Watching Daily At Hashem's Doors
במדרש והי' א"ש תשמע
In the Midrash on the verse "And it shall be, if you will surely hearken" (Devarim 28:1).
The Sfas Emes opens with the Midrash that links the parsha's verse about hearkening to the verse in Mishlei about watching daily at Hashem's doors.
אשרי א"ש לי לשקוד ע"ד כו'
It is brought from the verse "Fortunate is the man who hearkens to Me, to watch daily at My doors" (Mishlei 8:34).
He cites the source verse from Mishlei describing the fortunate person who listens to Hashem and waits at His doors every day.
דלתותי יום יום משמע שבכל יום יש פתיחת דלתות אלו והם ב' דלתות לצדיקים ולבעלי תשובה
"My doors, day by day" implies that every single day there is an opening of these doors, and they are two doors: one for the tzaddikim and one for the baalei teshuvah.
The phrase "day by day" teaches that these doors are opened daily, and there are two distinct doors: one pathway for the righteous and one for those who do teshuvah.
הפותח בכל יום דלתות שערי מזרח
He is the One who opens each day the doors of the gates of the east.
This refers to Hashem, who each day opens the eastern gates of the heavens through which light enters the world.
ובוקע חלוני רקיע בקוע הוא בכח כמו שהקב"ה חותר חתירה לבעלי תשובה: לשמור מזוזות פתחי משמע דקאי על זמנים מיוחדים שנפתח שערים גדולים כמו אלול ותשרי דכ' בהמצאו
"And He cleaves open the windows of the firmament" — this cleaving is done with force, just as the Holy One, Blessed is He, breaks open a breach for the baalei teshuvah; "to guard the doorposts of My openings" implies that this refers to special times when great gates are opened, such as Elul and Tishrei, regarding which it is written "while He is to be found" (Yeshayahu 55:6).
The verse's language of "cleaving" the windows of the firmament shows it is done with powerful force, paralleling how Hashem breaks open a breach for baalei teshuvah; the mention of guarding the doorposts of His openings points to special seasons like Elul and Tishrei when especially great gates swing open and Hashem is more readily found.
רק שצריך האדם כל ימיו לשמור ולהשתוקק לפתיחת השערים האלה ואז כשבאו ימי רצון אלו מרגיש בהם הארה
Only that a person must, throughout all his days, watch and yearn for the opening of these gates, and then, when these days of favor arrive, he senses an illumination within them.
The avodah is for a person to constantly watch and yearn all year long for these gates to open, so that when the days of favor arrive he is able to feel the special illumination they bring.
וכפי מה ששוקד על הדלתות יום יום
And according to the measure of how a person watches at the doors day by day,
The degree to which one prepares himself by watching at the doors every ordinary day determines what follows.
כך זוכה לפתיחות הנפתחים בימים מיוחדים
so does he merit the openings that are opened on these special days,
In exact proportion, he merits to receive the great openings that come on the special days of the year.
כנ"ל:
as explained above.
This is the point as developed above.
Summary: The Sfas Emes connects the parsha's call to hearken to Hashem with the verse in Mishlei praising the one who watches daily at Hashem's doors. He explains that gates of kedushah are opened every single day, with separate pathways for the tzaddikim and the baalei teshuvah, while certain seasons such as Elul and Tishrei bring an opening of especially great gates when the Ribono shel Olam is more readily found. The central avodah is for a person to constantly watch and yearn for these openings throughout all his ordinary days. Then, when the days of favor arrive, he is able to feel their illumination. The measure of one's daily watching at the doors determines precisely the measure of the great openings he merits during those special days.