God spoke at Sinai in two voices at once. Tanna DeBei Eliyahu Rabbah 25:1 notices that the Ten Commandments begin with public thunder, but the words move between plural and singular: God speaks to all Israel, and also to each person standing there (Exodus 20:1-2).
That double address creates a double duty. Every person must say, "For my sake the world was created." But nobody may use that sentence as permission to retreat into comfort while the community suffers. The same person who matters infinitely is also responsible infinitely.
The midrash attacks the voice that says, Let me eat, drink, and enjoy my house while others are in distress. Isaiah already heard that voice: "Eating meat and drinking wine, eat and drink, for tomorrow we die" (Isaiah 22:13). Heaven does not treat that as harmless despair. It is a refusal to carry the burden with the people.
Even a sage as great as Moses, even a pious man like Aaron, cannot sit peacefully at home when the many are suffering. Torah is acquired through study and good deeds, but also through leaving the private room when the public wound is open.
Abraham becomes the model. He feared Heaven, fought the kings, and refused the king of Sodom's wealth (Genesis 14:21-23). He did not build righteousness by staying untouched. He entered the trouble and came back clean.
[1] "And God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God, etc." (Exodus 20:1-2) Blessed is the Place, blessed is He, who chose Israel from all His handiwork and acquired them as a complete acquisition and called them sons and servants to His name. Sometimes He speaks with them as He speaks with the many, and sometimes He speaks with them as He speaks with the individual. And why all this? Only because of the love with which He loves them and because of the joy with which He rejoices in them. Therefore, He speaks with them in the singular and in the plural. Therefore, I would say that every single one of Israel is obligated to say, When will my deeds reach the deeds of my forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for the forefathers did not acquire this world and the world to come and the days of the son of David except through their good deeds and Torah study. And so the Sages taught in the Mishnah, Every single one of Israel is obligated to say, For my sake the world was created, and a person should not say in his heart to himself, The world to come is nothing but chaos and void, therefore I will follow the stubbornness of my heart and eat and drink and enjoy in this world, and afterward I will depart from this world. And if he does so, about him it is said, The fool says in his heart, There is no God, and if he is a scholar, wisdom and understanding are withheld from him, and if he turns himself to other matters, about him the verse says (Isaiah 32:6), For a fool speaks folly, etc. And similarly, a person should not see the many in distress and say, I will follow the stubbornness of my heart and eat and drink and enjoy in this world, and if he does so, about him the verse says (Isaiah 22:13), And behold, joy and gladness, killing cattle and slaughtering sheep, eating meat and drinking wine, eat and drink for tomorrow we die. What is written after it? And it was revealed in the ears of the Lord of Hosts, if this iniquity will be atoned for you until you die. So far, the intermediate measure. But in the measure of the wicked, what is written about them? The verse says (Isaiah 56:12), Come, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink, and tomorrow will be like this day, even greater, much more. What is written after it? (Isaiah 57:1) The righteous perishes, and no one takes it to heart, etc. What is the matter of what follows? Peace will come, they will rest on their beds, he who walks uprightly, etc. From here the Sages said, Even a sage from Israel who is like Moses, who was a father to sages and a father to prophets, and pious like Aaron his brother, should not say, Here I am in joy in my house, and peace be to you, my soul, but he should leave his house and be with the community in distress. But how does a person acquire his Father in Heaven and the world to come? You should say that he acquires for the Holy One, blessed be He, through good deeds and Torah study, and the Holy One, blessed be He, grants him this world and the world to come and the days of the son of David. And these are the good deeds by which a person acquires for the Holy One, blessed be He, and the world to come within them: through love and brotherhood and fear and peace and friendship, and through truth and peace, and through lowliness of knee, and through humility, and through much sitting and little commerce, and through serving sages, and through the discussion of students, and through a good heart, and through proper conduct, and through no and no, and yes and yes. We learned from our father Abraham that at the beginning of his deeds he had fear before the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said (Genesis 15:1), After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, Do not fear, Abram, I am your shield, and they do not say to a person, Do not fear, except to one who truly fears Heaven. And his parable, to what is it likened? To a king who said to his son, My son, go and kill all these bandits, and do not take anything from their wealth if they fall into your hand, so that they will not say, The king’s son did not go out to kill these bandits except to take their wealth. Immediately he went out and killed all the bandits. Upon his return, his father went out to meet him and said to