Rising Above Time

ובמדרש בעת ההוא אמר ה"א פסל לך כו' לכל זמן ועת כו' עת להשליך אבנים זה שבירת הלוחות

In the Midrash: at that time Hashem said, 'Carve out for yourself' the Luchos — and this is connected to the verse 'There is a season and a time for everything' (Koheles 3:1), 'a time to cast away stones,' which alludes to the breaking of the Luchos.

The Sfas Emes opens with a Midrash linking the carving of the second Luchos to Koheles, where 'casting stones' is the breaking of the first Luchos.

כנוס אבנים פסל לך ע"ש

'A time to gather stones' (Koheles 3:5) alludes to 'Carve out for yourself' — see there.

Correspondingly, 'gathering stones' alludes to the command to carve the second set.

והענין הוא כי אחר החטא ניתנו הלוחות מלמטה תחת השמים והוא בדרך הכ"ח עתים שתחת השמש

The matter is this: after the sin, the Luchos were given from below, beneath the heavens, in the manner of the twenty-eight 'times' that are beneath the sun.

His core point: the second Luchos, given after the cheit ha'egel, were given 'below,' bound to time like the twenty-eight cycles of nature beneath the sun.

אבל לוחות הראשונות היו למעלה מן השמש ולא הי' בזמן ובמקום ידוע

But the first Luchos were above the sun, and were not bound to any fixed time or place.

The first Luchos, by contrast, transcended time and place entirely.

לכן איתא כי הראשונות לא הוצרכו לארון שהיו מעשה אלקים כדכתי' והלוחות מעשה אלקים המה

Therefore it is taught that the first Luchos did not require an aron, for they were the handiwork of Hashem, as it is written, 'And the Luchos were the handiwork of Hashem' (Shemos 32:16).

Because they were entirely Hashem's handiwork and above the natural order, the first Luchos needed no container to hold them.

אך אחרי שקלקלנו נעשה כתיב עשה לך ארון כו' שהיו הלוחות מלמטה בזמן וגבול כנ"ל והענין הוא כי רמז הלוחות והכתב הם בחי' גוף ונשמה

But after we ruined matters, it became as is written, 'Make for yourself an aron' (Devarim 10:1) — for now the Luchos were below, within time and boundary, as explained. The matter is this: the Luchos and the writing upon them allude to the aspect of body and neshamah.

After the sin, an aron was needed, because the Luchos descended into the realm of time and boundary; he now introduces the metaphor that the stone and the writing correspond to body and neshamah.

וכמו בהאדם עצמו דאיתא הנשמה בגוף כאזכרות בגוילין

And it is just like within man himself, of whom it is taught that the neshamah resides within the body as the Divine Names reside upon the parchments.

Just as a neshamah dwells within a body, so the holy Names of the writing dwell upon the parchment-like stone.

וקודם החטא היו מזוככים גופות בנ"י כמלאכי השרת

Before the sin, the bodies of Bnei Yisrael were refined like the ministering angels.

Before the cheit, the very bodies of Bnei Yisrael were as refined and spiritual as angels.

ואח"כ היו הלוחות מלמטה והכתב שהוא הנשמה מלמעלה

Afterward the Luchos themselves were below, while the writing — which is the neshamah — was from above.

After the sin, a split opened: the stone (body) stayed below while the writing (neshamah) remained connected above.

כי חרות על הלוחות היא ג"כ הרשימה מהנשמה בלב האדם

For 'engraved upon the Luchos' (Shemos 32:16) is likewise the imprint of the neshamah upon the heart of man.

The engraving on the Luchos mirrors the imprint Hashem leaves of the neshamah upon a person's heart.

ומקודם הי' חירות כמ"ש חז"ל שלא הי' בהם יצה"ר

Beforehand there was 'freedom,' as Chazal expound — that there was no yetzer hara within them (do not read 'charus,' engraved, but 'cheirus,' freedom).

Chazal read 'charus' (engraved) as 'cheirus' (freedom) — originally Bnei Yisrael were free, with no yetzer hara.

