ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף דניאל 12:3

And these are the names of the children of Israel. Rashi explains that this is to make known their preciousness as they are compared to stars, etc. Some say that just as a star, even though it is not visible during the day, nevertheless exists during the day, so too the righteous person in the World to Come, which is compared to day, has existence although they are not seen, and are only lost to their generation. And some say the opposite, that just as a star is only visible at night, so too the light of the righteous shines after their sun sets, as it is said: Before the sun darkens, etc. (Ecclesiastes 12:2).
And it appears to me that the main good name of a person is only recognized after their death, because during their lifetime it is not known whether they will remain in their righteousness, as it is written: And I praise the dead (Ecclesiastes 4:2), because during their lifetime there is no place to tell their praise, for who knows if they will remain in their righteousness. And this is what is meant by And Joseph was in Egypt — Rashi explains that this comes to make known his righteousness, that he remained righteous from beginning to end. For at the end of all matters, everything is heard, therefore his praise is told after he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.
And in this they are compared to stars which are visible after the setting of the sun; similarly, after a person’s sun sets, their righteousness is visible if it remained with them until their end. And this is what is written: And those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever (Daniel 12:3). For one who leads many to righteousness will not come to sin, so that they should not be in Gehenna while their students are in the Garden of Eden (Yoma 87a). And for such a person, it is definite that their light will shine like the stars forever and ever, even after their death. But one who does not lead many to righteousness — it is not definite that they will remain in their righteousness forever.

And behold, I have a place to explain “five facing five,” corresponding to what our Sages of blessed memory said in Tractate Berakhot 10a regarding the five instances of Bless the Lord, O my soul that David said, corresponding to the soul which is likened in five ways to the Holy One, blessed be He, and their connection and attachment through the 50 gates of understanding as mentioned. Look to the right and see that everything the Holy One, blessed be He, created has within it some intermediary that connects the two extremes. And all the commentators agreed that man, by virtue of having a divine portion from above connected to the physical body, is the intermediary that unites the upper and lower realms and makes peace between the heavenly and earthly hosts, so that there not be opposition between them. And just as man is an intermediary, so is man’s creation from the place where it says, Make for Me an altar of earth. For the Holy Temple is also the center of the world and the place that unites the upper and lower realms, for there the Holy One, blessed be He, made for Himself a dwelling in the lower realms, like the vision that the Lord showed Jacob in the ladder that was set on the earth with its top reaching the heavens, and the middle of its incline was aligned with the Temple. For the ladder connected earth to heaven through the Temple in the middle, as that designated place is a dwelling for both the upper and lower realms, it is the intermediary that unites them. And therefore we find in this sacred structure elements that unite the extremes, which is the thing we spoke about: the 50 clasps that connected the curtains, with five of them placed over the Holy of Holies, the portion of the upper realms, and five of them placed over the Holy, which contains a portion of the lower realms, and the clasps unite them. And this is what our Sages of blessed memory said in the Jerusalem Talmud, Megillah 1:12, “The clasps in the Tabernacle appeared like stars in the firmament,” for the stars are the intermediate world between the upper world and the lower world. And just as the stars are intermediaries and also have a part in uniting the upper and lower realms, so too the clasps in the Tabernacle came for this purpose. And it is written, And those who lead many to righteousness will be like the stars forever and ever (Daniel 12:3). And those who lead many to righteousness are the righteous who are the foundation of the world, who establish peace between the heavenly and earthly hosts, namely the many, for they are intermediaries like these stars. This excludes one who does not engage in Torah study, who has no portion of the upper realms at all and is not an intermediary; therefore, he is not included among those who lead many to righteousness, for the term those who lead to righteousness refers to one who nullifies the opposition between the two extremes.

“Lift up the head etc.” Although Rashi explained this as a term for “taking an accounting” (Exodus 30:12), nevertheless it used the language of lift up [se’u], when you lift up [ki tissa], lift up [nassa], because through the act of counting, God elevates and lifts them with greater elevation above all nations who do not have an individual count, like the straw that the owner of the threshing floor does not count. Similarly, the nations do not have individual Providence, only general providence for the preservation of the species, like other animals and beasts of the field. But each individual from Israel is watched over specifically, and even one of them is considered as important as an entire nation, as it says, and many of them will fall (Exodus 19:21) — even if only one of them falls, it is considered as if many have fallen. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, gave them a count like the stars, about which it is said, He brings out their host by number, He calls them all by name (Isaiah 40:26). So too it is said here by the number of names to indicate that those who lead the many to righteousness are like stars forever (Daniel 12:3), and each one has individual Providence. And regarding the contradiction raised in Yoma 22b between verses — it is written, the number of the children of Israel (Hosea 2:1), which implies they have a number, and then it says, like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor counted — according to the simple meaning, this is not a contradiction, because with the Holy One, blessed be He, they certainly have a number like the stars that He brings out and brings in by number. Thus they have a number to indicate that the Holy One, blessed be He, watches over each one individually. And what is written which cannot be measured nor counted refers to human beings, who certainly cannot count them due to their great multitude.

And the stars. These refers to the Rabbis, as it is stated, “and those who teach righteousness to the multitudes [will shine] like the stars.”³⁰Daniyeil 12:3.