What
Is
“the
People’s
Shepherd
Is
the
Whole
People”
in
the
Work?
Article
No.
13,
1988
It
is
written
in
The
Zohar
(Beshalach,
Item
68):
“‘And
Moses
said
to
the
people,
‘Do
not
fear;
stand
by
and
see
the
salvation
of
the
Lord.’’
Rabbi
Shimon
said,
‘Happy
are
Israel
that
a
shepherd
such
as
Moses
walks
among
them.
It
is
written,
‘And
He
remembered
the
days
of
old,
Moses
is
His
people.’
‘And
He
remembered
the
days
of
old’
is
the
Creator.
‘Moses
is
His
people,’
since
Moses
was
tantamount
to
the
whole
of
Israel.
We
learn
from
this
that
the
people’s
shepherd
is
really
the
whole
people.
If
he
is
rewarded,
the
whole
of
the
people
are
righteous;
and
if
he
is
not
rewarded,
the
whole
of
the
people
are
not
rewarded
and
are
punished
because
of
him.’”
We
should
understand
this
in
the
work,
where
we
learn
everything
in
one
body,
meaning
that
both
Moses
and
Israel
are
in
the
same
body.
We
should
also
understand
why
if
he
is
not
rewarded,
meaning
the
people’s
shepherd,
they
are
punished
because
of
him.
We
learned
that
if
the
shepherd
is
righteous,
the
people
are
also
righteous.
But
why
should
the
people
be
punished
because
of
him?
What
did
they
do
that
they
are
to
blame
for
the
fault
of
the
shepherd?
It
known
that
The
Zohar
calls
Moses
“the
faithful
shepherd.”
Baal
HaSulam
interpreted
that
he
was
nourishing
the
people
of
Israel
with
faith.
He
said
that
man
does
not
lack
any
power
in
order
to
be
able
to
observe
Torah
and
Mitzvot
[commandments/good
deeds]
in
full,
but
only
faith.
To
the
extent
that
he
has
faith,
to
that
extent
he
can
exert
in
the
work.
He
says
in
the
“Introduction
to
The
Study
of
the
Ten
Sefirot”
(Item
14):
“I
once
interpreted
the
saying
of
our
sages,
‘He
whose
Torah
is
his
trade.’
The
measure
of
his
faith
is
apparent
in
his
practice
of
Torah
because
the
letters
of
the
word
Umanuto
[his
trade]
are
the
same
[in
Hebrew]
as
the
letters
of
the
word
Emunato
[his
faith].
It
is
like
a
person
who
trusts
his
friend
and
lends
him
money.
He
may
trust
him
with
a
pound,
and
if
he
asks
for
two
pounds
he
will
refuse
to
lend
him.
He
may
also
trust
him
with
all
his
property
without
a
hint
of
fear.
This
last
faith
is
considered
‘whole
faith,’
and
the
previous
forms
are
considered
‘incomplete
faith.’
Rather
it
is
partial
faith.”
Thus,
we
see
that
man
lacks
no
power
but
only
faith,
and
this
is
what
gives
man
the
power
to
work.
By
this
we
can
interpret
what
Rabbi
Shimon
said,
“Happy
are
Israel
that
a
faithful
shepherd
such
as
Moses
walks
among
them.”
It
means
that
the
people
of
Israel
have
within
them
faith,
which
is
called
“Moses,
the
faithful
shepherd.”
Then,
since
they
have
faith,
they
have
the
strength
to
engage
in
Torah
and
Mitzvot.
In
other
words,
within
every
person
there
is
faith
in
the
Creator,
which
is
called
“Moses,
the
faithful
shepherd.”
At
that
time
the
whole
people
are
righteous,
meaning
that
all
of
man’s
organs,
namely
his
thoughts
and
desires,
which
are
called
“organs,”
and
this
is
called
“a
people.”
This
is
the
meaning
of
what
is
written,
“‘And
He
remembered
the
days
of
old’
is
the
Creator.
‘Moses
is
His
people,’
since
Moses
was
tantamount
to
the
whole
of
Israel.”
We
learn
from
this
that
“the
people’s
shepherd
is
really
the
whole
people,”
for
the
faith
in
man
is
the
whole
of
man.
That
is,
if
he
has
the
quality
of
Moses,
which
is
called
“faith,”
then
the
whole
people
are
righteous.
This
is
why
he
says,
“If
he
is
rewarded,
the
whole
people
are
righteous,”
for
“rewarded”
means
that
his
shepherd
is
faith,
called
Moses.
He
says,
“If
he
is
not
rewarded,
the
whole
people
are
not
rewarded
and
are
punished
because
of
him.”
