Tasting Torah Through Action

ברש"י לפי שהשטן ואוה"ע מונין את ישראל מה טעם יש בה כו' כתוב בה חוקה

Rashi comments: because the Satan and the nations of the world taunt Bnei Yisrael, saying, 'What reason is there in this mitzvah?' — therefore the Torah writes regarding it the word 'chukah' (a decree).

Rashi explains that the Torah calls the parah adumah a 'chukah' specifically as a response to the taunts of the Satan and the nations, who mock the mitzvah as having no rationale.

וקשה אי באמת אין בה טעם א"צ להאי טעם דמונים את ישראל רק לפי שאין טעם כתוב חוקה

But this is difficult: if in truth there is no reason in it, then we have no need for this explanation that they taunt Bnei Yisrael — it would suffice to say simply that since there is no reason, the Torah writes 'chukah.'

The Sfas Emes raises a question: if the mitzvah genuinely had no reason, the taunting would be irrelevant — the Torah could simply state there is no reason; the framing as a response to taunts implies something deeper.

אלא נראה שיש בה טעם אך א"א להשיג הטעם עד אחר תיקון הגוף

Rather, it appears that there indeed is a reason within it, only that it is impossible to attain that reason until after the rectification (tikkun) of the body.

He resolves it: the parah does have a true reason, but it lies beyond reach until a person has refined and rectified his physical self.

ומצד בח' החיצוניות אין טעם לחוקת ה'

From the perspective of the external dimension, there is no reason to be found for the decree of Hashem.

Looking only at the surface, external level of a person, the decrees of Hashem genuinely appear reasonless.

אבל המאמין סופו להבין הטעם

But the one who believes will ultimately come to understand the reason.

But the one who approaches the mitzvah with emunah, performing it despite not grasping it, will in the end be granted understanding of its reason.

כי דברי תורה הם היפוך דברי עוה"ז שהטעם מביא למעשה שע"י שחושק לטעם עוה"ז והבליו עושה אותם ואח"כ נמאסים עליו

For the words of Torah are the very opposite of the matters of this world: in the matters of this world the reason brings one to the deed — for through desiring the pleasure of this world and its vanities a person does them, and afterward they become repulsive to him.

In worldly matters the desire comes first and drives the action, but the satisfaction sours afterward; the appeal of olam hazeh is fleeting.

ותורה להיפוך ע"י המעשה אף שאינו מתאוה להם זוכה אח"כ להשיג הטעם ולהתאוות להם

And the Torah is the reverse: through the deed itself, even though one does not yet crave it, he merits afterward to attain the reason and to come to desire the mitzvos.

Torah works in the opposite direction: a person first does the mitzvah without craving it, and only afterward is he granted the inner taste and genuine desire for it.

אמנם אין טעם זה מושג רק למי שלא טעם טעם עוה"ז

However, this reason is attained only by one who has not tasted the taste of this world.

This inner taste of Torah is accessible only to one who has not let himself be drawn after and sated by the pleasures of this world.

וכפי מה שפורש אדם עצמו מתאוות כך זוכה להשיג טעם הקדושה

And according to the measure that a person separates himself from desires, so does he merit to attain the taste of kedushah (holiness).

There is a direct proportion: the more a person withdraws from physical desires, the more he merits to perceive the sweetness of kedushah.

ולכן מרע"ה שנק' איש אלקים נבדל מעוה"ז לכן לך אני מגלה טעמי פרה ולאחרים חוקה

Therefore Moshe Rabbeinu, who is called 'an ish Elokim' (a man of Hashem) and was set apart from this world — to him, said the Ribono shel Olam, I reveal the reasons of the parah (the red heifer), while to others it remains a chukah.

Because Moshe Rabbeinu had separated himself entirely from this world, Hashem revealed to him the reasons of the parah adumah, while for everyone else it remains a sealed decree.

פי' מי שאינו זוכה להשיג הטעם צריך לעשותו בדרך חוקה ועי"ז זוכה אח"כ להשיג הטעם

The meaning is: one who does not merit to attain the reason must perform the mitzvah in the manner of a chukah, a decree, and through this he merits afterward to attain the reason.

One who cannot yet grasp the reason should still perform the mitzvah simply as a decree of Hashem, and that very act of faithful performance becomes the path to later attaining its reason.

כתיב שמים מר למתוק ומתוק למר פי' ע"י ששמים דבר עוה"ז למתוק בעיניהם עי"ז מתוק למר שא"י להרגיש מתיקות התורה ומצות

It is written, 'Woe to those who declare the bitter sweet and the sweet bitter' (Yeshayah 5:20) — the meaning is that through a person's making a matter of this world sweet in his eyes, through this 'the sweet becomes bitter,' for he is unable to feel the sweetness of the Torah and the mitzvos.

The verse teaches that when a person sweetens worldly things in his own eyes, he thereby deadens his palate so that the genuine sweetness of Torah and mitzvos tastes bitter to him.

