Now she says, “You want to know why Moshe Rabbeinu spoke in hint? Because of the respect of the Jewish people.” So I saw a sefer from Moshe Sternbuch, and he writes: What does “because of the respect of the Jewish people” mean? He says that, simply speaking, it means Moshe Rabbeinu didn’t want to rebuke directly because he wanted to be respectful to them. But he says, no, it’s a little deeper than that. What it means is that when Moshe Rabbeinu is going to rebuke the Jewish people, he wanted to make sure that he could maintain their respect. Because if he could maintain their respect, they will listen to the rebuke.
What does that mean? That means if you tell someone that they’re doing wrong, they immediately shut down. But if you tell someone they’re a great person, everything is wonderful, and maybe they could adjust this slightly, then they’ll listen. So Moshe Rabbeinu said, “I’m going to maintain their respect, maintain their dignity while I rebuke them,” because there’s a much better chance they’ll listen. For example, if you talk to your kid and tell your kid something, and you give them a label—“You’re obnoxious”—big mistake. They’ll defend themselves and hear it tomorrow. But if instead you say, “You’re a wonderful kid, but what you just said came out obnoxious,” you maintain their respect, and if you maintain their respect, they will listen so much more.
That’s what the pasuk (verse) means: “Rebuke other people at times when it’s necessary to do so, and don’t carry the sin.” Simply, it means that when I rebuke you, I shouldn’t carry the sin of insulting you and hurting you. But he explains it to mean that when I rebuke you, I shouldn’t put a sin on you. Because if I label you as a person who sins, you’re not going to listen to me.
So here’s what Hashem does. Hashem keeps most of our life a secret, because if everything we thought were out there in public, we would be so mortified. We wouldn’t function. So Hashem says, “I’m going to protect your kavod. I’m going to protect your dignity. I’m going to protect your honor.” You know how I’m going to do so? I’m going to make you look good. And the main thing you’re going to have to work on is going to be internal things that the world can’t see. So you’ll still be respected. You’ll still be treated properly. You’ll still be treated like a good person, even though inside you have so much to work on.
Just like Moshe Rabbeinu did it in hint form in order to maintain their dignity. Just like when you rebuke someone, you have to make sure that you keep their kavod. It’s the only way they’ll listen. It’s what Hashem does to us in our lives. He makes the actions that we do relatively easy. And the hard work, He makes the hard work a secret, so that as we walk around in public, we can maintain our dignity. But if all you do is get satisfied with the show, there’s so much work that you’re ignoring. And so many of us are so much more focused on the show.