Toil Reveals Torah Sweetness
בפסוק כי תבא בכרם רעך כו' בפועל הכתוב מדבר
Regarding the pasuk "When you come into your fellow's vineyard" (Devarim 23:25), the verse is speaking of a worker.
The Sfas Emes opens by noting that this pasuk about entering a vineyard is, in its plain sense, speaking about a hired worker who is permitted to eat while he labors.
ביאור הענין שבכח עסק התורה ומצות כראוי מוצא העובד טעמי תורה תמיד
The explanation of the matter is that through the labor of Torah and mitzvos as they ought to be done, the one who toils constantly discovers the inner reasons and flavors of the Torah.
He explains that when a person toils properly in Torah and mitzvos, he is constantly rewarded with discovering the deeper reasons and sweetness hidden within the Torah.
אך בהיות עובד ה' לאמיתו ואלה השגות וטעמים שמשיג הם רק כדי לעשות ולקיים וז"ש ואכלת כו' כנפשך שבעך
But when a person is one who serves Hashem in truth, then these attainments and flavors that he grasps are only in order to do and to fulfill the mitzvos, and this is what is meant by "and you shall eat... as is your desire, your fill" (Devarim 23:25).
For one who truly serves Hashem, these insights and flavors are not the goal in themselves but are meant only to fuel his doing and fulfilling of the mitzvos, which the pasuk captures with "eat as your desire, your fill."
ולא להניח אל הכלים
And not to gather them into the vessels.
The worker may eat freely but may not carry the grapes off into his vessels, meaning these attainments are to be used in the moment of avodah, not hoarded for personal gain.
כי באמת צריך להיות תכלית החכמה כדי לידע איך לירא ולעבוד לפניו ית' באמת
For in truth, the purpose of all wisdom must be in order to know how to fear and to serve before Him, Blessed is He, in truth.
The true aim of all wisdom is not the knowledge itself but to come to know how to fear Hashem and serve before Him truthfully.
ואז מתגלה לאדם בעת העסק השגות אמתיות
And then, at the very time of his toil, true attainments are revealed to a person.
When that is one's aim, the true revelations come to him precisely in the very midst of his toil, not afterward.
אך הוא בהיותו מוטבע בכל לבו וכחו בתוך העבודה כמ"ש כי תבוא בכרם רעך הוא הכנסת כל הכח בעבודתו ית'
But this is when he is wholly immersed, with all his heart and all his strength, within the avodah, as it is written "When you come into your fellow's vineyard" (Devarim 23:25), which alludes to the placing of all one's strength into the avodah of Hashem, Blessed is He.
This happens specifically when a person throws himself entirely into the avodah with all his heart and strength, which is the inner meaning of "coming into the vineyard."
ואז נאמר לא תחסום שור בדישו כי כל המצות הם רמזים על הנהגתו ית' כמ"ש חקיו ומשפטיו לישראל
And then it is said "You shall not muzzle an ox while it threshes" (Devarim 25:4), for all the mitzvos are hints alluding to the conduct of Hashem, Blessed is He, as it is written "His statutes and His judgments to Bnei Yisrael" (Tehillim 147:19).
The Sfas Emes connects this to the mitzvah of not muzzling a threshing ox, teaching that every mitzvah is a hint pointing to how Hashem conducts His world.
וכמו שכן רצונו ית' שלא לחסום שור בדישו אף שדש מאכל אדם
And just as it is His will, Blessed is He, that one not muzzle the ox while it threshes, even though it threshes food fit for man.
Just as Hashem wills that the working ox be allowed to eat the grain it threshes, even though that grain is meant for human consumption.
כמו כן באמצעיות העבודה יכול גם נפש הבהמיות והחומר לאכול לשבעה ממאכל אדם
So too, through the avodah, even the animal soul and the physical matter are able to eat to satiety from the food of man.
So too, through avodah, a person's lower animal soul and physical body are themselves allowed to partake and be satisfied from the elevated "food of man," the spiritual nourishment.
והיא התפשטות מהגשמיות לפי שעה לכל א' כפי עבודתו
And this is a casting off of physicality for that moment, granted to each and every one according to his avodah.
This is a temporary stripping away of physicality that each person merits in that moment, measured according to the level of his own avodah.
והבן כ"ז:
Understand all of this.
He closes by inviting the reader to contemplate and grasp the depth of all that he has laid out.
Summary: The Sfas Emes takes the pasuk permitting a worker to eat from his fellow's vineyard and reads it as a teaching about avodas Hashem. When a person toils in Torah and mitzvos with all his heart and strength, Hashem rewards him with true insights and the sweetness of Torah revealed in the very midst of his labor. Yet for the one who serves in truth, these attainments are not to be hoarded into his "vessels" for personal benefit; their entire purpose is to fuel the doing of mitzvos and to know how to fear and serve before Hashem. Drawing on the mitzvah of not muzzling the threshing ox, he teaches that just as the working animal may eat the grain meant for man, so too through avodah even a person's animal soul and physical body are permitted to partake of the elevated spiritual nourishment. This is a casting off of physicality granted in that moment to each person according to the measure of his avodah.