The Tzaddik's Deed Gathers All Israel

1“Moshe did as Hashem had commanded him, and the congregation was gathered at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. Moshe said to the congregation, ‘This is the thing that Hashem has commanded to be done.’”¹ The commentators ask about the word vatikahel, “was gathered,”² which implies that the people gathered of their own accord: why does the verse not say vayakhel Moshe, “Moshe gathered” them? We must also explain why Moshe said, “This is the thing that Hashem has commanded to be done.” The passage opens, in its first verse, with “Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying,”³ so this is like every other mitzvah that Hashem commanded Moshe to tell Israel. Why, then, does the Torah mention here in particular that he told them, “This is the thing that Hashem has commanded to be done”?

2We may explain this along the lines of the Tiferes Shlomo, by R' Shlomo of Radomsk. Whenever Moshe Rabbeinu began to do a mitzvah at Hashem's word, the da'as, the awareness, of all Israel was awakened together with his own. That is what the verse says here: “Moshe did as Hashem had commanded, and the congregation was gathered.” The verb is passive, meaning that it happened of itself: when Moshe did the mitzvah as Hashem had commanded, they were all gathered to him of their own accord, their minds bound up with his. For Moshe would awaken will and longing in the heart of all Israel, so when he performed a mitzvah, he brought an awakening of mind and good will into all their hearts. Those are his holy words.

3aTo explain this further, it seems that when the tzaddik of the generation is engaged in Torah, prayer, mitzvos and the like, he has the power to lift up all who attach themselves to him. Some people stand on low levels, and their prayer cannot rise on high. But because Bnei Yisrael are bound to the tzaddikim of the generation, the tzaddikim raise up the Torah and prayer of all who are attached to them and instill an awakening in all of those people. This explains a teaching that the holy sefarim quote in the name of the Yerushalmi: “When is an eis ratzon, a time of favor? When the tzaddikim are praying.”⁴ That is, the tzaddikim instill ratzon, good will, in Israel, so that they too are privileged to pray with kavanah, with true intent.

3bSo it was, too, when Moshe did what Hashem had commanded him: by doing it he awakened Israel. That is why he told them, “This is the thing that Hashem has commanded to be done.” Just as he, by doing Hashem's command, had instilled longing and good will in Bnei Yisrael, so in every generation, when the tzaddikim do Hashem's command, they instill good will in Bnei Yisrael. This is the meaning of “This is the thing that Hashem has commanded to be done”: Hashem commanded the tzaddikim to do it in every generation, and as a result they influence all who are attached to them.

4In light of this, we can explain Rashi's comment: “The things you will see me do before you, the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded me to do; do not say, ‘I am doing it for my own honor and for the honor of my brother.’”⁵ Could anyone imagine that Moshe Rabbeinu would do anything for his own honor? We can explain it this way. When a tzaddik serves for the sake of Heaven, in holiness and with mesirus nefesh, the readiness to give one's life, to fulfill the Creator's will, his service brings an abundance of holiness to those who see it. Moshe Rabbeinu was telling them that his doing these things in front of them, and not privately between himself and his Maker, was also at Hashem's command. Hashem commanded it so that an abundance of holiness would flow to them as they watched him serve. That is why he then told them, “This is the thing that Hashem has commanded to be done.” The words “this is the thing” refer back to the gathering mentioned just before: he did his service in public because all of them needed to reach such a level in avodas Hashem, the service of Hashem, and to serve Him at such exalted heights. And so he was commanded to do all this with the whole congregation gathered.

5This is also the meaning of Chazal's teaching, “A person is obligated to greet the face of his teacher on the festival.”⁶ They chose their words carefully, saying “the face of his teacher” and not simply “his teacher,” to hint at this very idea: seeing his teacher's face brings a person a flow of blessing, and through it a desire for good enters him. It is like the verse “All the peoples of the earth will see that the Name of Hashem is called upon you, and they will fear you.”⁷ When people see how the Name of Hashem is called upon the tzaddik, in his conduct, in his service and in the look of his holy face, the sight works on them and brings them to fear Hashem. Likewise, it is taught in the name of tzaddikim that if the yetzer hara, Heaven forbid, entices a person to sin, he should picture his teacher's image before him, and it will help him.

6May Hashem help us be privileged to bind ourselves to true tzaddikim, so that through them our Torah and prayer will be raised up, and we will bring near the time of the redemption. Amen, may it be His will.