120 – The Need to Travel to the Tzaddik; Musar-Books Alone Are Not Enough
The matter why one needs to travel to the tzaddik—and why books of *musar* are not sufficient—is explained in the Torah: “And G-d said to Moshe: ‘Write this for a memorial in the book, and put in the ears of Yehoshua’” (Exodus 17:14). Even though He commanded him to write it in the book, that alone was not enough; He also commanded: speak it into the ears of Yehoshua—meaning mouth-to-mouth—because the primary impact comes from hearing with one’s own ears the tzaddik’s words. Indeed, as our rabbis taught in the Midrash (on Devarim parashah 3) regarding the verse: “Hear, O Israel, today you cross over the Jordan”, this is expressed in Midrashic language: to a king who betrothed a noblewoman with two pearls, and one was lost—he said, “You lost one; guard the second.” Similarly, the Holy One, blessed-be-He, betrothed Israel with “We will do” and “We will hear.” They lost “We will do,” so Moses said: “You lost ‘we will do’; guard ‘we will hear’: ‘Hear, O Israel.’” This is Midrashic interpretation.
Thus: when one studies from the written book—that is the aspect of *na’aseh* (“we will do”)—there is limited power to awaken the heart because Israel lost that operational commitment. But when one hears directly from the mouth of the tzaddik, it corresponds to *nishma* (“we will hear”), and that receptivity is the crown that remains for Israel.