Dveikus Through Every Mitzvah

במדרש אורח חיים פן ת' נעו מעגלותי' ל"ת כו'

In the Midrash, regarding the verse "It is a path of life, lest you ponder it; her ways are unsteady, you cannot know them" (Mishlei 5:6), and so on.

The Sfas Emes opens with a Midrash that cites a verse from Mishlei about the "path of life," which will serve as the foundation for the entire piece.

ע"פ מ"ש במ"א פי' המד' לוית חן הם שהמצות מביאין האדם לידע מציאת חן בעיני המקום ב"ה שזה תכלית עבודת האדם בעולם למצוא נקודה אמיתית שע"ז נברא

This follows what was explained elsewhere, that the Midrash explains "a garland of grace" (Mishlei 1:9) to mean that the mitzvos bring a person to find favor in the eyes of Hashem, blessed is He, for this is the purpose of a person's avodah in this world: to find the true point for which he was created.

Drawing on an earlier teaching, he explains that the true purpose of mitzvos is to bring a person to find favor before Hashem, which is the ultimate goal for which every person was created.

וזו הנק' מוצאת חן בעיניו ית' והוא בחי' השבת שיש להבורא ית' נ"ר

And this is the point that finds favor in His eyes, blessed is He, and it is the aspect of Shabbos, when the Creator, blessed is He, has nachas ruach.

That "point" of finding favor is bound up with the aspect of Shabbos, when Hashem derives nachas ruach from His creation.

כמ"ש וירא כו' כל אשר עשה והנה טוב כו'

As it is written, "And He saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good" (Bereishis 1:31).

He brings as proof the verse at the conclusion of creation, where Hashem looked upon all He had made and saw that it was very good — the satisfaction expressed on Shabbos.

וע"י המצות יכולין לקשר ימי המעשה להשבת

And through the mitzvos one is able to bind the weekdays to Shabbos.

Mitzvos serve as the means by which a person ties the ordinary weekdays to the holiness of Shabbos.

והוא באמת שורש התורה שנק' עץ חיים למחזיקים שהחזקה בתורה היא ע"י המצות שהם ענפי אילן הזה

And this is truly the root of the Torah, which is called "a tree of life to those who grasp it" (Mishlei 3:18) — for the grasping of the Torah comes about through the mitzvos, which are the branches of this tree.

The Torah is the very root of this avodah and is called a "tree of life"; one takes hold of the Torah specifically through performing mitzvos, which are like the branches extending from that tree.

והנה לבד שיש בודאי בכל מצוה ענין פרטי ושכר מיוחד שע"ז הוא המשל משינוי האילנות פרח לבן שכרו דינר זהב כו'

Now, aside from the fact that there is certainly in every single mitzvah a particular significance and a unique reward — about which is the analogy of the variety of trees, "a white blossom, its reward is a gold dinar," and so on —

He concedes that, yes, each individual mitzvah carries its own particular meaning and its own distinct reward, just as different trees in an orchard yield different fruits and different values.

אכן עיקר רצונו ית' לזכות לדביקות התורה ע"י המצות

the essence of His will, blessed is He, is to merit dveikus in the Torah through the mitzvos.

Beyond all those individual rewards, however, Hashem's essential desire is that a person achieve dveikus in the Torah by means of the mitzvos.

ודבר זה עולה על כל הפרטים

And this matter rises above all the particulars.

This goal of dveikus transcends and outweighs all the particular details and individual rewards of each mitzvah.

ומצד זה אין הפרש בין מצוה חמורה לקלה

And from this standpoint there is no difference between a stringent mitzvah and a light one.

From the perspective of this unifying goal, there is no real distinction between a weighty mitzvah and a seemingly minor one.

ול"ק על משל המדרש מה בכך שיעבדו כולם אילנות הטובים

And the difficulty on the Midrash's analogy is not troubling — namely, what would it matter if they all cultivated the goodly trees?

He now resolves a difficulty on the Midrash's parable: one might ask why it would matter if everyone simply planted the most valuable trees.

ואין זה קושיא כי הפרדס צריך להיות נמצא בו כל השלימות וכמן כן אם כי בפרט מצוה זו חמורה אך מצד הבאה אל השלימות והוא התדבקות באורח חיים זה עולה על כולנה

And this is no question, for the orchard needs to have within it all manner of perfection; and likewise, even though in particular this mitzvah is stringent, yet from the standpoint of arriving at perfection — which is cleaving to the path of life — this rises above them all.

He answers that an orchard must contain every kind of completeness; so too, although one mitzvah may be more stringent in its own right, from the standpoint of reaching the ultimate perfection of cleaving to the "path of life," every mitzvah rises above all others.

וזה צריך להיות תכלית הכוונה בקיום המצות

And this must be the ultimate intention in the fulfillment of the mitzvos.

This — attaining dveikus in the Torah — must be the deepest intention a person holds when performing any mitzvah.

וז"ש אורח ח' פן תפלס פי' שלא לשכוח בכוונה העיקרית לכן אין להשגיח בחמורה וקלה כנ"ל:

And this is the meaning of "It is a path of life, lest you weigh it out" (Mishlei 5:6) — meaning, that one should not forget the primary intention; therefore one should not pay heed to stringent and light, as explained above.

He closes by reading the verse "lest you weigh it out" as a caution not to forget this primary intention, and therefore not to get caught up weighing one mitzvah against another as stringent or light.

Summary: The Sfas Emes teaches that the true purpose of a person's avodah in this world is to find favor before Hashem and to reach the "point" for which he was created — a point bound up with the aspect of Shabbos, when Hashem derives nachas ruach from His creation. Mitzvos are the means by which we bind the weekdays to Shabbos and grasp hold of the Torah, the "tree of life," of which the mitzvos are the branches. While each individual mitzvah carries its own particular meaning and reward — like different trees in an orchard yielding different fruits — Hashem's essential will is that a person attain dveikus in the Torah through the mitzvos, a goal that transcends all the particulars. From this vantage point there is no real difference between a stringent mitzvah and a light one, for an orchard must contain every form of completeness, and every mitzvah equally brings a person to cleave to the "path of life." Therefore one must never forget that this dveikus is the primary intention, rather than weighing one mitzvah against another.