Torah Engraved Within Nature

בפרשת זאת חקת התורה

In this parashah it is written, "This is the chukah (statute) of the Torah" (Bamidbar 19:2).

The Sfas Emes opens by noting the unusual wording of the parashah, which speaks of "the chukah of the Torah" rather than simply "the Torah," and he will build his whole piece on this distinction.

ההפרש בין זאת התורה שהיא גוף התורה בשורש העליון וחקת התורה הוא דרך התורה והתפשטות הארת התורה בכל מקום

The difference between "This is the Torah" — which is the very body of the Torah at its supernal root — and "the chukah of the Torah" is that the latter refers to the pathway of the Torah and the spreading forth of the Torah's illumination into every place.

"This is the Torah" points to the Torah as it stands whole and complete at its highest root, while "the chukah of the Torah" points to how the Torah's light extends and spreads down into every place in the world.

והנה אם כי השי"ת ברא עוה"ז בטבע

Now, although Hashem created this world by way of nature,

Hashem set up the world to run by the laws of nature, so that natural cause and effect appear to govern everything.

וסידור העולם עפ"י הטבע

and arranged the order of the world according to nature,

The ordinary order of the world follows nature, with no open miracles visible on the surface.

עכ"ז נמצא בנסתר גם בעוה"ז ההנהגה שעפ"י התורה

nevertheless there is found, in a hidden manner, even in this world, the conduct that goes according to the Torah.

Yet hidden beneath that natural order, even here in this world, there is a deeper conduct that runs according to the Torah.

ולאשר שעיקר סידור עוה"ז עפ"י הטבע לכן הוא כמו חוקה ואין מובן לאנשי עוה"ז איך יש זה התהפכות

And since the primary arrangement of this world is according to nature, therefore it is like a chukah (a statute beyond reason), and it is not understood by the people of this world how there can come about this overturning.

Because nature is the visible rule, the Torah-conduct hidden within it functions like a chukah — beyond reason — so worldly people cannot grasp how nature can suddenly be overturned by it.

וכן בלבות עובדי ה' שלפעמים איזה מצוה ודבר טוב מהפך לב האדם לטוב

And so too in the hearts of those who serve Hashem, for at times some mitzvah or good deed overturns a person's heart toward the good.

The same overturning happens inside the heart of one who serves Hashem, when a single mitzvah or good deed can suddenly turn his whole heart toward the good.

ואלה הם הנהגות לעתים שמתגלה הנהגת העולם עפ"י התורה ונקרא חקת התורה כי באמת כל הבריאה ע"י התורה רק שמתלבש בצמצומים רבים עכ"ז נשאר חקיקות ורשימות מהארת התורה

These are forms of Divine conduct for special times, when the conduct of the world according to the Torah becomes revealed, and this is called "the chukah of the Torah"; for in truth the entire creation came to be through the Torah, only that it is clothed in many tzimtzumim (contractions), yet even so there remain engravings and impressions from the illumination of the Torah.

These sudden reversals are the moments when the Torah's hidden governance of the world breaks through; the world was made through the Torah, and though that light is contracted under many layers, faint engravings of it always remain.

ובאמת קודם החטא הי' בנ"י דביקין בשורש התורה בחי' מרע"ה כמ"ש וזאת התורה אשר שם משה לפני בני ישראל

And in truth, before the cheit (sin), Bnei Yisrael were attached to the root of the Torah, which is the level of Moshe Rabbeinu, as it is written, "And this is the Torah which Moshe set before Bnei Yisrael" (Devarim 4:44).

Before the sin, Bnei Yisrael were directly bound to the Torah's source, the level of Moshe Rabbeinu, the unmediated "This is the Torah."

אכן אחר החטא שנפלו בנ"י ממדריגתם ניתן להם בחי' חקת התורה כנ"ל

However, after the cheit, when Bnei Yisrael fell from their level, there was given to them the level of "the chukah of the Torah," as explained above.

Once they sinned and fell from that height, they could no longer hold the Torah directly, so they were given the lower mode of "the chukah of the Torah."

בחי' טהור מטמא

This is the aspect of "that which is pure from that which is impure" (Iyov 14:4, as the Sages expound it).

This lower yet redemptive mode is the power to draw out purity from within impurity, the way the Sages read the verse in Iyov.

