Unchanging Portion Through Teshuvah

בפסוק זכור ימות עולם כו' ימצאהו בארץ מדבר כו'

On the verse, "Remember the days of old... He found him in a desert land..." (Devarim 32:7-10).

The Sfas Emes opens with the verses from Ha'azinu that speak of Hashem finding Bnei Yisrael in a desert land, which he will now expound.

נשמות בנ"י נשתלחו בעוה"ז בשליחות הבורא ית'

The neshamos of Bnei Yisrael were sent into this world on a mission of the Creator, may He be blessed.

The neshamos of Bnei Yisrael were dispatched into this world to carry out a mission given by Hashem.

אבל הוא מקום מדבר ותהו שעיקר מקומו של אדם אינו בעוה"ז

But it is a place of wilderness and emptiness, for the essential place of a person is not in this world.

This world is compared to a wilderness because a person's true home is not here, but in a higher, spiritual place.

והרי אדה"ר הכניסו הקב"ה לג"ע אך ע"י החטא וישלחהו

Indeed, the Holy One, Blessed is He, brought Adam HaRishon into Gan Eden, but on account of the sin "He sent him forth" (Bereishis 3:23).

Even Adam was placed in Gan Eden, his proper dwelling, and only the sin caused him to be exiled into this lower world.

ולכן נתן לנו הקב"ה תורה ומצות

Therefore the Holy One, Blessed is He, gave us the Torah and the mitzvos.

Because we are stationed in a place not truly our own, Hashem equipped us with Torah and mitzvos to sustain us there.

יסובבנהו ברמ"ח מ"ע שעל ידיהם נמשך הארת הקדושה לאיברי האדם

"He encircled him" (Devarim 32:10) - with the two hundred and forty-eight positive mitzvos, through which the illumination of kedushah is drawn into the limbs of a person.

The phrase "He encircled him" alludes to the 248 positive commandments, which channel holy light into a person's 248 limbs.

יבוננהו בתורה

"He granted him understanding" - through the Torah.

The phrase "He granted him understanding" refers to the gift of Torah, which gives a person wisdom.

יצרנהו במצות ל"ת שהם שמירה לאדם

"He guarded him" - through the prohibitive mitzvos, the negative commandments, which are a protection for a person.

The phrase "He guarded him" refers to the negative commandments, the prohibitions, which serve as a protective shield for a person.

ואיתא בזוה"ק זכור ימות עולם הם ששת ימי המעשה ששת ימים עשה ה' ע"ש

It is brought in the Zohar HaKadosh that "Remember the days of old" refers to the six days of action, "for in six days Hashem made" (Shemos 20:11); see there.

The Zohar reads "days of old" as the six weekdays, tying the verse to the six days in which Hashem created the world.

והענין הוא כי אותן ששת הימים ג"כ נשתלחו להעמיד הטבע והבריאה אבל הם אינם מקבלים שינוי

The matter is that those six days too were sent forth to establish nature and the creation, but they do not receive change.

Those six days of creation were also "sent" with a mission - to uphold nature - and they are fixed and unchanging in their essence.

ולכן נתן הקב"ה השבת שאז מתעלין הששת ימים ומקבלים שפע קודש בכל שבת ושבת

Therefore the Holy One, Blessed is He, gave the Shabbos, when those six days are elevated and receive a holy influx upon every single Shabbos.

Hashem gave Shabbos so that the six weekdays could be lifted up and receive a fresh holy influx each week.

וכמו כן ממש הם נשמת בנ"י כמ"ש ביני ובין בני ישראל אות היא כי ששת ימים עשה כו'

And in precisely the same way are the neshamos of Bnei Yisrael, as it is written, "Between Me and Bnei Yisrael it is a sign forever, for in six days Hashem made..." (Shemos 31:17).

The neshamos of Bnei Yisrael parallel the six days exactly, as the verse links the sign of Shabbos between Hashem and Bnei Yisrael to the six days of creation.

