Shabbos Essence Of Speech

אחז"ל כל הנביאים נתנבאו בכה אמר ה' מוסיף עליהם משה בזה הדבר

Chazal said that all the prophets prophesied with the words 'So says Hashem' (koh amar Hashem), but Moshe Rabbeinu was greater than them in that he prophesied with 'This is the thing' (zeh hadavar).

Moshe Rabbeinu's prophecy was on a higher plane than that of all other prophets: they received 'So says Hashem,' while he received the clear, direct 'This is the thing.'

ענין הפרש זה כמו החילוק בין עשרה מאמרות לעשרת הדיברות

The meaning of this distinction is like the difference between the Ten Utterances (with which the world was created) and the Ten Commandments (the Aseres HaDibros).

The Sfas Emes frames this gap by comparing the Ten Utterances of Creation to the Ten Commandments, a difference he will now develop.

כי מאמר היא רק לחוץ להודיע הרצון יהי רקיע

For a 'maamar' (utterance) is only directed outward, to make known the Divine will, as in 'Let there be a firmament.'

A 'maamar' is speech aimed outward merely to announce Hashem's will, like the creative command 'Let there be a firmament.'

יהי מאורות

'Let there be luminaries.'

Another example of such an outward creative utterance: 'Let there be luminaries.'

ודיבור הוא פנימיות עצם הדיבור

But 'dibbur' (speech) is the inwardness, the very essence of speech itself.

'Dibbur,' by contrast, is the inner essence of speech itself, not just an outward announcement.

כענין שם מדבר שנקרא האדם מדבר

This is like the term 'medaber' (a speaker), by which man is called a speaking being.

Proof that dibbur denotes essence: man is defined as 'medaber,' a speaking being, his very nature.

ולא אומר

And not 'omer' (one who utters).

He is specifically not called 'omer,' showing that 'dibbur' captures the essential identity, not 'amirah.'

כי הדיבור הוא בעצם לא במקרה כמו המאמר

For 'dibbur' is essential and not incidental, unlike a 'maamar.'

Thus dibbur belongs to a thing's essence, while a maamar is only an incidental, external expression.

ואמת שזה עצמו ענין החילוק בין זה לכה

And in truth, this itself is the meaning of the distinction between 'zeh' (this) and 'koh' (so).

This essence-versus-incidental contrast is precisely the contrast between Moshe's 'zeh' and the other prophets' 'koh.'

כי יש כמה מדריגות בנבואה

For there are several levels in nevuah (prophecy).

Prophecy comes in graded levels, which sets up how the inner dibbur relates to the outer amirah.

ועצם הדיבור מתלבש ומתפשט אח"כ למדריגות אמירה ולכן באמירה כתיב כה ובדיבור זה

The very essence of speech (dibbur) afterward clothes itself and spreads out into the lower levels of 'amirah' (utterance); therefore by amirah it is written 'koh' (so), while by dibbur it is written 'zeh' (this).

The essential dibbur descends and unfolds into the lesser level of amirah; hence amirah is paired with 'koh' and the higher dibbur with the direct 'zeh.'

לכן כ' וידבר ה' כו' לאמר כי מהדיבור בא אח"כ אמירה

This is why it is written 'And Hashem spoke (vayedaber)... saying (leimor),' for from the dibbur there afterward comes the amirah.

The Torah's phrase 'And Hashem spoke... saying' reflects this order: the inner dibbur comes first, and the outward amirah flows from it.

וכן הי' מעלת בנ"י בקבלת התורה שנגלה פנימיות דבר ה' בדיברות יותר מעשרה מאמרות

So too was the greatness of Bnei Yisrael in receiving the Torah, for the inwardness of the word of Hashem was revealed in the Dibros (Commandments) more than in the Ten Utterances of Creation.

Bnei Yisrael's greatness at Matan Torah was that Hashem's inner word was revealed through the Dibros to a deeper degree than through the Ten Utterances of Creation.

ומעין זה החילוק בין ימי המעשה שהוא כח עשרה מאמרות שבכל יום הי' בריאה מיוחדת יהי אור

And akin to this is the distinction between the weekdays, which are the power of the Ten Utterances, for on each day there was a distinct creation, 'Let there be light,'

The same pattern appears in time: weekdays carry the power of the Ten Utterances, since each day brought a fresh, distinct act of creation, beginning with 'Let there be light.'

רקיע

'firmament,'

Another such daily creation: the 'firmament.'

ובשבת לא הי' בריאה וכ' ויברך כו' את יום השביעי א"כ הוא בחי' עצם הדיבור

while on Shabbos there was no creation, and it is written 'And He blessed... the seventh day' — so it is the aspect of the very essence of dibbur.

