Matching deeds to one's true will

במשנה עשה רצונו כרצונך שיעשה רצונך כרצונו.

In the Mishnah: "Do His will as your own will, so that He will do your will as His will."

The Sefas Emes opens with the Mishnah in Avos urging a person to make Hashem's ratzon (will) his own, with the promise that Hashem will then fulfill the person's will as His own.

יש לפרש כרצונך כפשוטו שיהי' המעשה כפי הרצון לא בשקר.

One may explain "as your own will" in its plain sense: that the deed should be in accordance with the will, not in falsehood.

He reads "as your own will" simply: a person's actions should genuinely match his inner ratzon, with no gap of pretense between what he wills and what he does.

כי באמת נמצא רצון טוב בלב כל איש ישראל.

For in truth a good will is found in the heart of every Jew.

Every Jew possesses, at his core, a genuinely good ratzon — a sincere desire to do what Hashem wants.

ומה שעושין יותר מהרצון אינו דבר של קיימא דכתיב דובר שקרים לא יכון כו'.

And whatever one does beyond his [true] will is not something enduring, as it is written, "one who speaks falsehoods shall not be established, etc." (Tehillim 101:7).

When a person's external deeds outrun his genuine inner will — putting on a show beyond what he truly means — that excess has no permanence, because anything built on falsehood cannot stand.

אך אם באמת עושה ככל רצונו אף אם הוא מעט יש בו ברכה.

But if one truly acts in accordance with all of his will, even if it is little, there is blessing in it.

By contrast, deeds that fully express one's sincere ratzon carry blessing, even when they are small in quantity, because they are true.

וע"ז נאמר טוב מעט בכוונה.

And concerning this it is said: "Better a little with kavanah (sincere intent)."

A small amount done with whole-hearted intention is worth more than a large amount done emptily.

והשכר ע"ז שיעשה רצונך כרצונו.

And the reward for this is "that He will do your will as His will."

The Mishnah's promised reward corresponds measure-for-measure to this avodah of aligning deed with will.

כלומר כמו שקשה להיות הרצון באדם בשלימות כמו המעשה.

That is to say: just as it is difficult for the will within a person to be as complete as the deed.

He now draws the parallel: it is hard for a person's inner will to be as whole and unified as his outward action is concrete.

כמו כן קשה לתחתונים לקבל השפעת השי"ת כפי רצונו ב"ה.

So too it is difficult for those below to receive Hashem's flow of bounty (hashpa'ah) in accordance with His will, blessed is He.

Just as our will struggles to match our deeds, so the lower world struggles to receive Hashem's shefa exactly as He wills to give it — there is a mismatch on the receiving end.

ולכן צריך ההשפעה להשתנות.

Therefore the bounty must undergo change.

Because the recipients below cannot absorb the bounty in its pure form, Hashem's shefa normally has to be altered and stepped down to reach them.

אך הבר לבב שעושה כל מעשיו כפי רצונו ממש משלם לו הקב"ה שעושה לו כל צרכו כרצונו ית' פי' בלי השתנות כנ"ל.

But the pure of heart, who does all his deeds precisely in accordance with his will, the Holy One, blessed is He, repays him by providing all his needs according to His will, blessed is He — meaning, without change, as above.

The one whose deeds perfectly match his inner ratzon is repaid in kind: Hashem gives him his needs directly, in their full undiminished form, without the usual "stepping down," because the person has made himself a fitting vessel.

וזה י"ל ג"כ ויעש כן אהרן שלא שינה פי' שלא נמצא במעשה אהרן שינוי והי' המעשה ממש כמו הרצון כנ"ל.

And this one may also say regarding "And Aharon did so" — "that he did not deviate": meaning that no deviation was found in Aharon's deed, and the deed was exactly like the will, as above.

Rashi's comment that Aharon "did not deviate" in lighting the Menorah now gains depth: there was zero gap between Aharon's inner will and his outer act — his deed was the perfect embodiment of his ratzon.

וי"ל עוד סיום המשנה בטל רצונך כו' שג"כ שכר אדם הנ"ל שעושה המעשים רק כפי הרצון.

And one may further explain the conclusion of the Mishnah, "Nullify your will, etc.," that this too is the reward of the aforementioned person who performs deeds only in accordance with his will.

The Mishnah continues, "nullify your will before His will." The Sefas Emes reads even this as a gift granted to the sincere person whose deeds never outrun his will.

כי הרצון יכול להתבטל לשמים בנקל יותר מהמעשה כי הוא גשמיי.

For the will can be nullified to Heaven more easily than the deed, since the deed is physical.

The will is a spiritual thing and can be surrendered to Hashem (bittul) far more readily than a physical deed, which, being material, is harder to nullify.

ולכן בשכל המעשים כפי הרצון ואין מתגברין עליו א"כ יכול אח"כ לתקן הכל ע"י ביטול רצונו לרצון השי"ת.

Therefore, when all the deeds are in accordance with the will and do not overpower it, then one is afterward able to rectify everything by nullifying his will to the will of Hashem.

If a person keeps his deeds tied to his will so that the deeds never dominate, then his whole self stays governed by his will — and since the will is easily nullified to Hashem, he can elevate and rectify everything simply by surrendering that will to Hashem's.

אך אם המעשים מתגברין על הרצון קשה לבטלם כנ"ל:

But if the deeds overpower the will, it is difficult to nullify them, as above.

But if a person's deeds run beyond his will and take on a life of their own, those material acts become hard to surrender to Hashem — because deeds, being physical, resist bittul.

Summary: True avodah is keeping one's deeds matched to one's sincere inner ratzon rather than putting on an empty show, for "better a little with kavanah." Such a person is rewarded measure-for-measure — Hashem grants his needs directly, without the bounty being stepped down. And because the will is spiritual and easily nullified to Hashem while deeds are physical and resistant, the one whose deeds never outrun his will can rectify everything through bittul of his ratzon to Hashem's, as exemplified by Aharon, who acted without any deviation from his will.