Yiras Shamayim Embeds The Covenant

ברש"י לעברך להיותך עובר ולא יתכן לפרשו כמו להעבירך כו'

Rashi explains the words "to pass you into" ("l'avrecha") as meaning "that you should be one who passes through" (an active form), and it would not be correct to interpret it like "to bring you across" ("l'havircha").

Rashi reads the word "l'avrecha" as an active expression — that you yourself should be the one passing through — rather than a passive form meaning Hashem brings you across.

והוא גופי' קשיא דהל"ל להעבירך

But this itself is difficult, for the verse should then have said "l'havircha" ("to bring you across").

The Sfas Emes raises the obvious question: if Rashi wants the active sense, the verse could simply have used the clearer passive word and meant something else, so why this particular wording?

אך המבוקש להיות ברית הזה דבוק במציאות חיות האדם שלא יצטרך לבוא לזה ע"י התפעלות וזה להיותך עובר

Rather, what is sought is that this covenant should be bound up within the very life-force and existence of a person, such that he should not need to arrive at it by way of some emotional arousal — and this is the meaning of "that you should be one who passes through."

The answer is that the covenant must become embedded in a person's very essence and life-force, so that it lives within him naturally and not only through a passing burst of emotional inspiration.

והכל בא ע"י יראת שמים

And all of this comes about through yiras Shamayim.

The way a person reaches this inner, permanent bond is through yiras Shamayim.

וז"ש א"נ היום כו' כי אם האדם עומד ביראת ה' ונצב הוא לפניו ממילא זוכה לקבל הברית

This is the meaning of "You are standing today" (Devarim 29:9), for when a person stands firm in the yiras Hashem and is positioned before Him, he automatically merits to receive the covenant.

When the verse says Bnei Yisrael are "standing" before Hashem in yiras Shamayim, that very steadfastness is what makes them fit to receive the covenant on their own.

ואמת כי הוא בעזר עליון אבל הקב"ה כל יכול והוא משפיע כח לאדם באופן שיהי' האדם העושה מעצמו

And it is true that this comes through Heavenly assistance from Above, yet the Holy One, Blessed is He, is all-capable, and He bestows strength upon a person in such a manner that the person himself is the one who acts of his own accord.

Although the strength to stand this way is a gift from Above, Hashem in His unlimited power grants it so completely that the person genuinely acts on his own.

וז"ש להיותך עובר מעצמך כנ"ל:

And this is the meaning of "that you should be one who passes through" — of your own accord, as explained above.

Therefore the verse stresses the active form: you yourself pass into the covenant, by your own doing, with the strength Hashem has placed within you.

Summary: The Sfas Emes examines Rashi's reading of "l'avrecha" as an active form — that a person should himself be one who passes into the covenant — and asks why the verse did not simply use a clearer wording. He answers that the covenant is meant to be woven into the very life-force of a person, so that it dwells within him permanently and not merely through a fleeting moment of emotional arousal. This deep, enduring bond is attained through yiras Shamayim, which is the meaning of "You are standing today": when a person stands firm before Hashem in His fear, he automatically becomes fit to receive the covenant. And though this standing is itself granted by Heavenly assistance, the Holy One, Blessed is He, in His unlimited power bestows that strength so fully that the person truly acts of his own accord — and thus he himself passes into the covenant.