The Mosheic Spark Within
בפסוק ועתה ישראל כו' כ"א ליראה
On the pasuk "And now, Yisrael, what does Hashem your God ask of you, except to fear" (Devarim 10:12).
The Sfas Emes opens with the pasuk in which Moshe tells Bnei Yisrael that all Hashem asks of them is yiras Shamayim.
ואמרו בגמ' אטו יראה מילתא זוטרתא היא אין לגבי משה מילתא זוטרתא
The Gemara asks: Is fear of Heaven a small matter? And it answers: Yes, for Moshe Rabbeinu it is indeed a small matter (Berachos 33b).
The Gemara questions how fear of Heaven can be called something small, and answers that relative to Moshe Rabbeinu's stature it is indeed small.
ומקשים שהרי אמר זאת לבנ"י
And the commentators raise a difficulty: but Moshe said this to Bnei Yisrael, not about himself.
The difficulty is obvious: Moshe was addressing the whole nation, so how can the answer rest on Moshe's personal greatness?
אך יש בכל איש ישראל חלק וניצוץ מכחו של משה רבינו ע"ה כמ"ש תורה צוה לנו משה מורשה
However, there is within every Jew a portion and a spark of the power of Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, as it is written, "The Torah that Moshe commanded us is the inheritance (morashah) of the congregation of Yaakov" (Devarim 33:4).
The Sfas Emes resolves this by teaching that every Jew carries a spark of Moshe within himself, learned from the pasuk that calls the Torah an inheritance to all of Yaakov's congregation.
כמו שהתורה מורשה ויש לכל ישראל חלק בה כן משה מורשה
Just as the Torah is an inheritance and every Jew has a portion in it, so too Moshe himself is an inheritance.
Because the word morashah (inheritance) applies to Moshe as well as to the Torah, every Jew inherits a share in Moshe himself.
ובשבת מוריש מרע"ה זאת החלק לבנ"י לכן בשבת אפי' ע"ה אימת שבת עליו כי בשבת הוא מילתא זוטרתא
And on Shabbos, Moshe Rabbeinu bequeaths this portion to Bnei Yisrael; therefore on Shabbos even an unlearned person feels the awe of Shabbos upon him, for on Shabbos yiras Shamayim is a small matter.
On Shabbos this inherited portion is activated, so that even a simple, unlearned Jew is gripped by awe of Shabbos, since the Mosheic power within makes yiras Shamayim attainable.
ואיתא כי הכתרים של הקדמת נעשה לנשמע כולן זכה משה ונטלם ועתיד להחזירם לנו כמ"ש שמעולם על ראשם
And it is brought down that the crowns of the precedence of "we will do" before "we will hear" (na'aseh before nishma) were all merited by Moshe, who took them, and he is destined to return them to us, as it is written, "and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads" (Yeshayahu 35:10).
The crowns Bnei Yisrael received for saying na'aseh before nishma were taken into Moshe's keeping and will one day be returned, bringing everlasting joy.
ואותו מדרגה שהי' לבנ"י בקבלת התורה ודאי הי' יראה מילתא זוטרתא להם שהרי אמר להם משה אל תיראו
And that level which Bnei Yisrael had at the receiving of the Torah was certainly one in which fear was a small matter for them, for Moshe said to them, "Do not fear" (Shemos 20:17).
At Matan Torah the nation stood at so high a level that fear truly was a small matter for them, which is why Moshe could tell them not to be afraid.
שהיו עתידין לעלות במדרגה למעלה מן היראה
For they were destined to rise to a level above fear.
They were poised to ascend even higher, to a rung that transcends fear entirely.
ואותן הכתרים מיוחדים הם לכל בנ"י
And those crowns are uniquely the portion of all of Bnei Yisrael.
Those very crowns are the unique inheritance belonging to all of Bnei Yisrael.
והם אצל משה
And they are held in safekeeping by Moshe.
For now, Moshe holds these crowns in trust on the nation's behalf.
לכן הוא ראה כי יש להם מדרגות גבוהות אשר היראה להם מילתא זוטרתי
Therefore he saw that they have lofty levels at which fear is for them a small matter.
Because Moshe perceives the lofty levels latent in Bnei Yisrael, he could state that for them fear is a small matter.
ז"ש לגבי משה מלתא ז' הוא שמדרגות שלהם לגבי משה הוא ראה וידע שהיראה מ"ז להם
This is the meaning of "for Moshe it is a small matter": that their levels, as measured against Moshe, he saw and knew that for them fear is a small matter.
Thus the Gemara's phrase "for Moshe it is small" means that Moshe saw and knew the elevated levels of Bnei Yisrael relative to himself, levels at which fear is small.
ועתה ישראל ועתה לשון תשובה שזה עיקר התשובה לחזור למדרגה הראשונה ואז היראה מילתא זוטרתי היא כנ"ל
"And now, Yisrael" — the word "now" (ve'atah) is a language of teshuvah, for this is the essence of teshuvah: to return to the original level, and then fear is a small matter, as explained above.
The word ve'atah ("and now") hints at teshuvah, the work of returning to that original elevated level, where once again fear becomes a small matter.
וכן ע"י עסק התורה באין לבחי' משה ואז היראה מילתא זוטרתא וכדאיתא ומלבשתו ענוה ויראה להעוסק בתורה לשמה:
And likewise, through engagement in Torah one arrives at the aspect of Moshe, and then fear is a small matter, as it is brought down that Torah "clothes him in humility and fear" (Avos 6:1) for one who toils in Torah for its own sake.
Toiling in Torah lishmah brings a person to the aspect of Moshe within him, clothing him in humility and fear, so that yiras Shamayim again becomes a small matter.
Summary: The Sfas Emes addresses the Gemara's teaching that yiras Shamayim is a small matter only relative to Moshe Rabbeinu, asking how this answers the question when Moshe spoke to all of Bnei Yisrael. He explains that every Jew carries a spark of Moshe, since the Torah is called a morashah, an inheritance shared by all, and Moshe himself is likewise inherited by each Jew. This Mosheic portion is awakened especially on Shabbos, so that even an unlearned person is gripped by awe, and it is bound up with the crowns of na'aseh before nishma that Moshe holds in trust and will return to Bnei Yisrael. Because Moshe perceives these lofty levels within the nation, he could declare that fear is a small matter for them. The word ve'atah signals teshuvah, the return to that original level, and toiling in Torah lishmah likewise brings a person to the aspect of Moshe, where yiras Shamayim becomes a small matter, clothing him in humility and fear.