Tzaddik Rectifying Communal Sin

במדרש איכה ג' שאמרו איכה מרע"ה בכבודן של ישראל כו' בפחזותן איכה היתה לזונה כו' ע"ש

In the Midrash on Eichah (chapter 3) the Sages expound the word 'Eichah' ('How') in several ways: 'How' did Moshe Rabbeinu speak regarding the honor of Bnei Yisrael, and so on; 'How' did she become like a harlot in their recklessness, and so forth — see there at length.

The Midrash on Eichah finds several meanings in the word 'Eichah,' connecting Moshe Rabbeinu's words about Bnei Yisrael to the later destruction. The piece sets out to explain this link.

פי' הענין כי כל החטאים שעברו על ישראל הי' מהם שורש גם בהתחלת עליותם

The explanation of the matter is that all the sins which Bnei Yisrael came to transgress had a root already at the very beginning of their ascent.

The Sfas Emes teaches that the sins of Bnei Yisrael were not entirely new; their root already lay hidden in the early days of the nation's rise.

והכל נמשך ע"י הסתלקות השגחת מרע"ה במינוי שרי מאות וכו'

And it all flowed from the withdrawal of the direct watchfulness of Moshe Rabbeinu when he appointed officers of hundreds and so forth.

The starting point of the trouble was the moment Moshe Rabbeinu's personal oversight was diluted by appointing layers of officers over the people.

ומזה בא שאמרו נשלחה אנשים כו' ונצמח מזה אח"כ כל החטאים

From this it came that they said, 'Let us send men' (to spy out the land), and afterward there sprouted from this all the subsequent sins.

Once that direct watchfulness lessened, it opened the door to the request to send the spies, and from that flowed all the later failures.

לכן סידר מרע"ה הדברים כך והאשים א"ע ג"כ בזה שאמר איכה אשא כו'

Therefore Moshe Rabbeinu arranged matters in this fashion and faulted even himself in this, when he said, 'How (Eichah) can I bear alone your trouble and your burden?' (Devarim 1:12).

This is why Moshe Rabbeinu framed his rebuke as he did, even blaming himself with the word 'Eichah' — how can I carry this burden alone.

וכן במ"ש וייטב בעיני כו' כמ"ש במ"א כי תוכחות מרע"ה הי' בכללות בנ"י וגם הוא בתוך כלל ישראל

And likewise with what he said, 'And the matter was good in my eyes' (Devarim 1:23) — as is explained elsewhere — for the rebukes of Moshe Rabbeinu were directed at Bnei Yisrael as a whole, and he too counted himself within the entire klal of Yisrael.

Moshe Rabbeinu's rebukes addressed the entire klal of Yisrael together, and he humbly placed himself within that same whole rather than standing apart from it.

ובמד' ואשימם בראשיכם אשמה של ישראל בראשים כו' משל כלה שנתפחמה ידי' מקנחת בשערה שער מתנאה וידי' מתקנחין כו'

And in the Midrash on 'And I placed them as heads over you' (Devarim 1:15), it expounds that the guilt of Bnei Yisrael rests upon the heads (the leaders), and so on, with the parable of a bride whose hands became blackened with soot, and she wipes them on her hair: the hair is adorned and beautified while her hands are wiped clean, and so forth.

The parable of the bride wiping sooty hands on her hair pictures how the guilt of the people attaches to the leaders, who absorb it the way hair takes the stain while leaving the hands clean.

פי' הענין כתבנו במ"א עפמ"ש הרים אתכם על דייניכם

The explanation of this matter we have written elsewhere, based on what is said, 'I raised you up over your judges.'

The Sfas Emes ties this to the verse 'I raised you up over your judges,' which he explains elsewhere.

פי' שע"י מעשים שנמצאים בפרטי

The meaning is that through the deeds found among individual

He begins to explain that the deeds of ordinary individuals among Bnei Yisrael have an effect that reaches upward.

