Yearly preparation and purity for the Torah

בפסוק לך אל העם וקדשתם היום ומחר.

On the pasuk: "Go to the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow" (Shemos 19:10).

The Sefas Emes examines Hashem's command to prepare the people for Matan Torah "today and tomorrow."

מסתמא יורד קדושה משמים לבנ"י בכל שנה ושנה.

Presumably, holiness descends from heaven to Bnei Yisrael every single year.

The kedushah of Matan Torah is not a one-time event; it recurs annually.

כמ"ש בשבועות זמן מתן תורתנו כן הכנה קודם החג מתקיים בכל שנה כמ"ש ביום הזה באו כמו שהיום עומד לפניו ית"ש בשמים תמיד.

As we say on Shavuos, "the time of the giving of our Torah" — so too the preparation before the festival is fulfilled every year, as it says, "on this day they came [to the Wilderness of Sinai]" (Shemos 19:1), [in the present tense,] as though "this day" stands before Him, may His Name be blessed, in the heavens always.

Since we call Shavuos "the time of the giving of our Torah," the preparatory days recur too. The Torah's "on this day" is phrased in the present because before Hashem the day of Matan Torah eternally stands present.

ובזה פרשנו ענין הנאמר בגמרא יום אחד הוסיף משה דרש היום כמחר לילו עמו ולילה דהאידנא נפקא לה ש"מ תרי יומי לבר מהאידנא.

And with this we explained the matter stated in the Gemara: Moshe added one day [of preparation] on his own reasoning. He expounded: "today" is like "tomorrow" — just as "tomorrow" includes its night, so "today" includes its night; but the night of the present day has already departed; conclude from this [that "today and tomorrow" require] two days apart from the present day (Shabbos 87a).

The Gemara records that Moshe added an extra day of separation. He reasoned: "tomorrow" includes the preceding night, so "today" should too — but today's night was already gone, hence two full days were needed beyond the day of the command.

וקשה סוף סוף איך נאמר היום ומחר אי הכוונה על מחר ויום שאחריו.

And it is difficult: ultimately, how could it say "today and tomorrow" if the intent was [really] tomorrow and the day after it?

If Moshe's conclusion was that the days meant were really the morrow and the day after, the wording "today and tomorrow" seems inaccurate.

ע"כ נראה כי באמת היום ומחר הם זמנים אלו שיורד בהם קדושה בכל שנה ושנה להכנה לתורה.

Therefore it appears that in truth "today and tomorrow" are these [recurring] times in which holiness descends each and every year as preparation for the Torah.

The resolution: "today and tomorrow" refers not merely to two calendar dates but to the perennial preparatory days when kedushah descends each year before Shavuos.

ומאמר השי"ת הוא לדורות כי הוה ועתיד הכל שוה לפניו ית'.

And the utterance of Hashem is [meant] for all generations, for present and future are all equal before Him.

Hashem's words transcend time; "today and tomorrow" speaks to every generation at once, since past, present, and future are all one before Him.

רק בעבור כי לא נגלה לבנ"י זה רק ביום ע"כ הוצרכו עוד ב' ימים.

Only because this was not revealed to Bnei Yisrael except by day, therefore they needed an additional two days.

The eternal "today" was revealed to the people only during the daytime, so to complete the preparation they required two further days.

ויש לרמוז פי' זה בלשונם ז"ל תרי יומי לבר מהאידנא ר"ל בכל שנה הוא באמת רק תרי יומי לבר מהאידנא בשנה זאת שלא נודע לבנ"י צריך להיות ג' ימי פרישה.

And one may hint at this explanation in their words, "two days apart from the present" — meaning, in every year it is truly only two days; "apart from the present," in this particular year, in which it was not [yet] known to Bnei Yisrael, there had to be three days of separation.

The Gemara's phrase itself hints at this: in any normal year, only two preparatory days are needed; "apart from the present [year]" — that first year, when it was not yet revealed, demanded three days of separation.

הכלל העולה מזה כי בכל שנה גם מלילה מתחיל קדושת היום ומחר.

The principle that emerges is that in every year the holiness of "today and tomorrow" begins even from the night.

Each year, unlike that first year, the preparatory kedushah begins already from the night, so only two days are needed.

ובזה יש לישב קושית המפרשים שאומרים זמן מתן תורתנו וקיי"ל בז' בחודש ניתנה תורה.

And with this one can resolve the difficulty of the commentators: we say "the time of the giving of our Torah," yet we hold that the Torah was given on the seventh of the month.

A known difficulty: we celebrate Shavuos (the 6th of Sivan) as "the time of giving our Torah," though the Gemara concludes the Torah was actually given on the 7th.

