Drawing Close From Below

בפסוק צו את בני ישראל כו' ברש"י ומדרש עד שאתה מצוני על בני צוה בני עלי

On the pasuk "Command Bnei Yisrael, etc." (Bamidbar 28:2), Rashi and the Midrash comment: "Before you command Me regarding My children, command My children regarding Me."

The Sfas Emes opens with the Midrashic teaching that just as Bnei Yisrael ask things of Hashem, Hashem asks of them to keep His mitzvos. The relationship runs in both directions.

הענין הוא דיש לחם מן השמים ומן הארץ

The matter is that there is bread that comes from Heaven and bread that comes from the earth.

He introduces a framework of two kinds of spiritual sustenance: one descending from above, and one ascending from below.

והיא בחי' תורה שבכתב ושבע"פ

These correspond to the two aspects of Torah Shebichsav (the Written Torah) and Torah Sheba'al Peh (the Oral Torah).

These two breads map onto the Written Torah, given directly from Heaven, and the Oral Torah, developed by Bnei Yisrael below.

ומרע"ה הוריד התורה מן השמים לארץ והמן דכ' הנני ממטיר לחם מן השמים כו'

Moshe Rabbeinu brought the Torah down from Heaven to the earth, as well as the mann, of which it is written, "Behold, I shall rain down for you bread from the heavens, etc." (Shemos 16:4).

Moshe Rabbeinu's role was to bring down what comes from above — both the Torah and the mann — Heavenly gifts handed to the people.

ורצה מרע"ה להשאיר זאת גם אחריו

And Moshe Rabbeinu wished that this should remain even after him.

Moshe Rabbeinu hoped this downward flow of Heavenly bounty would continue even after his passing.

אבל באמת התחיל עתה בחי' לחם מן הארץ היינו התקרבות מצד התחתונים לשמים היינו צוה את בני עלי

But in truth, there now began the aspect of "bread from the earth" — that is, a drawing close from the side of those below, upward toward Heaven — and this is the meaning of "command My children regarding Me."

But a new mode now began: instead of receiving from above, Bnei Yisrael must initiate the drawing close from below, which is the meaning of Hashem commanding His children to come close to Him.

והיא בחי' הקרבנות וכן תפלה שבמקום תמידין איתקן והוא עבודה שבלב פי' ע"י השתוקקות בלב להתדבק בשורש עליון אם כי עתה נפלנו אחורנית יכולין לחזור למקומנו הראשון

This is the aspect of the korbanos, and likewise tefillah, which was instituted in place of the daily tamid offerings; it is the avodah that is performed in the heart — meaning, through the heart's yearning to cleave to the supernal root. For even though we have now fallen backward, we are able to return to our original place.

This upward movement is expressed through korbanos and tefillah, the avodah of the heart. Even after a spiritual fall, the heart's yearning can restore a person to where he once stood.

וז"ש העשוי' בהר סיני שע"י שכבר היינו במדריגה עליונה בהר סיני דכתיב וירד ה' על הר סיני

This is the meaning of "that was made at Har Sinai" (Bamidbar 28:6) — that because we already stood upon a lofty level at Har Sinai, of which it is written, "And Hashem descended upon Har Sinai" (Shemos 19:20),

The phrase "made at Har Sinai" hints that because Bnei Yisrael once reached the heights of Har Sinai, that elevation remains accessible to them.

יכולין שוב עתה להעלות עצמנו לשמים

we are therefore able once again, even now, to raise ourselves up to Heaven.

Having tasted that lofty level once, they retain the ability to lift themselves back up to Heaven even now.

ולכן התפלל משה רבינו ע"ה כדכ' ואתחנן ולמדו חז"ל דיני תפלה מתפלתו של מרע"ה שהי' זה הכנה שהכין מרע"ה בחי' תפלה שמקודם הי' בחי' תורה אספקלריא המאירה והי' הכל בגלוי

Therefore Moshe Rabbeinu davened, as it is written, "And I beseeched" (Devarim 3:23), and Chazal derived the laws of tefillah from the tefillah of Moshe Rabbeinu; for this was a preparation that Moshe Rabbeinu prepared, namely the aspect of tefillah. For beforehand there had been the aspect of Torah, the clear and luminous lens (aspaklaria hame'irah), and everything was revealed openly.

Moshe Rabbeinu modeled this ascent through his own tefillah, from which Chazal learned the halachos of davening. His era of open, revealed Torah gave way to his preparing the path of tefillah.

ועתה התחיל הדרך למצוא הכל ע"י יגיעה כמ"ש מעשיך יקרבוך

But now there began the path of finding everything through toil and labor, as it is written, "Your deeds shall bring you close."

Whereas Torah had once come with total clarity, now the avodah is to find Hashem through effort and striving, as the Mishnah teaches that one's own deeds bring him close.

וזהו ענין הקרבנות והתפלות כנ"ל

And this is the matter of the korbanos and the tefillos, as explained above.

The Sfas Emes ties it together: korbanos and tefillah are precisely this avodah of striving upward from below.

והבן כ"ז:

Understand all of this.

He closes by inviting the reader to contemplate the full depth of this idea.

Summary: The Sfas Emes contrasts two modes of connection to Hashem: "bread from Heaven" — the Torah and mann that Moshe Rabbeinu brought down from above — and "bread from the earth," the avodah of drawing close to Hashem from below. While Moshe Rabbeinu wished the downward flow of Heavenly bounty to endure, a new era now began in which Bnei Yisrael must initiate the ascent themselves, through korbanos and tefillah, the yearning avodah of the heart. Even after a spiritual fall, this yearning can restore a person to his original place, for the elevation Bnei Yisrael attained at Har Sinai remains forever accessible to them. Moshe Rabbeinu prepared this path of tefillah, from which Chazal derived its halachos, transforming the era of openly revealed Torah into one of finding Hashem through toil, as "your deeds shall bring you close."