him, Blessed are you, my son, and may you have satisfaction in the world, for you did not benefit at all from their wealth. Now come with me, and I will give you all the precious vessels in the world and fine stones and pearls from my treasury. And so it was likened to our father Abraham, when he went out to kill the kings, upon his return the king of Sodom went out to meet him, and it seemed to the king of Sodom that Abraham would not return anything to him. He requested and said to Abraham, Please give me the people, and take the possessions for yourself (Genesis 14:21-22). Immediately, Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lifted my hand to the Lord, etc., if from a thread to a sandal strap, and if I take anything of all that is yours, etc., and I have already sworn that I will not take anything of all that is yours. And Abraham said to the king of Sodom, Fool of the world, do I need your silver and gold and all your precious vessels? I will cast it all before you to the ground, and you will see that I did not benefit at all from your wealth, except only what the young men ate, etc. At that moment, Abraham sanctified the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, and stood and returned all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah. Immediately after these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, etc., Your reward is very great. And so we learned from Isaac that at the beginning of his deeds he truly feared Heaven, for Isaac was seventy-five years old when Abraham entered his eternal home, and Isaac said, Woe is me, perhaps I do not have good deeds like my father had, what will become of me before the Holy One, blessed be He? Immediately, the mercies of the Holy One, blessed be He, were stirred for him, and He stood with him at that moment, as it is said (Genesis 26:24), And the Lord appeared to him that night, etc. And so we learned from our father Jacob that at the beginning of his deeds he had fear before the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said (Genesis 28:17), And he was afraid and said, How awesome is this place, etc. And so we learned from our early forefathers that at the beginning of their deeds they had fear before the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said (Exodus 14:31), And the people feared the Lord, etc. Thus you have learned that in reward for the fear that our holy forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had of the Holy One, blessed be He, and in reward for the faith that Israel believed in the Holy One, blessed be He, when they were in Egypt, they were redeemed from Egypt, and the sea was split for them. And so it will be in the future, that the Holy One, blessed be He, will come and redeem Israel from among the nations and bring them the days of the son of David and the days of our redemption, as it is said (Micah 4:10), Be in pain and labor, daughter of Zion, like a woman in childbirth, etc., and you will come to Babylon, there you will be rescued, there the Lord will redeem you from the hand of your enemies. And all the sins of Israel are left in Babylon, and they ascend pure to the land of Israel, as it is said (Zechariah 5:9), And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming out, etc., and they lifted the ephah between the earth and the heavens. And I said to the angel who spoke with me, Where are they taking the ephah? And he said to me, To build a house for it in the land of Shinar, and it was established and set there, etc. And why is its name called Shinar? Because it shakes off all the sins from it. Therefore, it is said, To build a house for it in the land of Shinar. What is, And it was established and set there on its base? This verse refers back and applies to the Tabernacle that was hidden in its place, and so the Ark with the tablets inside it, and the chest that the Philistines sent as a gift to the Holy One, blessed be He, and Aaron’s staff, and the flask of the anointing oil, and the jar of manna, as it is said (Exodus 16:33), And Moses said to Aaron, Take one jar and put there a full omer of manna, etc., and Aaron placed it before the Testimony for safekeeping, so that Jeremiah the prophet would say to them, This is the manna that I fed Israel in the wilderness. The Ark and the tablets within it, how so? As it is said (Deuteronomy 5), These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly on the mountain from the midst of the fire, etc., He said to them, These are the words, they are the Ten Commandments that I spoke with you at Sinai. And why was the Tabernacle hidden until this day? Because the righteous made it with the generosity of their hearts, and it is difficult before the Holy One, blessed be He, to destroy all that the righteous made with the generosity of their hearts. And in the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will come and dwell within it as in the first measure, as it is said (Song of Songs 4:16), Awake, north wind, and come, south wind, etc., I have come to my garden, my sister, my bride, I have gathered my myrrh with my spice, etc. (Another interpretation) I have come to my garden, these are the synagogues and study houses, my sister, my bride, this is the congregation of Israel, I have gathered my myrrh with my spice, these are the Torah, Prophets, and Writings, I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey, these are the Midrash, laws, and legends, I have drunk my wine with my milk, these are the good deeds that the sages of Israel store up for them, and afterward, Eat, friends, drink, and be drunk, beloved ones.
