Holy speech and bittul at Matan Torah

במדרש וידבר אלקים כו' לאמר.

In the Midrash: "And God spoke… saying" (Shemos 20:1).

The Midrash dwells on the word "leimor" (saying/to say) in the introduction to the Aseres HaDibros, drawing from it a teaching about the transmission of all later Torah, as the Sefas Emes will explain.

שכל הנביאים וחכמים קבלו שלהם מסיני ע"ש דכתיב ויפח באפיו כו' ויהי האדם לנפש חי' ומתרגמינן לרוח ממללא.

That all the prophets and sages received their portion from Sinai; see there, as it is written, "and He breathed into his nostrils… and man became a living soul" (Bereishis 2:7), which the Targum renders "a speaking spirit."

Everything the nevi'im and chachamim would ever teach was already given at Sinai. This is bound up with man's very creation: when Hashem breathed a soul into Adam, he became a "ru'ach memalela" — a speaking being. The power of speech is the divine soul itself, and it traces back to the same source as Torah.

וזהו עיקר בריאת האדם שנקרא מדבר כמ"ש ואשים דברי בפיך כו'.

And this is the essence of man's creation, that he is called "the speaker," as it is written, "and I have placed My words in your mouth" (Yeshayahu 51:16).

Man's defining feature is that he is "medaber" (the speaking creature). The pasuk "I have placed My words in your mouth" reveals what this speech is for — to be a vessel for Hashem's own words, the Torah.

ועל זה נברא כל העולם.

And for the sake of this the entire world was created.

The whole purpose of creation is this faculty of holy speech in man — that he serve as the mouthpiece for Hashem's word.

כדדרשו חז"ל כל פעל כו' למענהו. לעדותו. להעיד עליו וזה נשאר אצל בנ"י כמ"ש עם זו יצרתי לי כו'.

As Chazal expounded, "Everything Hashem made… for His own sake" (Mishlei 16:4) — read as "le-ma'anehu," for His testimony, to bear witness about Him; and this remained with Bnei Yisrael, as it is written, "this people I fashioned for Myself…" (Yeshayahu 43:21).

Chazal reread "lema'aneihu" as "le-eidoso" — Hashem made everything to bear witness to Him. The capacity to be Hashem's witness through speech remained specifically with Bnei Yisrael, "the people I fashioned for Myself," whose role is to declare His praise.

ואחר שקלקלו הרשעים וניטל כח הזה מהם כמ"ש ונבלה כו' שפתם כו'.

And after the wicked corrupted, this power was taken from them, as it is written, "let us confound… their language" (Bereishis 11:7).

The dor haflagah (generation of the Dispersion) misused the power of speech, so it was taken from them — "let us confuse their language." Holy, unifying speech was lost to the nations and their tongues were scattered.

ובקבלת התורה נמסר זה הכח לבנ"י [כמ"ש שם בפ' נח בשם מו"ז ז"ל פי' הן עם אחד ושפה אחת שמרמז על בנ"י שנשאר אצלם האחדות. וע"ש על פסוק בהנחל עליון כו'].

And at the receiving of the Torah this power was handed over to Bnei Yisrael [as is stated there in Parashas Noach in the name of my grandfather, his memory a blessing: the explanation of "Behold, one people and one language" — that it alludes to Bnei Yisrael, with whom the unity remained; and see there on the pasuk "When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance" (Devarim 32:8)].

At Matan Torah, the power of holy speech that the nations forfeited was entrusted to Bnei Yisrael. The Sefas Emes cites his grandfather: "one people and one language" really alludes to Bnei Yisrael, with whom the achdus (unity) and unified holy tongue endured even after the Dispersion.

ולכן אמרו חז"ל שיצאה נשמתן של בני ישראל שנתחדש עיקר החיות דכ' נר ה' נשמת אדם.

Therefore Chazal said that the souls of Bnei Yisrael departed (at Sinai), for the very essence of vitality was renewed, as it is written, "the candle of Hashem is the soul of man" (Mishlei 20:27).

Chazal teach that at each of the Dibros the people's souls left them. The Sefas Emes explains this as a renewal of their core chiyus (life-force): the neshamah is a "candle of Hashem," and at Sinai that flame was rekindled at its source.

ובהתגלות אור התורה ונאחז האור באלה הנרות מתבטלין הנרות אל האור וזהו נק' שיצאתה נשמתן כענין שרגא בטיהרא מה מהני.

And when the light of the Torah was revealed and the light took hold in these candles, the candles became nullified to the light; this is what is called "their souls departed," like the saying, "a candle at midday — what does it accomplish?"

When the overwhelming ohr haTorah shone, the individual souls — "candles" — were swallowed up in it, like a small flame rendered invisible in broad daylight ("shraga b'tihara"). Their "departure of soul" was an experience of bittul, the small light absorbed and nullified into the infinite light.

ובגמ' פ"ק דפסחים דרשו בפסוק קרנים מידו כו' ושם חביון עוזו למה הצדיקים דומין בפני שכינה כנר בפני אבוקה.

