Finding hidden holiness through toil

במדרש עד אמצא מקום כו'.

In the Midrash on the verse: "until I find a place [for Hashem]…"

The Sefas Emes opens with Dovid HaMelech's words about seeking a place for the Shechinah, which the Midrash treats as a model for how we search for kedushah everywhere.

פי' כמ"ש יגעתי ומצאתי כי בכל מקום גנוז הקדושה כמו שכתוב במטמונים תחפשנה.

The explanation is as Chazal said, "I toiled and I found," for in every place kedushah lies hidden, as it is written: "if you search for it like hidden treasures."

Holiness is buried within every place and every situation. It does not appear on its own; one must labor (yegiah) to uncover it, and only that toil brings the "finding" - like digging for concealed treasure (Mishlei 2:4).

ולשון אמצא כמ"ש במדרשים כאדם שממצא החביות ומעמידו על שמריו.

And the expression "I will find" (amtza) is as the Midrashim say, like a person who drains the wine-casks and sets the wine to rest upon its lees.

The word "amtza" carries the sense of pressing out and settling - like wine clarified and left to settle on its sediment. So too the avodah of "finding" kedushah is to extract the holy essence hidden in a place and let it settle and become established there.

ודו"ק:

Examine this carefully.

The Sefas Emes signals that this brief hint rewards deeper reflection - the link between "finding," toil, and drawing out the hidden holiness is meant to be contemplated.

Summary: Kedushah is concealed within every place, and only through genuine toil - like draining and settling wine, or digging for buried treasure - can a person "find" and firmly establish that hidden holiness.