ערכו הרם של כל יהודי
The high value of every Jew
וַיֹּאמֶר ה' אֶל מֹּשֶה רֵד הָעֵד בָעָם פֶן יֶהֶרְ סוּ אֶל ה' לִרְ אוֹת וְנָפַל מִמֶנּוּ רָב: (יט, כא)
Hashem said to Moshe, “Go down, warn the people, lest they destroy, to Hashem, to see, and many will fall among them. (19:21)
Rashi explains: And many will fall from among them – whatever may fall from among them, even if it is an individual, is considered many before Me. Lest they destroy – Any destruction separates the entirety of a structure. So too, those who separate from an organized position of men, destroy the position.
These words of Rashi teach us that one must look at every neshama of Israel as something valuable. Rashi’s words need clarification, for though it is true that the loss of any Jewish soul is a great loss, still, how can we say that the fall of one soul is considered like many?
At first glance we can say that HaKadosh Baruch Hu intended to say a person cannot assess the true loss of the individual, and only HaKadosh Baruch Hu knows the value of every individual. He knows that the attribute of the individual could be equal to the loss of a large multitude.
As said in the name of the Rebbe Elimelech who said that he worked about thirteen years on the trait of ‘Ahavas Yisrael’, and after attaining this, he merited to love every Jewish person, but his trait of love was still very distant from the love that HaKadosh Baruch Hu has for His nation. He very loved R’ Micheleh of Zlotichov very much, but HaKadosh Baruch Hu loves the most wicked man of Israel countless times more than he loves Rebbe Micheleh, since HaKadosh Baruch Hu knows well the worth of every Jew as he is.
Therefore, we must assess the value of every Jew, and we must know that it is not possible to assess the great reward one earns for benefitting an individual of Israel, because we cannot assess the benefit of one’s internal worth.
However, aside from the simple understanding of these words of Rashi, we can explain the words in another way, that is, that the truth of the matter is that every Jew is equivalent to many, for his death cuts off his roots, and he can no longer have children and establish more souls in Israel.
This is also a great teaching for us, how we must cherish every Jewish soul and bring them closer to Torah and avodah. This is also included in the teaching of our Rabbis z”l (Sanhedrin37a), ‘whoever saves a single life from Israel is considered as if he had preserved an entire world’, because the essence od the person is to establish that essence for the generations after him. When we merit to bring a life of Israel closer and get him used to the good, then we also set up his children after him, and we find through this that if the person brings one life of Israel closer, he also brings a multitude of lives that are yet to be born.
This point is essential for parents and teachers to know, that they see fit to increase words of encouragement and affection to their children and their pupils, for through this they will make the Torah precious to them, and they will crave to go higher in levels of Torah and yirah [fear], and after they too build their homes, they will continue the legacy of their fathers without any deviation, and they will also have their children after them get used to the right ways. This is how they will establish in the merit of the parents and teachers many lives that walk in the ways of Torah and yirah. But if the mechanchim [teachers] do not conduct themselves with the character of ‘bring closer with the right hand’, the children will lose out and their training will deflect the proper desire for the Torah, and even if they follow the words of their parents and teachers, this will only be because they were forced to and not out of an inner desire. Because of this it is possible that the Torah will be hated in their eyes, and when they grow up and the yoke of their chinuch [education, training] is removed from them, they will chas v’shalom follow the desires of their hearts, and they will find that they and their children and all their descendants will flee outside the camp...
Even a friend can sometimes influence generations with a good word he says to his friend, when it lifts his friend’s spirits with words of encouragement and vitality. We have heard many stories from those who testified that when they were young and dealing with the difficulties of youth and they needed a drop of encouragement in order to follow in the footsteps of their fathers, and their friends supported them, [sometimes unintentionally], but it was enough for them to carry on and get through the difficult times, and in their merit, they were able to establish a house of Torah and Judaism.
We can also say that in order to explain Rashi’s words, that the truth of the matter is that every individual is considered like many, for by keeping their Torah it benefits his generation, and sometimes we are referring to a tzaddik that an entire generation exists in his merit and the difference between him being there and not changes the character of his generation. Therefore, when he passes away, the generation lowers terribly, and his death is considered as if the whole generation died, since the generation that continues without him is completely changed. Even if we are not talking about a tzaddik, it is not possible to know his inner nature, for sometimes even a simple person has an inner dot of good which is only in him, and because of it his worth is great in Heaven, and the whole generation benefits due to his merit.
This is why Rashi continues to explain the word ‘yehersu’, ‘Lest they destroy – Any destruction separates the entirety of a structure. So too, those who separate from an organized position of men, destroy the position.’ He means that if you take out one brick from a row of bricks, all the rows above it fall down. The same applies if even one person is missing, he makes the entire Jewish structure be lacking, for even this person dies, he also lived for himself, and it is not discernible how he benefited the Jewish structure in general. This is just the result of our material aspect. But HaKadosh Baruch Hu Who understands the kidneys and the heart, knows that even the loss of an individual is a loss for the community in general, for his merit protects the community.
It is a teaching for us that the person knows that his good deeds can have a positive effect on everyone of his generation, and so too the opposite way, he must understand that his bad deeds can cause evil to everyone of his generation. The ‘Chofetz Chaim’ in his sefer ‘Shmiras Halashon’ (Shaar Hatenuva Perek 6), compares this to someone who makes a hole in a boat claiming that the hole is only in his portion, but actually causes the whole ship to sink. Before the Creator, Am Yisrael is considered like one boat, and if there is a flaw in even one Jew, the whole ship can sink. Every one of Israel is responsible for all of Am Yisrael, since he is part of the building.
