dark. The great mussar teacher in the Mirrer Yeshiva Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz once said “inside a small person (SE – small relative to the universe) exits the world of dark on one side and on the other side the world of incredible light called ‘candle of G-d’ whose job it is to light up this awesome darkness.” The point being, that it’s not so simple.
Since Rav Pinchas Friedman (Rosh Kollel of Chasidei Belz came to visit Los Angeles) I’ve been perusing his sefer “Shvilei Pinchas”. He submits a definition of righteous and wicked that is quite unique and bypasses the need to square away our mixed personalities. Righteous is somebody who decides to make progress and change right now. Wicked is somebody who says let me wait until tomorrow.
The power of now.
Rabbi Shlomo Einhorn