Candle of mitzvah, light of Torah, and the hidden light

כתיב נר מצוה ותורה אור.

It is written, "A mitzvah is a candle, and Torah is light."

This pasuk in Mishlei distinguishes two related but distinct entities: the mitzvah as a "ner" (candle/lamp) and the Torah as "ohr" (light). The Sefas Emes builds his whole derashah on this pairing.

ויש לכל איש ישראל חלק באור ונר.

And every Jew has a portion in [both] the light and the candle.

Each member of Bnei Yisrael possesses both aspects: a "candle" (the mitzvos) and a "light" (the Torah) — both are part of his spiritual makeup.

ונר מצוה תיקון רמ"ח איברים להיות כלי מוכן לקבל אור תורה.

"A mitzvah is a candle" — the repair of the 248 limbs, to become a vessel prepared to receive the light of the Torah.

The mitzvos (248 positive commandments) "fix" and refine the 248 limbs of the body, turning a person into a fit kli (vessel) ready to hold the ohr of Torah. The candle is the preparation; the light is what fills it.

כמו התורה שמתפשטת בתרי"ג מצות כמו כן מתפשט כח הנשמה ברמ"ח ושס"ה איברים וגידים.

Just as the Torah spreads out into the 613 mitzvos, so too the power of the neshamah spreads out into the 248 limbs and 365 sinews.

There is a parallel structure: the Torah expresses itself through 613 mitzvos, and correspondingly the soul's life-force animates the body's 248 limbs and 365 sinews — the body itself mirrors the Torah's anatomy.

לכן אור צדיקים ישמח כיון שתקנו הנר בא אור תורה ומתעלין מבחי' נר לאור ע"ז כתיב בהעלותך את הנרות.

Therefore "the light of the tzaddikim rejoices" — once they have repaired the candle, the light of the Torah comes, and they ascend from the aspect of "candle" to "light"; concerning this it is written, "When you kindle (be-ha'aloscha) the lamps."

Once the tzaddikim have perfected the "candle" of mitzvos, the Torah's light descends and they rise from the lower rung of "ner" to the higher rung of "ohr." This ascent is the meaning of "be-ha'aloscha" — literally "when you raise up" the lamps — elevating the candle into light.

ונר רשעים ידעך שלא תיקנו אפילו בחי' הגוף.

"But the candle of the wicked is extinguished" — for they did not even repair the aspect of the body.

The resha'im never even completed the first stage, the "candle" of refining the body through mitzvos; so their lamp is snuffed out, never having been kindled into the light of Torah at all.

והנה משה רבינו ע"ה בחי' אור תורה.

And behold, Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, is the aspect of "the light of the Torah."

Moshe corresponds to the higher rung, the ohr Torah itself — the light.

ואהרן בחי' נר מצוה שהעלה את בנ"י מנר לאור כנ"ל.

And Aharon is the aspect of "the candle of the mitzvah," who raised Bnei Yisrael from "candle" to "light," as above.

Aharon, who kindled the menorah, corresponds to the "ner mitzvah." His role was to elevate Bnei Yisrael — taking them from the level of the candle (mitzvos) up to the level of light (Torah), the very theme of "be-ha'aloscha."

והם מדת יום ולילה.

And they [Torah and mitzvah] are the qualities of day and night.

The Sefas Emes now maps the pair onto another: Torah/light = day; mitzvah/candle = night. A candle's purpose is felt at night, in the darkness.

דכ' וירא כו' האור כי טוב ויבדל פי' חז"ל שראה שאין רשעים כדאי וגנזו לצדיקים.

For it is written, "And [Hashem] saw… the light, that it was good, and He separated" — Chazal explained that He saw that the wicked were not worthy [of it] and stored it away for the tzaddikim.

The primordial ohr ha-ganuz, the hidden light of creation, was withdrawn and reserved for the righteous in the future, because the wicked were unworthy of it. This sets up the idea that the highest light is hidden, accessible only through avodah.

כי כמו שברא הקב"ה יום ולילה להיות חושך בלילה ושישתמש האדם בלילה בנר.

For just as the Holy One, Blessed is He, created day and night — that there be darkness at night and that a person use a candle at night.

By design, night is dark, and it is then that a person must rely on a candle. The natural order itself teaches the role of the "ner" in times of concealment.

כן הרמז מדת לילה תליא בעבודת האדם.

So too the hint: the quality of "night" depends on the avodah of the person.

The "night" — the realm of concealment and darkness — is precisely where human effort matters; it is the domain of our avodah, where we must kindle our own light.

וכ"כ יומם יצוה ה' חסדו ובלילה שירה עמי שהוא בהתעוררות שלנו.

And so it is written, "By day Hashem commands His chesed, and at night His song is with me" — which is by our own arousal.

