Swimming In Torahs Depths
במדרש תנחומא שהתורה נמשלה למים ע"ש שחושב כמה דברים ומה מים מי שא"י לשוט בהם נטבע כו' ע"ש
In the Midrash Tanchuma it is taught that the Torah is compared to water, for the Midrash reckons several points of comparison, among them that just as with water, one who does not know how to swim in it drowns, and so forth, as it is explained there.
The Midrash Tanchuma draws a comparison between Torah and water on several counts, one being that whoever cannot swim in water will drown in it.
והענין הוא כי יש מים שיכולין לעבור בהם וכמו כן פשיטות התורה שיש לפי השגות האדם עד טיבורו עד צוארו
The matter is as follows: there is water that one is able to pass through, and similarly there is the plain, simple level of the Torah, which is according to a person's grasp, reaching up to his navel or up to his neck.
Just as some water is shallow enough to wade across, so too the Torah has a plain, accessible level that matches a person's own understanding, whether reaching his navel or his neck.
אבל יש מים עמוקים שאין להם סוף ונקראו מי שטו שא"י לעבור רק היודע לשוט
But there are deep waters that have no end, and these are called "swimming waters," through which one cannot pass except by one who knows how to swim.
Beyond the shallows lie bottomless deep waters, called "swimming waters," which only a true swimmer can navigate.
והוא מי שיכול לבטל עצמו ולהיות קל ע"פ המים שממית עצמו על התורה ואז יכול לרדת במים עמוקים האלו
And this refers to one who is able to nullify himself and make himself light upon the surface of the water, for he puts himself to death over the Torah, and then he is able to descend into these deep waters.
The one who can enter those depths is the person who nullifies himself and makes himself weightless by giving his very self over to the Torah, dying over it; only then can he descend into its deepest waters.
ובאמת הכל זוכין בכח התורה שמלמדת איך לכנוס לעמקי תהום
And in truth all merit this through the power of the Torah, which teaches a person how to enter into the depths of the abyss.
Yet everyone can attain this, because the power of the Torah itself teaches a person how to plunge into its deepest places.
כי הלא א"י ללמוד לשוט רק במים כמו כן התורה מלמדת איך לבטל עצמו ולעלות לפנימיות התורה
For behold, one cannot learn to swim except in water itself, and so too the Torah teaches a person how to nullify himself and to ascend to the inner dimension of the Torah.
Since swimming can only be learned in the water itself, the Torah is the very means that teaches a person to nullify himself and rise to its inner dimension.
וזה שמוע תשמעו כי אין סוף לחדרי תורה:
And this is the meaning of "if you will surely listen" (im shamoa tishme'u), for there is no end to the inner chambers of the Torah.
The doubled language "if you will surely listen" hints that the inner chambers of the Torah are endless, drawing a person ever deeper.
Summary: The Sfas Emes builds on the Midrash Tanchuma's comparison of the Torah to water. Just as water has shallows one can wade across, the Torah has a plain level accessible according to each person's grasp; but it also has bottomless "swimming waters" that only one who knows how to swim can enter. To swim in these depths a person must nullify himself and make himself weightless, putting his very self to death over the Torah, and then he can descend into its deepest places. The remarkable point is that the Torah itself provides this ability, teaching a person how to attain bittul and rise to its inner dimension, just as swimming can only be learned in the water. This is hinted in the doubled "im shamoa tishme'u," for there is no end to the inner chambers of the Torah.