Two Keys To Torah
במדרש אשרי אדם שומע לי כו' על דלתותי דלת לפנים מדלת כו' שהקב"ה מונה פסיעותיך כו'
In the Midrash on the verse, "Fortunate is the man who listens to Me... to watch at My doorposts" (Mishlei 8:34) — a doorway within a doorway — for the Holy One, Blessed is He, counts your footsteps.
The Sfas Emes opens with a Midrash on the verse in Mishlei describing one who listens to Hashem and watches at His doorposts, noting a doorway within a doorway, and that Hashem counts a person's footsteps.
שמיעה היא התאספות כל הכחות ואברים לשמוע דבר ה' ואם הוא כנסי' לש"ש זוכה לשמוע
Hearing means the gathering together of all of a person's faculties and limbs to listen to the word of Hashem, and if this is an assembly for the sake of Heaven, he merits to hear.
True hearing is when a person gathers all his powers and limbs to attend to the word of Hashem, and when his inner gathering is for the sake of Heaven he is granted the ability to truly hear.
כמ"ש ששמועותיו לי
As it is written, "that his teachings were for My sake" (alluding to one whose learning is devoted to Hashem).
This is hinted in the wording that his learning is "for My sake" — that is, devoted entirely to Hashem.
וב' דלתות הם כדאיתא בגמ' מי שיש בו תורה ואין בו יראת שמים כאלו נמסרו לו מפתחות פנימיות ולא החיצוניות
And there are two doorways, as is brought in the Gemara (Shabbos 31a): one who possesses Torah but does not possess yiras Shamayim is as though the keys to the inner chambers were handed to him but not the keys to the outer ones.
He cites the Gemara that one who has Torah but lacks yiras Shamayim is like someone given the inner keys without the outer ones, showing that Torah alone is not enough.
א"כ יש מפתח חיצוני ופנימי
If so, there is an outer key and an inner key.
From this we see there are two distinct keys: an outer one and an inner one.
ובאמת ב' מפתחות אלו הם א' בידינו וא' ביד הקב"ה כמ"ש פתחי לי אחותי כו'
And in truth, these two keys are one in our hands and one in the hand of the Holy One, Blessed is He, as it is written, "Open for Me, My sister..." (Shir HaShirim 5:2).
In truth, one key is placed in our hands while the other remains in Hashem's hand, as the verse "Open for Me, My sister" expresses this mutual opening.
וכ' פתחו לי שערי צדק
And it is written, "Open for me the gates of righteousness" (Tehillim 118:19).
This is reinforced by the verse asking Hashem to open the gates of righteousness, our request that He open from His side.
וכפי מה שאדם פותח מפתח החיצון ע"י יראת שמים כך פותחין לו פתח הפנימי שער התורה
And in accordance with how much a person opens the outer key through yiras Shamayim, so too they open for him the inner gateway, the gate of Torah.
To the degree a person opens the outer key through his yiras Shamayim, Heaven opens for him the inner gateway, which is the gate of Torah itself.
וז"ש שהקב"ה מונה פסיעותיך שכפי הילוך האדם ממדרגה למדרגה כך פותחין לו שערי בינה בתורה:
And this is the meaning of "the Holy One, Blessed is He, counts your footsteps" — for in accordance with a person's progress from one level to the next, so too they open for him the gates of understanding in Torah.
This explains that Hashem counts a person's footsteps: as he advances from level to level through his own effort, the gates of deeper understanding in Torah are opened for him from Above.
Summary: The Sfas Emes builds on a Midrash that Hashem counts a person's footsteps and on the image of a doorway within a doorway. True hearing of Hashem's word requires gathering all one's faculties for the sake of Heaven, and there are two keys to entering Torah: an outer one and an inner one. The outer key is in our own hands and is turned through yiras Shamayim, while the inner key, the gate of Torah, is in the hand of the Holy One, Blessed is He. To the precise degree that a person opens the outer door through his fear of Heaven, Hashem opens for him the inner gate of deeper Torah understanding. Thus, as a person progresses from level to level by his own avodah, the gates of binah in Torah are opened to him from Above.