The Wonders of Harav Yitzchack Kadouri

255 after the tzaddikim pass away does He exact retribution from the wicked. My words are not meant to prophesize doom or cause fear, G-d forbid. They are merely meant to arouse us to do good. In the merit of our wholehearted desire to do good, G-d will exact retribution only from the truly wicked. When a tzaddik passes away, that is the right time to make our spiritual ac- counting. And so Jews have done in every generation. Another well known princple is that the tears shed over the demise of the tzaddik, as well as the partici- pation in his funeral, create great merits for the Jewish nation. This is all part of the atonement of the death of a tzaddik for the sins of the generation.