Crushing the Self for Torah
בפסוק הסכת ושמע כו' היום הזה נהיית כו'
On the pasuk "Hasket ushema... hayom hazeh nihyeisa l'am" — "Be attentive and listen... this day you have become a people" (Devarim 27:9).
The Sfas Emes opens with the pasuk in which Moshe tells Bnei Yisrael that on this day they have become a people unto Hashem.
בגמ' ברכות [ס"ג] כתתו לבבכם לשמוע ר"ת עשו כתות כו'
In the Gemara Berachos (63b) it is expounded: "Kasesu — crush your hearts — so as to listen," and the word is read as an acronym, "Aso kitos kitos" — "make yourselves into groups upon groups" to study Torah.
He cites the Gemara's homiletic reading of "crush your hearts to listen" as also hinting at forming study-groups for Torah.
דהנה מרע"ה תיקן את בנ"י קודם הסתלקותו כמ"ש בפרשה זו את ה' האמרת היום
For behold, Moshe Rabbeinu set Bnei Yisrael in order before his passing, as it is written in this parsha, "You have proclaimed Hashem this day" (Devarim 26:17).
Before his passing, Moshe arranged and prepared Bnei Yisrael, as the parsha's language of "proclaiming Hashem this day" shows.
היום הזה ה"א מצוך כו'
"This day Hashem your God commands you" (Devarim 26:16).
He brings a second phrase, "this day Hashem commands you," emphasizing the recurring word "this day."
ומפורש ביותר ולא נתן ה' לכם לב לדעת ועינים כו' ואזנים כו' עד היום הזה
And it is stated even more explicitly, "Yet Hashem did not give you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, until this day" (Devarim 29:3).
Most explicit is the pasuk that only "until this day" did Hashem give them a heart to know — pointing to a specific moment of readiness.
א"כ נראה כי ביום הזה ניתקנו בנ"י נהיית הוא שנעשו כברי' חדשה
If so, it appears that on this very day Bnei Yisrael were set in order — "you have become" means that they were made into a new creation.
From this he concludes that on this day Bnei Yisrael were inwardly rectified and made into an entirely new creation.
וכמו שהתנה הקב"ה עמנו א"ש ת' כו' והייתם לי סגולה
And just as the Holy One, Blessed is He, made a condition with us, "If you will surely listen... then you shall be to Me a treasure" (Shemos 19:5), so was it fulfilled.
This fulfilled the original condition Hashem set at Sinai — that if they listen, they become His treasured people.
אכן בנ"י עברו עליהם כמה יסורים באלה המ' שנים עד שזכו לזה התיקון כמ"ש לחם לא אכלתם כו' ומתוך היסורין ניתקנו
Indeed, Bnei Yisrael underwent many sufferings during these forty years until they merited this rectification, as it is written, "Bread you did not eat" (Devarim 29:5), and it was through the sufferings that they were set in order.
The forty years of suffering, including being denied ordinary bread, were the very means by which they were refined and prepared.
וכ"כ בזוה"ק תרומה נהיית תברתא לבך לפולחנא דקוב"ה מלשון נהייתי ונחלתי
And so it is written in the Zohar HaKadosh, parshas Terumah, that "nihyeisa" means your heart was broken to the service of the Holy One, Blessed is He, from the expression "nihyeisi v'necheleisi" — "I was broken and made sick" (Daniel 8:27).
The Zohar reads "nihyeisa" as the heart being broken for Hashem's service, linking it to Daniel's word for being broken and made ill.
ולכן כמו שנעשה אז כך הוא תמיד ולכן צריכין לכתת הלב ונפש לזכות לדברי תורה
Therefore, just as it was then, so it is always; and therefore one must crush the heart and soul in order to merit the words of Torah.
Since the mechanism then was crushing the heart, so too always: meriting Torah requires breaking heart and soul.
ואיתא בגמ' זאת התורה א' כי ימות אין התורה מתקיימת אלא במי שממית עצמו עלי'
And it is found in the Gemara: "Zos haTorah adam ki yamus" — "This is the Torah: a man when he dies" (Bamidbar 19:14) — the Torah endures only in one who puts himself to death over it (Berachos 63b).
The Gemara teaches that Torah endures only in one who, like a person who dies for it, gives himself over completely.
והנה הפסוק אומר זאת התורה היינו מי שבאמת מוסר נפשו על התורה נעשה כולו תורה ממש
And behold, the pasuk says "zos haTorah" — that is, one who truly gives over his soul for the Torah becomes entirely Torah itself.
The phrase "this is the Torah" teaches that one who truly gives his soul for Torah becomes Torah itself.
כמ"ש על ר"ע ממתים ידך ה' כו' חלקם בחיים ע"ש בגמ' ובמד' תנחומא פ' זו
As it is said regarding Rabbi Akiva, "From those who die by Your hand, Hashem... whose portion is in life" (Tehillim 17:14) — see there in the Gemara and in the Midrash Tanchuma on this parsha.
Rabbi Akiva, who died with his soul on the Torah, is the example whose "portion is in life," as the Gemara and Midrash expound.
פי' שנעשה כולו תורה שכל תורה שבע"פ הוא בחכמי ישראל
The meaning is that he becomes entirely Torah, for the whole of Torah she'b'al peh, the Oral Torah, resides in the sages of Yisrael.
Becoming "entirely Torah" means that the whole Oral Torah lives within the sages of Yisrael.
וחלקם בחיים ממש
And "their portion is in life" — literally, in life.
Their portion is in true, eternal life.
וע"ז כ' וה' האמירך כמ"ש במ"א שנעשו מבנ"י תורה ממש
And on this it is written, "And Hashem has affirmed you" (Devarim 26:18), as I have explained elsewhere, that from among Bnei Yisrael they became literally Torah.
