Torah is the gateway to yiras Shomayim

בנוסח הבקשה הוא יפתח לבנו בתורתו וישם בלבנו אהבתו ויראתו.

In the text of the prayer: "May He open our hearts through His Torah, and place within our hearts love and awe of Him."

The Sefas Emes examines the order of this tefillah — first Torah opens the heart, and only then love and yirah are placed within.

עפ"י הגמ' וי מאן דלית לי' דרתא ותרעא לדרתא עביד.

This follows the Gemara: "Woe to one who has no courtyard, yet makes a gateway for a courtyard!" (Shabbos 31b).

A gateway without a courtyard is useless; the gate exists only to provide entry into the real treasure within.

כי כל החכמה והתורה רק פתח לכנוס ליראת ה' היא אוצרו.

For all of wisdom and Torah is merely a gateway through which to enter to yiras Hashem (the awe of Hashem), which is His true treasure.

Torah learning is not the final goal but the doorway; yiras Shomayim is the "courtyard," the actual storehouse of value.

וע"י שנפתח לבות בנ"י מכח התורה יכולין אח"כ לקבל היראה והאהבה.

And by means of the hearts of Bnei Yisrael being opened through the power of the Torah, they are then able to receive yirah and ahavah.

Torah first softens and opens the heart, making it a fit vessel that can afterward hold awe and love of Hashem.

וכ' הן יראת ה' היא חכמה ואיתא הן יחידי הוא בלשון יוני הן אחת כו'.

And it is written, "Behold (hen), the fear of Hashem is wisdom" (Iyov 28:28); and it is brought down that "hen" means "one," for in the Greek tongue "hen" means "one."

The word "hen" hints at oneness — true yiras Hashem brings a person to singular, undivided attachment.

עפ"י הגמ' אין דומה שונה פרקו מאה פעמים לשונה פרקו מאה פעמים וא'.

This follows the Gemara: one who reviews his lesson one hundred times is not comparable to one who reviews his lesson one hundred and one times (Chagigah 9b).

The single extra review — the "one" beyond the hundred — makes a qualitative difference, elevating the learning to a different plane.

ופי' המפרשים שיהי' דבוק באחדות.

And the commentators explain that this means one should be attached to the One (achdus).

That extra "one" represents cleaving to Hashem's oneness, transforming mere repetition into devekus.

והוא כשהלימוד עם יראת שמים כדאיתא המקדים יראתו לחכמתו חכמתו מתקיימת.

And this is when the learning is accompanied by yiras Shomayim, as is brought: one who places his fear of Heaven before his wisdom — his wisdom endures (Avos 3:9).

The "one" added to the hundred is yiras Shomayim; only Torah joined to fear of Heaven becomes lasting and bound to the One.

כעין זה שמעתי מפי מו"ז ז"ל שתקנו מגילת רות בשבועות כמאמר העולם כי העיקר תורה ותפלה.

Something like this I heard from my grandfather, of blessed memory: that Megillas Rus was instituted to be read on Shavuos, in keeping with the common saying that the essentials are Torah and tefillah.

The Sefas Emes cites his grandfather (the Chiddushei HaRim), explaining that Rus, read on the festival of Torah, embodies the pairing of Torah with prayer.

ותפלה הוא בחי' דוד המע"ה כו'.

And tefillah is the aspect of Dovid HaMelech, peace be upon him.

Dovid, the author of Tehillim and descendant of Rus, personifies the dimension of prayer that complements Torah.

והוא ג"כ בחי' יראה ולהודיע כי אם אין יראה אין חכמה כנ"ל:

And this too is the aspect of yirah — to make known that if there is no fear, there is no wisdom, as explained above.

Tefillah expresses yiras Shomayim, and the whole teaching comes to declare that without yirah, Torah-wisdom cannot stand.

Summary: Torah is only the "gateway" whose true treasure is yiras Hashem; Torah opens the heart so it can then receive awe and love. The extra "one" beyond the hundred reviews is yiras Shomayim, which binds learning to Hashem's oneness and makes wisdom endure. So too Rus and Dovid HaMelech on Shavuos pair Torah with tefillah and yirah — for without fear of Heaven there is no lasting wisdom.