The Holy Mouth of the Talmid Chacham

1“Moshe spoke to the heads of the tribes of Bnei Yisrael, saying: This is the thing that Hashem has commanded.”¹ We may explain the verse this way. The laws of vows teach us the great power and stature of the talmid chacham, the Torah scholar. The Gemara explains that a sage releases a vow me'ikaro, from its root.² He cancels all the words that were spoken as if they had never been, and uproots the vow from its beginning and its source. A husband's annulment of his wife's vow is different: it does not uproot the vow from its root, as though there had never been a vow at all. The husband can only cancel it from then on, so that his wife no longer needs to keep it.

2Where does the talmid chacham's great power truly come from? It comes from the power of his holy mouth, as the Ran puts it: “A holy mouth, how can it say such a thing?”³ This is the meaning of the verse “For the lips of the Kohen guard knowledge, and they seek Torah from his mouth.”⁴ Why “from his mouth,” and not simply “from him”? Because if he is a tzaddik, he guards his mouth. That is “they seek Torah from his mouth”: if the mouth is holy, one can seek Torah from it. Of such a tzaddik the verse says, “He shall not profane his word; according to all that comes out of his mouth he shall do.”⁵ The Kedushas Levi explains: if the tzaddik does not profane his words, that is, if he does not make his mouth chol, ordinary, then “according to all that comes out of his mouth,” the Holy One, blessed be He, “shall do.”

3In light of this, we may say that Moshe Rabbeinu was explaining to the heads of the tribes what level they must reach. Their leimor, their ordinary “saying,” must be “what Hashem has commanded.” Everything they say must be only for a real need, in the spirit of the word of Hashem. As Chazal said, “‘And you shall speak of them’: of them, and not of idle matters.”⁶ Torah scholars who conduct themselves this way are the ones who can release the vows of Bnei Yisrael from their root.

4Along these lines my holy father and teacher, zt"l, explained the word leimor, citing the holy Rebbe R' Baruch of Mezhibuzh, zt"l, the grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, on the verse “And Dovid blessed Hashem before the eyes of all the congregation, and Dovid said.”⁷ Dovid was blessing Hashem and praying before Him. But in the eyes of all the congregation it looked like “and Dovid said,” as though Dovid HaMelech were speaking ordinary words. On this basis the verse “I pleaded to Hashem, saying,” was explained:⁸ Moshe Rabbeinu prayed before Hashem that even when his words would be only leimor, mere speech, they should also carry something of va'eschanan, “I pleaded,” something of prayer.

5This is also the connection between Parshas Matos and the days of Bein HaMetzarim, the Three Weeks of mourning for the Beis HaMikdash, in which it is read. Chazal said, “Yerushalayim was destroyed only because they disgraced Torah scholars in it.” They also said, “Yerushalayim was destroyed only because small and great were made equal in it.”⁹ That is, the destruction came because Torah scholars were disgraced. In this parshah we see the power of Torah scholars, for only they can uproot a vow, and that is a rectification for these days: to know the power of the tzaddikim and the Torah scholars, and to warm ourselves in their light.¹⁰

6[¹¹This also lets us understand what Chazal said: “Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: What is the meaning of the verse ‘Who is the wise man who will understand this …’? This question was put to the sages and the prophets, and they could not explain it, until the Holy One, blessed be He, explained it Himself, as it is written, ‘And Hashem said: Because they forsook My Torah …’ But ‘they did not listen to My voice’ is the same as ‘they did not walk in it’! Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: It means that they did not first recite the blessing over the Torah.”¹² Chazal also said, “Yerushalayim was destroyed only because small and great were made equal in it.”¹³ This is puzzling: was it fitting for the Beis HaMikdash to be destroyed for this alone? And how do the two statements fit together? The first says it was “because they forsook My Torah”; the second says the destruction came because small and great were made equal. And here too, could a single sin deserve so great a punishment, that “the land perished”?]

7[We have explained elsewhere that it falls on the tzaddikim to rebuke the people and incline their hearts to remember the source from which they were hewn. The tzaddikim must also rouse them to take on fences and safeguards, so as to keep the Torah. Once small and great were made equal, there was no one whose rebuke and inspiration the people would accept, and no one, then, to lead them to take on the fences and safeguards through which they would keep the Torah. Since they had no one to rebuke them, they were held back from teshuvah and from keeping all the mitzvos. This led to the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash, because of all the other sins and the neglect of the mitzvos. We can explain the statement that “they did not first recite the blessing over the Torah” the same way. They did not take on fences and kabbalos, resolutions, for the study of Torah and its observance, in the spirit of “last in deed, first in thought.”¹⁴ As a result they neglected the whole Torah and its mitzvos, teshuvah was kept from them, and for this “the land perished.”]

8May Hashem, blessed be He, help us take it upon ourselves to increase the honor of Torah scholars. This is the sickness of the generation: people only speak against them. In the merit of setting this right, may the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash be repaired, and may we be privileged to see the coming of Moshiach. Amen, may it be His will.