Torah unites Yisrael into oneness

חז"ל קראו לזה החג עצרת.

Chazal called this festival [Shavuos] "Atzeres."

The Sefas Emes notes that Chazal refer to Shavuos by the name Atzeres, and he will draw meaning from this — atzeres connoting a gathering and binding together.

היא כנופיא דכתיב מורשה קהלת יעקב שע"י התורה באים לאחדות.

It means a gathering (knufya), as it is written "the inheritance of the congregation (kehillas) of Yaakov" (Devarim 33:4) — for through the Torah they come to achdus (unity).

Atzeres denotes assembly; the Torah is called the "inheritance of the kehillah of Yaakov," teaching that the Torah is what gathers Klal Yisrael into oneness.

שיש לכל איש ישראל חלק בתורה.

For every Jew has a portion (chelek) in the Torah.

Since each member of Klal Yisrael possesses his own portion in the Torah, the Torah binds them all together as one shared inheritance.

ומטעם זה הנפשות קרובים מצד אחדות השורש כמ"ש ז"ל דכתיב שבעים נפש ביעקב שהם כנפש אחד.

And for this reason the souls are close to one another by virtue of the unity of their root, as Chazal said on the verse "seventy souls (nefesh, singular) of Yaakov" (cf. Shemos 1:5, Bereishis 46:27) — that they are like one soul.

Because all Jewish souls share one root, they are intimately connected; the Torah's use of the singular "nefesh" for Yaakov's seventy descendants hints that they are really one collective soul.

ולכן התורה משיבת נפש שהיא שורש נפשות בנ"י.

Therefore "the Torah restores the soul" (Tehillim 19:8) (meshivas nefesh), for it is the root of the souls of Bnei Yisrael.

The Torah "restores the soul" because it is the very root-source of the neshamos of Bnei Yisrael; reconnecting to Torah reconnects a Jew to the wellspring of his soul.

ואיתא ואהבת לרעך כמוך כלל גדול בתורה שכפי האחדות הנמצא בישראל זהו אות לאור תורה שמאיר בהם.

And it is brought: "And you shall love your fellow as yourself" (Vayikra 19:18) is "a great principle (klal gadol) in the Torah" (Toras Kohanim; Yerushalmi Nedarim 9:4) — for in accordance with the achdus found among Yisrael, this is a sign of the light of Torah that shines within them.

Loving one's fellow is the "great principle" of Torah precisely because the degree of unity among Bnei Yisrael is the measure and sign of how much the light of Torah is shining in them.

דכתיב אתה אחד ושמך אחד וישראל גוי אחד בארץ וז"ש בזוה"ק קוב"ה ואורייתא וישראל כולהו חד.

As it is written, "You are One and Your Name is One, and Yisrael is one nation (goy echad) in the land" (from the Shabbos Minchah tefillah; cf. Divrei HaYamim I 17:21) — and this is what the Zohar HaKadosh says: the Holy One, blessed be He, the Torah, and Yisrael are all one (kulhu chad).

There is a threefold oneness: Hashem is One, His Torah (His Names) is one, and Yisrael is one nation. The famous Zohar teaches that these three — Hashem, Torah, and Yisrael — are entirely bound together as one.

שאין האחדות בעולם רק הקב"ה אחד והתורה שמותיו של הקב"ה אחד וישראל גוי אחד.

For there is no [true] oneness in the world except [these three]: the Holy One, blessed be He, is One; the Torah, which is the Names of the Holy One, blessed be He, is one; and Yisrael is one nation.

Genuine, absolute unity exists nowhere in creation except in this triad — Hashem, the Torah (which is composed of His holy Names), and Klal Yisrael — all of which derive from and reflect the same Divine oneness.

וזהו הרמז בההוא גר שאמר למדני תורה כשאני עומד על רגל אחד.

And this is the hint in [the story of] that convert (ger) who said: "Teach me the entire Torah while I stand on one foot" (al regel achas) (Shabbos 31a).

The Sefas Emes rereads the famous gemara: the ger's request to learn Torah "on one foot" can be understood as a request to grasp the Torah through the principle of "one" — the underlying achdus.

ואמר לי' הלל הזקן דסני לך לחברך לא תעביד.

And Hillel the Elder said to him: "That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow."

Hillel answered with the principle of bein adam la-chaveiro — love and unity among people — which is precisely the gateway to the "oneness" the ger sought.

כי האדם יש בו שינוים.

For a person has changes (shinuyim) within him.

An individual is subject to constant fluctuation — moods, levels, ups and downs — he is never truly static.

תמיד וא"א להיות על רגל אחד תמיד.

Always — and it is impossible to remain "on one foot" (in one constant state) always.

Because a person is always changing, no individual can sustain a single unchanging spiritual state on his own; "standing on one foot" permanently is beyond him alone.

רק בכלל ישראל יש זה האחדות דכתיב אני ה' לא שניתי.

Only in Klal Yisrael as a whole is this oneness found, as it is written, "I, Hashem, have not changed" (Malachi 3:6).

The unchanging "oneness" exists only in the collective, Klal Yisrael, which is bound to Hashem who declares "I have not changed" — the source of all constancy.

והוא אחד האמת.

And He is the true One (echad ha-emes).

Hashem is the only true "One" — absolute oneness with no change or division whatsoever.

פי' אחד כשאין בו השתנות לעולם.

The meaning of "one" (echad) is that there is no change in it ever.

True "oneness" is defined by the absence of any change; only that which never alters can be called truly echad.

ובכלל ישראל נמצא מזה האחדות כדמסיים הפסוק ואתם בנ"י לא כליתם.

And in Klal Yisrael something of this oneness is found, as the pasuk concludes: "and you, the children of Yaakov (Bnei Yisrael), are not consumed" (Malachi 3:6).

The same pasuk continues that Bnei Yisrael "are not consumed" — they too share in Hashem's quality of constancy and unchangingness, by virtue of being bound to the true One.

ולכן כפי מה שמבטל אדם את עצמו אל כלל ישראל יכול להיות עומד על רגל אחד.

Therefore, to the extent that a person is mevatel himself (nullifies himself) to Klal Yisrael, he is able to "stand on one foot."

The way for an individual to attain the steady "oneness" he cannot reach alone is through bittul — nullifying himself into the collective of Klal Yisrael, thereby partaking of its unchanging unity.

כי בנ"י בכלל אין להם השתנות מצד הדביקות באחד האמת:

For Bnei Yisrael as a whole have no change, by virtue of their dveikus (cleaving) to the true One.

Klal Yisrael collectively is free of change because it cleaves to Hashem, the echad ha-emes; through bittul to the klal, the individual draws into that same unchanging bond with Hashem.

Summary: Shavuos is called Atzeres — a gathering — because the Torah, in which every Jew has a portion, binds Bnei Yisrael into achdus, their souls being one at the root ("seventy nefesh" as one soul). The measure of unity among Yisrael is the measure of the light of Torah within them, reflecting the Zohar's teaching that Hashem, the Torah, and Yisrael are all one — the only true oneness in the world. Since an individual is always changing and cannot "stand on one foot" alone, the path Hillel taught the ger is love of one's fellow: through bittul to Klal Yisrael, which cleaves to the unchanging "true One," a person partakes of that enduring oneness.