2. Understading the Hierarchy

The Transmitter

The idea that people must rely upon a Jewish leader to foster their Divine awareness and connection may seem surprising. We are all G‑d’s people, so why is an external influence needed to awaken our soul’s intrinsic bond with G‑d? Why are some souls designed to be unaware of their connection, requiring a Rebbe to “plug them in”? What is gained by this apparent imbalance?

This question takes us back to the very beginning of our people’s history. At Sinai, G‑d spoke to the entire nation as a unique event. Subsequently, Moshe, our faithful leader, was required to take on the pivotal role of delivering G‑d’s Torah to the people.32

This was not by choice. Moshe preferred for all of the Jews to hear the entire Torah directly from G‑d. However, the Jewish People requested that Moshe become the transmitter of G‑d’s word.33 They asked for Moshe to act as an intermediary, to “stand between them and G‑d.”34

Standing between the people and G‑d, Moshe’s task was not to intercept or disturb the flow of G‑dly instruction and inspiration. Instead, Moshe channeled it towards them, bringing it within their reach without compromising its potency.35

Similar to the role of the “heads of the people,” who are capable of causing ordinary people to experience advanced sensitivity to G‑dliness, Moshe was responsible for conveying the G‑dly empowerment that comes along with the informational instructions.36

Moshe’s unadulterated transmission of G‑dliness causes him to be defined as a memutza hamechaber, a bridging intermediary, in contrast to a memutza hamafsik, an intercepting intermediary.37

One may wonder: Why did the people want an intermediary?

Just days earlier, during the preparation for the Giving of the Torah, the nation requested that G‑d speak to them directly. Arguing that there is no comparison between hearing a message from a messenger and hearing it directly from the king himself, they pleaded, “We want to see our King!”38 Why the sudden change of heart?

The concern raised by the people was that they would not be able to survive the awesome revelation, thus requiring Moshe to receive the Torah on their behalf.39 But did they not just experience the wondrous revelation of the Ten Commandments, and yet G‑d caused them to survive?40 Surely G‑d was capable of extending further protection so that hearing the Torah directly from Him would likewise do no harm.41

Furthermore, they are no less G‑d’s children than Moshe; why should such revelation be okay for Moshe, but not for the average Jew?

Bridging the Gap

The explanation: The mission of the Jewish People is to reveal G‑d’s Oneness within this world.42 Therefore, inborn G‑dly awareness and extensive revelation for all is not within the Jewish People’s best interests.

Being a target of direct G‑dly revelation is somewhat of a detachment from the world. It is an exit to a spiritual plane.43 While spiritual awareness has virtue, the Sinaitic revelation of purpose is best appreciated within our world. It is here that practical, day-to-day mitzvos cause the world to become a home for G‑d’s Presence.44

To this end, G‑d made most souls suited for life in this world by causing them to be less in touch with the Divine reality. In the Jewish People’s “body-like structure,” most souls correspond to external, function-oriented limbs, rather than representing the spiritually-oriented brain. G‑d wants us to operate within this world even at the expense of spiritual revelation.45

Being that we are designed to feel unaware of our soul connection to properly do G‑d’s work within the world, our holy leaders come to provide valuable assistance. The “heads” of the Jewish People connect us to who we truly are, aligning our function-focused actions with the depths of our Jewish identity. These dedicated “intermediaries” bridge the infinite and the tangible, strengthening our dedication to G‑d and our ability to fulfill His mission.46

On a related note, this also explains the age-old Jewish practice of asking the righteous to pray to G‑d on our behalf.47 While it may seem to be an unnecessary mediation between us and G‑d, the Talmud tells us: “If someone in your household is unwell, go to the sage so that he pray on your behalf.”48

This is well understood according to the above insight into a tzaddik’s keen awareness of the needs of others. Because the tzaddik perceives the depths of the issue and is filled with genuine concern, the tzaddik’s prayers can be of greater sincerity than the suffering individual or their loved ones. The prayers of the head are more effective than those of the foot, simply because the head truly cares.49

By asking a Rebbe to pray on one’s behalf, the person expresses a deep and soulful bond. The individual recognizes that the Rebbe is not simply a person of greater spiritual stature, but a leader who is one with his flock. Ultimately, one comes to realize that the Rebbe and themselves are inherently one.50

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1. What is a Rebbe

3. The Collective Soul

Footnotes

32.