The pasuk "Hashem has affirmed you" hints that Bnei Yisrael themselves became literally Torah.
וזה הוא באנשים גדולים ומעין זה בכל איש ישראל כפי מה שמבטל ומכתת גופו כך זוכה לתורה
And this is so in great men, and a measure of this is in every man of Yisrael — according to how much he nullifies and crushes his body, so does he merit Torah.
This applies fully to great men, but a portion belongs to every Jew in proportion to how much he nullifies and crushes his physical self.
וכ"ז נעשה בדור הראשון שאחר כל היסורים זכו כמ"ש לב לדעת עינים ואזנים כו' היינו שנתהפך כל גופם תורה
And all this came about in the first generation, who after all the sufferings merited, as it is written, "a heart to know, eyes and ears," meaning that their entire body was transformed into Torah.
The first generation achieved this completely after their sufferings, their entire bodies transformed into Torah.
אכן יש עוד פי' הסכת עשו כתות והוא דרך המנוחה שיכולין ג"כ לזכות לתורה ע"י כח כללות בנ"י
However, there is yet another interpretation of "Hasket" — "Aso kitos," make yourselves into groups — and this is the path of tranquility, by which one can likewise merit Torah through the power of the collective of Bnei Yisrael.
A second path is hinted in "Hasket" — forming groups — a calmer route to Torah through the collective strength of Bnei Yisrael.
וכך הי' מוכן קודם החטא
And thus it was prepared to be before the sin.
This collective, untroubled path was the original state intended before the sin.
וע"ז הוכיח מרע"ה את בנ"י כדאיתא במד' שכשאמר הקב"ה מי יתן והי' לבבם זה הי' להם לומר אתה תן
And on this Moshe Rabbeinu rebuked Bnei Yisrael, as it is found in the Midrash, that when the Holy One, Blessed is He, said, "Who would grant that this heart of theirs be theirs" (Devarim 5:26), it was upon them to say, "You — grant it."
Moshe rebuked them by recalling that when Hashem wished their hearts would remain devoted, they should have asked Hashem Himself to grant it.
פי' מי יתן הוא בחי' תשובה שהי' גלוי לפניו ית' שעתידין לחטוא ולהתקרב ע"י תשובה
The meaning is that "who would grant" is the dimension of teshuvah, for it was revealed before Him, Yisborach, that they were destined to sin and to draw near again through teshuvah.
"Who would grant" expresses teshuvah, since Hashem already foresaw they would sin and return through repentance.
ומשה רבינו ע"ה הי' חפץ שיתתקנו בנ"י בבחי' צדיקים גמורים
And Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, desired that Bnei Yisrael be rectified in the dimension of complete tzaddikim.
Moshe, however, wished for something higher — that they be rectified as complete tzaddikim who never fall.
והם ב' מדרגות ושניהם כלולים בתיבת הסכת
And these are two levels, and both are included in the word "Hasket."
These are two distinct levels of avodah, and both are folded into the single word "Hasket."
והיא בחי' מחלוקת לש"ש וכנסי' לש"ש
And it is the dimension of "a dispute for the sake of Heaven" and "a gathering for the sake of Heaven."
They correspond respectively to "a dispute for the sake of Heaven" and "a gathering for the sake of Heaven."
והם בחי' ימי המעשה בבירור תיקון הגוף שצריך כתיתה
And these are the dimension of the weekdays, the days of action, in the clarifying rectification of the body, which requires crushing.
The path of crushing belongs to the weekdays, the days of action, where the body must be refined and broken.
ויום שבת מנוחה היא כנסי' לש"ש
And the day of Shabbos, which is rest, is the "gathering for the sake of Heaven."
Shabbos, by contrast, is rest — the "gathering for the sake of Heaven," the collective, peaceful path.
ועיין בתיקונים תיקון כ"א נ"ט ע"א וע"ב שכ' דסובלין כמה מכתשין בצלותא כו'
And see in the Tikkunim, Tikkun 21 (59a and 59b), where it is written that they endure many crushings in tefillah.
He references the Tikkunei Zohar, which speaks of enduring many crushing blows through tefillah.
ותלמידי דבי רב א"צ שחיטה רק אסיפתן מתירתן ע"ש והיא כמ"ש ב' הבחי' כתתו
And the students of the academy do not require shechitah; rather their gathering renders them permitted — see there — and this corresponds to the two dimensions: "crush" (kasesu).
The Torah scholars need no "slaughter" — their gathering alone renders them fit, paralleling the dual hint in "crush."
ועשו כתות כתות כנ"ל:
And "make yourselves into groups upon groups," as explained above.
And the second part, "make yourselves into groups," rounds out the two paths explained throughout the piece.
Summary: The Sfas Emes teaches that on the day Moshe declared "this day you have become a people," Bnei Yisrael were inwardly rectified and made into a new creation, fulfilling Hashem's condition that listening would make them His treasure. Drawing on the Zohar and the Gemara's reading of "crush your hearts," he explains that this rectification came specifically through the forty years of suffering, and that meriting Torah always demands the crushing of heart and soul — to the point that one who gives his very soul over to Torah, like Rabbi Akiva, becomes literally Torah itself. He then identifies a second, calmer path hinted in the word "Hasket": meriting Torah through the collective unity of Bnei Yisrael, the way intended before the sin. These two routes — crushing the self versus gathering as a community — correspond to the days of action that require breaking the body and to Shabbos, the restful "gathering for the sake of Heaven." Both avodos, the path of complete tzaddikim and the path of teshuvah, are bound together in the single word "Hasket."