Lingering fragrance of Matan Torah

בגמרא כל דיבור שיצא מפי הקב"ה נתמלא העולם בשמים כו' והעבירן לג"ע כו'.

In the Gemara: with every utterance that came forth from the mouth of Hashem the world was filled with fragrance... and He transferred it to Gan Eden (Shabbos 88b).

At Matan Torah each word Hashem spoke released a heavenly fragrance into the world, which was then gathered up and stored away in Gan Eden.

ומ"מ נשאר רשימה מכל אלו הריחות.

Nevertheless, an impression remained from all these fragrances.

Though the fragrance itself was removed, a residue — a reshimah, a faint trace — of those scents was left behind in this world.

וכפי מה שמקבל אדם אלה השיריים בעוה"ז.

And according to how much a person receives of these remnants in this world —

The measure of a person's portion in the World to Come depends on how much of these faint traces of fragrance he absorbs here in olam hazeh.

כך יכול לקרב לעיקרן של הבשמים בגן עדן ולכן נאמר עוה"ז דומה לפרוזדור בפני עוה"ב כו'.

— so can he draw close to the essence of the fragrances in Gan Eden; therefore it is said, "This world resembles an antechamber before the World to Come" (Avos 4:16).

By grasping the traces available here, a person earns access to their full reality in the next world — this world being the corridor that leads to the inner chamber.

ואלו הרשימות הם מקיימים העולם.

And these impressions are what sustain the world.

The lingering traces of the Divine utterances are the hidden vitality that keeps creation in existence.

ומובנים הדברים למשכילים:

And these matters are understood by the discerning.

The Sefas Emes leaves the deeper implication to those with the penimiyus to grasp it on their own.

Summary: Each utterance of Matan Torah filled the world with a heavenly fragrance that was stored in Gan Eden, yet a faint trace remained in olam hazeh. By absorbing these traces of Torah here, a person draws near to their full reality in the World to Come — and it is these very impressions that sustain all of creation.