Receiving Torah through bittul

במדרש אח נפשע מקרית עוז דכתיב ויקח קרח אין קיחה אלא תורה כמ"ש לקח טוב נתתי.

In the Midrash: "A brother offended is harder to win than a strong city" (Mishlei 18:19) — as it is written, "And Korach took"; and "taking" refers only to Torah, as it says, "For I have given you a good portion (lekach tov)" (Mishlei 4:2).

The Midrash links Korach's "taking" to the Torah's "good portion." Korach's sin was a failure in how a person "takes hold" of Torah — making it his own possession rather than a gift received from Hashem.

ובמדרש תרומה יש לך מקח יש בו כסף זהב שדות וכרמים יש לך מקח שאינו יודע מה לקח ומשכר הסרסור נתודע משה לא ידע כי קרן עור פניו יש לך מקח שהמוכר נמכר עמו.

And in the Midrash to Terumah: there is an acquisition (mekach) that contains silver, gold, fields and vineyards; there is an acquisition where one does not know what he has acquired, and only through the broker's fee does it become known — "Moshe did not know that the skin of his face shone" (Shemos 34:29); and there is an acquisition where the seller is sold along with it.

The Sefas Emes draws three levels of "acquiring" Torah from this Midrash. The deepest levels are when a person cannot even grasp what he has received, and when the very Giver is, as it were, given together with the Torah itself.

כל אלה הם מדריגות זה אחר זה בעסק התורה.

All of these are levels, one above the next, in the toil of Torah (eisek haTorah).

Each image in the Midrash marks an ascending rung in how a person engages with Torah.

כי התורה מלמדת לאדם וזוכה לאהבה ויראה ע"י התורה זה רמז כסף וזהב.

For the Torah teaches a person, and through the Torah he merits ahavah (love of Hashem) and yirah (awe) — this is the hint of "silver and gold."

The first level is the openly visible gain: Torah refines a person and fills him with love and awe of Hashem, riches as plain as silver and gold.

וגם דביקות שיהיו מעשיו נשרשים בשורש העליון לעשות פירות זה רמז שדות וכרמים.

And also deveikus (cleaving to Hashem), that one's deeds become rooted in the upper Source so as to bear fruit — this is the hint of "fields and vineyards."

A higher level is when Torah causes one's actions to take root in their heavenly source and produce lasting spiritual fruit, like fields and vineyards that yield a harvest.

עכ"ז אין זה עיקר התורה רק כשא"י מה לקח ויודע ומבין שא"י ושא"א להשיג אור התורה ומתבטל אל השורש זוכה על ידי הסרסור שהוא מרע"ה הדעת של כלל ישראל.

Even so, this is not the essence of Torah. Rather, when a person does not know what he has acquired — yet knows and understands that he does not know, and that it is impossible to fully grasp the light of the Torah — and he nullifies himself (bittul) to the Source, he merits it through the "broker," who is Moshe Rabbeinu, the da'as (mind) of Klal Yisrael.

The true essence of Torah begins only with humility: recognizing that its light cannot be fully grasped and nullifying oneself before it. This level is reached through Moshe Rabbeinu, who serves as the collective mind through which the Torah reaches all of Bnei Yisrael.

ויש עוד מדריגה למעלה מזו להיות המוכר נמכר עמו.

And there is yet a level higher than this: that the "seller is sold along with it."

The very highest rung is when, through the Torah, Hashem Himself — the Giver — is somehow present together with the gift.

והנה בקרח כתיב ויקח שנקח חלקו בתורה לעצמו וסבור שיודע מה לקח ועי"ז לא לקח כלום ופשע בעיקר שורש התורה.

Now regarding Korach it is written, "And he took" — that he took his portion in Torah for himself and imagined that he knew what he had taken; and through this he took nothing at all, and offended against the very root of the Torah.

Korach's flaw was the opposite of bittul: he seized Torah as a private possession and presumed he had mastered it. That arrogance emptied his "taking" of all value and struck at the Torah's very root.

וז"ש הפ' לקח טוב כו' תורתי אל תעזובו.

And this is what the verse means: "For I have given you a good portion … do not forsake My Torah" (Mishlei 4:2).

The verse warns against treating Torah as one's own and forsaking it as Hashem's. It must remain "My Torah" — His.

כמ"ש במ"א פי' הפסוק בתורת ה' חפצו ובתורתו יהגה שדרשו חז"ל כשעסק בה נקראת תורתו.

As is explained elsewhere on the verse, "But his desire is in the Torah of Hashem, and in his Torah he meditates" (Tehillim 1:2) — that Chazal expounded: once he has toiled in it, it is called "his Torah."

When a person labors in Torah, it indeed becomes "his" — Chazal say the Torah he toils in is called by his own name.

ואעפ"כ כתיב בתורת ה' חפצו שלא יפריד חלק השגה שלו ויחפוץ תמיד להתדבק בתורת ה'.

And nevertheless it is written, "in the Torah of Hashem is his desire" — so that he should not separate off his own portion of understanding, but should always desire to cleave to the Torah of Hashem.

Even as the Torah becomes "his," he must never sever his small grasp from the whole. His constant yearning must be to cling to it as Hashem's Torah, not his own private acquisition.

ז"ש תורתי אל תעזובו ובזה פשע קרח.

This is the meaning of "do not forsake My Torah" — and in this Korach offended.

Korach forsook precisely this: he held onto "his" Torah while abandoning the awareness that it is Hashem's.

אבל אהרן כתיב ואהרן מה הוא כי ידע שאינו יודע ושמע רק לציווי של מרע"ה ומשכר הסרסור נתודע.

But of Aharon it is written, "And Aharon, what is he?" (Bamidbar 16:11) — for he knew that he did not know, and listened only to the command of Moshe Rabbeinu; and through the "broker's fee" it became known.

Aharon embodied the opposite of Korach. His "What is he?" expressed total self-effacement: he knew the limits of his own understanding and submitted to Moshe's instruction, and through that humility the true gift of Torah was revealed to him.

ולמרע"ה הי' עוד מדריגה גבוה ביותר ששכינה מדברת מתוך גרונו כמ"ש המוכר נמכר עמו:

And Moshe Rabbeinu had a still loftier level — that the Shechinah spoke from within his throat, as in the words "the seller is sold along with it."

Moshe attained the very highest rung: he was so utterly nullified that the Shechinah itself spoke through him. In him, the "Seller" was truly present together with the gift of Torah.

Summary: Drawing on a Midrash that pictures three kinds of "acquisition," the Sefas Emes maps the levels of grasping Torah. The lowest is the open reward of love and awe; higher is when deeds take root in their heavenly source; higher still is humble bittul, knowing one cannot truly grasp Torah's light; and highest is when the Giver Himself accompanies the gift. Korach failed by seizing Torah as his own possession, while Aharon's self-effacement and Moshe's total bittul — through whom the Shechinah spoke — represent the true way to receive it.