The last element of the list of forty-eight habits of Torah-acquisitive people in Avot 6:6 is, unlike the previous forty-seven, presented with a statement about its particular positive consequences:
והאומר דבר בשם אומרו, הא למדת כל האומר דבר בשם אומרו מביא גאלה לעולם, שנאמר (אסתר ב), ותאמר אסתר למלך בשם מרדכי.
... citing the source, for it is taught that one who cites a source brings redemption to the world, as it says (Esther 2:22): "Esther told the king in Mordekhai’s name."
I am a big fan of this prescription; it makes sense to me as a fundamental of intellectual honesty in all realms, including that of Torah. As such, I certainly like the idea that practicing and promoting it brings redemption. However, I don't really know what that means.
What did the Sages mean when they taught that proper citation brings redemption to the world?
Did they mean that, in an esoteric sense, proper citation hastens the Messianic Redemption (like the notion of "adding bricks to the Temple")? If so, why this linkage, in particular?
Did they mean that, like in the cited story in Esther, proper citation leads to lives being saved? If so, how does that work?
Did they mean "redemption" in some other way? If so, what, and how does proper citation lead to it?
Were they just making a hyperbolic, Biblical flourish to end the list of habits? If so, why this flourish on this element?
Answers based on sources or on your own reasoning are welcome, but I'm particularly interested in answers that make a convincing case that the explanation they present is what the Sages actually meant.
Answer
In general, גאולה (redemption) seems to mean restoring something to its proper place, as in: returning an enslaved person to his family/home, or likewise, returning an ancestral property to its original owner. Chazal are perhaps noting that this is even the case with something as seemingly trivial as ascribing proper authorship where due. As such, one could suggest that once an idea/words are separated from their speaker, it is akin to their being exiled from him/her. Thus by ascribing them appropriately, you've redeemed and returned them to their rightful place, restoring an order of sorts.
See, e.g., the Maharal's Ohr Chadash (cited below by Haleivi, as noted by Isaac Moses in a comment):
כאשר אמר דבר בשם אמרו הרי אדם זה מוציא הדבר שהיא תחת ידו ומחזירו אל אשר ראוי לו ובא ממנו וזה נחשב כמו גאולה לדבר כאשר מוציא הענין שהוא בידו ומחזיר אותו אל מי שבא ממנו
Chazal are referencing Esther to show that there is a midda knegged midda, and, like begetting like, a small geulah can snowball.
Conversely, it is perhaps also relevant that the first sin is midrashically rooted in the false ascription to G-d not to even touch the Tree of Knowledge, as well as that Bar Kamtza also falsely ascribed intentions to the Jewish people. Both acts resulted in exile.
Accordingly, see also Yalkut Shimoni Mishlei Ch. 6:
והאומר דבר בשם מי שלא אמרו שהוא מביא קללה לעולם
And one who says something in the name of one who did not say it, that he brings a curse to the world.
In this sense, קללה (curse) may be associated to the concept of imbalance and a world out of sorts, i.e. גלות (exile), whereas ברכה (blessing) indicates peace, harmony, and balance, with everything in its proper place, i.e. גאולה (redemption).
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