Inner Yirah Sanctifying Action

במדרש ונשבעת כו' אם יש בך מדות הללו כאותן שנקראו יראי ה' כו' האיך אפשר להדבק בשכינה כו' ע"ש

The Midrash on the verse "and you shall swear" (Yirmiyahu 4:2) teaches: if you possess these traits, like those who are called yirei Hashem (those who fear Hashem), how is it possible to cleave to the Shechinah, etc. — see there.

The Midrash links the ability to cleave to the Shechinah with possessing the trait of yiras Shamayim, like those who are actually called yirei Hashem.

פי' שנקראו שמם על היראה ע"כ שהיראה עיקר פנימיותם שאין בהם מקום בלי יראתו ית'

The explanation is that they are called by the name of yirah (fear of Hashem) — meaning that yirah is the very core of their innermost being, for there is no place within them that is empty of the fear of Hashem Yisbarach.

Such people are defined by yirah because it permeates them entirely; no part of them is ever free of awareness of Hashem.

א"כ גם דבר רשות שלהם מצוה הוא

If so, then even an optional, mundane matter of theirs becomes a mitzvah.

Because yirah fills them completely, even their permitted, everyday activities are elevated into the status of a mitzvah.

וז"ש יהיו בך כל המדות כו' בך דייקא לא בדרך ידיעה חיצונית רק להיות כל מעשה בהתקשרות חיות פנימיות מהשי"ת

This is the meaning of "let all the traits be within you" — "within you" precisely, not in the manner of external knowledge, but rather that every action be done through a connection to the inner vitality that flows from Hashem Yisbarach.

"Within you" stresses that this is not mere intellectual awareness, but a living inner bond, so that every deed is connected to the vitality flowing from Hashem.

וזהו עיקר פי' יראה פנימיות

This is the essential meaning of yirah — an inner, penetrating fear.

Genuine yirah is therefore an internal, all-pervading fear rather than a surface attitude.

וז"ש ובו תדבק שאין הפי' ע"י פרישות

And this is the meaning of "and to Him you shall cleave" (Devarim 10:20) — that the meaning is not achieved through withdrawal and separation.

Cleaving to Hashem is not accomplished by retreating from the world and its physicality.

כי מצד עצם הפרישות הלא אש אוכלה כו'

For from the perspective of separation itself, behold, "He is a consuming fire" (Devarim 4:24).

Pure detachment cannot bond a person to Hashem, since approaching Him directly that way is like approaching a consuming fire.

רק ע"י שיהי' כל מעשה גשמיות ג"כ רק לשם שמים

Rather, it is achieved through making every physical action also be solely for the sake of Heaven.

Instead, true cleaving comes through directing even one's physical actions entirely toward the sake of Heaven.

זהו ההתקרבות אליו ית'

This is the true drawing near to Hashem Yisbarach.

This sanctifying of physical deeds is what constitutes real closeness to Hashem.

וז"ש אל ראשי המטות ג"כ הפי' שמטין הכל להפנימיות שמקרבין כל דבר לשורשו

And this is the meaning of "to the heads of the tribes" (Bamidbar 30:2) — for the word matos (tribes) also alludes to bending and inclining, that they incline everything toward the inner dimension, drawing every matter back to its root.

The word matos hints at "inclining," teaching that the leaders bend every matter inward and draw it back to its spiritual source.

וכן בפשיטות האבות הם שורש והתחלה והשבטים ההתפשטות וראשי המטות הם שמחברין כלל ישראל בשורש הי"ב שבטים שדבקין בההתחלה כנ"ל

And likewise in a straightforward sense: the Avos (Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov) are the root and the beginning, the Shevatim (tribes) are the expansion outward, and the heads of the tribes are those who reconnect Klal Yisrael to the root of the twelve tribes, which cleave to the beginning, as explained above.

The Avos are the root, the Shevatim are the branching expansion, and the tribal heads reconnect all of Klal Yisrael back through the twelve tribes to that original root.

ושבועה ונדר הוא הסכמה ברצון האדם כנודע וזה לא צריך להיות רק לדבר מצוה

A shevuah (oath) and a neder (vow) constitute an agreement of a person's will, as is known, and this should be made only for a matter of mitzvah.

An oath or vow is a deliberate act of will and binding agreement, which is fitting to invoke only for the sake of a mitzvah.

אבל מי שאין דברי רשות שלו לשם שמים בלבד אין לעשותו בהסכם וכוונה פנימיות רק עפ"י ההכרח:

But one whose optional, mundane matters are not solely for the sake of Heaven should not perform them with deliberate agreement and inner intention, but rather only out of necessity.

If a person's mundane affairs are not purely for Heaven's sake, he should engage in them only as necessity demands, not with deliberate intent and inner devotion.

Summary: The Sfas Emes explains, based on the Midrash, that the truest yiras Shamayim is not an external awareness but an inner fear that permeates a person so completely that no part of him is ever empty of the presence of Hashem Yisbarach. When yirah fills a person to this degree, even his permitted, mundane actions are transformed into mitzvos, because they are all bound up with the inner vitality flowing from Hashem. This is the deeper meaning of "and to Him you shall cleave": cleaving to Hashem is achieved not through withdrawal and separation — for pure detachment confronts Hashem as a consuming fire — but through sanctifying every physical deed for the sake of Heaven. The "heads of the tribes" embody this, for matos suggests inclining everything inward and drawing it back to its root, just as the tribal leaders reconnect Klal Yisrael through the twelve Shevatim to the Avos, who are the beginning. Therefore an oath or vow, being a deliberate act of will, should be invoked only for a matter of mitzvah, while one whose mundane affairs are not purely for Heaven should engage in them only out of necessity, not with full inner intention.