Jealousy versus the unifying inner point

קנאה כו' מוציאין את האדם מן העולם.

"Kin'ah (jealousy)… removes a person from the world" (Avos 4:21).

The Mishnah warns that jealousy drives a person out of the world — a teaching the Sefas Emes connects to Korach.

ונלמד מקרח שנתקנא כי מי שדבוק בפנימיות החיות ממילא יש לו דביקות לכלל ישראל כי בשורש מיוחדים כל בנ"י.

And we learn this from Korach, who was jealous; for one who is bound to the penimiyus of the life-force automatically has deveikus to Klal Yisrael, since at the root all of Bnei Yisrael are unified.

Korach's jealousy exposed his disconnection: whoever clings to the inner divine vitality naturally feels bound to all of Klal Yisrael, because at their source all Jews are one.

וז"ש בגמ' בשבת בגר שאמר גיירני כל זמן שאעמוד על רגל אחד אלמוד כל התורה כו' ואמר לו הלל ואהבת לרעך עיקר התורה אידך פירושא כו'.

This is what the Gemara in Shabbos says regarding the convert who said, "Convert me on condition that you teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot" — and Hillel told him, "Love your fellow as yourself" is the essence of the Torah; the rest is its commentary (Shabbos 31a; Vayikra 19:18).

Hillel distilled the whole Torah into "love your fellow," and the Sefas Emes will show why this single principle is indeed the core.

כי כלל התורה להיות האדם דבוק בחיות הפנימית והיא התורה.

For the essence of the Torah is that a person be bound to the inner life-force, which is the Torah [itself].

The whole of Torah is deveikus to the inner divine vitality — and that vitality is the Torah itself.

כי כל הנבראים מאותיות התורה. כמ"ש באורייתא ברא קוב"ה עלמא.

For all creatures are [made] from the letters of the Torah, as it is written, "With the Torah the Holy One, blessed be He, created the world" (Zohar, Bereishis).

Every created thing is fashioned from the letters of Torah, since Hashem used the Torah as the blueprint of Creation.

וכן שמעתי מאא"ז מו"ר זצלה"ה על פסוק פקוד יפקוד כו' והעליתם כו' עצמותי כו'.

And so I heard from my grandfather and teacher, of blessed memory, on the pasuk "[God] will surely remember you… and you shall bring up… my bones" (Bereishis 50:25; Shemos 13:19).

The Sefas Emes recalls his grandfather's teaching on Yosef's request that his bones be carried up from Mitzrayim.

כי להיות דבוק בפנימיות הוא בחי' יוסף שומר הברית והיפוך כתיב רקב עצמות קנאה כו' עכ"ד בקיצור.

That being bound to the penimiyus is the aspect of Yosef, the guardian of the bris (covenant); and conversely it is written, "jealousy is the rot of the bones (rekav atzamos)" (Mishlei 14:30) — thus far his words, in brief.

Yosef, who guarded the covenant, represents attachment to the inner point — hence his bones endured; jealousy, its opposite, is "the rot of the bones" that corrodes a person from within.

והוא כנ"ל כי העיקר להיות דבוק בפנימיות החיות.

And this is as above: that the main thing is to be bound to the penimiyus of the life-force.

The unifying lesson is consistent: everything hinges on clinging to the inner divine vitality.

והוא פי' זכירה דכתיב למען תזכרו כמ"ש במ"א.

And this is the meaning of "remembrance" (zechirah), as it is written, "so that you shall remember [and do all My mitzvos]" (Bamidbar 15:40), as explained elsewhere.

True zechirah is keeping the inner connection ever-present — remembering one's bond to the divine vitality at all times.

ואז באמת כל מעשיו וכל הזמנים הכל אחד.

And then, in truth, all of one's deeds and all times are one.

When anchored in the inner point, a person experiences all his actions and all moments as a single unified whole.

כי השורש הוא נקודה מהשי"ת למעלה מהזמן.

For the Root is a point from Hashem that is above time.

The inner source is a divine point that transcends time itself, lending unity to all of one's scattered moments.

וז"ש שילמוד כל התורה כו' רגל אחד.

This is the meaning of "learning the whole Torah… on one foot."

The convert's request to grasp the whole Torah "on one foot" alludes to grasping the single, unifying inner point.

והוא להמשיך בחי' אחדות וחיבור גם להרגילות.

And it is to draw the aspect of unity and connection even into [ordinary] habit.

"On one foot" — even amid routine, mundane life — one can draw down the unity that binds everything to its Source.

והשיבו ע"י אהבת ישראל כנ"ל.

And [Hillel] answered him through ahavas Yisrael (love of one's fellow Jew), as above.

Hillel's answer of "love your fellow" is precisely this unity, for ahavas Yisrael flows from being bound to the common root of all souls.

ולהיפוך קנאה מוציאין מן העולם פי' שלא יוכל להתקיים בתוך ההעלם שהעצה רק להתדבק בנקודה הנעלמת שבעוה"ז נסתרת כנ"ל:

And conversely, jealousy "removes [a person] from the world" — meaning that he cannot endure within the concealment (he'elem), since the only counsel is to cleave to the hidden point that is concealed in this world, as above.

Jealousy severs one from the unifying root, so he cannot survive the concealment of this world; the only remedy is to cling to the hidden inner point that lies concealed within olam ha-zeh.

Summary: Korach's downfall was jealousy, which is the opposite of clinging to the inner divine life-force; one who is bound to that penimiyus is automatically bound to all of Klal Yisrael, since at the root all Jews are one. This is why Hillel taught that "love your fellow" — grasped even "on one foot," amid ordinary life — is the whole Torah: the Torah is that inner vitality, the timeless point above the world, and only by cleaving to it can a person endure the concealment of this world, whereas jealousy, "the rot of the bones," removes him from it.