Wisdom Leading to Divine Unity
במדרש אמרתי אחכמה כו'
In the Midrash: "I said I will become wise, etc." (Koheles 7:23).
The Sfas Emes opens with the Midrash that brings the verse from Koheles in which Shlomo HaMelech declares that he sought to attain wisdom.
שלא הי' יכול לעמוד על פרשת פרה ע"ש
That Shlomo HaMelech, with all his wisdom, was unable to comprehend the parshah of the Parah Adumah (the Red Heifer) — see there.
The Midrash continues that despite being the wisest of all men, Shlomo HaMelech could not grasp the secret of the Parah Adumah — pointing to a level of understanding beyond ordinary human chochmah.
דהנה עיקר תכלית החכמה לבוא ליראת ה' כמ"ש הן יראת ה' היא חכמה כי החכם באמת רואה ומבין השגחת הבורא ית' והנהגתו את כל העולם וחל עליו יראת ה' כמ"ש במד' ויתן אלקים חכמה לשלמה כו' כחול כמו שהחול גדר לים כן החכמה גדורה לשלמה שמנעתו מן החטא א"כ ע"י החכמה באין אל הביטול אליו ית"ש
For behold, the essential purpose of chochmah (wisdom) is to arrive at yiras Hashem (awe of Hashem), as it is written, "Behold, the yiras Hashem, that is wisdom" (Iyov 28:28). For the one who is truly wise sees and understands the hashgachah (providence) of the Borei Yisbarach and His governance over the entire world, and the yiras Hashem rests upon him — as it is written in the Midrash, "And Hashem gave wisdom to Shlomo, etc., like the sand" (Melachim I 5:9): just as the sand is a boundary for the sea, so too the chochmah was a boundary for Shlomo, for it held him back from sin. If so, it is by means of chochmah that one comes to bittul (self-nullification) toward Hashem Yisbarach.
True chochmah is meant to lead a person to yiras Hashem, because a genuinely wise person perceives Hashem's hashgachah over all of creation; the Midrash compares Shlomo's wisdom to a boundary of sand that fences in the sea, since it restrained him from sin and thereby brought him to bittul before Hashem.
וזה הביטול הוא שורש הטהרה כמ"ש מי יתן טהור מטמא לא אחד
And this bittul is the root of taharah (purity), as it is written, "Who can bring a pure thing out of an impure thing? — there is not One!" (Iyov 14:4).
This bittul — nullifying oneself before Hashem — is the source of taharah, for it draws a person toward the One Hashem from whom purity comes, as the verse in Iyov hints with "there is not One."
ועכ"ז מכח חכמת הטבע והאנושי אי אפשר לבוא לאחדות האמת שהוא מוטבע בטבע ולכן ע"י חכמת שלמה עדיין ביטול זה אינו בא לאחדות רק ע"י חכמת אלקים בכח התורה ז"ש זאת חקת התורה שהחכמה והביטול שבא בכח התורה מביא אל אחדות האמיתי וזוכין לטהרה
And yet, by the power of natural and human wisdom it is impossible to arrive at the true achdus (oneness) which is embedded within nature; and therefore, by means of the chochmah of Shlomo this bittul still does not arrive at achdus, but only by means of the chochmah of Hashem through the power of the Torah. This is the meaning of "Zos chukas haTorah" ("This is the decree of the Torah", Bamidbar 19:2) — that the chochmah and the bittul which come through the power of the Torah bring one to the true achdus, and one thereby merits taharah.
Even so, natural human wisdom, like that of Shlomo HaMelech, cannot reach the true achdus hidden within nature; only the chochmah of Hashem found in the Torah can do so, and this is why the parshah is called "Zos chukas haTorah" — the bittul that flows from Torah brings one to true oneness and to taharah.
וזהו הרמז ולקחו מעפר כו' ונתן עליו מים חיים
And this is the allusion in "And they shall take of the ashes, etc., and he shall put upon it living waters" (Bamidbar 19:17).
The Sfas Emes finds this idea hinted in the procedure of the Parah Adumah, where the ashes are taken and living waters are poured upon them.
שהביטול שהוא בכח מים חיים שהוא התורה בזה באין אל הטהרה והוא יראת ה' לחיים:
That the bittul which is by the power of "mayim chaim" (living waters) — which is the Torah — by this one arrives at taharah; and this is the yiras Hashem that is unto life.
The "living waters" represent the Torah, and the bittul that comes through the power of Torah is what brings a person to taharah — which is itself the yiras Hashem that leads to true life.
Summary: The Sfas Emes builds his piece around the Midrash that even Shlomo HaMelech, the wisest of men, could not penetrate the secret of the Parah Adumah. He explains that the true purpose of chochmah is to bring a person to yiras Hashem and to bittul before the Ribono shel Olam, and that this bittul is the very root of taharah, since it draws one toward the One Hashem from whom all purity flows. Yet ordinary human wisdom, even Shlomo's, cannot reach the true achdus embedded within creation; that can be attained only through the chochmah of the Torah, which is why the parshah is called "Zos chukas haTorah." This is hinted in the Parah Adumah's living waters poured upon the ashes: the "mayim chaim" are the Torah, and the bittul born of Torah is what carries a person to taharah and to the yiras Hashem that is unto life.