ואחר שנתקלקל נעשה

But after this was ruined,

This original state of freedom was lost when the sin ruined it.

היו רק האותיות מלמעלה היא בחי' נשמע

there remained only the letters from above, which is the aspect of 'we will hear' (na'aseh v'nishma).

What remained was only the higher 'letters,' corresponding to 'nishma' — the receptive, hearing aspect rather than full doing.

וזהו שהראה להם מרע"ה כי המה תחת הזמן

And this is what Moshe Rabbeinu showed them — that they now stand beneath time.

Moshe Rabbeinu's lesson was that, post-sin, Bnei Yisrael had fallen under the dominion of time.

ובאמת העתים צריכים להתבטל אל בנ"י להיות הם למעלה מהעתים

Yet in truth the 'times' must become subordinate to Bnei Yisrael, so that they themselves stand above the times.

But the ideal is the reverse: time should bow to Bnei Yisrael, lifting them above its constraints.

וכ"כ על הקץ בעתה אחישנה זכו אחישנה לא זכו בעתה

And so it is written regarding the keitz, 'in its time I will hasten it' (Yeshayah 60:22) — if they merit, 'I will hasten it'; if they do not merit, then 'in its time.'

He brings the famous verse about the geulah: merit brings it 'hastened,' lack of merit leaves it bound to its set 'time.'

כי בוודאי יש זמן קצוב להתבלעות הסט"א להיות מלכותו ית' מבוררת בעולם

For surely there is a fixed time appointed for the swallowing up of the sitra achra, so that the kingship of Hashem will be made clear in the world.

There is indeed a fixed deadline by which evil will be eliminated and Hashem's kingship revealed.

אבל כשבנ"י זוכין וע"י תשובה יוכל להיות הגאולה בלי זמן

But when Bnei Yisrael merit, then through teshuvah the geulah can come without being bound to that time.

Yet teshuvah and merit can bring the geulah early, breaking free of that timetable.

וז"ש היום אם בקולו תשמעו

And this is the meaning of 'Today, if you will hearken to His voice' (Tehillim 95:7).

'Today, if you will hearken' expresses this power to bring redemption immediately, in the present.

והוא באמת כח התורה שנק' יום הקהל בתורה ופי' הקהל שהוא יום הכולל כל הזמנים וכל הנפשות וכל המקומות

And this is in truth the power of the Torah, which is called in the Torah 'the day of assembly' (yom hakahal) (Devarim 9:10); and the meaning of 'kahal' is that it is the day that gathers together all the times, all the souls, and all the places.

This timeless power is the Torah itself, called 'yom hakahal' — the day that gathers all times, souls, and places into one.

והיא התורה שלמעלה מן התחלקות העתים שתחת השמים

And this is the Torah, which is above the division of the 'times' that are beneath the heavens.

The Torah stands above the fragmentation of time that governs the natural world.

לכן אחז"ל אם שמרו בנ"י שבת א' מיד הם נגאלין כי שבת אחת היא הנקודה אחדות שכולל הכל כנ"ל

Therefore Chazal said: if Bnei Yisrael would keep a single Shabbos, they would immediately be redeemed — for one Shabbos is the point of unity that includes everything, as explained.

Hence one perfectly kept Shabbos could bring immediate geulah, for Shabbos is the unifying point that contains everything.

ובשבת ניתנה תורה

And on Shabbos the Torah was given.

He notes that the Torah was given specifically on Shabbos, reinforcing the link.

ואיתא בספרים מי"ד הם נגאלין הרמז שיגאלו מי"ד העתים

And it is taught in the sefarim that 'they are redeemed immediately (miyad)' alludes to this — that they will be redeemed from the hand (mi-yad) of the times.

The sefarim read 'miyad' (immediately) as 'mi-yad' (from the hand) — redemption from the grip of time.

כי השבת הוא למעלה מהתחלקות העתים כמ"ש

For Shabbos is above the division of the times, as explained.

This is because Shabbos transcends the divisions of time, as he established.