It
is
known
that
if
there
is
a
righteous,
he
protects
the
generation,
and
if
there
is
no
righteous,
we
can
say
that
there
is
no
one
to
save
the
generation.
Yet,
why
are
they
punished
because
of
him
if
he
is
not
rewarded?
Why
is
it
the
generation’s
fault?
According
to
the
rule
that
Baal
HaSulam
said,
all
the
heaviness
in
the
work
of
the
Creator
is
only
the
lack
of
faith,
since
when
a
person
is
rewarded
with
complete
faith,
he
yearns
to
annul
before
the
Creator
as
a
candle
before
a
torch.
Naturally,
all
his
organs,
meaning
his
thoughts
and
desires,
follow
what
faith
obligates
him
to
do,
they
do
it.
This
is
why
he
says
that
if
he
is
rewarded,
all
the
organs
are
righteous,
since
thoughts
and
desires
of
the
righteous
extend
from
faith
in
the
Creator.
Accordingly,
it
is
obvious
that
if
the
people’s
shepherd
is
not
rewarded,
meaning
that
his
faith,
which
should
be
cleansed,
meaning
complete
faith,
yet
he
has
only
partial
faith,
as
it
is
written
(“Introduction
to
the
Study
of
the
Ten
Sefirot,”
Item
14),
“the
whole
people
are
not
rewarded.”
This
means
that
all
his
organs
do
things
that
are
suitable
for
those
without
complete
faith.
“They
are
punished
because
of
him,”
meaning
that
it
is
not
their
fault
that
they
have
thoughts
and
desires
unfit
for
one
who
has
faith.
That
is,
if
their
shepherd
had
complete
faith,
the
organs
would
listen
to
him
and
would
have
thoughts
and
desires
of
a
righteous.
This
is
why
they
suffer
because
of
him,
since
he
does
not
have
complete
faith.
This
is
why
such
thoughts
are
born
out
of
this
shepherd.
Therefore,
when
a
person
wants
to
walk
on
the
path
of
truth,
he
cannot
say
that
he
has
worse
qualities
than
others,
and
less
intellect
than
others.
That
is,
he
cannot
exempt
himself
from
the
work
because
he
has
a
weak
character
or
no
talent.
Instead,
the
only
difficulty
in
the
matter
is
the
lack
of
faith.
For
this
reason,
a
person
should
do
all
his
work
and
all
his
actions
in
order
to
acquire
faith
in
the
Creator,
for
only
this
gives
everything.
For
this
reason,
when
a
person
learns
Torah
or
engages
in
Mitzvot,
or
when
he
prays,
he
should
focus
his
thoughts
on
wanting
reward
for
all
his
good
deeds—that
the
Creator
will
give
him
complete
faith.
This
is
as
it
is
written
in
the
prayer
of
Rabbi
Elimelech
(“A
Prayer
before
a
Prayer”):
“And
do
fix
Your
Faith
in
our
hearts
forever
and
ever,
and
let
Your
Faith
be
tied
to
our
hearts
as
a
stake
that
will
not
fall.”
This
is
the
meaning
of
“The
people’s
shepherd
is
really
the
whole
people.”
In
order
to
achieve
complete
faith,
they
said,
“He
who
comes
to
purify
is
aided.”
The
reason
is
that
since
faith
requires
assistance
from
the
Creator,
and
there
is
a
rule,
“There
is
no
light
without
a
Kli
[vessel],”
it
means
that
it
is
impossible
to
fill
up
a
place
where
there
is
no
lack,
which
is
called
a
need,
namely
a
Kli,
as
he
said,
“there
is
no
light
without
a
Kli.”
In
order
to
come
to
feel
the
need
for
faith,
a
person
must
first
imagine
what
benefits
he
can
derive
through
faith,
and
what
he
loses
when
he
has
only
partial
faith.
First,
he
must
depict
to
himself
the
purpose
of
creation,
meaning
for
what
purpose
the
Creator
created
creation.
Then,
he
must
believe
in
the
sages,
who
said
that
the
purpose
of
creation
is
to
do
good
to
His
creations.
When
a
person
begins
to
examine
creation
with
his
eyes,
meaning
which
form
of
good
and
doing
good
he
sees
that
the
creatures
are
receiving
from
Him,
the
opposite
view
appears
to
man.
He
sees
that
the
whole
world
suffers
torments,
and
it
is
hard
to
find
one
person
who
can
say
that
he
feels
and
sees
how
His
guidance
is
in
the
form
of
good
and
doing
good.
In
that
state,
when
he
sees
a
dark
world,
and
he
wants
to
believe
that
the
Creator
behaves
with
the
world
in
Private
Providence
as
good
and
doing
good,
he
remains
standing
on
this
point,
and
all
kinds
of
foreign
thoughts
come
into
his
mind.
