The fiftieth gate of understanding as a gift

וביום הביכורים כו' דאיתא נ' שערי בינה נבראו וכולם נמסרו למשה חוץ מאחד שנאמר ותחסרהו מעט כו'.

"And on the day of the bikkurim (first fruits)…" — for it is brought that fifty gates of binah (understanding) were created, and all of them were given over to Moshe except one, as it says "and You made him lack but a little" (Tehillim 8:6).

Chazal teach there are fifty gates of binah; Moshe Rabbeinu received forty-nine, but the fiftieth remained beyond him. Shavuos, the day of bikkurim, is linked to this idea.

פי' שאין באפשרות האדם להשיג למעלה בשער הנ' אך אחר כלות השגת האדם ניתן במתנה הארה גם משער הנ' והוא מתן תורה בחג הזה.

Meaning, it is not within a person's ability to attain on high in the fiftieth gate; yet after a person's own comprehension is exhausted, an illumination is given as a gift even from the fiftieth gate — and this is mattan Torah (the giving of the Torah) on this chag.

The fiftieth gate cannot be reached by human effort. But once a person has stretched his own understanding to its limit, Hashem grants a glimpse of the fiftieth gate as a pure matanah (gift) — which is exactly what the gift of the Torah on Shavuos is.

והענין יתכן לפרש עפ"י מ"ש האר"י ז"ל כי ביציאת מצרים הי' עד מ"ט שערי טומאה והקב"ה וב"ש הקדים להצילנו קודם שנכנסנו למעלה.

And the matter can be explained according to what the Arizal wrote: that at yetzias Mitzrayim (the Exodus) we had descended up to forty-nine gates of tumah (impurity), and Hashem hastened to rescue us before we entered higher.

The Arizal teaches that in Egypt Bnei Yisrael had sunk to the forty-ninth gate of impurity, and Hashem redeemed them at the last moment, before they could fall into the fiftieth.

א"כ מובן כי אין בכח האדם להיות בנסיון יותר ממ"ט שערי טומאה.

Thus it is understood that it is not within a person's power to be in a trial beyond forty-nine gates of impurity.

The fiftieth gate of impurity has no counterpart of human trial — a person can only be tested down to the forty-ninth.

וזה לעומת זה עשה.

And "this corresponding to that He made" (Koheles 7:14).

The realms of tumah and kedushah mirror each other gate for gate.

כי באמת כח שיש לאדם להשיג בשערי קדושה הוא ע"י התגברות על שערי טומאה.

For in truth, the power a person has to attain in the gates of kedushah comes through overcoming the gates of tumah.

Spiritual attainment is earned by struggle: each gate of holiness one reaches corresponds to a gate of impurity one has conquered.

וכפי שהיינו בגלות מצרים ויצאנו מאלה השערי טומאה כך זכינו מדה במדה למ"ט שערי בינה.

And just as we were in the exile of Mitzrayim and went out from those gates of impurity, so we merited, measure for measure, the forty-nine gates of binah.

Because we descended through and escaped forty-nine gates of impurity in Egypt, we earned, midah k'neged midah, the matching forty-nine gates of understanding.

אך כתיב אנכי ארד עמך כו' אעלך גם עלה.

But it is written, "I will go down with you… and I will surely bring you up" (Bereishis 46:4) — "I will bring you up" (a'al'cha) "and also bring up" (gam aloh).

The doubled language "a'al'cha gam aloh" hints at two stages of elevation — one we earn and one that exceeds our reach.

אעלך על מ"ט שערים כנ"ל מדה במדה.

"I will bring you up" — onto the forty-nine gates, as above, measure for measure.

The first elevation corresponds to the forty-nine gates of binah, earned in exact measure for the impurity overcome.

גם עלה הוא תוספות לשער הנ' שהוא מתנה.

"And also bring up" is an addition — to the fiftieth gate — which is a gift.

The extra word "gam aloh" points to a further, unearned ascent into the fiftieth gate, granted purely as a gift.

ולכן זה השער נקרא ביכורים שהוא בהתחדשות תמיד.

And therefore this gate is called "bikkurim," for it is in constant renewal.

The fiftieth gate is like first-fruits — ever fresh and new — because it is a gift beyond nature, untouched by ordinary growth.

דשם אין הסתר והתנגדות כנגדו.

For there, there is no concealment and no opposition against it.

At the level of the fiftieth gate there is no corresponding force of impurity to hide or resist it.

כיון שאין כח האדם לבוא לנסיון במקום גבוה כזה וכל הסתרות הם רק כדי ליתן שכר לצדיקים כו'.

Since it is not within a person's power to come to a trial in so lofty a place, and all the concealments exist only in order to give reward to the tzaddikim.

Because no human test reaches that height, there is no concealment there. Concealment exists only at lower levels, to create the struggle through which tzaddikim earn their reward.

ולכן המצוה שתי הלחם חמץ תאפינה כיון ששם הכל טוב ושם יש ביטול יצה"ר.

And therefore the mitzvah is that the two loaves (shtei halechem of Shavuos) "shall be baked as chametz" — since there all is good, and there is the nullification of the yetzer hara.

Unlike Pesach, the Shavuos offering is leavened. At the level of the fiftieth gate even the chametz — symbol of the yetzer hara — is wholly good, for there the yetzer hara is nullified.

וכ' כסף צרוף בעליל לארץ כו'.

And it is written, "silver refined in a crucible upon the earth, purified sevenfold" (Tehillim 12:7).

The pasuk describes a refining process — silver purified "sevenfold" — which the Sefas Emes applies to the lower stages of avodah.

פי' אחר מדריגה הראשונה רק כשבא הארה למטה אז צריך בירור מזוקק שבעתים והם ימי הספירה.

Meaning, this refers to a level below the first; only when the illumination comes down below does it require purification "refined sevenfold" — and these are the days of the Sefirah.

The sevenfold refining is the work of Sefiras HaOmer: seven weeks of purifying ourselves so that the higher light can descend into our lower world.

אבל למעלה בשער הנ' נק' אמרות טהורות שא"צ שם בירור כנ"ל:

But on high, in the fiftieth gate, it is called "pure sayings (imros tehoros)," which need no purification there, as above.

The same verse calls Hashem's words "pure" already — that is the fiftieth gate, where the light is intrinsically pure and requires no refining at all.

Summary: There are fifty gates of binah; we can earn forty-nine through our own avodah, measure for measure with the forty-nine gates of impurity we overcame in Egypt, but the fiftieth lies beyond human reach. On Shavuos — the day of bikkurim — Hashem grants a glimpse of that fiftieth gate as a pure gift. There, where no human trial and no force of impurity can reach, even the chametz of the two loaves is wholly good and the yetzer hara is nullified. The light of the fiftieth gate is intrinsically pure; only when it descends to our world does it require the sevenfold refining of Sefiras HaOmer.