Accordingly, the pasuk in Tehillim is saying that Klal Yisroel is an “am”, a nation. In this verse, the word “atah” (you) is in the singular, which indicates that if the nation is united as one, even if they are “poor” in their observance of Yiddishkeit, they will be delivered and saved by Hashem. It then says that if they have “eyes”, in the plural – meaning if they are not united – even if they are “lofty”, i.e., on a high level of Yiddishkeit, they still will be “humbled”.
It Is Better to Die Than to Get Involved in Machlokes:
The Divrei Shmuel of Slonim zy”a once told someone who got involved in an argument over a seat in shul that he should give in and not make a big deal about it. The man replied, “I would sooner die than give up my rightful seat!”
The Divrei Shmuel replied, “It is better to die than to get involved in a machlokes!”
When There is Achdus, Klal Yisroel Cannot be Harmed:
Yalkut Mei’am Lo’aiz (Parshas Netzavim) relates that there once was an old man who was near death. He called his children to be with him and asked them to bring him a bundle of fresh reeds. When they brought it, he said to one of them, “Can you break this bundle?”
Each one of them tried, but none of them were able to break it in half.
The father then said, “I’ll show you how it can be broken.”
He took one reed out of the bundle and snapped it in half. He then took out each reed one by one and broke all of them. He then said, “You can learn from this that as long as you are together, in one bundle, nothing can break you. But if you are divided, you can be easily broken.”
This is what Moshe told Klal Yisroel. He said: If you will be like one man with one heart, nothing can harm you. Furthermore, the Nevi’im told Klal Yisroel that we will only be redeemed if we are one united people.
(יט, יט)וַיְהִי קוֹל הַשֹּׁפָר הוֹלֵךְ וְחָזֵק מְ אֹד משֶׁה יְדַבֵּר וְהָאֱלֹקִים יַעֲנֶנּוּ בְקוֹל
The sound of the shofar went out and grew increasingly stronger; Moshe would speak and G-d would answer him with a voice. (19:19)
Moshe Still Speaks Today:
The Bais Aharon of Stolin zy”a (quoted in Sefer Birchas Aharon, page 118) notes that the verse says that Moshe “will speak”, in the future tense, rather than “spoke”, in the past tense. He discerns from this that Moshe is still speaking today!
After saying this, the Rebbe tapped his ear and exclaimed, “Whoever wants to hear it, can hear it!”