Shabbos, however, had no new creation; the Torah simply says Hashem 'blessed' the seventh day, marking it as the realm of pure, essential dibbur.

ובכל הימים שכ' ברכה כ' ויברך כו' לאמר כו' וכ' דברך כו' ויאמר להם כו' פרו ורבו

And on all the days where a blessing is written, it is written 'And He blessed... saying...' and 'your word...' and 'And He said to them... be fruitful and multiply.'

On the creation days, blessing always appears joined to an outward 'saying' — 'And He blessed... saying... be fruitful and multiply' — that is, blessing expressed through amirah.

ובש"ק כתיב ויברך סתם והוא עצם הדיבור

But on the holy Shabbos it is written 'And He blessed' without qualification, and that is the very essence of dibbur.

On Shabbos the verse says only 'And He blessed,' with no accompanying 'saying,' which is the pure essence of dibbur.

ולכן בשבת ניתנה תורה שהם בחי' עשרת הדיברות כנ"ל

And therefore the Torah was given on Shabbos, for the Commandments are the aspect of the Aseres HaDibros, as explained above.

Fittingly, the Torah, embodied in the Aseres HaDibros, was given on Shabbos, the day of essential dibbur.

וזהו עצמו שכ' בזוה"ק בשבת דלא אשתכח בי' מזוני מה ברכתא אשתכח כו' אלא שהוא שורש הברכה ע"ש והוא כנ"ל

And this itself is what is written in the Zohar HaKadosh regarding Shabbos, that since no sustenance is found on it (no new creation), what blessing is found in it — rather, it is the root of all blessing (see there); and this is as explained above.

The Zohar's question — how can Shabbos hold blessing if nothing new is created on it — is answered that Shabbos is the very root and source of all blessing, matching the idea of essential dibbur above.

[אח"כ מצאתי בפסיקתא בהפטרה דשמעו שכ' כן דשבת נק' דבר דכ' ודבר דבר וכ' ואתה דבר אל בנ"י בפ' תשא ע"ש שפי' שמעו דבר ה' הוא על מצות השבת

[Afterward I found in the Pesikta, on the haftarah of 'Shimu' (Hear), that it says so — that Shabbos is called 'davar' (a thing/word), for it is written 'and speaking a word (vedabeir davar)' and it is written 'And you, speak (dabeir) to Bnei Yisrael' in Parshas Ki Sisa; see there that it explains 'Hear the word of Hashem (shimu devar Hashem)' as referring to the mitzvah of Shabbos.

The Sfas Emes adds a source he later found: the Pesikta on the haftarah 'Shimu' calls Shabbos 'davar,' linking the verses 'speaking a word' and 'speak to Bnei Yisrael' to explain 'Hear the word of Hashem' as the mitzvah of Shabbos.

ושמחתי שכוונתי לדעת רבותינו ז"ל כי ההנהגה בש"ק הוא מהקב"ה בעצמו לכן נק' דבר ה'] וכ' לעולם ה' דברך נצב בשמים הוא השרשים שלמעלה כנ"ל:

And I rejoiced that I had aligned with the view of our Rabbeinu, zichronam livrachah, for the conduct of the world on the holy Shabbos comes from the Holy One, Blessed is He, Himself — therefore it is called 'devar Hashem' (the word of Hashem)]; and it is written 'Forever, Hashem, Your word stands firm in the heavens' (Tehillim 119:89) — these are the roots above, as explained above.

He rejoices that his idea matched our Rabbeinu's: because Shabbos is conducted directly by Hakadosh Baruch Hu Himself, it is called 'the word of Hashem'; and the verse 'Forever, Hashem, Your word stands firm in the heavens' points to these supernal roots.

Summary: The Sfas Emes builds his piece on Chazal's teaching that all prophets received 'So says Hashem' (koh), while Moshe Rabbeinu uniquely received 'This is the thing' (zeh), and he likens this to the gap between the Ten Utterances of Creation and the Aseres HaDibros. A 'maamar' is merely outward speech announcing the Divine will, whereas 'dibbur' is the inner essence of speech itself — just as man is called 'medaber' by his very nature — and the essential dibbur descends to clothe itself in the outer amirah. He applies this to time: the weekdays carry the power of the Ten Utterances, each bringing a distinct creation, while Shabbos has no new creation and is simply 'blessed,' making it the realm of pure, essential dibbur and the root of all blessing, as the Zohar teaches. This is why the Torah, embodied in the Dibros, was given on Shabbos. He closes by noting a Pesikta that calls Shabbos 'davar' and rejoicing that his insight matched our Rabbeinu — for Shabbos is conducted directly by Hakadosh Baruch Hu Himself, and 'Forever, Hashem, Your word stands firm in the heavens' points to these supernal roots.