Daily Renewal Through Speech

בתנחומא היום הזה ה"א מצוך כו'

The Tanchuma comments on the verse "This day Hashem your God commands you etc." (Devarim 26:16).

The piece opens by citing the Tanchuma's teaching on the verse that begins the parshah of bikkurim, where Hashem commands Bnei Yisrael "this day."

ג' תפלות במקום ביכורים ע"ש

[The Sages instituted] the three daily tefillos in place of the bikkurim (first fruits); look there.

The Sages established the three daily tefillos to take the place of bringing the first fruits to the Beis HaMikdash.

מכלל שנא' ה"א מצוך לעשות

From the fact that it says "Hashem your God commands you to do [these statutes]," we may infer something.

The phrasing "commands you to do" invites a deeper inference, which the Sfas Emes now draws out.

א"כ בכח איש ישראל לעשות התחדשות בכל יום

Namely, that it lies within the power of every individual Jew to effect a renewal each and every day.

Every Jew has the God-given ability to bring about a fresh spiritual renewal every single day.

ובמד' לשקוד על דלתותי יום יום כו' א"כ יש פתיחת שער בכל יום

And in the Midrash on "to wait at My doors day by day etc." (Mishlei 8:34) — accordingly, there is an opening of the gate every single day.

The Midrash's image of waiting at Hashem's doors daily teaches that a new spiritual gateway opens for us each day.

דלתותי לשון רבים הם ג' זמנים שמיוחדין לתפלה בכל יום ויום

"My doors" is in the plural, alluding to the three set times that are designated for tefillah on each and every day.

Since "doors" is plural, it points to the three fixed times of daily tefillah.

והקב"ה מחדש בטובו שהוא התורה בכל יום מ"ב

And the Holy One, Blessed is He, in His goodness — which is the Torah — renews [the work of Creation] each day, as we say [in davening] "who in His goodness renews each day continually the work of Creation."

Hashem continually renews the entire Creation each day, and this renewal is bound up with the Torah, which is His goodness.

וזה הכח ניתן לבנ"י בקול ודיבור למצוא זה התחדשות

And this power was given to Bnei Yisrael through voice and speech, to discover this renewal.

Through the faculties of voice and speech, Bnei Yisrael are empowered to access and reveal that daily renewal.

את ה' האמרת וה' האמירך

"You have distinguished Hashem [this day]... and Hashem has distinguished you" (Devarim 26:17-18).

The Sfas Emes turns to the mutual "distinguishing" between Hashem and Bnei Yisrael described in the parshah.

כי בנ"י מעידין על הבורא ית' כי הכל במאמרו קיים כמ"ש במשנה ליתן שכר טוב לצדיקים שמקיימין העולם שנברא בע"מ

For Bnei Yisrael bear witness to the Creator, may He be blessed, that everything endures by His utterance — as it says in the Mishnah, "to give a good reward to the tzaddikim who sustain the world that was created by ten utterances" (Avos 5:1).

Bnei Yisrael testify that the whole world stands only because of Hashem's creative utterances, and the Mishnah rewards the tzaddikim who uphold this world.

פי' שמבררין שכח המאמרות מקיים העולם ושהכל ברא לכבודו

The meaning is that they clarify that the power of the [ten] utterances sustains the world, and that He created everything for His honor.

By bearing witness, Bnei Yisrael make clear that the ten utterances sustain all of existence and that everything was created for Hashem's honor.

אכן באמת דרשו בראשית בשביל בנ"י שנק' ראשית היינו שכל המאמרות הי' בעבור בנ"י וזה ה' האמירך

Yet in truth the Sages expounded "Bereishis" — "for the sake of Bnei Yisrael who are called reishis (the first)" — meaning that all the utterances were brought into being for the sake of Bnei Yisrael, and this is "Hashem has distinguished you."

Yet on a deeper level, the world was created "for the sake of Bnei Yisrael," who are called reishis — so all the utterances exist for their sake, which is "Hashem has distinguished you."

והכל א' כי ברא הכל בעבור בנ"י שיעידו עליו ית'

And it is all one [idea], for He created everything for the sake of Bnei Yisrael, that they should bear witness to Him, may He be blessed.

Both ideas are really one: Hashem created everything for Bnei Yisrael precisely so that they would testify to Him.

והנה הדיבור הוא עיקר ההנהגה וזה נתן השי"ת לנו כמ"ש מגיד דבריו כו'

Now, speech is the essence of [Hashem's] conduct [of the world], and this the Holy One, Blessed is He, gave to us, as it says "He tells His words [to Yaakov]" (Tehillim 147:19).

Speech is the very means by which Hashem governs the world, and He granted this power of speech to us as well.

וזהו ה' האמירך

And this is the meaning of "Hashem has distinguished you."

