Renewing Creation Through Tefillah

במדרש תנחומא ראה מרע"ה שביכורים עתידין ליבטל תיקן ג' תפלות

In the Midrash Tanchuma it states that Moshe Rabbeinu foresaw that the bringing of bikkurim (the first fruits) was destined to be nullified, and so he instituted the three daily tefillos.

Moshe Rabbeinu saw that one day Bnei Yisrael would no longer be able to bring the first fruits, so he established the three daily prayers to take their place.

כי [*ע"י] הביכורים התעורר ההתחדשות בעולם ע"י שנתנו הראשית אליו ית' והעלו כל דבר לשורשו נתעורר להם התחדשות החיות מן השורש

For through the bikkurim a renewal was aroused in the world, in that Bnei Yisrael gave the first and choicest part to Hashem and thereby elevated every thing back to its root, and through this there was aroused for them a renewed flow of life-force drawn from the root.

When a person gave Hashem the first and best, he returned everything to its spiritual source, and in turn fresh spiritual life poured back down into the world.

שע"ז נאמר מחדש בטובו בכ"י מ' בראשית

It is regarding this that we say, "He renews in His goodness, every day continually, the act of Creation."

This idea is captured in the words we say daily, that Hashem constantly renews Creation through His goodness.

ולכן כ' אח"כ ושמחת בכל הטוב שזכו ע"י הביכורים להטוב הגנוז הנ"ל שבו נברא העולם

And this is why it is written afterward, "And you shall rejoice in all the good" (Devarim 26:11) — that through the bikkurim they merited the hidden good mentioned above, the good with which the world was created.

The Torah's command to rejoice after bringing bikkurim points to the joy of accessing that hidden, original good with which the world was made.

ועכשיו שאין לנו בהמ"ק וביכורים צריכין לעורר הכל ע"י תפלה

But now, when we have neither the Beis HaMikdash nor bikkurim, we must arouse all of this through tefillah.

Without the Beis HaMikdash or the mitzvah of first fruits, the only way left to awaken that renewal is through our tefillah.

כמ"ש אני מעיר השחר שהיא התעוררות שצריך כ"א להביא התחדשות לעולם בכל יום

As it is written, "I will awaken the dawn" (Tehillim 57:9) — this is the arousal whereby each and every person must bring renewal into the world each and every day.

Just as Dovid HaMelech roused himself to awaken the dawn, every Jew has the task of bringing fresh spiritual energy into the world each day through prayer.

כמ"ש היום הזה כו' מצוך לעשות וכמ"ש במ"א באורך

As it is written, "This day Hashem your God commands you to do them" (Devarim 26:16), and as is explained elsewhere at length.

The Torah's phrase "this day" teaches that the avodah is a fresh, daily obligation, a point the Sfas Emes develops more fully elsewhere.

והנה בזמן בהמ"ק הי' מתקיים הכל במעשה

Now, in the time of the Beis HaMikdash everything was fulfilled through actual deed.

When the Beis HaMikdash stood, spiritual accomplishment could be reached directly through physical action.

ועכשיו רק בבחי' נשמע שהיא העבודה בתורה ק"ש ותפלה לשעבד הגוף אל הדברים שמוציאים בפה

But now it is only by way of the aspect of "we will hear" (nishma) — which is the avodah of Torah, Krias Shema, and tefillah — to subjugate the body to the words that one brings forth with the mouth.

In galus we reach Hashem mainly through the aspect of "we will hear" — learning Torah and davening — which trains the body to follow the words of the mouth.

כי נשמע לעולם נשאר בישראל

For "we will hear" (nishma) remains forever within Bnei Yisrael.

The willingness to listen and accept, hinted at in "nishma," never left Bnei Yisrael and remains intact.

רק נעשה שקלקלנו

It is only the "we will do" (na'aseh) that we have damaged.

What we damaged through our failings is the dimension of "na'aseh," the power of holy action itself.

לכן לעתים נפסק כח זה בזמן הגלות והמעשה והגוף מעכב

Therefore at times this power becomes severed in the time of galus, and the deed and the body hold it back.

Because of that damage, in galus this energy is sometimes cut off, since the physical deed and the body get in the way.

אבל בזמן בהמ"ק הי' מתעורר חיות והתחדשות במעשה ממש ולא הי' הגוף מעכב

But in the time of the Beis HaMikdash, life-force and renewal were aroused in the actual deed itself, and the body did not hold it back.

In the time of the Beis HaMikdash, the renewal flowed directly into the action, and the body posed no obstacle.

ועכשיו כ' נשתחוה נכרעה נברכה שהוא מיני הכנעה לבטל הגוף בע"כ להדעת:

And now it is written, "Let us bow down, let us kneel, let us bend the knee" (Tehillim 95:6), which are forms of submission, to nullify the body against its will and bring it under the rule of the higher awareness.

Now, the verse about bowing and kneeling teaches us to use acts of submission to subdue the resistant body and bind it to higher awareness of Hashem.

Summary: The Sfas Emes explains, based on the Midrash Tanchuma, that Moshe Rabbeinu instituted the three daily tefillos as a replacement for the bikkurim, which he foresaw would one day cease. When Bnei Yisrael brought their first fruits to Hashem, they returned everything to its root and drew down a renewed flow of life-force, the same hidden good with which the world was created and which Hashem renews each day. With neither Beis HaMikdash nor bikkurim, that renewal must now be aroused through tefillah, the avodah of the aspect of "nishma," which trains the body to follow the words of the mouth. The Sfas Emes contrasts the era of the Beis HaMikdash, when life-force flowed directly into physical action without the body blocking it, with galus, where our damage to "na'aseh" causes this power to be cut off and the body to obstruct it. Therefore the verse calls us to acts of submission — bowing and kneeling — to nullify the resistant body and bind it to the higher awareness of Hashem.