Transmission of Torah Learning

Which I command you today (Deuteronomy 11:13). On what basis can you claim that if a person hears a word of Torah from the mouth of the least of Israel, he should regard it as if he’d heard it directly from the mouth of a sage? The Teaching states: Which I command you (Deuteronomy 11:13). And not only as if he’d heard it directly from the mouth of a single sage, but, rather, as if he’d heard it directly from the mouth of sages as a whole! For it is said: The words of sages are like cattle-prods (Ecclesiastes 12:11)—just as your cattle-prod directs the cow along her furrow to bring life to her owner, so, too, words of Torah direct a person’s mind toward the mind of the All-Present! And not only as if he’d heard it directly from the mouth of a majority of sages, but, rather, as if he’d heard it directly from the mouth of the Sanhedrin as a whole, for it is said: Masters of assemblies (Ecclesiastes 12:11)—and the term assemblies [’asupot] implies the Sanhedrin, for it is said: Assemble [’esfah] for me seventy men of the elders of Israel (Numbers 11:16). And not only as if he’d heard it directly from the mouth of the Sanhedrin, but, rather, as if he’d heard it directly from the mouth of Moses, for it is said: They were given by one shepherd (Ecclesiastes 12:11). And He says: Then His people remembered the old days, with Moses (Isaiah 63:11). And not only as if he’d heard it directly from the mouth of Moses, but, rather, as if he’d heard it directly from the mouth of the Power! For it is said: They were given by one shepherd (Ecclesiastes 12:11). And He says: Lend an ear, O Shepherd of Israel, Who guides Joseph like a flock (Psalm 80:2). And, furthermore, He says: Listen, Israel! HASHEM is our God, HASHEM is One (Deuteronomy 6:4).