והגאולה שתהי' בעתה היא מכח זכות האבות שיקיים הקב"ה הבטחתו

And the geulah that will come 'in its time' is by the power of the merit of the Avos, that Hashem will fulfill His promise.

Redemption 'in its time' relies on the merit of the Avos and Hashem fulfilling His promise.

אבל אם בנ"י שבין בתשובה זוכין בצדקתם כמ"ש לעיל

But the geulah that comes when Bnei Yisrael who do teshuvah merit it comes through their own righteousness, as explained above.

Redemption brought early comes through the present righteousness of those who do teshuvah.

וזכות אבות לעולם נמצא בבנ"י וע"ז כתי' שחורה אני במעשי ונאוה אני במעשה אבותי

And the merit of the Avos is always found within Bnei Yisrael, and concerning this it is written, 'I am black through my own deeds, yet I am comely through the deeds of my fathers' (based on Shir HaShirim 1:5).

Yet the Avos' merit is never absent — it lives within Bnei Yisrael, expressed by the verse contrasting one's own deeds with the fathers' deeds.

והפי' שיש מעש"ט וצדקות שנמצא בבנ"י והכל בכח סיוע האבות

And the meaning is that there are good deeds and righteous acts found within Bnei Yisrael, and all of it is through the power of the assistance of the Avos.

Every good deed Bnei Yisrael do draws on the underlying support of the Avos.

ולכן אמר משה רבינו ע"ה וידעת כי לא בצדקתך כו'

And therefore Moshe Rabbeinu said, 'And you shall know that it is not because of your righteousness' (Devarim 9:6).

This is why Moshe stressed 'not because of your righteousness.'

ואם ח"ו לא הי' להם צדקות מה הוצרך לומר להם זאת

Now if, chas v'shalom, they had no righteousness at all, why would he need to say this to them?

The Sfas Emes sharpens the point: if they truly had no righteousness, the warning would be pointless.

אבל הראה להם כי אותו הכח הוא במתנה ולא משלהם

Rather, he showed them that this very power is a gift, and not from themselves.

Rather, Moshe was teaching that their righteousness is a gift, an inherited power, not self-generated.

וזה ג"כ מאמר הנביא יראתם אותי מצות אנשים מלומדה מה שבנ"י אין מוסיפין חיל רק כפי הכח שנשרש בהם מאבותיהם

And this too is the statement of the navi, 'their fear of Me is a commandment of men, learned by rote' (Yeshayah 29:13) — meaning that Bnei Yisrael add no strength of their own, except according to the power rooted within them from their fathers.

He ties in the navi's rebuke of rote worship: Bnei Yisrael add nothing beyond the strength inherited from the Avos.

וישראל נק' מאמינים בני מאמינים

And Yisrael are called 'believers, the sons of believers.'

Yisrael are 'believers, sons of believers' — emunah is part of their inheritance.

וצריכין להוסיף אמונה בעצמותם מלבד מה שהם בני מאמינים:

And they must add faith of their own, beyond that which they are sons of believers.

The closing charge: they must contribute their own added emunah, beyond what they inherited as sons of believers.

Summary: The Sfas Emes contrasts the first Luchos, which stood above time and place and needed no aron, with the second Luchos, given after the cheit ha'egel from below and bound within time and boundary. He develops this as a mashal for body and neshamah: before the sin the bodies of Bnei Yisrael were as refined as angels and they enjoyed true cheirus with no yetzer hara, but afterward they fell under the dominion of time, retaining only the higher, receptive aspect. The ideal, however, is for the times to become subordinate to Bnei Yisrael so that they rise above them — accomplished through the Torah, called 'yom hakahal,' which gathers all times, souls, and places, and through Shabbos, the point of unity that can bring immediate geulah. Redemption 'in its time' rests on the inherited merit of the Avos, while redemption hastened through teshuvah flows from the present righteousness of Bnei Yisrael. Yet even that righteousness is itself a gift rooted in the Avos, which is why Moshe Rabbeinu taught 'not because of your righteousness'; the avodah of Bnei Yisrael is to add their own emunah beyond what they inherited as believers, the sons of believers.