To bring out this point, the Chofetz Chaim relayed an incredible mashal, in the same vein as his many other moving mashalim:
There was once a king who had a very noble army. He prepared his soldiers to be the best warriors. Before heading to the battlefield, they were trained with high-standard coaching, and he dressed his soldiers in dignified clothing.
One day, he saw someone dressed in cloth made from white bear’s fur, and it caught his eyes. He decided that he too would dress his army in that material. However, to do so wouldn’t be easy. He would have to send hunters to the forests near the North Pole to hunt and catch these special bears. He chose some of his top-ranking military force to hunt out these bears so that he’ll be able to dress his military with such clothing.
With their new task, the high-ranking military forces headed out to fill the king’s directive. Till then, they’d been well-dressed, high-ranking soldiers in the military, and now they were heading to the forests. They would be taking off their royal clothing and replacing it with hunting garb, lowering their dignity.
Seeing a new unfamiliar group of hunters puzzled the locals. “What are these people doing here? It’s usually too cold for visitors. What would anyone be doing here?”
Bothered with the question, they addressed the visitors for the explanation. These unidentified soldiers responded how they came with orders to capture bear skins for the sake of the king. The locals didn’t believe them. “The king dresses his soldiers in royal clothing; if you were really soldiers, you too would have royal clothing.”
They responded that they indeed were soldiers of the king, and were dressed differently because they were sent on a mission that required them to put on hunter’s clothes.
Now, we who know the story understand what the soldiers are saying. Their dressing down from their normally dignified attire is not a denigration to their office but an honor. Their temporary hunter’s clothing exemplifies their fulfilling the will of the king, not an aberration of it. They are the superstars of the kingdom, and that is exactly why they were chosen for that task. Their greatness is the reason why they are dressed in that particular garb.
Furthermore, their appearance is for the sake of bringing more honor to the king. The prestige of the army will be that much greater with the bear-skin uniforms, and thus their reduction will ultimately enhance the king’s honor!
This mashal brings out the beauty of the Yidden, says the Chofetz Chaim. Hashem has endless amount of malachim serving him faithfully and loyally. Yet, all their work doesn’t match up to that of the Yidden. The Yidden don’t have the royal clothing and loyalty as that of the melachim, and yet that of the Yidden is greater than the malachim. Hashem takes those who are outstanding and sends them off to This World to bring for him “nice fur.”
The Yidden are faced with challenges that are much harder than those of the malachim, yet in a sense they are greater. They were sent off to a far journey all to bring back the “nice fur.”
