We are familiar with the idea that there is an advantage of being part of a tzibur. This means that though a person may not have certain merits or qualities, if these qualities are found in the tzibur he latches on to these qualities and reaps the rewards or advantages that the group gets.

We also know that sometimes if a person is part of a tzibur which acts improperly, he too can be punished being that he is part of that group.

However, this week I saw in the Malbim an interesting idea, which sometimes brings about a win-win situation. Moshe Rabbeinu ascended to a level of closeness to Hashem through the benefit of being the leader of Klal Yisrael.  True, he had the qualities necessary and was deserving of the position, but nonetheless his constituency is what gave him that special relationship with Hashem. When Klal Yisrael sinned with the Golden Calf, Moshe Rabbeinu was told “Lech reid” (go down) and Chazal comment “reid m’gedulasecha…” (you are demoted from your privileged stance because your nation has transgressed.) Here the Malbim comments that though Moshe’s position was lowered because of Klal Yisrael’s sin, his personal relationship with Hashem which was developed because of Klal Yisrael was not diminished.

After four or eight years in office, the President of the United States leaves his position and becomes a regular citizen. Most of these past presidents then travel the world giving lectures at an exorbitant fee (generally the fee for one lecture is about the same as the salary the president received for an entire year of service). From here we see that though the former president is powerless and is just part of the regular citizenry, his personal glory is still upheld.

It is obvious to me that the reason this is true, is because the experience actually changes the essence of the person. As Purim has passed, and we reflect on that experience and it is still fresh in our minds, we need to latch onto it and let it change us. We can maintain the glory of the day, even though the stupor has worn off.