Descent for the sake of ascent at Matan Torah

בגמ' כל דיבור ודיבור נתמלא עולם בשמים ודיבור שני איך קיבלו כו'.

In the Gemara: with each and every utterance the world was filled with fragrance, so how could they receive the second utterance? (Shabbos 88b).

The Gemara asks: if each of the Ten Commandments filled the world entirely, how was there room left to absorb the next one?

אף כי אין ריח כל הדברות שוה.

Even though the fragrance of all the utterances is not equal.

The Sefas Emes notes that not every utterance carried the same "scent," yet the question of how a filled world could receive more still stands.

אך יובן עפ"י מ"ש ז"ל סמא דחיי ומותא כו' נגידים אדבר כו'.

But it can be understood according to what Chazal said: the Torah is "an elixir of life and of death," "of nobles I shall speak (negidim)" (Mishlei 8:6).

Chazal teach that the Torah can be a medicine of life or a poison of death; the Sefas Emes will use this to explain the death-and-life rhythm built into receiving Torah.

ומה רבותא בכח להמית.

And what greatness is there in a power to kill?

He questions: why is the Torah's capacity to "kill" presented as something praiseworthy?

אך דכתיב ממית ומחי' ומצמיח ישועה.

But it is written, "He puts to death and gives life and causes salvation to sprout."

The "killing" is not destruction but a stage on the way to a higher life and salvation.

פי' שלעולם יש ירידה אחר עלי' כדי לקבל אח"כ [כמ"ש רצוא ושוב] וירידה צורך עלי' היא.

The meaning is that there is always a descent after an ascent in order to be able to receive afterward (as in "running and returning," ratzo va'shov), and the descent is a necessity for the ascent.

Spiritual growth follows a rhythm of ratzo va'shov: every rise is followed by a falling-back, which empties a person so he can take in even more.

וזה הכח שנתן הקב"ה בתורה להמית ולהחיות.

And this is the power that Hashem placed in the Torah, to put to death and to bring to life.

The Torah's "death and life" is exactly this cycle of emptying and refilling that makes continued receiving possible.

והכלל כי התורה היא שלימות כל הנבראים ולכן כפי חסרון השלימות זוכין לתורה כמ"ש ז"ל שיורדת למקום נמוך.

And the principle is that the Torah is the completeness of all created beings, and therefore in proportion to one's lack of completeness one merits Torah, as Chazal said that it descends to a low place.

Because Torah is what perfects creation, it is specifically the awareness of one's own emptiness and lowliness that draws Torah down to a person.

ולכן כשנתמלא מדיבור ראשון איך קיבלו עד שהעביר הקב"ה רוח א' כדי לקבל שנית כנ"ל:

Therefore, once the world was filled by the first utterance, how could they receive — until Hashem passed over a certain "wind" (ruach) so that they could receive a second time, as above.

Hashem caused the souls to "depart" and then return, emptying them after the first commandment so they could be filled anew by the next — the very rhythm of descent for the sake of ascent.

Summary: To answer how Bnei Yisrael could receive each of the Ten Commandments after the world was already "filled," the Sefas Emes explains that Torah carries a built-in rhythm of death and life — ratzo va'shov — in which every descent empties a person so that he can be filled and elevated anew.