"Day" chesed flows from Above as a gift; "night" song, however, comes "with me" — through our own hisorerus, our initiative from below in the darkness.

והוא שגנוז בחי' אור כי טוב שלא יתגלה רק כפי תיקון האדם בחי' חושך ולילה וכמ"ש ויהי ערב ויהי בוקר.

And this is that the aspect of "the light that was good" is hidden, and is revealed only according to the person's repair of the aspect of darkness and night, as it is written, "and it was evening and it was morning."

The hidden light is unveiled in proportion to how much a person rectifies the "darkness" — his own night-side. The Torah's order "evening, then morning" teaches that light comes only after one has worked through the dark.

להיות בא האור ע"י הקדמת תיקון הערב וחושך וממילא יהי' אור צדיקים ישמח ורשעים נרם ידעך.

For the light comes through first repairing the evening and darkness — and consequently "the light of the tzaddikim rejoices" while "the candle of the wicked is extinguished."

Light is earned by first laboring to rectify the dark. The tzaddik who does this work merits the joy of the revealed light; the rasha who does not is left with an extinguished lamp.

ז"ש במד' שנמנעה השמחה מן הרשעים שהוצרך להשתמש בנר ע"ש.

This is what the Midrash says, that joy was withheld from the wicked, for he had to make use of a candle, see there.

The Midrash teaches that the wicked are denied true simchah because they remain stuck in the "candle" stage of darkness, never reaching the joy of full light.

ובגמ' העוסק בתורה בלילה חוט של חסד נמשך עליו ביום דכתיב יומם יצוה כו' ובלילה שירה עמי כו'.

And in the Gemara: one who toils in Torah at night, a thread of chesed is drawn upon him by day, as it is written, "By day [Hashem commands His chesed], and at night His song is with me."

The Gemara (Chagigah 12b) connects the two halves of the pasuk: nighttime Torah toil — "His song is with me at night" — draws down a "thread of chesed" by day. Effort in the dark earns light and kindness afterward.

זה כנ"ל בחי' מדת לילה ויום.

This is as above, the aspect of the qualities of night and day.

This Gemara confirms the whole structure: night (our avodah, the candle) precedes and produces day (the gift of light and chesed).

וע"ז כתיב העם ההולכים בחושך ראו אור גדול וכ"כ כי אשב בחושך ה' אור לי שכפי הישוב והילוך ותיקון שמתקנים בחושך כך מתגלה האור.

And concerning this it is written, "The people who walked in darkness saw a great light," and so too, "Though I sit in darkness, Hashem is a light for me" — for according to the settling and traveling and repair that one accomplishes in the darkness, so is the light revealed.

Precisely those who "walk in darkness" — who do the avodah of the night — merit to see the great light. The measure of light revealed corresponds exactly to the measure of rectification a person achieves within his darkness.

וכל זה נעשה לטובת בנ"י.

And all of this is done for the good of Bnei Yisrael.

The entire arrangement — that the light is hidden and must be drawn out through avodah in darkness — is ultimately for the benefit of Bnei Yisrael, so that the light becomes truly theirs.

והצדיקים שבמעשיהם לברר החושך זוכין לאור הגנוז.

And the tzaddikim, who through their deeds clarify the darkness, merit the hidden light.

By the work of refining and "sorting out" the darkness, the tzaddikim earn access to that very ohr ha-ganuz that was stored away for them.

ובגמ' ואומר אך חושך ישופני עוה"ב שדומה ליום חושך ישופני אלא אפילו עוה"ז שדומה ללילה אור בעדני פי' שזה החושך שנברא במעשה בראשית אדרבא מוסיף אור זרוע לצדיק כנ"ל:

And in the Gemara: "And I said, surely darkness will obscure me" — [one might think even] the World to Come, which is like day, darkness will obscure me; rather, even this world, which is like night, "light is about me" — meaning that this darkness which was created in Maaseh Bereishis, on the contrary, adds "light sown for the tzaddik," as above.

The Gemara (Tehillim 139) overturns the fear that darkness will overwhelm: even in olam hazeh, which is "like night," the tzaddik is surrounded by light. The very darkness built into creation, far from hiding the light, becomes the soil in which "ohr zarua la-tzaddik" — light sown for the righteous — grows and increases.

Summary: "A mitzvah is a candle, Torah is light": the mitzvos refine the body's 248 limbs into a vessel fit to receive Torah's light, and one ascends from "candle" to "light" — the meaning of be-ha'aloscha and the roles of Aharon (candle) and Moshe (light). These correspond to night and day: the hidden ohr ha-ganuz is revealed only through our avodah in the "night" of concealment. Just as nighttime Torah draws a thread of chesed by day, the tzaddik who clarifies the darkness merits the hidden light — for the very darkness of creation becomes the ground in which "light is sown for the righteous."