This gift of speech is precisely what is meant by Hashem "distinguishing" Bnei Yisrael.

וכמו כן בנ"י צריכין למסור כל הפה והלשון אליו ית' כמ"ש הפה לא נברא אלא להודות לך

And in the same way, Bnei Yisrael must surrender their entire mouth and tongue to Him, may He be blessed, as it says "the mouth was created only to give thanks to You."

In return, Bnei Yisrael must dedicate their mouth and tongue entirely to Hashem, since the mouth exists only to give Him thanks.

וזהו את ה' האמרת שפיהם של בנ"י רק בשבחים והודאות בתורה ותפלה אליו ית'

And this is the meaning of "You have distinguished Hashem" — that the mouth of Bnei Yisrael is devoted solely to praises and thanksgiving, in Torah and tefillah, to Him, may He be blessed.

This is the meaning of Bnei Yisrael "distinguishing" Hashem — devoting all their speech to praise, thanks, Torah, and tefillah.

יה"ר שנזכה להוציא אלה הכחות אל הפועל בב"א

May it be His will that we merit to bring these powers from potential into actuality, speedily in our days.

The Sfas Emes expresses a prayer that we merit to actualize these latent spiritual powers, speedily in our days.

ובזמן המקדש בכח הקרבנות הי' כל זה בפועל ממש

And in the time of the Beis HaMikdash, through the power of the korbanos, all of this came about literally in actuality.

When the Beis HaMikdash stood, the korbanos made all of this a tangible, actual reality rather than mere potential.

וכן ע"י הביכורים דכ' וענית ואמרת

And so too through the bikkurim, of which it is written "and you shall call out and say" (Devarim 26:5).

The bikkurim accomplished the same, as the Torah instructs the one bringing them to "call out and say" the declaration.

והשתחוית

"And you shall bow down" (Devarim 26:10).

The Torah further instructs "and you shall bow down" as part of the bikkurim service.

ושמחת בכל הטוב

"And you shall rejoice in all the good" (Devarim 26:11).

And it concludes "and you shall rejoice in all the good" that Hashem has given.

לשון נפעל שממילא נפתח הפה של כל איש ישראל להיות מלא בהלל ושבח אליו ית'

["And you shall rejoice"] is in the passive form, [indicating] that of its own accord the mouth of every individual Jew is opened to become filled with praise and laud to Him, may He be blessed.

Because "rejoice" is phrased passively, it teaches that bringing the bikkurim causes a Jew's mouth to open on its own, brimming with praise of Hashem.

ורמזו במשנה מי שא"י מקרין אותו

And the Sages alluded to this in the Mishnah: "one who does not know [how to recite] — they prompt him" (Bikkurim 3:7).

The Mishnah hints at this automatic opening of the mouth by ruling that one who cannot recite the declaration is prompted word by word.

וזה עצמו מה שביכורים טעונין שירה הגם שא"א שירה [*אלא] על היין רק שזה הי' כהוראות שעה למעלה מסדר ומדרגה הרגילות

And this itself is the reason that the bikkurim require song (shirah) — even though one recites shirah only over wine — for this was like a temporary ruling [horaas shaah], above the usual order and level.

This is also why the bikkurim require shirah even though shirah is normally sung only over wine — it was a special, temporary elevation beyond the usual order.

מיהו בגמ' ערכין (ד' י"א) הקשו כן ע"ש ובתוס' שהניחו בדוחק:

However, in the Gemara Arachin (daf 11) they raised this very difficulty; look there, and in Tosafos who resolved it with difficulty.

The Sfas Emes notes that the Gemara in Arachin raises this very question, and Tosafos there answers it only with difficulty.

Summary: The Sfas Emes teaches that the verse "this day Hashem your God commands you" reveals the power of every Jew to effect a fresh renewal each day, paralleled by the three daily tefillos that were instituted in place of the bikkurim and by the daily gates of tefillah hinted at in "My doors." The mutual distinguishing of the parshah — "you have distinguished Hashem and Hashem has distinguished you" — expresses that Bnei Yisrael bear witness that Hashem's creative utterances sustain the world, while on a deeper level the entire Creation, with all its utterances, was brought into being for the sake of Bnei Yisrael, who are called reishis. Since speech is the very instrument of Hashem's governance of the world, He granted that power of speech to us, and in return Bnei Yisrael must devote their mouth entirely to praise, thanks, Torah, and tefillah. In the time of the Beis HaMikdash the korbanos and bikkurim brought these powers into full actuality, and the passive language "and you shall rejoice" teaches that the bikkurim caused a Jew's mouth to open of its own accord with praise of Hashem. The Sfas Emes links this to the bikkurim requiring shirah as a special elevation beyond the usual order, noting the difficulty the Gemara in Arachin raises and Tosafos' strained resolution.