Holy Fire Discourses from the Gaon and Tzaddik, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a

"Aaron your brother the Levite, I know that he will surely speak (ki daber yedaber hu)"

—Aaron would go and teach others—

The commentators explain the virtue of Aaron the Kohen (Priest), "that he will surely speak," meaning he teaches young children. He will teach the children; he knows how to teach the Aleph-Bet (alphabet), he knows how to read the Chumash (Five Books of Moses), he knows how to read the Siddur (prayer book). And he will go and know Mishnah, and he will go and know Gemara (Talmud). He goes from one person to another; he went from tent to tent, spoke with children and strengthened them, saw people quarreling and made peace—he is one who "will surely speak."

What is desired from a person is that he "surely speaks," that he shouldn't be falsely humble now, that he shouldn't say, "Who am I? What am I?" I am truly connected to the True Tzaddik (righteous leader), through the power of Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses our Teacher); he should run and speak day and night. We need a person who speaks day and night, running from land to land, from Yeshiva (Torah academy) to Yeshiva, from city to city, from village to village, from settlement to settlement—like Rabbi Shalom Arush, day and night, day and night, he doesn't sleep, doesn't eat, he speaks twenty-four hours a day, so that the Tzaddik "will surely speak."

Therefore, He chose Aaron the Kohen; this is the virtue for which Aaron the Kohen was chosen—he will run and speak, go day and night. "Such a person I need," says Hashem (God), may He be blessed. He can be the Kohen Gadol (High Priest).

Moshe Rabbeinu, the True Tzaddik, is the Tzaddik who transmits all the broadcasts, all the speech, all the thoughts. But to be the Kohen Gadol is to be one who runs day and night and speaks day and night without tiring for a moment, without stopping for a moment, without sleeping, without eating, without thinking about himself in any word he speaks.

A person must know that all his words come from the power of the Tzaddik, but he must speak. He shouldn't wait for invitations; he shouldn't wait for someone to beg him or ask him to run from city to city, from village to village. He should speak, and the Tzaddik will transmit everything; he will already see to it that all of this is heard by the entire world.

When a person knows that everything is the Tzaddik, and all the strength is from the Tzaddik, and all the words are from the Tzaddik, then his words are heard throughout the entire world. Princes and judges of the earth, kings and nations—everyone will hear these words. Therefore, one must constantly be connected to the Tzaddik, who is called the "Kotza d'Ot Dalet" (the point of the letter Dalet, representing humility), for only he is the truly humble one, who can transmit all the broadcasts, all the speech, and the thoughts so that they pierce all hearts. Without this Tzaddik, then "every proud heart is an abomination to Hashem." Without this Tzaddik, everything is just pride.

One who does not know of the Tzaddik, then everything he does will be pride. He just speaks, just influences; he is the "head of the influencers," the "head of the speakers." But if he is not connected to the Tzaddik, then he must strive to speak day and night without ceasing, twenty-four hours a day, without resting, without sleeping, and know that everything is the power of the Tzaddik—he himself does nothing.

For if, Heaven forbid, a person has even one thought, one reflection, that "I did something," he is already called "Abimelech" (representing the ego of leadership). This is "an abomination to Hashem is every proud heart." And even those he speaks with—he will not influence them. If a person has any reflection of pride, then even those he speaks with, he can no longer influence them; they see his pride, they see the scheme he has in his heart—that he only wants honor.

Mandatory Credit: After the Tzaddik Live