Two Paths to Dveikus: Heaven and the Sea

עוד מענין הנ"ל.

Further on the aforementioned matter.

The Sefas Emes continues the theme of the two channels of avodah from the previous piece.

דכתיב לא בשמים היא כו' ולא מעבר לים כו'.

For it is written "it is not in the heavens... nor is it across the sea..." (Devarim 30:12-13).

The Torah states it is neither in heaven nor across the sea; the Sefas Emes reads these two negations as two distinct paths to closeness with Hashem.

והם ב' דרכים שיכולין לבוא לדביקות הבורא.

And these are two ways by which one can come to dveikus (attachment) to the Creator.

"In heaven" and "across the sea" represent two avenues for attaining closeness to Hashem.

וביציאת מצרים זכו לבחי' מעבר לים.

And at Yetzias Mitzrayim they merited the aspect of "across the sea."

The redemption from Mitzrayim, with the splitting of the sea, gave Bnei Yisrael the "across the sea" path — closeness reached from below, through the lower world.

ובקבלת התורה מן השמים.

And at Kabbalas haTorah, "from the heavens."

Matan Torah gave them the "in heaven" path — closeness drawn down from above through the Torah.

וע"ז כתיב קרוב כו' בפיך ובלבבך.

And concerning this it is written "it is very near... in your mouth and in your heart" (Devarim 30:14).

The pasuk's two terms, "your mouth" and "your heart," correspond to the two paths.

בפיך הוא בחי' תורה מן השמים.

"In your mouth" is the aspect of Torah from heaven.

"Your mouth" — the words of Torah — corresponds to the heavenly path drawn from above.

בלבבך ב' יצריך בחי' מעבר לים.

"In your heart" — with both of your yetzarim — is the aspect of "across the sea."

"Your heart," which contains both inclinations, corresponds to the lower path of "across the sea" — serving Hashem by refining the yetzer hara within the heart.

וזה עצמו ב' המיני לחם.

And this itself is the two kinds of bread.

These two paths correspond to two kinds of "bread" given to Bnei Yisrael in the wilderness.

המן בזכות משה לחם מן השמים.

The mann, in the merit of Moshe, is bread from heaven.

The mann, given through Moshe's merit, is the "bread from heaven" — corresponding to the upper, heavenly path.

והכא כתיב התאוו תאוה מי יאכילנו בשר וכתב רש"י והלא הי' להם בקר וצאן אלא שמבקשין עלילה ואין מובן מה עלילה כיון שהי' להם.

And here it is written "they craved a craving... who will feed us meat" (Bamidbar 11:4, 11:18), and Rashi wrote: but did they not have cattle and flocks? Rather, they were seeking a pretext (alilah). And it is not understood — what pretext, since they had [meat]?

The people demanded meat though they already owned livestock; Rashi says they merely sought a "pretext" to complain. The Sefas Emes asks: what could the pretext be, if they truly had meat available?

אך באמת לא רצו לאכול מעצמם.

But in truth they did not want to eat from their own [livestock].

The resolution: the people deliberately refused to slaughter their own animals.

רק שאמרו מי יאכילנו.

Rather they said "who will feed us."

Their words "who will feed us" show they wanted the food to come as a direct gift, not from their own herds.

ורצו שהשי"ת יתן להם זה המאכל שיהי' ע"י בחי' תאוה שהיא לחם מן הארץ בחי' מעבר לים כמ"ש ויגז שלוים מן הים.

And they wanted Hashem to give them this food, so that it would be through the aspect of taavah (craving), which is "bread from the earth," the aspect of "across the sea," as it is written "and He swept quail from the sea" (Bamidbar 11:31).

Their real desire was for Hashem to feed them through the lower, physical path of "craving" — "bread from the earth," the "across the sea" channel — symbolized by the quail brought up from the sea.

וזה ניתן להם ע"י השבעים איש שהוא אגודתו כנ"ל כמשל הספינות שבמדרש הנ"ל:

And this was given to them by means of the seventy men, who are "His bundle (agudaso)," as above, like the parable of the ships in the aforementioned Midrash.

This lower, "earthly" sustenance came through the seventy elders — the "bundle bound below," the bound-together ships — the very vessel that draws holiness into the physical realm.

Summary: There are two paths to closeness with Hashem — "in heaven" (Torah from above, "your mouth," the mann) and "across the sea" (the lower world, "your heart" with both yetzarim). The people's craving for meat was a demand to be fed through the lower, "earthly" path of taavah — "bread from the earth" symbolized by the quail from the sea — which came through the seventy elders, the "bundle" that binds holiness into the physical world.