All the legions of Hashem left the land of Egypt. (Bereishis 12:41)

HaRav Baruch Mordechai Ezrachi Shlita points out that usually when discussing “Klal Yisrael” in the Torah, the phrase “Bnei Yisrael” is used. Why in this situation did the Torah address “Klal Yisrael” as “Tzivos” – legions – and what exactly does that word mean?

The Malachim are called “Tzvakos”. We know that when a Malach finishes its service it ceases to exist. Rabbi Ezrachi points out that there is a reason that they don’t “die”. Animals die; Jews are “niftar”, which means that they are relieved of being in this world and they move on to the next world, whereas the Malach simply ceases to exist. He explains that the entire purpose of the Malach is to perform its mission in the world. When that mission is finished, it becomes non-existent. A Jew in this world has a mission, but after that mission is completed, he moves on to the next sphere.

When we say that someone is a soldier, we are not just describing his occupation, rather it is a term that describes the persona of the enlisted man. He is an army man 24/7, because even in his “off” hours, he is also in the army.

When Klal Yisrael left Egypt, this verse tells us that they had clarity of purpose. They understood that their purpose of existence was to bring about kavod Shamayim – honor of Hashem. Based on this idea, we view the Exodus from Egypt not only as an exodus from physical and spiritual bondage, but as moving us into a new realm of being servants of Hashem. The Gemara says that whatever a servant acquires, his master acquires, for the servant does not have his own faculty of ownership. This is what it means “avadai heim” – that the Jews have become servants to Hashem. However, this only explains the negative aspect, that as Jews we are not our own individuals. But when the Torah says “Tzivos Hashem”, it means that the Jews have a purpose. Our purpose in life is to be a conduit towards greater honor of Hashem in this world.

It is told of the Chasam Sofer that he would sweat profusely while giving a shiur. Someone once asked him why he finds it so strenuous to deliver his shiur. The Chasam Sofer said, “I am constantly changing the shiur as I perceive the level of my students rising and falling, trying to calculate what to say that will get them to grow to the greatest degree. It is not due to a lack of what to say, but how to present it in a way that will be most advantageous to the whole group.”

This idea seems to be taken from a concept of the Baal Hafla’ah (Rabbi Pinchas HaLevi Horowitz, d. 1805, the Rebbe of the Chasam Sofer). Chazal tell us: If the Rebbe appears as a Malach, learn from him; if he does not appear as a Malach, do not learn from him. The simple meaning of this is that if you perceive your rebbe as a super-righteous person, then you can accept Torah from him. However, the Hafla’ah explains this as follows: Since a Malach is only created for a singular purpose, it does not have the ability to rise and fall. Malachim do not perform miracles to show that they are great, but rather to give us a glimpse into the greatness of Hashem. Similarly, if you perceive your Rebbe as a person whose sole interest in life is to move his students forward, that is the kind of Rebbe you should have. But if you perceive your Rebbe as one who is using his shiur in order to gain greater understanding for himself, you will not be successful in gaining Torah from him.

When we left Egypt, this idea of our existence was clear to us, to bring about Kavod Shamayim. I believe it is important to occasionally bring this back into focus when we learn Torah and do mitzvos. We need to think about our ultimate goal: To exclusively promote the Kovod of Hakadosh Baruch Hu.