As emphasized in the verse (Devarim 33:4): “The Torah that Moshe commanded us is the heritage of the Congregation of Yaakov.” Significantly, halachah mandates this verse be taught to young children as soon as they start to speak. Sukkah 42a; Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De’ah, 245:5; Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, Hilchos Talmud Torah, 1:1.

33.

Devarim 5:19ff.; Shemos 20:16.

34.

Devarim 5:5.

35.

This is reflected in the statement of our Sages that the Shechinah spoke through Moshe’s throat; Zohar III, 232a; Shemos Rabbah, 3:15; Vayikra Rabbah, 2:3; Mechilta, Shemos 18:19. See Igros Kodesh, Rebbe Maharash, p. 101 (and sources cited in fn. 37), in the name of the Alter Rebbe, who explained this to be like a funnel which directs the flow of liquid without affecting its quality.

36.

See Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 16, pp. 206-207, based on Likkutei Torah, Devarim, 2d.

37.

See Sefer HaMaamarim 5659, pp. 190, 194; Sefer HaMaamarim 5682, pp. 285f.

38.

Mechilta and Rashi on Shemos 19:9.

39.

Devarim 5:19ff; Shemos 20:16.

40.

The people told Moshe: “… G‑d has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we heard His voice from the midst of the fire; we saw this day that G‑d can speak directly with human beings, yet they remain alive.” “So now, why should we die?” they asked.

Explaining their fear of being consumed by this great fire, they said: “If we continue to hear the voice of G‑d, we will die.” “Of all flesh,” they reasoned, “who else is there who heard the living G‑d’s voice speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?” Therefore: “You [Moshe] approach, and hear all that G‑d will say, and speak to us all that which G‑d will speak to you, and we will hear and do.” Devarim 5:19-24.

41.

See Sefer HaSichos 5749, Vol. 1, p. 229.

42.

See above, p. 202.

43.

The natural consequence of such revelation would be for the soul to abandon the body out of yearning to exist in a place of Divine awareness rather than concealment. This was the reason that a specific act of G‑d was necessary to preserve their lives during the revelation at Sinai. See Shabbos 88b.

44.

See above, pp. 34f., and Chapter Ten, below, pp. 350ff.

45.

Sefer HaSichos 5749, Vol. 1, pp. 229-230.

46.

See Sefer HaSichos 5749, Vol. 1, pp. 399-400.

47.

See Targum Yonasan and Ramban on Bereishis 25:22, who explain that our matriarch Rivkah went to the sages of the time to request that they pray on her behalf. See Shaalos U’Teshuvos Chasam Sofer, Orach Chaim, sec. 166.

48.

Bava Basra 116a; see Rashbam, ibid., who adds: “According to this, one should turn to a sage for assistance with prayer at any time of need, not only in a case of illness.” This teaching is codified as halachah in Rema, Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De’ah, 335:10. See Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 11, p. 173. See also Taanis 23a, in reference to Choni HaMe’agel, and Berachos 34b, in reference to Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa.

49.

Shaalos U’Teshuvos Chasam Sofer, Orach Chaim, sec. 166. Although it is said that the prayers of the sick person are more effective than the prayers of others on their behalf (Bereishis Rabbah, 53:14; Rashi, Bereishis 21:17), this is only true when the others are impartial, or only sympathetic. However, a Rebbe is not “another,” or apart from the individual in distress. Pain is registered primarily in the brain and only then communicated to the ailing limb. Similarly, the Rebbe truly experiences the individual’s pain because they are one. Toras Menachem, Vol. 2, pp. 31-33.

See One By One, p. 44 (JEM, 2019), where Rabbi Shmuel Kaplan shares the response the Rebbe gave to a struggling teenager who doubted if the Rebbe truly felt what she was going through: “When you will merit to grow up and marry, G‑d willing, you will have a child. The nature of things is that towards the end of the first year, the child will begin to teethe. Teething is painful and the child cries. And a mother feels that pain as if it was her own. ‘Kach Ani margish tzaara,’ this is how I feel your pain.”

50.

Toras Menachem, Vol. 2, pp. 31-33.

Rabbi Nissan Dovid Dubov, a rabbinic scholar, lecturer and author, is director of Chabad Lubavitch in Wimbledon, UK.

Rabbi Naftoli Hertz Pewzner is an instructor of Chassidic thought and practice at Rabbinical College of America in Morristown, NJ

2. Understading the Hierarchy

The Transmitter

Bridging the Gap

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The Transmitter

Bridging the Gap

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