בנ"י כך בא מזה הירהורים אל צדיקי הדור ג"כ, לכן ע"י שכח הצדיק יפה לתקן החטאים שמגיע אליו ממילא ניתקן כל החטא שבהמון בנ"י

members of Bnei Yisrael, there come from this stray thoughts even to the tzaddikim of the generation as well; therefore, by means of the strength of the tzaddik it is fitting that he rectify the sins that reach him, and through this, of itself, the whole sin found among the masses of Bnei Yisrael is rectified.

Stray, improper thoughts rising from the masses reach even the tzaddikim; the tzaddik's role is to rectify those thoughts within himself, and in doing so he automatically repairs the broader sin of the people.

וזה ענין שערה מתנאה כו'

And this is the matter of 'the hair is adorned,' and so forth.

This is the inner meaning of the parable's phrase that 'the hair is adorned.'

שמעלה וזכות להצדיק שעובד עבודה לשמים לתקן הדברים שקילקלו אחרים וידיהם מתנקות כנ"ל

For it is an elevation and a merit for the tzaddik that he performs avodah for the sake of Shamayim to rectify the things that others have spoiled, and their hands are thereby wiped clean, as above.

The tzaddik is actually elevated and gains merit by laboring for Shamayim to fix what others ruined, so that the people's 'hands' are wiped clean through him.

אך מרע"ה לא הי' יכול לסבול חטא כלל

However, Moshe Rabbeinu was unable to bear sin at all.

Yet Moshe Rabbeinu stood on a higher plane: he simply could not tolerate the presence of sin at all.

וז"ש רש"י אם אומר לקבל שכר לא אוכל

And this is what Rashi says: 'If I were to say to receive reward (for judging you), I cannot.'

Rashi captures this in Moshe Rabbeinu's words that even to receive reward for judging them, he could not.

בלי ספק לא הי' עבודת מרע"ה לקבל פרס

Without a doubt the avodah of Moshe Rabbeinu was not in order to receive a reward.

The Sfas Emes clarifies that Moshe Rabbeinu certainly was not serving in order to collect a reward.

אך הענין כנ"ל שהגם שיכול לבא לתוס' מעלה ע"י תיקון עונות בנ"י כנ"ל עכ"ז לא אוכל

Rather, the matter is as above: that even though he could come to an additional level of greatness through the rectification of the sins of Bnei Yisrael, as explained above, nevertheless 'I cannot.'

The point is that although rectifying the people's sins could have brought him added greatness, he still said 'I cannot' bear it.

כמ"ש איכה אשא כי לא הי' יכול לסבול חטא כלל

As it says, 'How (Eichah) can I bear alone' — for he was unable to bear sin at all.

His words 'How can I bear alone' express that he could not endure sin in any measure.

ועכ"ז אם היו נמשכים אחריו הי' מתקן כל מעשיהם כנ"ל:

And yet, despite this, had they followed after him, he would have rectified all their deeds, as above.

Even so, had Bnei Yisrael truly followed his lead, Moshe Rabbeinu would have rectified all their deeds entirely.

Summary: The Sfas Emes explains the Midrash on Eichah by showing that the sins which led to galus had their root already at the dawn of the nation, when Moshe Rabbeinu's direct oversight was diluted through the appointment of officers, opening the way to the spies and all that followed. This is why Moshe Rabbeinu faulted even himself with the word 'Eichah,' counting himself within the entire klal of Yisrael. He draws on the parable of the bride wiping her sooty hands on her hair to teach how the deeds of individuals send stray thoughts upward to the tzaddikim, whose avodah for Shamayim is to absorb and rectify them, thereby cleansing the people and even elevating themselves. Yet Moshe Rabbeinu stood higher still: he could not tolerate sin at all, declaring 'I cannot,' not for lack of reward but because no sin could remain in his presence. Nevertheless, had Bnei Yisrael truly followed him, he would have rectified all their deeds.