This Shabbos we learn the sixth chapter of Pirkei Avot. In it we find the words, “Whoever repeats a thought in the name of the one who said it brings redemption to the world--as it says in the Megillah (Esther 2:22) 'And Esther told it to the king in Mordechai’s name’ and because of that the Jews were saved.”
The Rebbe explains this Mishna most beautifully. “The one who said it” refers to G-d. This means that when we are involved in studying the Torah, from learning the Hebrew alphabet to the most esoteric, mystical concepts, we need to keep in mind that all of this is part of G-d’s Torah.
What comes out of educating oneself in this manner? “He brings redemption to the world.” The Hebrew word for “world” is from the same root as concealed and hidden. When we learn Torah in this manner, we take the cover off the G-dliness that is in this world, thus bringing a level of redemption into the world.
Another way of looking at the Mishna is that “whoever repeats a thought in the name of the one who said it” means that a Jew should train himself to see in everything in the world “The One who says it”--G-dliness. When he goes beyond his natural tendencies and sees that which exists above nature he reveals that everything was created by G-d. Through this behavior, a Jew brings redemption to the world, for he redeems the world from the concealment and hiddenness in which it is masked.
The last part of the Mishna, “And Esther said to the king in the name of Marchecha” is also quite significant. For it teaches us that this type of behavior applies even when we find ourselves in a setting like that of the times of King Ahasuerus, an era when the world was entirely hidden by nature.
