A great rule in the service of G-d – The need for a Rebbe:
The opening verse of this week’s portion begins with the words “and these are the journeys of the Jewish people who left Egypt in the hands of Moshe and Aaron.” A further verse of Scripture states “and you lead the flock of your nation in the hands of Moshe and Aaron.” The following is a great rule in the service of G-d, that anyone who desires to become close to G-d then he must make sure that his heart is completely cleansed without any blemishes, following the verse “who shall go up to the mountain of G-d, those who are of clean hands and clear hearts, one who doesn’t elevate his soul for no purpose.” Hence, one should not attempt to elevate his soul in the ways of G-d for vanity and falsehood, G-d forbid. [Meaning, that if one has yet to achieve a completely cleansed heart, then he should not attempt to elevate himself to areas and levels that he cannot reach, as this will be an elevation of vanity and falsehood. Likewise, that he should not try to elevate himself in service of G-d for reasons of vanity and falsehood.] Now, certainly this level of service of G-d is very deep, and hence who is able to achieve it? So, the answer is that indeed on one’s own it is impossible for one to reach such a level, however, it is able to be reached through the help of Moshe and Aaron. This is the inner meaning behind the above verse of Scripture, that is not possible for the Jewish people to leave their personal Egypt, which are the constraints of evil within his soul, without the help and leadership of Moshe and Aaron. If a person attempts to elevate himself above without Moshe and Aaron he will never be successful.
Moshe Shushvinin Dimalka: How do Moshe and Aaron assist the person in reaching G-d and elevating his soul? This is through them feeding the soul of the individual with the aspect of Moshe and Aaron which refers to the Torah and Mitzvah’s. Moshe is the escort of the king, which refer to the attributes in the world of Atzilus, from which the 248 positive commands derive. Likewise, Moshe comes from Daas and Chochmah of Atzilus, which is from where the Torah derives. Hence, one must first introduce the aspect of Moshe, Torah and Mitzvah’s, for the sake of then elevating his soul to G-d in prayer. Now, how does Moshe being in the escort of the king connect with the idea of Mitzvos? So the purpose of an escort by a wedding is to escort the groom to unite with his bride. This is likewise the function of the Torah and Mitzvah’s, to draw down the light of G-d to below to make for them a dwelling place below. For example, when a person wears a Tallis and Tzitzis in the morning he draws upon himself the G-dly energy that is found within the Mitzvah, and causes the encompassing light of G-d to surround him.
Aaron Shushvinisa Dimatronisa: Aaron is the escort of the Queen which refers to the attribute of Malchus, and represents the love of G-d that is aroused during prayer. Accordingly one needs both the level of Moshe and Aaron in order to accomplish elevation and service of G-d.
Which comes first: Just like in scripture at times the name of Moshe is written before the name of Aaron and at times name of Aaron are mentioned before the name of Moshe, so too it is regarding service of G-d. At times one must precede Torah and Mitzvah’s to one’s prayer, in order to be able to pray with love, while at other times one must first arouse love in his prayer and only then is he to proceed with the study of Torah and Mitzvah’s.
- The Divine lesson: A most glaring lesson shines from the above teaching. Although Moshe and Aaron in the above teaching are interpreted to refer to Torah and Mitzvah’s and prayer, certainly, it does not leave the simple explanation which is the personalities of Moshe and Aaron as leaders. Thus, the teaching is saying that it is not possible for one to truly elevate himself to the mountain of G-d without the assistance of a Moshe, and Rebbe. The Rebbe escorts his followers in service of G-d and helps them leave their personal Egypt and skeletons of their heart. This is a most fundamental aspect in the teachings of Chassidus and one of the great revolutions of Judaism infiltrated by the Baal Shem Tov, the concept of a Rebbe.