ולפמ"ש יתכן לומר כי בכל שנה שמתקיים היום ומחר כפשוטו לילו עמו שפיר י"ל שזמן מתן תורה בששי בחודש כמ"ש.

And according to what we wrote, one may say that in every year, in which "today and tomorrow" is fulfilled literally, with its night included, it is well to say that the time of the giving of the Torah is on the sixth of the month, as we said.

In all subsequent years the two preparation days include their nights, so the giving falls on the 6th — which is why we keep Shavuos then, even though the original giving was on the 7th.

כי באמת פנימית בנ"י מוכנים בכל עת לקבלת התורה רק מה שמתלכלכין בחטא וגשמיות הגוף שזה מעכב הארת הנשמה בהגוף.

For in truth, the inner essence (penimiyus) of Bnei Yisrael is prepared at all times to receive the Torah; it is only that they become soiled by sin and the physicality of the body, which obstructs the illumination of the neshamah within the body.

At their core, Bnei Yisrael are always ready for Torah. What stands in the way is the soiling of sin and bodily materiality, which blocks the soul's light from shining through.

ובימים אלו יורד טהרה וקדושה משמים כמ"ש וכבסו שמלותם הוא המלבוש.

And on these days, purity and holiness descend from heaven, as it says, "and they shall wash their garments" (Shemos 19:10) — this is the garment.

The preparatory days bring down taharah; "washing the garments" alludes to cleansing the body, which is the "garment" of the soul.

שהגוף מלבוש הנשמה הוא.

For the body is the garment of the neshamah.

The body clothes the soul, just as a garment clothes a person.

וע"י שבמתן תורה יורד נשמה וחיות חדש לאיש ישראל צריכין מקודם לכבס ולטהר הגוף.

And because at the giving of the Torah a new neshamah and vitality descend upon the Jew, one must first launder and purify the body.

Since Matan Torah infuses fresh soul-life into a Jew, the bodily "garment" must first be cleansed to receive it.

ובמד' נשא בפ' וישלחו מן המחנה כו' הגו סיגים מכסף כו' ע"ש.

And in the Midrash on Naso, on the passage "and they shall send out from the camp [every leper...]" (Bamidbar 5:2): "Remove the dross from the silver..." (Mishlei 25:4) — see there.

The Midrash links sending the impure out of the camp to refining silver of its dross — purifying the collective of its impurities.

מחנה הוא הרמ"ח איברים שבאדם עצמו ג"כ שכפי בירור הסיגים כך ה' אלקיך מתהלך כו'.

"Camp" also refers to the 248 limbs within a person himself, for according to the refining-out of the dross, so "Hashem your God walks [in the midst of your camp]" (Devarim 23:15).

The "camp" exists within each individual too — his 248 limbs. As one purges his personal dross, the Shechinah dwells within him.

וכמו שהוא בכלל ע"י התאספות בנ"י כאחד ונק' מחנה אז בכחם לשלח כל צרוע וזב כו'.

And just as it is on the communal level — through the gathering of Bnei Yisrael as one, which is called a "camp," they then have the power to send out every leper and zav,

When Bnei Yisrael unite as one "camp," they gain the collective power to expel all impurity from their midst.

וכן הוא בשבת קודש דמתאחדין ברזא דאחד כו' מתעברין מינה כל הסט"א.

so too it is on Shabbos Kodesh, when [Yisrael] unite in the secret of Oneness (raza d'echad), all the Sitra Achra (the "other side") is removed from her.

On Shabbos, when Jews bind together in unity, the forces of impurity are banished — the same dynamic of unity producing purity.

וכן הי' הכנה בהר סיני כאיש אחד כו'.

And so too was the preparation at Har Sinai, [where they encamped] "as one man [with one heart]" (Rashi, Shemos 19:2).

The preparation for the Torah likewise depended on unity — encamping "as one man with one heart."

וכמו כן באדם עצמו כשמאסף עצמו לרצון אחד להשי"ת זוכה לטהרה:

And likewise within the person himself: when he gathers himself to a single will toward Hashem, he merits purity.

Just as collective unity purifies the nation, when an individual unifies all his faculties into one single ratzon for Hashem, he attains personal taharah and readiness for Torah.

Summary: The kedushah of Matan Torah descends anew every year, and "today and tomorrow" refers to the recurring days of preparation before Shavuos — for before Hashem the day of the giving of the Torah eternally stands present. Since the inner core of every Jew is always ready for Torah, the preparation is really about purifying the body, the soul's "garment," from the dross of sin. This purification, on both the communal and personal level, is achieved through unity: when the nation gathers as one camp — or when an individual gathers all his faculties into a single will toward Hashem — impurity is banished and one becomes a fit vessel to receive the Torah.