Na'aseh before nishma: doing awakens Hashem's word

איתא בגמ' בשעה שהקדימו ישראל נעשה לנשמע יצאתה בת קול מי גילה לבני רז זה שמלאכי השרת משתמשין בו דכתיב עושי דברו והדר לשמוע כו'.

It is brought in the Gemara: When Yisrael placed "na'aseh" (we will do) before "nishma" (we will hear), a bas kol (Heavenly voice) went forth and said, "Who revealed to My children this secret that the ministering angels make use of?" — as it is written, "those who do His word," and afterward "to hear…"

At Sinai, Bnei Yisrael accepted to "do" before "understand." A Heavenly voice marveled that they had grasped the angels' own secret, for the malachim too are described as first "doing His word" and only then "hearing." The Sefas Emes will explain what this "secret" is.

פי' הענין דכתיב לעולם ה' דברך נצב בשמים וכל היוצא מפיו של הקב"ה הוא קיים לעד.

The explanation of the matter: it is written, "Forever, Hashem, Your word stands firm in the heavens," and everything that issues from the mouth of the Holy One, Blessed is He, endures forever.

Every Divine utterance is permanent; the word with which Hashem commanded a mitzvah "stands firm" eternally and never ceases to exist.

ולכן כשאדם מקיים מצוה כראוי מתעורר אותו הקול השייך לזו המצוה ונמצא ע"י עשיות המצוה שומע דבר ה' ומתדבק בשורש המצוה.

Therefore, when a person fulfills a mitzvah properly, that "voice" belonging to this mitzvah is aroused — and it turns out that through the doing of the mitzvah he hears the word of Hashem and cleaves to the root of the mitzvah.

Here is the secret of na'aseh before nishma: the doing comes first, but precisely through doing the mitzvah a person awakens the eternal Divine "voice" embedded in that mitzvah, and so he comes to "hear" Hashem's word and attach himself to the mitzvah's supernal root. Hearing flows out of doing.

וע"ז אמרו שכר מצוה מצוה.

And concerning this they said, "the reward of a mitzvah is a mitzvah."

The true reward of a mitzvah is the mitzvah itself — the connection it forges to Hashem's living word, the "hearing" that the act of doing brings about.

ואמרו ועשיתם אותם מעלה עליכם כאלו אתם עשיתם אותם כי מתחדש זה הדיבור והציווי ע"י העשי' כראוי לשמה.

And they said, "and you shall do them" — Scripture regards it as if you had made them [yourselves], for this speech and command is renewed through the doing properly, lishmah.

Chazal read "va'asisem osam" as "ke'ilu asisem" — as though you made the mitzvos yourselves. The Sefas Emes explains: by performing a mitzvah properly and lishmah, a person literally renews and re-activates the original Divine utterance and command behind it — in a sense "creating" it anew.

וע"ז כתיב ברכו ה' כו' עושי דברו שהוא התעוררות שורש המצוה כי שם צוה ה' את הברכה.

And concerning this it is written, "Bless Hashem… those who do His word" — for this is the arousal of the root of the mitzvah, for "there Hashem commanded the blessing."

"Osei devaro" (those who do His word) are those who, through their deeds, awaken the mitzvah's root — and there, at that root, "Hashem commanded the berachah." The blessing resides at the source that the doer reaches.

וזה מה שרמזו חז"ל כי מכל מצוה נברא מלאך הם המלאכים שנבראו בדבר ה' של כל מצוה ומצוה:

And this is what Chazal hinted, that from each mitzvah a malach is created — these are the angels created by the word of Hashem of each and every mitzvah.

This completes the circle back to the angels: every mitzvah generates a malach, because each mitzvah carries the eternal "dvar Hashem" with which it was commanded, and that Divine word brings an angel into being. When a person does a mitzvah properly, he activates that word and "creates" its angel — which is the very secret the malachim themselves embody.

Summary: Bnei Yisrael's "na'aseh before nishma" captured the angels' secret: every Divine utterance "stands firm forever," so when a person properly performs a mitzvah he awakens the eternal "voice" embedded in it, thereby "hearing" Hashem's word through the act of doing and cleaving to the mitzvah's root. This is why "the reward of a mitzvah is a mitzvah" and why doing lishmah is "as if you made them" — one renews the original Divine command and, as Chazal teach, brings into being the angel created from each mitzvah's word.