“Hashem spoke to Moshe…let them turn back and encamp before Pi HaChiros…. And so they did” (Shemos 14:1-4).
Rashi comments: This is the praise of the Jewish nation – that they obeyed Moshe and did not say, “How can we come close to our enemies? We need to flee.” Instead they said, “All we have are the words of Moshe the son of Amram.”
The Tiferes Shlomo cites the Yalkut Shimoni, which states that the Jewish nation merited to leave Mitzrayim in the zechus of their faith in Hashem and their emunas chachamim (faith in the sages), as the Torah says, “And they believed in Hashem and Moshe, His servant” (Shemos 14:31).
Pirkei Avos (6:6) teaches us that emunas chachamim is one of 48 items with which Torah is acquired. The Tiferes Shlomo explains that emunas chachamim means having total belief in the guidance of tzaddikim in all matters. Even if we differ with their opinion, we are commanded (Devarim 17:11), “You shall not deviate from what they tell you, right or left” – i.e. to be neither more stringent or less stringent.
Just like our redemption from Egypt came in the merit of our emunah, so will our future redemption.
The Sefer Midei Shabbat V’Shabbato observes that each generation is more removed from the experience at Sinai and thus further removed from understanding the Torah, but Hashem has established leaders in every generation to guide us.
Moshe Rabbeinu merited to learn Torah from the mouth of Hashem; he also ascended to Shamayim alive and wrote the Torah under the guidance of Hashem. “Never again has there arisen in Israel a navi like Moshe” (Devarim 34:10). Our sages tell us that “the face of Moshe was like the face of the sun while the face of Yehoshua was like the face of the moon.” Nonetheless, after Moshe installed Yehoshua as his successor, Hashem revealed Himself to him and said, “Just as I was with Moshe, I will be with you. I will not leave you. Be strong.” And, indeed, Yehoshua led the Jewish nation into Eretz Yisrael and conquered the land.
The Jewish nation has never been leaderless. The Talmud (Yoma 38b) cites Koheles 1:5, which indicates that no righteous person departs from this world until another comparable person is created. Each generation’s leader is blessed with divine direction and spirit, and his teachings come under the same Torah injunction of “You shall not deviate from what they tell you.”
Until the time of R’ Yehuda HaNasi, the Torah Shebe’al Peh was passed down orally from generation to generation. After the destruction of the Temple, R’ Yehuda HaNasi wrote down the Oral Torah to ensure that the chain of transmission would remain unbroken. When the chain of transmission weakened over the generations, the Rambam undertook to write his Yad HaChazakah, codifying all the Talmudic rulings. Later R’ Yosef Karo undertook a similar project when he authored the Shulchan Aruch.
The Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 25b) states that Yiftach in his generation is like Shmuel in his generation. In other words, even the least distinguished individual must be treated like the greatest of the great once he is appointed the leader. All the halachos that were recorded in earlier generations by their leaders are followed today despite the fact that they may not have been equal to Moshe Rabbeinu. The words of our leaders are treated as if they originated from Hashem Himself, Moshe Rabbeinu, or the 70 elders.
The Satmar Rebbe explains that the words, “And they believed in Hashem and Moshe, His servant” signifies that the Jewish people’s faith in Hashem was guided by Moshe Rabbeinu. If one follows the mesorah and has faith in the chachamim, he will be directed in the proper path.
R’ Shmuel Dovid Herzog recounted the following about his father, R’ Yonah Herzog, z”l, of Kedem Winery fame.
As a young man, R’ Yonah learned at the Galanta Yeshiva, whose rav was completely dedicated to his students and who later died as a martyr in the Holocaust. Like all the students of the Galanter, R’ Yonah very much loved his rebbe and had a very close relationship with him.
R’ Yonah miraculously survived the war, but his parents and most of his extended family perished al kiddush Hashem. After the war, when the Herzog family came to America, they settled in Williamsburg. R’ Yonah, whose family had been in the winemaking business in Europe for decades, found menial work at a winery but barely made a living, and the family lived in dire poverty for many years.
At some point, R’ Yonah was offered a job as caretaker of a shul, which actually paid more. However, R’ Yonah, as a disciple of the Galanter Rav, never made a life-changing decision without consulting a rav. So, having become close to the Satmar Rebbe in Williamsburg, R’ Yonah decided to speak to him. He explained his position to the Rebbe and waited for his response. The Rebbe advised him to remain where he was and said he would eventually be successful.
During that difficult period, R’ Yonah had a dream in which the Galanter Rav appeared to him and said, “Wine remains with wine.” When he recalled his dream in the morning, R’ Yonah immediately went to relate his experience to the Satmar Rebbe who confirmed that if the great Galanter Rebbe had troubled himself to appear to him, there was no doubt that his decision to remain in the wine business would be to his advantage.
Within 10 years, R’ Yonah became the owner of Kedem Wines, the largest kosher winery in the world. Kedem Wines are renowned for their quality and are distributed worldwide, with several of their wines having won various wine competitions.