Choosing revealed Torah in this world

בפסוק דבר אתה עמנו כו' והוטב להשי"ת דבריהם.

On the verse, "You speak with us…" (Shmos 20:16) — and their words were pleasing to Hashem.

At Har Sinai, Bnei Yisrael asked that Moshe Rabbeinu, rather than they themselves, hear the rest directly from Hashem, and the Torah testifies that Hashem approved of this request. The Sefas Emes sets out to explain why this was praiseworthy.

פירשנו זה עפ"י מאמר הזוהר הקדוש בשה"ש ע"פ הביאני המלך חדריו נגילה ונשמחה בך ע"ש.

We explained this based on the teaching of the holy Zohar in Shir HaShirim, on the verse "The King has brought me into His chambers; we will rejoice and be glad in You" (Shir HaShirim 1:4) — see there.

He grounds his explanation in the Zohar's reading of the verse describing being drawn into the King's inner chambers, a metaphor for the most intimate revelation of Hashem.

והענין הוא כי בודאי בשעת קבלת התורה היו דביקין בשורש התורה שהיא נעלמה מעיני כל חי.

The idea is that surely, at the moment of Kabbalas haTorah, they were cleaving to the root of the Torah, which is hidden from the eyes of all living things.

At Sinai, Bnei Yisrael were attached to the Torah in its most exalted, hidden source — a level of Torah beyond anything ordinarily accessible to a created being.

עד שיצאה נשמתן כו'.

To the point that their souls departed from them…

This bond was so overwhelming that, as Chazal teach, their neshamos left them at each utterance — the experience was too lofty to be sustained within the body.

והוא למעלה מעצם התורה דאורייתא סתים וגליא וכמ"ש חז"ל הביאני כו' חדריו חדרי ג"ע מעין עוה"ב ממש.

And this is above the very body of the Torah, for the Torah has a concealed dimension (sasim) and a revealed dimension (galya), as Chazal said: "He brought me into His chambers" — these chambers are the chambers of Gan Eden, literally a foretaste of the World to Come.

The Torah has two faces: a hidden inner essence and a revealed outer form. At Sinai they touched the hidden inner essence — the "chambers" of Gan Eden, a direct taste of Olam Haba.

אבל באמת מרע"ה הוריד התורה למטה לקיים ע"י התורה כל תרי"ג מצות מעשיות כמו שמתלבשין הסיפורים של התורה בעוה"ז.

But in truth, Moshe Rabbeinu brought the Torah down below, so that through the Torah all 613 practical mitzvos could be fulfilled, just as the narratives of the Torah are clothed in this world.

Moshe's role was to bring that hidden Torah down into garments of action and story, so that it could be lived out in the physical world through the practical mitzvos.

והוא באמצעיות מרע"ה שהוא הדעת והתורה של בנ"י וז"ש נגילה ונשמחה בך בכ"ב אתוין דאורייתא שהוא כלל הנהגת העולם עפ"י אותיות התורה.

This is accomplished through Moshe Rabbeinu, who is the da'as and the Torah of Bnei Yisrael; and this is the meaning of "we will rejoice and be glad in You" — through the twenty-two letters of the Torah, which constitute the entire governance of the world according to the letters of the Torah.

Moshe is the channel of da'as for Klal Yisrael. The joy of "in You" is the joy of living through the twenty-two letters of the Torah, by which the whole world is conducted — finding Hashem within the revealed, lettered Torah.

[וכתיב הביאני אל בית היין דרשו בפ' נשא למרתף גדול של סיני כו'.

[And it is written, "He brought me to the house of wine" (Shir HaShirim 2:4), which they expounded in Parshas Naso to mean the great wine-cellar of Sinai…

He brings a further teaching: the "house of wine" is interpreted as Sinai, the storehouse from which the deepest secrets of Torah were poured out.

הביאני אל בית היין ר"ת אהב"ה.

"He brought me to the house of wine" — the initial letters spell ahavah (love).

The opening letters of that phrase form the word "love," hinting that this entry into the secrets of Sinai is itself an act of love.

והוא בחי' אהבה רבה שורש התורה.

And this is the aspect of ahavah rabbah (great love), the root of the Torah.

This is the boundless, "great love" that corresponds to the hidden root of the Torah experienced at Sinai.

אעפ"כ ודגלו עלי אהבה היא אהבה זוטא שנק' אהבת עולם שמתקיים גם בעוה"ז כמ"ש מו"ז ז"ל ע"פ תורה צוה לנו משה לכן היא מורשה לעולם כי כשהיו שומעין מפי הבורא ית' היו למעלה מן הטבע לגמרי ולא הי' דבר של קיימא כו' ע"ש.]

Nevertheless, "and His banner over me is love" (Shir HaShirim 2:4) refers to a lesser love, called ahavas olam (everlasting love), which endures even in this world — as my grandfather, of blessed memory, said on the verse "Moshe commanded us the Torah" (Devarim 33:4): therefore it is an everlasting inheritance, for when they heard directly from the mouth of the Creator they were entirely above nature, and nothing was enduring… see there.]

The "great love" of Sinai was too lofty to last within the world. The enduring gift is the "lesser love," the steady "everlasting love" that can be sustained in this world. Precisely because the direct revelation lifted them beyond nature, it could not remain — so the Torah was given in a form that becomes a permanent inheritance for all generations.

וכן איתא משה קיבל תורה מסיני כו' ממי שנגלה בסיני.

So too it is taught, "Moshe received the Torah from Sinai" — meaning from the One who revealed Himself at Sinai.

The Mishnah's phrase "from Sinai" really means from Hashem, who revealed Himself there; Moshe is the one who carried that revelation down to the world.

היינו שורש התורה כמו שהיא בבחי' סתים ובנ"י בחרו בחי' גליא.

That is, the root of the Torah as it is in its concealed aspect — and Bnei Yisrael chose the revealed aspect.

Moshe held the hidden root; Bnei Yisrael, by asking Moshe to mediate, deliberately chose the revealed, lived dimension of Torah within the world.

וכוונו בני ישראל למאמר המשנה יפה שעה א' (בתורה) [*בתשובה] ומעש"ט בעוה"ז מכל חיי עוה"ב.

And Bnei Yisrael intended the teaching of the Mishnah: "More precious is one hour of teshuvah and good deeds in this world than all the life of the World to Come" (Avos 4:17).

Their choice expressed the Mishnah's principle that a single hour of teshuvah and mitzvos performed in this world is more precious than all of Olam Haba — the value lies in serving Hashem within the world.

אף כי בודאי עוה"ב למעלה הרבה מ"מ יש יותר תפארת להבורא ית' מהנהגת התורה בעוה"ז כמ"ש ישראל אשר בך אתפאר.

For although the World to Come is certainly far higher, nevertheless there is greater glory for the Creator from the conduct of the Torah in this world, as it is written, "Yisrael, in whom I will be glorified" (Yeshayahu 49:3).

Olam Haba is intrinsically loftier, yet Hashem's glory shines more fully when Bnei Yisrael live the Torah in this lowly, concealed world — for it is here, against the odds, that Hashem says He is glorified through them.

והבן כ"ז:

Understand all of this.

He calls on the reader to absorb this whole teaching about the two loves and the two dimensions of Torah.

Summary: At Har Sinai, Bnei Yisrael touched the hidden root of the Torah — an overwhelming "great love" too lofty to endure. By asking Moshe Rabbeinu to mediate, they chose instead the revealed, lived Torah — the steady "everlasting love" that can be sustained in this world. Though Olam Haba is higher, Hashem's glory shines specifically through Bnei Yisrael living the Torah in the concealment of this world.