The Avos Opened the Gates:
The Tiferes Shmuel explains the words “lift up the head of the sons of Gershon” by explaining that “Gershon” means “to drive away” (as in 1 Shmuel 26:19: “For they have driven me away (gershuni) today from cleaving to Hashem’s portion.) He explains that Torah has the power to bring back the hearts of Yidden who were driven away from kedusha through their sins. The pasuk is saying that these people should not despair because they are “to their fathers’ houses, to their families.” They have Torah as an inheritance from the Avos, and they can always return to it.
The Avos Hakedoshim forged a path for their children to follow. Following their path enables us to always follow their example and return to Hashem. This is as the Kedushas Levi explains the pasuk (Bereishis 18:19): “For I have known him because he commands his sons and his household after him, that they should keep the way of Hashem.” He states that pasuk is saying that Avrohom taught “his sons and his household” to look “after him”. He raised them to look back at what was in the generations before them and to learn from the ways of the past. For this reason, Avrohom did every mitzvah with all of his strength, so that the path he created would be strong and clear and those who come after him will be able to benefit from it. In essence, he opened the door for all his descendants to easily be able to follow him.