Then,
he
must
overcome
above
reason,
that
Providence
is
good
and
does
good.
At
that
time
he
receives
a
need
for
the
Creator
to
give
him
the
power
of
faith,
so
he
will
have
the
strength
to
go
above
reason
and
justify
Providence.
Then
he
can
understand
the
meaning
of
“Shechina
[Divinity]
in
the
dust,”
since
then
he
sees
that
where
he
should
do
something
for
the
Creator
and
not
for
his
own
sake,
the
body
promptly
asks,
“What
is
this
work
for
you?”
and
does
not
want
to
give
him
strength
to
work.
This
is
called
“Shechina
in
the
dust,”
meaning
that
what
he
wants
to
do
for
the
sake
of
the
Shechina
tastes
to
him
like
dust
and
he
is
powerless
to
overcome
his
thoughts
and
desires.
At
that
time
a
person
realizes
that
all
he
lacks
in
order
to
have
strength
to
work
is
that
the
Creator
will
give
him
the
power
of
faith,
as
said
above
(in
the
prayer
of
Rabbi
Elimelech),
that
we
must
pray,
“And
do
fix
Your
Faith
in
our
hearts
forever
and
ever.”
In
that
state,
he
comes
to
the
realization
that
“If
the
Creator
does
not
help
him,
he
cannot
overcome
it.”
Now
we
can
interpret
what
our
sages
said
(Berachot
6b),
“Any
person
in
whom
there
is
fear
of
heaven,
his
words
are
heard,”
as
it
was
said,
“In
the
end,
all
is
heard,
fear
God.”
This
is
difficult
to
understand
literally.
After
all,
there
were
many
prophets
and
righteous
and
great
people,
so
why
were
their
words
not
heard,
but
Israel
remained
in
their
state
and
would
not
listen
to
those
who
admonish?
In
the
literal,
there
are
probably
many
explanations
to
this.
However,
in
the
work,
where
we
learn
the
whole
Torah
in
one
body,
we
should
interpret
this
verse.
One
who
wants
his
body,
meaning
all
the
organs,
which
are
the
thoughts,
desires,
and
actions,
to
be
purely
sacred,
the
advice
for
this,
for
the
body
to
obey
all
his
demands,
is
to
obtain
complete
faith,
which
is
called
“fear
of
heaven.”
There
are
many
degrees
in
fear,
as
it
is
said
in
The
Zohar
(“Introduction
of
The
Book
of
Zohar,”
Item
191),
“Fear,
which
is
the
most
important,
is
when
one
fears
one’s
Master
because
He
is
great
and
ruling,
the
essence
and
the
root
of
all
the
worlds,
and
everything
is
considered
nothing
compared
to
Him.”
Interpreting
the
words
teaches
us
that
there
are
three
manners
in
fear
of
the
Creator,
only
one
of
which
is
regarded
as
real
fear:
1)
He
fears
the
Creator
and
observes
His
commandments
so
his
sons
may
live,
and
he
will
be
kept
from
bodily
punishment
or
a
punishment
to
his
wealth.
This
is
a
fear
of
punishments
in
this
world.
2)
He
fears
punishments
of
Hell,
as
well.
Those
two
are
not
real
fear,
for
he
does
not
keep
the
fear
because
of
the
commandment
of
the
Creator,
but
because
of
his
own
benefit.
It
follows
that
his
own
benefit
is
the
root,
and
fear
is
a
derived
branch
of
his
own
benefit.
3)
Fear,
which
is
the
most
important,
means
that
he
fears
the
Creator
because
He
is
great
and
rules
over
everything.
He
is
great
because
He
is
the
root
from
which
all
the
worlds
expand.
It
follows
that
the
most
important
point
about
fear
of
heaven
is
to
believe
in
the
greatness
of
the
Creator,
for
the
greatness
and
importance
of
the
Creator
is
the
reason
that
obligates
him
to
observe
Torah
and
Mitzvot,
and
not
for
his
own
sake.
It
is
as
he
says
there,
“And
he
will
place
his
heart
and
desires
in
that
place
called
‘fear.’
He
will
cling
to
fear
of
the
Creator
willingly
and
eagerly,
as
is
befitting
and
proper
with
the
King’s
commandment.”
When
a
person
is
rewarded
with
such
faith,
meaning
that
he
feels
in
his
heart
the
greatness
of
the
Creator,
the
body
and
all
the
organs,
meaning
the
desires,
thoughts,
and
actions,
annul
before
the
King
as
a
candle
before
a
torch.