"And you shall command the Children of Israel" (Exodus 27:20). Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk, in Parashat Tetzaveh, asks a question that cuts to the heart of what tzaddikim (a righteous person) (the righteous) actually do: how can a righteous person perform wonders, healing the sick, freeing the imprisoned, revealing Torah secrets, when "there is nothing new under the sun"?
The answer lies in creation's architecture. When God said "Let there be light" (Genesis 1:3), light was created in its place above. Everything made below is a copy; the root remains in the upper worlds. Every miracle, every healing, every new insight, the root already exists. The tzaddik does not create from nothing. The tzaddik shakes the root above, causing it to manifest below.
King David expressed this: "Great deeds have You accomplished, God. Your wonders and Your thoughts are upon us" (Psalms 40:6). "Your wonders", the healings and deliverances. "Your thoughts", the Torah secrets. They are "upon us", accessible to us, because the roots are already in place.
God tells Moses: "And you shall command", tetzaveh, related to the word for directing blessing and abundance. God is saying: you, too, can direct blessing upon Israel by shaking the supernal roots. "They shall take to you pure olive oil", the olive oil symbolizes the great, pure flow of divine abundance. The verse says "to you" rather than "for them" because when the tzaddik sees Israel flourishing, it gives the tzaddik as much pleasure as if the abundance were their own.
Rebbe Elimelech adds a second reading: the passage also teaches how to give rebuke. A person who wants to reprimand others must first be holy in all aspects, body, spirit, and soul (Nefesh, Ruach (spirit), Neshamah (the higher soul)). Only then can they rebuke without transferring sin.
"And you shall command the Children of Israel, (etc.)" It appears appropriate to explain [this verse] in combination with the verse that King David, peace be upon him, stated "Great [deeds] have [You] accomplished, You, Hashem, my G-d, Your wonders and Your thoughts [have been] upon us," etc. It appears to me that apparently one must understand: How is it possible that a Tzaddik performs wonders to cure the sick or free the imprisoned, and other such acts, if, after all, there is nothing new under the sun, or that a Tzaddik innovates secrets of the Torah, how does this come about for the Tzaddik? The matter is as follows: Behold, Hashem, May He be Blessed, His nation and His ministers are light, as it is written, "And G-d said, "Let there be light, and there was light," which signifies that light was created anew there in its place and from there the light is brought down below; and we find that the root remains above. And so the Holy One Blessed be He did with everything He made, the root above and everything made below is through the movement of man moves and shakes the root above that is [then] brought down below. And that is the meaning of, "Great [deeds] have [You] accomplished," meaning that "You, Hashem," have performed and made the many causes and actions, and we find that the root [of these actions] is above, and so, "Your wonders" that we innovate, meaning the cure and the livelihood and every [other] matter, and "Your thoughts," meaning the secrets of the Torah, are "upon us," we are able to do all of them. And this is what the Holy One Blessed be He said to Moshe Rabbeinu, "And you shall command," which is a term of directive related to the influxes of of blessing and mercy, as it is written, "and I have commanded/directed my blessing," etc., and the Holy One Blessed be He said, "And you," the Vav adds to the matter, meaning that you also shall command blessing and influx upon Israel, because everything "commands" and "stands" from the mouth of the Holy One Blessed be He and it imprinted in its source, just that also "you shall command" to shake the supernal root, "and they shall take to you pure olive oil," and the "olive oil" is a hint to the great and pure influx, and the reason is it stated, "to you" when it should have stated "for them," is because the Tzadik, upon seeing that Israel is absorbed in abundance, that gives benefit and pleasure to him, as if the influx was for him, and this is easy to understand. Or, let one say that the Holy Torah teaches us the ways of ethics and rebuke, how a person should reprimand his colleague, in that, behold, a person that wants to reprimand people needs to be holy and pure in all his aspects, meaning [the three levels of the soul] N"R"N [Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama], he [should be] holy and his body holy, and [only] then, "you shall surely rebuke/reprimand your fellow compatriot and not carry the sin upon him," because if not this way, in that he has subjected all his ways to holiness and purity, then it is impossible that his rebuke be proper, even if he commands