Musar su I Cronache 17:21

And in order to set one's mind at rest in this, I have thought it fit to introduce an exalted thought here which is rooted in the Yerushalmi adduced by Semag, that if one were walking on the road and struck one of his feet with the other and, in doing so, fell to the ground and hurt his body, his face and also that foot — aside from the fact that it would never enter his mind to take revenge of that foot by [desisting] from healing it, he would also harbor no hatred whatsoever against it. For what is the foot and what are his body and his face — they all are one [body], but divided into organs. Rather, he would reason that his sins caused this. Here, too, if it happened that his friend did not benefit him with a certain good that he asked of him, or even if he grieved or insulted him in some way, he should not avenge himself and harbor hatred against him. For who is his friend and who is he? Both are from one root, as it is written (I Chronicles 17:21): "And who is like Your people, Israel, one nation in the land?" And it is written [Bereshith 46:27): "All of the soul of the house of Jacob that came etc." It is not written "souls," to teach us that all the souls of Israel above are reckoned as one soul. It is just that each one is an entity in itself. As with a man in his entirety — even though, as a whole, he is one man, still, he has organs which are "heads" to him, like the head and the heart; and there are those beneath these, like the hand and the foot. And it is also into one rest that all of Israel will gather in the end — under the Throne of Glory — as it is written (I Samuel 25:29): "And the soul of my lord will be bound in the bond of life with the L-rd your G-d, etc." It is just that because in this world, where everyone is clothed in his own matter by himself, and because each of his affairs and undertakings is an entity in itself that a man imagines himself to be a distinct person and not "one" with his fellow Jew at all — but this is not so.

And this is the language of the holy Zohar in Parshath Terumah on Psalms 129:126): "It is a time to act for the L-rd," viz.: "So long as the Torah endures in the world and men occupy themselves with it, the Holy One Blessed be He rejoices in the work of His hands and rejoices in all of the worlds, and the heavens and the earth remain standing. What is more, the Holy One Blessed be He gathers all His tribunal and says to them: 'See the holy people that I have on the earth, by whom the Torah is adorned. See My handiwork, about which you have said: 'What is man that You remember him?'" And when they see the joy of their Master in His people, they immediately open [their mouths] and say (I Chronicles 17:21): 'Who is like Your people, Israel, one nation in the land?' But when Israel neglect Torah, His strength, as it were, weakens, wherefore "it is a time [for you] to act for the L-rd.' These are the tzaddikim who are left. They must gird their loins and perform good deeds, so that the Holy One Blessed be He will strengthen Himself to rejoice with the tzaddikim and with His camps and battalions. Why so? (Psalms, Ibid.): [For] 'they have violated Your Torah,' and the men of the world do not occupy themselves with it as is fitting."

Once we understand 6,2 in the Torah in this way we will be better able to understand an extremely enigmatic verse in Samuel II 7,23: ומי כעמך ישראל גוי אחד בארץ אשר הלכו אלקים לפדות לו לעם ולשום לו שם ולעשות לכם הגדולה ונוראות לארצך מפני עמך אשר פדית לך ממצרים גוים ואלו-היו, "And who is like Your people Israel, a unique nation on earth, whom G–d went and redeemed as His people, winning renown for Himself and doing great and marvellous deeds for them and for Your land [driving out] nations and their gods before Your people whom You redeemed for Yourself from Egypt." All the commentators have great difficulty with this verse. One of the difficulties is the expression "like Your people Israel." Another difficulty is that in this instance G–d is described as הלכו, went (pl.), whereas in a parallel verse in Chronicles I 17,21, G–d is described as הלך, went (sing.).