וַיִּמָּסְרוּ מֵאַלְפֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶלֶף לַמַּטֶּה שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר אֶלֶף חֲלוּצֵי צָבָא (לא, ה)
From the thousands of Yisroel one thousand was given over for each tribe, twelve thousand armed for battle. (31:5)
Permitted Informing:
The Ruzhiner Rebbe zy”a explains this pasuk by quoting the Gemara (Chulin 109B) that says that everything forbidden by the Torah has something similar to it that is permitted. For example, if the Torah forbids a certain food, it permits another food that tastes the same. With this in mind, he asks: The Torah forbids informing on a fellow Yid. What similar thing to this is permitted?
He answers that it is permitted to “inform” on a Yid who is trying to hide his greatness from others. It is permitted to reveal to others that this man is a tzadik!
In this pasuk, Hashem issues a command to choose righteous men to fight for Klal Yisroel. It is certain that such tzadikim are all very humble, so when asked to step forward, they would certainly say that they are not tzadikim and are not worthy of being chosen. Therefore, Hashem commanded that they be “given over”, meaning that their neighbors should inform on them and let everyone know that they are tzadikim.