people well and they act according to his word; still both will be unable to complete their tasks fully, and their hearts will go astray: this one in that he will have in his heart a sense of self-aggrandizement, how great is his level that he gave merit to his friend in a mitzvah (commandment) of Hashem, to do it, and all arrogant (self-important) people are an abomination to Hashem, and the other one will also have in his heart a sense of self-aggrandizement, in that he will act act haughtily before people and will not do the mitzvah in a full manner [simply] for the honor of Hashem, and instead there will only be many distractions [leading him astray] in his heart; and all this is because this one that commands the other to do good is not whole in his righteousness and in all aspects of his [character] as discussed previously; however, the Tzadik that is whole, for him it is fitting and proper to reprimand, and the one that follows his command, even in his presence will not feel haughty when close to him due to any form of distraction - neither the one that commands nor the ones that act, rather [the result will be] only that both [sides] as one will do good for the sake of Hashem, may He be Blessed. And this is [the meaning of], "And you," that the Vav is that which adds to the matter, meaning "you" with all of your qualities mentioned above, "shall command the Children of Israel," in line of what is written in the Talmud, "and Hashem - that is His court," meaning that the Vav is what adds to the matter, and similarly to that is the interpretation here, "and you shall command" for good, for that is what is called a command, in line with what is written in [the holy] books, one commands regarding the good and warns regarding the bad, and if you shall command them with all of your qualities mentioned above, you will accomplish that you all will not come to be led astray by other distractions - not you and not them, and that is, "and they shall bring to you olive oil," meaning all of the repentances and commandments they will do, which is the hint of, "pure olive oil," "crushed for the light," as is found in the holy Alshich's commentary at length, that a person needs to crush and break himself with hardships and abstentions for the service of the Creator may He be blessed, see there, and all of this is even if they perform [the repentances and commandments] in front of you, you all will not come to be led astray by another distraction, G-d forbid, and that is, "and they shall bring to you," which means in front of you, that you see their actions as commanded by you and you all will not turn to any distraction, [performing the deeds] solely for the unification of His Name, may He be blessed, "to light the eternal lamp," which means that your intentions will be only to elevate the holiness and the supernal light which is called, "Lamp," the explanation of "eternal" is that you shall see that the holiness and the supernal light will not move from you forever. And this is the explanation of the verse, "an eternal fire will burn upon the altar," for which the explanation is that the verse is warning that the holiness and the supernal light will remain burning in you so that you will not extinguish it forever, meaning that you shall add light and holiness so that it will not be extinguished forever. And regarding this our sages, may their memories be for a blessing, stated, "[The term] Tzav [command] specifically means [a call] for alacrity at the moment as well as for future generations," and also regarding this our sages, may their memories be for a blessing, taught us an ethical instruction to reprimand people in this way, meaning that they should hold [think of] themselves always with great humility and without any [sense of elevated] level [or status], just like someone who is now starting their service of the Creator, [starting] with the first principle that brings about [proper] service of Him, may He be blessed, which is alacrity; in line with this concept, the Tanna (a rabbinic authority at the time of the Mishnah) stated, "Alacrity brings about... (etc.) up until [one reaches] the holy spirit, etc.," and we therefore find that, through alacrity, a person can reach great levels, but even so, if he has all of these elevated levels, he should hold [think of] himself as only being at the level of just beginning to have alacrity. And this [statement] that, "[The term] Tzav [command] (specifically means [a call] for alacrity)," means that the essence of a command, in your desire to command that one come to His service, blessed be He, is that you should command them in a way that is "simply a call for alacrity," meaning that they should not hold themselves to be on any level whatsoever, rather at the beginning, which is alacrity, whether "at the moment," or "for future generations," which means even if he has [already obtained] all of the levels.
