General and particular in Torah and creation

בעשרת הדברות פרש"י כל הדברים בדיבור אחד אח"כ חזר ופירש כל דיבור בפ"ע.

Regarding the Aseres HaDibros (Ten Commandments), Rashi explains: all the statements were said in a single utterance, and afterward He repeated and specified each statement on its own.

Rashi teaches that at Sinai Hashem first spoke all Ten Commandments in one all-encompassing utterance, and only then articulated each one separately. The Sefas Emes will explain the meaning of this twofold revelation.

הענין הוא כמ"ש בבריאת עולם בראשית נמי מאמר הוא והוא הכלל שהכל נברא בראשון כמ"ש רש"י רק בכל יום נגמר הדבר בפרט.

The matter is as is said regarding the creation of the world: "Bereishis is also an utterance" — it is the general principle, that everything was created on the first day, as Rashi explains, and only on each day was the thing completed in detail.

Just as in creation, the opening word "Bereishis" was itself a creative utterance containing everything in potential — all was created on day one as a klal (general principle), and the individual days merely brought each detail to completion — so too the single utterance at Sinai contained all in general before each was specified.

וע"ז אמרו במשנה במאמר אחד יכול להבראות רק להפרע וליתן שכר כו'.

And about this they said in the Mishnah: the world could have been created with a single utterance; rather [it was created with ten] in order to exact punishment and grant reward…

The Mishnah (Avos) notes that the world could have been made with one utterance but was made with ten, so that reward and punishment could be apportioned according to the detailed parts. The same relationship of klal and prat (general and particular) governs both creation and the Dibros.

כן בדברות יש כלל ופרט.

So too in the Dibros there is a klal and a prat.

The Ten Commandments likewise have a general dimension — the single all-inclusive utterance — and a particular dimension, the ten distinct statements.

וכאן הוא רק מדה טובה בלבד כמ"ש למען צדקו יגדיל תורה כמ"ש חז"ל רצה לזכות את ישראל הרבה להם תורה ומצות כו'.

And here it is only a positive measure, as it is written, "for the sake of His righteousness He will make the Torah great and glorious" (Yeshayahu 42:21), as Chazal said: Hashem wished to grant merit to Yisrael, therefore He gave them much Torah and mitzvos.

Unlike creation, where the detailing also enabled punishment, the detailing of the Torah into many mitzvos is purely a kindness — Hashem multiplied the mitzvos solely to give Bnei Yisrael more opportunities to earn merit.

וזה ענין תיקון העשי' שאין לך דבר שאין בו מצוה להתפשט במעשה זו כח התורה ונשמע הוא בחי' הכלל.

And this is the matter of the rectification of the realm of action, that there is nothing that does not contain a mitzvah, so that it spreads into action; this is the power of the Torah. And "we will hear" is the aspect of the klal.

The detailing of mitzvos brings tikkun (rectification) into the world of deed: every physical thing now holds a mitzvah, so holiness extends into action itself. "Na'aseh v'nishma" — "we will hear" represents the all-encompassing klal, the general acceptance, while "we will do" represents the detailed action.

וכ"כ וידבר אלקים כו' אח"כ אנכי ה' כמ"ש רש"י בבראשית עלה במחשבה במדה"ד ואח"כ שיתף מדה"ר כו'.

And so it is written, "And Elokim spoke…" and afterward "I am Hashem (the Tetragrammaton)…" — as Rashi explains regarding creation, that it arose in thought [to create] with the attribute of din (strict justice), and afterward He partnered it with the attribute of rachamim (mercy).

The Dibros open with the Name Elokim (din) and then the Name of mercy, paralleling Rashi's teaching on creation: Hashem first conceived the world through strict justice and then joined mercy to it. The general utterance and the detailing reflect this same blending of din and rachamim.

וכן בכל יום יש ענין זה בק"ש ה' אחד הוא להיבטל אליו ית' בכלל בחי' נשמע.

And so every day there is this matter in Krias Shema: "Hashem is One" is to nullify oneself before Him in a general way, the aspect of "we will hear."

This klal-and-prat structure recurs daily in Shema. Declaring "Hashem Echad" is an act of bittul — nullifying oneself before Hashem as one undifferentiated whole, corresponding to the general "nishma."

אח"כ ואהבת והי' אם שמוע הוא בפרטות.

Afterward, "and you shall love" and "and it shall be if you hearken" is in detail.

The continuing passages of Shema — "v'ahavta" and "v'haya im shamo'a" — spell out the particulars of avodas Hashem, corresponding to the detailed prat.

ושם יש בכל לבבך ב' לבבות והוא בחי' נעשה לתקן כל דברי הגוף ועוה"ז כנ"ל:

And there it says "with all your heart" — "with both your hearts" — and this is the aspect of "we will do," to rectify all the matters of the body and this world, as above.

Chazal read "b'chol levavcha" as serving Hashem with "both inclinations," yetzer tov and yetzer hara. This is the dimension of "na'aseh" — action that draws even the body and the physical world into holiness, completing the tikkun of the realm of deed.

Summary: Like creation — where everything was contained in the single utterance of "Bereishis" before being completed in detail across the days — the Aseres HaDibros were first given as one all-inclusive utterance (the klal, "nishma," bittul to Hashem) and then specified into individual mitzvos (the prat, "na'aseh," action). This detailing into many mitzvos is pure kindness, multiplying the means to earn merit and bringing tikkun into the world of deed, so that every physical thing holds a mitzvah. The same pattern of general and particular recurs daily in Krias Shema — "Hashem Echad" as total bittul, followed by the detailed avodah that sanctifies the body and this world.