Mesirus nefesh as gateway to valuing this world

פן נמות (כו').

"Lest we die" (Shemos 20:16).

At Sinai Bnei Yisrael said they feared they would die if Hashem continued to speak directly to them — the puzzle the Sefas Emes sets out to resolve.

והוא פלא שכבר מסרו נפשם בהקדמת נעשה לנשמע.

And this is astonishing, for they had already given over their lives in placing "na'aseh" (we will do) before "nishma" (we will hear).

Why fear death now? They had already shown total mesirus nefesh by accepting the Torah unconditionally, before even knowing its contents.

אך נראה כי בודאי בעוה"ז יכולין לתקן יותר כמאמר המשנה יפה שעה אחת.

But it seems that surely in this world one can accomplish more tikkun, as the Mishnah says, "Better one hour [of teshuvah and good deeds in this world than all the life of the World to Come]" (Avos 4:17).

Their wish to stay alive was not a retreat from devotion; it was the recognition that this world is the unique arena where a person can actually rectify and accomplish things, more than in the next world.

אך זאת השעה אינה באה כי אם אחר מסירת נפש באמת להיות בטל כל חיי עוה"ז אצלו בעבור רצונו ית'.

But that "hour" comes only after true mesirus nefesh — that all of one's worldly life be utterly nullified before him for the sake of His will, Yisbarach.

The 'precious hour' of this world only has value once a person has already nullified his entire stake in this-worldly life for the ratzon Hashem. Self-surrender must come first.

ובאופן זה יפה היא מכל חיי עוה"ב.

And in this manner, it is finer than all the life of the World to Come.

Once life is lived in that state of bittul — given over entirely to Hashem's will — even this lowly world surpasses Olam Haba, because here one can act.

ולכן מקודם צריך להיות מס"נ ואח"כ זוכין לידע ולהבין כי טוב הוא לחיות בעוה"ז לעסוק בתורה ומעשים טובים.

Therefore, first there must be mesirus nefesh, and afterward one merits to know and understand that it is good to live in this world in order to engage in Torah and good deeds.

The order is essential: only after a person has truly surrendered his life does he earn the clear realization that remaining alive is itself precious — as the means to do mitzvos and learn Torah.

לכן אחר שמסרו נפשם וזכו לשמוע הדברות באו למדריגת אמת ואמרו למה נמות כו'.

Therefore, after they gave over their lives and merited to hear the Dibros, they reached the level of truth and said, "Why should we die?"

Having already passed through mesirus nefesh, Bnei Yisrael now attained the true perspective and asked, in effect, why forfeit this world — the very place where Torah can be fulfilled?

דבר אתה כו' ונשמעה כי נתחבב להם לשמוע ד"ת יותר מהכל כנ"ל:

"You speak [with us]... and we will hear" — for hearing divrei Torah had become more beloved to them than anything, as above.

Their request that Moshe speak was not weakness but love: words of Torah had become so precious that they wished to go on living in this world specifically to keep hearing and fulfilling them.

Summary: Bnei Yisrael's fear of death at Sinai was no contradiction to their earlier mesirus nefesh. Rather, after truly nullifying their lives for Hashem's will, they grasped the Mishnah's teaching that this world — where one can do Torah and mitzvos — is more precious than the World to Come. Their plea to keep living flowed from how beloved hearing Torah had become.