והוא ע"י הרצון והשתוקקות יכולין לעורר רשימות שנשארו מבחי' הראשונה עד שיתדבקו בשורש התורה ממש

And it is through the ratzon (will) and the longing that one is able to arouse the impressions that remained from the first level, until one attaches oneself to the very root of the Torah itself.

By means of sincere will and yearning, a person can reawaken those leftover impressions of the first level until he reconnects to the actual root of the Torah.

וז"ש באר חפרוה שרים הם שנקראו בני חורין כמ"ש חרות חירות והוא בחי' ראשונה שהי' בקבלת התורה

And this is the meaning of "A well — princes dug it" (Bamidbar 21:18); these are those who are called bnei chorin (free men), as it is written "charus (engraved)" — read it instead "cheirus (freedom)" (Avos 6:2); and this is the first level that existed at the receiving of the Torah.

The "princes" who dug the well are the truly free men of the generation of receiving the Torah, when the engraving of the Torah made them free — the first, lofty level.

אח"כ כרוה נדיבי עם כו' הוא ע"י הרצון והנדיבות

Afterward, "the nobles of the people hollowed it out" (Bamidbar 21:18) — this is accomplished through the ratzon and the generosity of spirit.

After that first level was lost, the "nobles of the people" had to hollow out the well anew, through their own will and generous longing.

במחוקק ע"י רשימה הנשאר כמש"ל

"With the lawgiver (mechokek)" — through the impression (reshimah) that remained, as explained above.

The word mechokek (lawgiver) hints that they accomplished this digging by means of the reshimah, the lingering impression of the original light.

ולכן לא נזכר מרע"ה בשירה הזאת כי מדריגת מרע"ה למעלה מזה שלא הי' בכלל החטא רק בחי' זאת התורה ממש כנ"ל

And therefore Moshe Rabbeinu is not mentioned in this shirah (song), for the level of Moshe Rabbeinu is above this, since he was not included in the cheit at all, but rather was in the very aspect of "This is the Torah" itself, as explained above.

Moshe Rabbeinu is absent from this song because he never fell with the sin; he remained on the higher level of "This is the Torah" and had no need for the lower mode of the well.

וכמו כן לעולם בשבת קודש הוא יום מנוחה וחירות ונפתח הבאר

And likewise, forever, on Shabbos Kodesh, which is a day of rest and freedom, the well is opened.

This same pattern recurs every week: Shabbos is a day of rest and freedom on which the well of Torah-illumination is opened anew.

ונשאר רשימה על ימות החול שיכולין ע"י הנדיבות והרצון והשתוקקות להשבת

And an impression remains upon the weekdays, so that through generosity of spirit, will, and longing for Shabbos,

From that opened well, an impression is left over onto the coming weekdays, accessible through one's generosity, will, and longing toward Shabbos.

כמ"ש לזכור בכל יום השבת

as it is written, that one is to remember the Shabbos on every day (Ramban on the mitzvah of remembering Shabbos),

The Sfas Emes grounds this in the obligation to remember Shabbos every single day of the week, not only on Shabbos itself.

עי"ז יכולין לעורר הרשימות גם בימי המעשה כנ"ל:

through this one is able to arouse the impressions even on the workdays, as explained above.

Through that daily remembering and longing, a person draws the lingering impression of Shabbos down into the ordinary workdays, just as the well's water was drawn out by will.

Summary: The Sfas Emes contrasts "This is the Torah" — the Torah at its untouched supernal root, the level of Moshe Rabbeinu — with "the chukah of the Torah," the Torah's light as it spreads down and hides within the natural order of this world. Although Hashem runs the world by nature, a deeper Torah-conduct lies concealed within it, and at special times it breaks through and overturns nature, just as a single mitzvah can suddenly turn a person's heart to the good. Before the cheit, Bnei Yisrael were bound directly to the Torah's root, but after they fell they were given this lower mode, in which sincere ratzon and longing reawaken the engraved impressions left from the first level until one reconnects to the very root of the Torah. This is the well that the princes dug as free men at Har Sinai and that the nobles later had to hollow out anew through will and generosity — while Moshe Rabbeinu, who never shared in the cheit, is absent from the song because he never left the level of "This is the Torah." The same plays out weekly: Shabbos opens the well of Torah-light and leaves an impression upon the weekdays, so that by remembering and longing for Shabbos each day, Bnei Yisrael can arouse that illumination even amid their ordinary workday labors.