וכתיב ופריו מתוק לחכי לחכי דייקא אבל אוה"ע אומרים מה טעם יש בה

And it is written, 'and its fruit was sweet to my palate' (Shir HaShirim 2:3) — 'to my palate' precisely; but the nations of the world say, 'What reason is there in this mitzvah?'

The verse stresses 'to my palate' — the sweetness of Torah is felt only by one whose palate is attuned to it, whereas the nations, immersed in worldliness, perceive no taste and only mock.

ובמד' מי יתן טהור מטמא כו' עוה"ב מעוה"ז

And in the Midrash: 'Who can produce a pure thing from an impure one?' — this refers to Olam Haba which comes forth from this world.

The Midrash points to the wonder that purity emerges from impurity, which the Sfas Emes reads as Olam Haba emerging out of the avodah of this world.

ודאי אין הפי' מתענוגי עוה"ז

Certainly the meaning is not from the pleasures of this world.

He clarifies that this 'pure from impure' does not mean Olam Haba is produced by indulging in worldly pleasures.

רק כפי מה שפורש עצמו מעוה"ז כך זוכה לטעום טעם עוה"ב

Rather, according to the measure that a person separates himself from this world, so does he merit to taste the taste of Olam Haba.

Rather, the rule is proportional: a person tastes Olam Haba precisely to the degree that he has separated himself from olam hazeh.

וכמאמר חז"ל מי שטרח עצמו בערב שבת

And this is as the words of Chazal: 'Whoever toiled on Erev Shabbos will eat on Shabbos.'

This is the meaning of Chazal's teaching that only one who toils in preparation on Erev Shabbos will have what to eat on Shabbos.

פי' התערובות שנתערב תאוות האדם לחיצוניות עוה"ז

The explanation of 'the admixture' is the intermingling in which a person's desire has become mixed up with the external matters of this world.

The 'impure admixture' that must be clarified is the way a person's inner will and desire has become entangled with the external, fleeting matters of this world.

ויש לכל איש ישראל לידע ולהאמין כי התענוג והרצון שבאדם נוגע במקום גבוה עד מאוד

And it is fitting for every Jew to know and to believe that the pleasure and the will (ratzon) within a person reaches to an exceedingly lofty place.

Every Jew must internalize that his ratzon — his inner will and pleasure — is not trivial but reaches up to the highest spiritual realms.

והוא ענין השבת שנק' יום מנוחה ועונג ובנ"י שומרי שבת פי' ששומרים הרצון שלא להתערב בדברי הבל

And this is the matter of Shabbos, which is called a 'day of rest and delight' (yom menuchah va'oneg), and Bnei Yisrael are 'the guardians of Shabbos' — meaning that they guard their will (ratzon) so that it not become intermingled with matters of vanity.

Shabbos is the day of rest and delight, and Bnei Yisrael guard it by guarding their ratzon, keeping their inner will pure and unmixed with empty, vain matters.

וע"ז נאמר מי שטרח בע"ש כו'

And upon this it is said, 'Whoever toiled on Erev Shabbos, etc.'

This is precisely the teaching that one who toils on Erev Shabbos is the one who eats on Shabbos.

כי בימות החול הוא הבירור מלהתגאל בהבלי עולם ועי"ז זוכה לטעום בשבת טעם עוה"ב כי שבת מעין עוה"ב:

For during the weekdays is the work of clarification (birur), separating oneself from being defiled by the vanities of the world, and through this one merits to taste on Shabbos the taste of Olam Haba — for Shabbos is a foretaste (me'ein) of Olam Haba.

The weekdays are the time of birur — laboring to separate oneself from being soiled by worldly vanities — and that labor is what enables a person to taste on Shabbos the taste of Olam Haba, since Shabbos is a foretaste of the World to Come.

Summary: The Sfas Emes opens with Rashi's teaching that the parah adumah is called a 'chukah' in answer to those who taunt Bnei Yisrael that the mitzvah has no reason, and he sharpens the question into a principle: the parah truly does have a reason, but it can be grasped only after a person rectifies his body and separates himself from the pleasures of olam hazeh. He establishes that Torah works in reverse of worldly desire — in the world, craving drives the deed and then sours, whereas in Torah the faithful deed comes first and the inner taste and reason are granted afterward, in exact proportion to how much one withdraws from physical desires, which is why Moshe Rabbeinu, set apart from this world, was shown the reasons of the parah while for others it stays a sealed decree. The one who sweetens worldliness in his eyes deadens his palate to the sweetness of Torah, while one who keeps his ratzon pure tastes the kedushah of the mitzvos and, ultimately, the taste of Olam Haba that emerges as purity from impurity. The Sfas Emes ties this to Shabbos: Bnei Yisrael are guardians of Shabbos because they guard their inner will from becoming intermingled with vanity, and the labor of birur throughout the weekdays — separating from the world's vanities — is the Erev Shabbos toil that earns a person the foretaste of Olam Haba which Shabbos itself is.