And in the Gemara, first chapter of Pesachim, they expounded on the pasuk "rays from His hand… and there is the hiding of His might" (Chavakuk 3:4): to what are the tzaddikim compared before the Shechinah? To a candle before a torch.

The Gemara (Pesachim 8a) compares even tzaddikim standing before the Shechinah to a small candle before a blazing avukah (torch). Before the divine light, the greatest souls are as nothing — a faint flame beside an overpowering fire.

פי' שבקבלת התורה שהי' התגלות השכינה נתבטלו נשמות בנ"י ממציאות.

The meaning is that at the receiving of the Torah, when there was a revelation of the Shechinah, the souls of Bnei Yisrael were nullified out of existence.

This is what happened at Sinai: with the Shechinah revealed, the souls of Bnei Yisrael underwent total bittul hametzius — their separate sense of self dissolved entirely before Hashem's presence.

אך הקב"ה וב"ש כביכול הטמין וצמצם אורו כדי שיהי' יד ומקום מציאות לנשמות בנ"י.

But the Holy One, Blessed is He and blessed is His Name, as it were, concealed and contracted His light, so that there should be a "place" and existence for the souls of Bnei Yisrael.

So that the people could survive and exist, Hashem performed a tzimtzum — He hid and constricted His light, leaving "room" for the souls of Bnei Yisrael to retain their existence rather than be wholly consumed.

וז"ש ושם חביון עוזו.

And this is the meaning of "and there is the hiding of His might."

"Chevyon uzo" — the "hiding of His might" — refers to this very tzimtzum: Hashem concealed His overwhelming strength precisely in order to make space for His creatures to endure.

ואיתא חביבין ישראל שניתן להם כלי חמדה חיבה יתירה נודעת להם שניתן להם כלי חמדה שבו נברא העולם.

And it is taught (Avos 3:14): "Beloved are Yisrael, for a precious vessel was given to them; an extra love was made known to them that the precious vessel was given to them — the vessel with which the world was created."

The Mishnah praises Bnei Yisrael for receiving the "kli chemdah" (precious instrument), the Torah, with which the world was created. The Sefas Emes will now probe what the "extra love made known to them" means.

פי' עפ"י המד' בפ' תשא בפסוק ויתן אל משה על הפסוק ה' יתן חכמה הוא התורה.

The explanation is according to the Midrash in Parashas Ki Sisa on the pasuk "and He gave to Moshe" (Shemos 31:18), on the verse "Hashem gives wisdom" (Mishlei 2:6) — this is the Torah.

The Midrash distinguishes layers within the giving of the Torah. "Hashem gives wisdom" refers to the body of Torah as a whole — the chochmah given to Moshe Rabbeinu.

מפיו דעת ותבונה קאי על הדיברות ששמענו מהשי"ת בעצמו.

"From His mouth, knowledge and understanding" (Mishlei 2:6) refers to the Dibros that we heard from Hashem Himself.

The continuation, "mipiv da'as u'tevunah," points to something higher — the Dibros heard directly "from the mouth" of Hashem at Sinai, an unmediated revelation beyond the general gift of Torah-wisdom.

לכן ע"ז אמרו נודעת להם שנתקשרו בחיות פנימיות של התורה ועל זה מבקשין ישקני מנשיקות פיהו כדאיתא במד' שה"ש.

Therefore concerning this they said "it was made known to them," for they became bound to the inner vitality (penimiyus) of the Torah; and about this we request, "Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth" (Shir HaShirim 1:2), as is brought in the Midrash on Shir HaShirim.

The "extra love made known" was this direct bond — Bnei Yisrael became attached to the penimiyus, the inner life-force, of the Torah by hearing the Dibros from Hashem's "mouth." This intimate connection is what we yearn for in "Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth," as the Midrash explains.

ונקרא חיבה יתירה כמו נשמה יתירה שהי' למעלה מהשגת אנושי כדכתי' נפשי יצאה מרוב הדביקות כמו הצדיקים שנפטרין בנשיקה:

And it is called "an extra love," like the neshamah yeseirah (extra soul), which was above human comprehension, as it is written, "my soul departed" (Shir HaShirim 5:6) from the abundance of deveikus — like the tzaddikim who pass away through a "kiss."

This "chibah yeseirah" parallels the neshamah yeseirah of Shabbos — a level beyond ordinary human grasp. The deveikus (cleaving) was so intense that "my soul departed," just as the greatest tzaddikim leave this world through misas neshikah, a death by Hashem's "kiss," expiring in sheer attachment to Him.

Summary: The faculty of holy speech is the very purpose of man's creation — he became a "ru'ach memalela," made to be Hashem's witness through speech. The nations forfeited this at the Dispersion, but it was entrusted to Bnei Yisrael, who retained the unifying holy tongue. At Matan Torah the revelation of the ohr haTorah and the Shechinah caused the people's souls to depart in total bittul — small candles nullified before an infinite light — until Hashem performed a tzimtzum, hiding His might to leave them room to exist. The "extra love" of receiving the Torah was their direct bond to its penimiyus through the Dibros heard from Hashem's mouth — the intimacy of "the kisses of His mouth" and the deveikus of the tzaddikim who depart this world in a divine kiss.