"And the entire community of Yisroel shall slaughter it in the afternoon." This does not mean that the entire Klal Yisroel, one by one, sacrificed their korbon Pesach, for if so, it should have stated "slaughter them" and not "it." It goes to say that every korbon which an individual brings is considered to be a sacrifice of the entire body of Klal Yisroel, as stated above. This also includes the fact that if one Jew is killed, it is considered as "the entire community of Klal Yisroel."
And for this shall all the anguished, those who keep Torah and mitzvos, feel upon this terrible blow as if the entire body of Jewry was murdered on Shabbos Kodesh (parshas Bo). And if this was so decreed in Heaven, there must be a great wrath. For not even a fingernail of a Jew can be hurt if not for the overall Providence upon all, and is there not the Heavenly conduct that "for the Guardian of Israel does not sleep nor slumber"?
But when we see the very opposite, it is awesomely terrible. Who can suspect Hashem of acting with the Measure of Judgment? This blow is not a private act, but a blow to the entire body of Israel.
It is written regarding malicious witnesses, eidim zomemim, that the surviving ones "shall hear and see." Even if only two were killed, we believe that every single Jew is considered as the entire community of Adas Yisroel, while the survivors are "the remaining ones."
"Shall hear" means that they will understand and internalize. "In the hidden places shall my soul weep." When there is such a great wrath, we must examine those "hidden places" and see where we fall short.
The Mashgiach dwelled upon the fact that indeed, in our generation, the study of Torah and Halocho has proliferated, as have increased the acts of tzedokoh, far beyond the norm. And he asked,
"If so, why the terrible anger? But we are not prophets nor sons of prophets, but we do possess knowledge which Chazal have imparted to us in order that we can amend, prevent and understand what is expected of us, and why this blow has been visited upon us, this chaos which harvests the good ones as well.
"Rashi in Parshas Noach says, 'Wherever you find licentiousness and idolatry, chaos comes to the world and slays the good among the evil.' Especially so when we see the lack of vigilance 'roaming in the midst of our camp to save us' and hoping to forfend that Hashem 'distances Himself behind us.' This denotes our sense of sight which we sullied that 'anything unseemly should not be seen in our midst.'
"Perhaps the times are amiss. These [Shovovim] are weeks of mending, as the Mashgiach HaRav Yechezkel Levinstein called them. These are times when we should be more cautious and stringent.
There is a more urgent claim, as known that it 'has felled many victims' — the tainted devices of all kinds which are used and viewed, entrapping [their users] with 'there shall not be seen in your midst an unseemly thing - and He will turn from you.'
"Hairs stand on end when we hear of upright people, mitzvah-observant people, even those in holy places, who were felled to the point of shaking off all yoke. Who can believe that a person's private actions of any sort, offering specious pleasure, could bring anarchy to the world. [These devices] should be verily considered as rodef, a dangerous and treacherous entity."
The Mashgiach also said, among other things, "I heard from one to another that in the Agudah convention which took place in Vienna attended by the Chofetz Chaim, the question arose regarding separation. As I understood, the men sat downstairs in the auditorium and the women in the upstairs gallery, but apparently without a partition since some felt that it was unnecessary in that configuration.
"The Chofetz Chaim asked, 'What is the biggest harm that could come to Jewry? That Hashem was leaving us! And in what context was this said? 'Lest He see immodesty by you - and turn away from you.' Therefore, every precaution which can prevent that He turn away from you should be embraced.
"We all know that we find ourselves in difficult times. Upon whom are you relying? Not for naught did Chazal say that in the times before the coming of Moshiach, 'We will have no one upon whom to rely save for our Father in Heaven.' They knew that there would be a plethora of various things which people might believe could save them. However they stated that 'We will have no one whom to rely!' [Meaning that all other things will not help. Only our Father in Heaven.]
"But if you seek to lean upon Hashem, you must be in a fit condition for Him to be with you, help you and save you. If so, how simple it is to be strengthened, regarding all those tainted devices et al.
"To whom is Hashem speaking? To those who don't even understand that language? Hashem is speaking to us, to our talmidei chachomim who study the holy Torah. The measure of good is plentiful, and each of us must try to add to it, and his merit will be great indeed."
