Two Levels Of Shema

בפרשת והי' א"ש כו' ואספת דגנך

In the passage beginning "And it shall be, if you hearken (to My commandments)... that you shall gather in your grain" (Devarim 11:13-14).

The Sfas Emes opens with the Torah's promise that hearkening to the mitzvos leads to gathering in one's grain — a verse that seems to require Bnei Yisrael's own physical labor.

אמרו בגמ' כ' ועמדו זרים ורעו צאנכם כו' כאן כשישראל עושין רצונו של מקום

The Gemara teaches: It is written, "And strangers shall stand and pasture your flocks" (Yeshayahu 61:5) — this refers to a time when Bnei Yisrael carry out the will of the Omnipresent.

He cites the Gemara that when Bnei Yisrael do Hashem's will, strangers tend their flocks and they themselves are freed from such work.

ומקשים התוס' דה"נ כ' א"ש תשמעו כו' ע"ש

The Tosafos raise a difficulty: but here too it is written, "if you will surely hearken (to My commandments)" — and yet it says, "that you shall gather in your grain" (implying they themselves must labor); see there.

Tosafos object: this very passage, which speaks of hearkening (doing Hashem's will), nevertheless says that you yourself shall gather your grain — so how can doing His will exempt one from labor?

והענין הוא עושין רצונו של מקום הוא כמו שהקדימו בנ"י נעשה לנשמע כשנתדבקו בנ"י במתן תורה באחדות האמת כדאיתא במד' בפסוק יפה את רעיתי כתרצה כד את בעי' לית אתה צריך למילף מכלום

The explanation is this: "carrying out the will of the Omnipresent" is like when Bnei Yisrael placed "we will do" before "we will hear" (Shemos 24:7) — when Bnei Yisrael cleaved at the giving of the Torah to the oneness of truth, as the Midrash states on the pasuk "You are beautiful, My beloved, as Tirtzah" (Shir HaShirim 6:4): "When you desire (Me), you need to learn from nothing," meaning you need draw upon nothing outside yourself.

He resolves it by defining "doing Hashem's will" at its highest level — the state of Bnei Yisrael at Har Sinai when they said "naaseh" before "nishma," cleaving wholly to Hashem's oneness so that nothing external was needed.

וזה פרשת שמע

And this is the parsha of "Shema" (Devarim 6:4).

He identifies this lofty state with the first parsha of Shema.

ואהבת בעצם

"And you shall love (Hashem your God)" (Devarim 6:5) — at the very essence.

The command "And you shall love" reflects love that flows from the very essence of the neshamah.

כשבאין לאחדות האמת אז נק' רעיתי

When one arrives at the oneness of truth, then he is called "My beloved" (rayasi).

Reaching the oneness of truth is what earns Bnei Yisrael the title "rayasi," Hashem's beloved.

ואז מתעורר בעצם הנפש אהבת ה' ומכוונים לעשות רצונו של מקום בעצמם

And then there is awakened, in the very essence of the neshamah, love of Hashem, and one is directed to carry out the will of the Omnipresent from within his own self.

At that level, love of Hashem awakens from within the neshamah itself, so that one naturally does His will from his own essence rather than from external prompting.

ולכן כ' בפרשת ואהבת ובכל מאודך ביטול כל האדם אל אחדות הבורא ית"ש

This is why it is written in the parsha of "And you shall love," "and with all your might" (Devarim 6:5) — the complete bittul of the entire person to the oneness of the Creator, Yisbarach Shemo.

"With all your might" expresses total bittul of the person to the Creator's oneness — the hallmark of the first parsha.

ולכן א"צ לעשות כלום בעוה"ז ועמדו זרים ורעו צאנכם

And therefore he need do nothing in this world, (for the pasuk says) "and strangers shall stand and pasture your flocks."

Because such a person is wholly given over to Hashem, he need not toil in this world, and strangers will tend his flocks for him.

אבל תחתונים א"י לעמוד בתפקודיו של הקב"ה ונפלו בנ"י אח"כ מזו המדרגה וזה פרשת והי' א"ש כו' לאהבה שצריכין לבא אל האהבה בכח המצות ולכן הנהג בהם מדת דרך ארץ כדאיתא יפה ת"ת עם ד"א וזה אחר החטא שאבדנו נעשה

But the lower realms cannot endure standing in the appointed service of the Holy One, Blessed is He, and afterward Bnei Yisrael fell from this level — and this is the parsha of "And it shall be, if you hearken... to love (Hashem your God)" (Devarim 11:13), for now one must come to the love through the power of the mitzvos; and therefore "conduct yourself with them in the way of derech eretz," as it is taught, "Beautiful is Torah study together with derech eretz" (Avos 2:2) — and this is after the sin, through which we lost the (level of) "we will do."

But this elevated state could not be sustained in the lower world; after the sin Bnei Yisrael fell from it, so the second parsha addresses those who must reach love through the mitzvos and through derech eretz and labor.

לכן תורה שאין עמה מלאכה גוררת עון

Therefore, "Torah that is not accompanied by labor will in the end be nullified and lead to sin" (Avos 2:2).

Hence Chazal's teaching that Torah without accompanying work eventually leads to sin — a reality that applies after the fall.

וכמ"ש הרבה עשו כרשב"י ולא עלתה בידן ז"ש חז"ל פרשה ראשונה אזהרה ליחיד כאן לציבור

And as Chazal said, "Many acted as Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai (relying on Torah alone) and were not successful" (Berachos 35b) — and this is what Chazal meant: the first parsha is an admonition to the individual, while here (the second parsha) is to the community.

Many tried to live by Torah alone like Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and failed; this is why the first parsha is an admonition to the individual and the second to the community.

והלא גם פ' ראשונה לכל ישראל נאמרה רק הוא כשבאין לאחדות האמת

But surely the first parsha too was spoken to all of Bnei Yisrael — rather, it speaks of when they arrive at the oneness of truth.

Though the first parsha was indeed said to all of Bnei Yisrael, it describes them specifically when they reach the oneness of truth.

פרשה שני' אפי' כשאין זוכין אל האחדות כראוי:

The second parsha applies even when they do not merit to attain the oneness as is fitting.

The second parsha, by contrast, applies even when they have not properly attained that oneness, and so must labor and use the mitzvos to reach the love.

Summary: The Sfas Emes contrasts the two parshiyos of Krias Shema to resolve a difficulty raised by Tosafos: the first parsha ("Shema" and "V'ahavta") describes the exalted state in which Bnei Yisrael cleave wholly to the oneness of Hashem, as they did at Har Sinai when they placed "naaseh" before "nishma." At that level love of Hashem awakens from the very essence of the neshamah, the person achieves complete bittul to the Creator with "all his might," and he is freed from worldly toil so that strangers tend his flocks. But the lower world could not endure this level, and after the sin Bnei Yisrael fell from it. The second parsha ("V'haya im shamoa") therefore speaks to those who must reach the love of Hashem through the power of the mitzvos and through derech eretz and labor — which is why Torah without accompanying work leads to sin, and why the first parsha is addressed to the individual who attains the oneness while the second is addressed to the community as a whole.