Self-Nullification Sustains the Torah

זאת התורה כו'

"This is the Torah" (Bamidbar 19:14), etc.

The piece opens by citing the Torah's verse "This is the Torah" regarding one who dies in a tent, taking it as the springboard for a homiletic teaching rather than only its plain meaning.

דרשו חז"ל מי שממית עצמו עלי'

Chazal expounded that this refers to one who puts himself to death over it - meaning that the words of Torah endure only in a person who is ready to give over his very life for them with mesirus nefesh.

Chazal teach that the Torah truly takes root only in a person who is willing to give over his life for it with mesirus nefesh; casual learning alone does not make it endure.

אף דכתיב וחי בהם

This is so even though it is written, "and he shall live by them" (Vayikra 18:5) - that a person is meant to live through the mitzvos and not to die through them.

This raises a difficulty, for the Torah itself says elsewhere that the mitzvos are given so that we live by them, which implies we should not die in their fulfillment.

רק מצד האדם יהי' מוכן למס"נ

Rather, the resolution is that from the side of the person himself, he must be prepared for mesirus nefesh (the giving over of one's life) - in his own disposition he should hold his life as nothing before the Torah.

The resolution is that the readiness to die is a matter of inner disposition - from his own side a person should value the Torah above his very life.

רק מצד מאמרו ית' וחי בהם

It is only by reason of His blessed utterance, "and he shall live by them," that a person is in fact granted to live and is not required to surrender his life.

In practice, however, we are bidden to live, for it is only Hashem's own word "and he shall live by them" that grants us to remain alive rather than perish.

לכן בג' דברים ג"ע וש"ד וע"ז צריך האדם להיות מוכן למס"נ

Therefore, in three matters - gilui arayos (forbidden relations), shefichus damim (bloodshed), and avodah zarah (idolatry) - a person is required to be ready for mesirus nefesh, since regarding these the Torah's own decree withholds the dispensation to live, so that here the inner readiness becomes an actual obligation.

By the three cardinal sins - gilui arayos, shefichus damim, and avodah zarah - the Torah withdraws the "live by them" dispensation, so that the inner willingness for mesirus nefesh must become an actual obligation to give one's life.

וכפי הביטול להתורה כן מתקיימת בו כיון שהוא עיקר וחשוב אצלו

And in accordance with the bittul (self-nullification) a person feels toward the Torah, so does the Torah become established and endure within him - because it is then the ikkar (the essence) and is held precious in his eyes.

The degree to which a person nullifies his own self before the Torah determines how firmly the Torah lives within him, since he then treats it as the ikkar and as that which is truly precious to him.

ובמד' ורש"י ובגוים לא יתחשב שמה שאוכלין בנ"י בעוה"ז בין האומות אין מנכים מחשבונם

And in the Midrash, and in Rashi, on the verse "and among the nations he shall not be reckoned" (Bamidbar 23:9): that whatever Bnei Yisrael consume in this world while dwelling among the nations is not deducted from their account.

He brings the Midrash and Rashi: whatever Bnei Yisrael enjoy of this world while among the nations is not subtracted from their heavenly account.

והפי' כיון שאין עוה"ז חשוב לבנ"י וכפי מה שאינו חשוב בעיניו כן זוכה לחיים טובים בעוה"ז ושלא יהי' בחשבון כנ"ל

And the meaning is: since Olam Hazeh (this world) is not held precious by Bnei Yisrael, and in the very measure that it is not precious in a person's eyes, so does he merit a good life in this world, and it is not entered into the reckoning, as stated above.

Because Bnei Yisrael do not prize Olam Hazeh, their very detachment is precisely what earns them a good worldly life that is not deducted from their eternal reward.

ואיתא שיש ב' השפעות מהשי"ת להבריאה

And it is brought down that there are two channels of hashpaah (bestowal) flowing from Hashem Yisbarach to the creation.

He introduces a framework: Hashem Yisbarach provides for the creation through two distinct streams of bestowal.

מצד הטבע שצריך הבורא לפרנס ברואיו

The first is from the side of nature, for the Creator is obligated, as it were, to sustain His creatures simply because He has brought them into being.

The first stream is the bestowal of nature - having created His beings, the Creator sustains them as a matter of course, independent of any merit.

והב' מצד מעש"ט של ישראל [רק הרשעים שמאבדין העולם נחשב להם הכל לשכר

And the second is from the side of the good deeds of Yisrael - only that, as for the resha'im (the wicked) who lay the world to waste, everything is counted to them as reward, so that nothing remains owing to them in Olam Haba.

The second stream flows from the good deeds of Yisrael; the resha'im, who lay the world to waste, are repaid for all their good in this world, so that nothing remains owing to them in Olam Haba.

אבל בנ"י שמוסיפין מעש"ט אין השפעת הטבע בכלל השכר כנ"ל]:

But as for Bnei Yisrael, who add good deeds, the bestowal of nature is not included within their reward, as stated above - their natural sustenance comes to them on its own account, while their reward is held in reserve and remains intact.

But Bnei Yisrael, who add good deeds, receive their natural sustenance on its own account, so that the reward for their good deeds stays untouched and reserved for them, as stated above.

Summary: This piece weaves together the teaching of Chazal that Torah endures only in one ready for mesirus nefesh with the verse "and he shall live by them." The Sfas Emes resolves the tension: from the person's own side he must value the Torah above his very life through complete bittul, yet Hashem's own word grants him to live rather than die - except by the three cardinal sins of gilui arayos, shefichus damim, and avodah zarah, where that dispensation is withdrawn and mesirus nefesh becomes an actual obligation. The same principle of not prizing Olam Hazeh explains why whatever Bnei Yisrael consume among the nations is not deducted from their heavenly account: their very detachment earns them a good worldly life that does not diminish their eternal reward. Underlying this is a two-channel model of Hashem's hashpaah - the bestowal of nature, by which the Creator sustains all His creatures as a matter of course, and the reward earned through the good deeds of Yisrael. Because the resha'im are repaid for any good entirely in this world while Bnei Yisrael receive their natural sustenance on its own account, the reward of Bnei Yisrael remains wholly intact and reserved for them in Olam Haba.