Written and Oral Torah

במדרש ואהיה אצלו אמון.

In the Midrash: “And I was with Him as a nursling (amon).”

The Sefat Emet begins by citing the Midrash that interprets “amon” as the Torah, present with God at creation.

בתורה ברא הקב"ה את העולם.

With the Torah the Holy One, blessed be He, created the world.

The Torah is described as the blueprint of creation, the medium through which the world came into being.

והנה כ' בראשית ב' ראשית רמוז לתורה שבכתב ושבע"פ שניהם נקראו ראשית.

And behold, it is written “Bereshit,” which hints at two “reshit” — the Written Torah and the Oral Torah, for both are called “beginning.”

The doubled sense of “beginning” alludes to the dual nature of Torah: the fixed Written Torah and the dynamic Oral Torah.

ובתורה שבכתב נברא השמים והארץ בחי' תורה שבע"פ.

And with the Written Torah the heavens and the earth were created, as an aspect of the Oral Torah.

The Sefat Emet teaches that even the creative act attributed to the Written Torah is expressed through the interpretive power of the Oral Torah.

וכ"כ השמים שמים לה' והארץ נתן לבני אדם.

As it is said: “The heavens are the heavens of the Lord, but the earth He gave to humanity.”

This verse supports the distinction between the higher, fixed realm and the human domain of active engagement, paralleling Written and Oral Torah.

ואהי' אמון בחי' תורה שבכתב קביעא וקיימא.

“And I was amon” refers to the Written Torah, which is fixed and enduring.

Here “amon” is taken to describe the unchanging, eternal quality of the Written Torah.

ואהי' שעשועים יום יום בחי' תורה שבעל פה מתחדש תמיד בפיהן של ישראל.

“And I was delights day by day” refers to the Oral Torah, which is continually renewed in the mouths of Israel.

The Oral Torah is characterized by constant renewal, enlivened through the study and speech of the Jewish people.

וכן בריאת האדם ויפח באפיו נשמת חיים בחי' תורה שבכתב שזו הנשמה עושית רשימה ואותיות בנפש האדם.

And so with the creation of the human: “He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” — this corresponds to the Written Torah, for the soul impresses forms and letters upon a person’s inner being.

The Written Torah is likened to the divine imprint within the human soul, giving it structure and sacred form.

ויהי לנפש חי' בחי' תורה שבע"פ כמ"ש התרגום לרוח ממללא:

“And he became a living soul” — this corresponds to the Oral Torah, as the Targum renders it: “a speaking spirit.”

The Oral Torah manifests as human speech and interpretation, the living expression of the soul’s divine breath.

Summary: The Sefat Emet equates creation — both cosmic and human — with the dual aspects of Torah: the stable Written Torah and the ever-renewed Oral Torah. These two facets shape the world and the human soul, mirroring divine constancy and human participation.