“You shall not be a gossipmonger among your people; you shall not stand aside while your fellow’s blood is shed…you shall not hate your brother in your heart; you shall reprove your fellow…” (Vayikra 19:16-17).
Our sages derive from here that even a tzaddik, a righteous person, is not permitted to make negative remarks about his fellow Jew. Just as a parent protects his children at all costs, so too Hashem, our Father, protects His nation at all costs.
We learn that when the tribes of Reuven, Gad, and half of Menashe requested the land east of the Jordan (instead of entering Eretz Yisrael proper), Moshe Rabbeinu denounced them, saying, “You have risen up in place of your fathers, a society of sinful people…” (Bamidbar 32:14). It would seem that these words of reproach were certainly warranted, yet the sefer Reishis Chachma states that Moshe was punished for his words and one of his descendants became a priest.
The Abir Yaakov, R’ Yaakov Abuchatzeira, points out that Eliyahu HaNavi similarly once spoke unfavorably about the Jewish People. “The children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant; they have razed Your altars….” (Melachim I, 19:10-14). Immediately afterwards, Hashem instructed Eliyahu HaNavi to designate Elisha to be the prophet in his stead.
What should Moshe Rabbeinu and Eliyahu HaNavi have done differently? After all, as leaders of the Jewish nation, they were invested in doing their utmost for their welfare and success.
The Abir Yaakov explains that Hashem wanted them to pray for the Jewish people to do teshuva. One of the primary missions of a leader is to defend and protect the reputation and physical wellbeing of his people. We see this when Avraham Avinu sought to save the city of Sodom from destruction when he pleaded with Hashem to spare the city if righteous people could be found. Similarly, after the Jewish people sinned with the golden calf, Moshe Rabbeinu pleaded for Hashem’s mercy on their behalf, stating that if He did not forgive them, then he wishes to have his name erased from the Torah. Also, if a tzaddik does not utilize the opportunity to pray for the Jewish people, there can be troublesome ramifications, as we see by Noach. The Ari expounds that because Noach did not pray for the people of his generation, the waters of the flood were attributed to him and called “mei Noach” – the waters of Noach.
The Talmud states that when a tzaddik does not pray for another person who needs to do teshuva, then the tzaddik becomes partially responsible for the sinner’s actions and liable for punishment.
The mitzvah of “You shall not stand aside while your fellow’s blood is shed… You shall not hate your brother in your heart” suggests that with tefillah, one can help his fellow man and bring him back to Hashem. This is as it says in Yechezkel 3:19, “But if you did warn the wicked one, yet he does not turn away from his wickedness… he will die for his iniquity…and you will have saved your soul.”
The great Rabbi Nissim Yagen, who was a major force in the teshuva movement, worked arduously to bring all Jews closer to Hashem, to let the light of Torah shine for all groups and all segments of the community. He would often arrange Shabbatons and travel to a community for Shabbos for this purpose. By the end of the Shabbos he would be successful in persuading families to sign up to have their children to attend yeshivos and Bais Yaakovs.
Rabbi Yisroel Gellis was once together with him at a Shabbaton in Mitzpe Ramon, where there was one shul. After the tefillah on Friday night, as the gabbai sweetly wished them both a gut Shabbos, he closed the lights in the bais haknesses.
R’ Yisroel Gellis was distraught and was ready to shout, “Shabbos!”
Sensing R’ Gellis’ distress, R’ Yagen grabbed his hand and told him to be quiet. Outside the shul, he explained to R’ Gellis that this gabbai did not know what was wrong with what he was doing. “He had probably done it all the years. “If you shout at him now, nothing good will happen,” he said. “Let me take care of this in my own way.”
On motzei Shabbos, R’ Yagen left and returned to his house in Yerushalayim. The next morning, everyone was surprised to see R’ Yagen back at Mitzpe Ramon after the morning prayers.
The gabbai asked him, “Didn’t the rav go back to Yerushalayim last night?”
“Yes,” he said, “I traveled there and then I returned. I brought a present for you,” he said, and gave the gabbai a wrapped box.
R’ Yagen said to the gabbai: “You are already an older person and it is difficult to do all the work of a gabbai. I brought you a brand-new Shabbos clock that will be able to turn the lights on and off on Shabbos according to your wishes. You won’t have to trouble yourself to go to the switches and turn off the lights manually.
Nobody had ever given the gabbai a present to make his life easier, like this Rav, and the gabbai was very moved. He said to the Rav: “You didn’t have to come today or tomorrow. It won’t be Shabbos for another six days.”
Rabbi Yagen explained: “If you have to do a good deed, do not wait even an extra minute. Do the mitzvah on the spot. Do it immediately. You can never tell what obstacle may come up in the future. When a mitzvah comes your way, do not postpone it.”
