Chabad Sichos Shoftim
From Wikinoah English
The Rebbe said:[1]
- The Torah despises haughtiness and praises humility. According to the Gemara (Sotah 4b) conceit and haughtiness are equivalent to idol worship. In discussing the Noahide laws, the Gemara (Sanhedrin 56b) learns from the pasuk "vayetzav Hashem Elokim al ha'adam" — "And Hashem commanded the man" (Bereishit 2:16) — that it is forbidden for them to worship idols because the word "tzav" means idol worship.
- When the people murmured against Moshe and Aharon in the wilderness, complaining about the lack of food, Moshe responded "Venachnu mah" — "For what (mah) are we? [Since we are insignificant, why are you inciting complaints against us?] Not against us are your complaints but against Hashem" (Shemot 16:7-8).
- Thus, the word "mitzvah" has in it the letters which spell the word "mah," which is an allusion to humility and self-nullification, and also the word "tzav," which is a reference to idol worship.
- The Torah is instructing us that the king must have a Sefer Torah to which he can constantly refer to, so that his heart will not become haughty and turn from the mitzvah right or left, implying not to delete the letter mem which is at the right of the word mitzvah, or the hei which is at the left. In this case, only the letters tzaddik, vav remain, which spell the word "tzav," hinting that his haughty behavior is comparable to idol worship.
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