Paths of Faith: Every Jew is Considered a Whole Nation

The Kli Yakar (Numbers 1:1) writes: "Every person of Israel is specially taken care of [with divine providence]... and even one of them is considered like a whole nation."

Rabbi Tauber expands on this by saying that the purpose of all creation can be fulfilled by a single Jew. Hashem created the world to benefit His creations, and this can be accomplished by one person. It is recommended to read about this in his important and profound book. But most importantly, these teachings instill in us a significant and great principle:

We are very important to Hashem.

A person must instill in their heart: I, with my lack of success in spirituality and material matters, am as valuable and important in the eyes of Hashem as a whole world (of course, this does not contradict the need to work on ourselves, but it is inspiring to know that it is not a precondition for Hashem's love). Every moment of my life is so important that for its sake, Hashem is ready to sacrifice the entire world! This is why we say every day in the morning blessings: "And You guard it within me", He Himself keeps my soul within my body, proving how important I am in His eyes!

Hashem Delights and Rejoices with Every Jew

This is what Rabbi Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin writes:

"Just as a person must believe in Hashem, so must he later believe in himself. Meaning, that Hashem has dealings with him and that he is not just some idle worker who came one night and lost the next, heaven forbid" – As a person believes in Hashem, he must believe in himself that Hashem has dealings with him and that he is not just a transient worker who was here one night and lost the next without a trace but "one must believe that his soul is from the source of life, blessed be His name, and Hashem delights and rejoices in it..." (Tzidkat HaTzaddik section 154).

We must recognize our importance! We have a soul from the source of life – which is Hashem, and Hashem delights and rejoices in us!

We have understood and been thrilled by how important every Jew is, how important we are, and among these things, we have also begun to understand how important every moment of a Jew's life is. Let us now delve deeper into how important every moment is in the life of every Jew.

The Importance of a Moment in a Jew's Life

Not only does Hashem need every Jew, but Hashem needs every moment of every Jew, having in it an immense purpose that is beyond our understanding.

Shortening the life even by a minute – even of a person in a vegetative state – is considered murder. Whoever shortens such a person's life even by one minute is considered a murderer. Another minute of life is worth so much in Hashem's eyes because that Jew still had something to rectify in this world. Whoever removes the equipment from them and thus hastens their death even by a minute, is called one who destroys a soul from Israel, heaven forbid. On the other hand, one who maintains this person and cares for their life is considered as if they maintained a whole world.

Saving a Life Overrides Everything

We can also see the importance of every moment of a Jew from the laws of saving a life. The Chafetz Chaim of blessed memory (Bi'ur Halacha, Orach Chaim, Siman 329) learned about the importance of life from another law dealing with the saving of lives.

The law states that even if the case involves a child who is doubtfully a Jew, if he needs medical treatment on the Holy Shabbat, one must desecrate Shabbat to save him. So much so that at that moment, it is the duty of every Jew that this doubtful Jew is before him, even upon the greatest of the generation, to abandon their Torah, their fervent prayers, and their pure tables, to roll up their sleeves and run to save the person who is doubtfully a Jew. The life of a Jew, even of a doubtful Jew, is very important to the Creator, even if he does nothing with it, to the point that He is ready to sacrifice a full world for it. We are too small to understand the sanctity of a Jew's life!

The holiness of the Jewish people is so great that important commandments are set aside for saving a life, as stated in the Torah: "However, you shall keep my Sabbaths... for I am Hashem who sanctifies you" (Exodus 31:13). The "Chatam Sofer" explains the connection between keeping Shabbat and the holiness of the Jewish people: the construction of the temple is deferred for Shabbat, and Shabbat is deferred for saving a life, showing that a Jewish soul is worth more than the Temple. How much Hashem loves the children of Israel!

A Moment of Life Holds All of Life

Rabbi Tauber in his book illustrates the importance of a moment in life through the story of Rabbi Elazar ben Durdaya, who committed all the sins in the world and repented in one moment. Rabbi Elazar, in his true repentance, corrected in one moment all the multitudes of moments in his life.

A Moment of Repentance from Love Can Correct an Entire Life

One must delve into how Rabbi Elazar ben Durdaya acquired his world in one moment? Moreover, it requires explanation of what happened when he heard that his repentance was not being accepted (since he had transgressed the severe sins in the Torah, which one is warned upon to die and not transgress). A man who was deep in the abyss of sin, what shook him when he heard that he cannot repent? It seems to explain that when he heard that they do not accept him back in repentance, he realized that the Creator of the world was about to lose him, meaning to lose a whole world. He understood how much Hashem would care, as it were, to lose an entire world, and how much Hashem was waiting with great distress for him to repent and return to his Father in heaven. This knowledge awakened him from his low state and sparked in him the desire to return to Hashem, no matter what. As explained by the holy books, Rabbi Elazar's repentance was repentance from love, repentance upon which the Sages said: sins become for him as merits. When he heard that he had lost the last opportunity to repent and return to his Father in heaven, a feeling of love towards Hashem awakened within him to such a great extent that his personal fate no longer concerned him. The suffering of the Divine Presence is what captured his heart; he thought: Hashem has lost me. I am not interested in my world or my next world (he thought he wouldn't be accepted back in repentance and wouldn't earn the world to come). But my entire longing is to return to my Father in heaven. Out of this, he cried and cried without cease until he gave his soul to the Creator.

At that moment, he recognized the fact that even though he is lost entirely, in any case, it touched his heart what would happen with the sorrow of Hashem. Hashem has been waiting for him for many years to return to Him, and he runs away from Him. Therefore, when he reached this level of true repentance out of love, he merited that all his sins turned into merits. In one moment, he fixed all the days of his life. He resurrected and revived all the multitude of moments that had been dead until then. He chose the value of life and turned it into eternal life.

We illustrate the matter with a parable from our time. Let us imagine a wanted criminal for whom the police have set up close surveillance near his mother's house. And behold, one day, he is told that his mother is sitting and crying for a long time because she can't see her son, his heart is filled with compassion, the natural love for his mother awakens in him until he thinks: I cannot cause my mother such distress, I will go visit her no matter what, even if it costs me my life. I cannot withstand my mother's sorrow, and so he knowingly enters the trap set for him, just to see his mother. Such was Rabbi Elazar ben Durdaya's repentance. In one moment of repentance, he managed to give meaning to years during which he committed some of the most severe sins.

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