וששת הימים ובנ"י צריכים הם אל כח השבת

Both the six days and Bnei Yisrael require the power of the Shabbos.

Just as the weekdays need Shabbos to elevate them, so too Bnei Yisrael need the power of Shabbos.

ונקראו ימות עולם שהם הארות המעמידים את העולם שאינם מקבלין שינוי כמ"ש

They are called "the days of old" because they are illuminations that sustain the world, which do not receive change, as stated.

The weekdays are called "days of old" because they are the enduring illuminations that hold the world in place and do not change.

וכן צריך להיות איש ישראל דכתיב חלק ה' עמו אני ה' לא שניתי ואתם בני יעקב לא כליתם פי' שיש בהם חלק אלקות שאינו מקבל שינוי

So too must a Yid be, as it is written, "For Hashem's portion is His people" (Devarim 32:9), and "I, Hashem, have not changed, and you, the sons of Yaakov, have not been consumed" (Malachi 3:6) - meaning that there is within them a portion of Elokus which does not receive change.

A Yid must likewise be unchanging, since he contains a portion of Elokus, mirroring Hashem who declares that He does not change and therefore His people are never consumed.

ואפילו אם נשתנו ע"י החטא יכולין בתשובה לחזור ולהתלבן

And even if they have been altered through the sin, they are able through teshuvah to return and be made white again.

Even when a person is altered for the worse by sin, teshuvah has the power to restore him and cleanse him back to his original state.

וז"ש בינו שנות דור ודור

This is the meaning of "understand the years of generation upon generation" (Devarim 32:7).

This is the inner meaning of the verse's call to "understand the years of generation upon generation."

ובגמ' איתא ע"פ אם יהיו חטאיכם כשנים כשני מיבעיא לי' אלא אפילו חטאיכם סדורות ובאים כשנים הללו מימות בראשית כשלג ילבינו ע"ש בפרק אמר ר"ע בשבת

And in the Gemara it is brought on the verse "If your sins be like crimson" (Yeshayahu 1:18): "Like crimson" - it should have said "like the crimsons"; rather, even if your sins are arranged and come in sequence like these years from the days of Creation, "they shall become white as snow" - see there in the perek "Amar Rabi Akiva" in Shabbos.

The Gemara teaches that the verse's plural-sounding word hints that even sins piled up in orderly sequence across all the years since creation can be washed white as snow.

והוא כנ"ל כי הימים הם בלי שינוי לכן נק' יום על שם האור כי טוב

This is as above, for the days are without change, and therefore a "day" is called by the name of the light, "for it was good" (Bereishis 1:4).

A "day" is named for the unchanging light that Hashem called "good," expressing the fixed, holy quality of the weekdays.

אבל השנים נקראים ע"ש השינוי

But the "years" are named for change.

"Years," by contrast, take their name from change and the passage of time.

ואפילו אם נטבעים בזמן ונשתנים חוזרים ומתלבנים ביוהכ"פ:

And even if a person becomes submerged in time and is altered, they return and are made white again on Yom Kippur.

Even a person who has sunk into the flux of time and been altered by sin is restored and made white again through the cleansing power of Yom Kippur.

Summary: The Sfas Emes explains that the neshamos of Bnei Yisrael were sent into this world, a spiritual wilderness, on a mission from Hashem, just as Adam HaRishon belonged to Gan Eden and only sin exiled him below. To sustain us here, Hashem gave the Torah and mitzvos - the positive commandments drawing holy light into our limbs, the Torah granting understanding, and the prohibitions serving as protection. He then draws a parallel between Bnei Yisrael and the six days of creation: both were "sent" to uphold the world, both are essentially unchanging illuminations, and both require the power of Shabbos to be elevated and refreshed with holy influx. Because a Yid carries within him an unchanging portion of Elokus, even when sin alters him he can return through teshuvah and be made white again. The piece closes by distinguishing the steadfast "days," named for their unchanging light, from the "years," named for change, and teaching that one who has sunk into time's flux is cleansed and made white once more on Yom Kippur.