From faithful servant to beloved son

במדרש עבד משכיל כו' כבר קללתו בידו כו' מוטב להשתעבד בבית הזה כו' ע"ש.

In the Midrash: "a wise servant (eved maskil)…" — "his curse is already in his hand…" — "it is better to be enslaved in this house…" — see there.

The Midrash on Eliezer plays on his being a "wise servant" who chose to subordinate himself to the house of Avraham; the Sefas Emes will draw from this the dual avodah of "servant" and "son."

איתא בזוה"ק שיש בעבודת השי"ת ב' בחי' עבד ובן ע"ש.

It is stated in the Zohar HaKadosh that in the service of Hashem there are two aspects: eved (servant) and ben (son) — see there.

The Zohar distinguishes two modes of avodah: serving Hashem as a servant and serving Him as a son.

שבודאי בני ישראל בנים לה' אלקיכם.

For surely Bnei Yisrael are "sons to Hashem your God."

In essence, every Jew is a ben, a child of Hashem.

וזהו הנשמה שבאדם.

And this is the neshamah within a person.

The "son" aspect corresponds to the pure neshamah, which is intimately bound to Hashem.

אבל בבואה לעוה"ז להתלבש תוך הגוף וגשמיות.

But when it comes into this world to clothe itself within the body and physicality —

Once the neshamah descends and is enclothed in a physical body, its situation changes.

הוא בחי' עבד.

— it is the aspect of a servant (eved).

Clothed in gashmiyus, the soul must now serve in the mode of an eved.

ובחי' זו הוא רק להכניע ולבטל עצמו.

And this aspect is solely to subdue and to nullify oneself.

The avodah of the eved is hachna'ah and bittul — humbling and nullifying the self before Hashem.

וצריך להיות בחי' זו יקר בעיני האדם ג"כ.

And this aspect too must be precious in a person's eyes.

One should not disdain the lowly "servant" role; it is itself precious and indispensable.

וכן בכל דבר שבעולם יש חיות פנימי.

And likewise, in everything in the world there is an inner life-force (chiyus penimi).

Every object in the world contains a hidden inner vitality from Hashem.

וצריך האדם להיות משכיל ולהבין שכיון שנשתעבד בעוה"ז להיות דבוק בגשמיות.

And a person must be wise (maskil) and understand that since he has been enslaved in this world to be attached to physicality —

Like the "wise servant" Eliezer, a person must grasp his predicament: that he is bound to gashmiyus in this world.

העצה להתבטל לנקודה הפנימית שבכל דבר.

— the counsel is to nullify himself to the inner point (nekudah penimis) within everything.

The remedy is bittul to the inner point of Godliness concealed within every thing.

שמלכותו בכל משלה.

For "His kingship rules over all."

Hashem's malchus is present and ruling within everything, even the physical.

ועי"ז יכול לצאת מבחי' עבד לבחי' בן.

And through this he is able to go out from the aspect of "servant" to the aspect of "son."

By nullifying himself to the inner point, the eved is elevated and transformed into a ben.

ובחי' עבד על שם זה.

And the aspect of "servant" is named for this reason.

The "servant" stage is so called because of its character of labor and subordination.

שבעוה"ז הכל במעשה ובעובדא.

For in this world everything is through action and deed (maaseh and uvda).

Olam hazeh is the realm of doing — concrete actions and labor, the work of the eved.

וזה ג"כ ימי המעשה ואח"כ שבת קודש:

And this too is "the days of labor (yemei hamaaseh)," and afterward the holy Shabbos.

The weekday "days of labor" parallel the eved's toil; Shabbos kodesh, which follows, parallels the elevated rest of the ben.

יש ללמוד מאליעזר ע"י ששרת באמונה יצא מארור לברוך.

There is something to learn from Eliezer: through serving with faithfulness (emunah), he went out from "cursed" to "blessed."

Eliezer, a descendant of Canaan ("cursed"), rose to be called "blessed" precisely through faithful, devoted service.

ובזוה"ק שבח אותו שנתפאר במה שהוא עבד לאברהם ע"ש פ' וירא ע"פ בן לשרה אשתך כו'.

And in the Zohar HaKadosh it praises him, that he took pride in being a servant of Avraham — see there, in Parshas Vayeira, on the verse "a son to Sarah your wife."

The Zohar lauds Eliezer for glorying in his status as Avraham's servant, showing how the "servant" role, embraced wholeheartedly, becomes a source of honor.

ולזה נתקן ק"ש ב"פ בכל יום דאיתא בכל יום קללתו מרובה מחבירו.

And for this, Krias Shema was instituted twice each day, for it is stated that each day "its curse is greater than the previous one."

Because each day brings greater concealment and "curse" than the last, Chazal fixed Shema twice daily as the means to counter it.

והענין ע"י שבנ"י מעכבין כל העולמות בהתרשלות בעבודת השי"ת.

And the matter is that Bnei Yisrael hold back all the worlds through slackness in the service of Hashem.

When Bnei Yisrael grow lax in avodas Hashem, all the upper worlds are held back, for they depend on us.

בפרט עתה שביהמ"ק נחרב בעוה"ר.

Especially now, when the Beis HaMikdash is destroyed, in our many sins.

This burden weighs all the more heavily in galus, with the Bais Hamikdash in ruins.

ועי"ז שאדם קורא ק"ש בכל לב.

And through a person reciting Krias Shema with all his heart —

By saying the Shema with full-hearted intent —

וחפץ לקבל עליו מלכות שמים להשתעבד אליו בכל לב ונפש.

— and desiring to accept upon himself the yoke of Malchus Shomayim, to be enslaved to Him with all his heart and soul —

Accepting ol Malchus Shomayim with heart and soul is the avodah of the faithful eved.

יוכל לצאת מארור לברוך כנ"ל.

— he is able to go out from "cursed" to "blessed," as above.

Like Eliezer, through faithful acceptance of Hashem's kingship a person rises from "cursed" to "blessed."

וחשבון זה צריך להיות תמיד בלב האדם.

And this reckoning (cheshbon) must always be in a person's heart.

One must keep constantly in mind his weighty responsibility in avodas Hashem.

איך כל העולמות תלוים בו כמו שנאמר כל שתה תחת רגליו:

How all the worlds depend upon him, as it is said, "You have placed everything beneath his feet."

The pasuk teaches that all of creation is set beneath man's "feet" — that is, it hinges on his avodah, an awareness that should never leave the heart.

Summary: In avodas Hashem there are two modes — eved (servant) and ben (son). The neshamah is essentially a son, but once clothed in a physical body it must serve as a faithful servant through hachna'ah and bittul. By nullifying himself to the inner point of Godliness within everything, a person rises from "servant" to "son." Eliezer is the model: through faithful service he went from "cursed" to "blessed," and so too every Jew, by accepting Malchus Shomayim wholeheartedly in Krias Shema, can make the same ascent — bearing always in mind that all the worlds depend on his avodah.