Partnership With Hashem In Mitzvos

הנסתרות לה"א והנגלות לנו כו' לעשות כו'

"The hidden things belong to Hashem our God, but the revealed things are for us... to perform..." (Devarim 29:28).

The Sfas Emes opens with the verse distinguishing what is hidden, which belongs to Hashem, from what is revealed, which is ours to act upon. This sets up his theme that every deed has a hidden inner part and a revealed outer part.

פי' דבר זה נוהג בכל מעשה כי הפנימיות היא מהקב"ה וחז"ל המשילו מעש"ט לתולדות שאמרו תולדותיהן של צדיקים כו'

The explanation is that this principle applies to every action, for the inner dimension comes from the Holy One, Blessed is He; and Chazal compared good deeds to offspring, as they said, "The true offspring of the tzaddikim are their good deeds."

He explains that the inner, hidden dimension of every action originates from Hashem. He brings Chazal's teaching that a tzaddik's real offspring are his good deeds, showing that mitzvos are themselves a kind of birth.

וכמו התולדה בגשמיות הם ג' שותפין ופנימיות הנשמה הוא מהש"י

And just as with physical birth there are three partners, and the inner dimension, the neshamah, comes from Hashem Yisbarach,

Just as physical birth involves three partners, the father, the mother, and Hashem, with Hashem supplying the inner soul,

כמו כן בכל מצוה הפנימיות הוא מהקב"ה

so too with every mitzvah the inner dimension comes from the Holy One, Blessed is He.

so every mitzvah likewise receives its inner vitality directly from Hashem.

וע"ז מבקשין ויהי נועם כו' כמ"ש בזוה"ק

And it is for this that we plead, "May the pleasantness of Hashem our God be upon us..." (Tehillim 90:17), as is explained in the Zohar HaKadosh.

This is why we pray that Hashem's pleasantness rest upon the work of our hands, asking Hashem to supply the inner dimension of what we do, as the Zohar teaches.

לכן צריך כ"א לשוב בתשובה קודם כל מצוה להתבונן שנכנס בשותפות עם הקב"ה וחלק האדם הוא המעשה בגוף וז"ש לעשות כו'

Therefore every person must return in teshuvah before each mitzvah, to reflect that he is entering into a partnership with the Holy One, Blessed is He, while man's portion is the performance of the deed with the body; and this is the meaning of "to perform..."

Because of this partnership, a person should do teshuvah before each mitzvah, recognizing that he contributes only the physical act while Hashem supplies the inner part. This is the meaning of "to perform."

אמנם אמת כי כבר יש כח ה' בתוך האדם והוא הנשמה ומצד זה יכולין לדבק ולבוא לשותפות הנ"ל בכל מצוה ועבודה

However, in truth, the power of Hashem already resides within man, namely the neshamah, and by virtue of this one is able to cleave and to come into the aforementioned partnership in every mitzvah and avodah.

Yet the Sfas Emes clarifies that Hashem's power, the neshamah, is already planted within each person, and through it one can connect and enter that partnership in every mitzvah and act of avodah.

כי האמת שזה כח הנשמה שבאדם לעולם אין שולט שם מגע נכרי

For in truth this power of the neshamah within man is never subject to the touch of any foreign hand.

The neshamah's power within a person remains pure and can never be touched or defiled by any foreign, outside force.

ולכן הקדים הפסוק זה לפרשת התשובה

And this is why the verse introduces this matter before the passage of teshuvah,

This is precisely why the Torah places this verse right before the passage dealing with teshuvah.

שע"י שכח הנשמה הוא קודש לה' אך ע"י החטא מתפרדין מן השורש

for by means of the power of the neshamah, which is holy unto Hashem; yet through sin a person becomes severed from the root,

Since the power of the neshamah is intrinsically holy to Hashem, sin does not corrupt it but only severs a person from his root.

ולכן לעולם יכולין לחזור להתדבק בשורש הנשמה ע"י התשובה כנ"ל:

and therefore one can always return to cleave again to the root of the neshamah by means of teshuvah, as explained above.

Therefore, because the neshamah itself stays whole, a person can always return through teshuvah to reconnect with the root of his neshamah.

Summary: The Sfas Emes builds on the verse that the hidden belongs to Hashem while the revealed is ours to perform, teaching that every mitzvah, like a birth, has an inner dimension that comes directly from the Holy One, Blessed is He, while man contributes only the outer physical act. For this reason a person should do teshuvah before each mitzvah, recognizing that he is entering a partnership with Hashem. Crucially, the power of Hashem, the neshamah, already dwells within every person and remains forever pure, untouchable by any foreign defilement. Sin therefore does not damage the neshamah itself but only severs a person from his root. Because the root remains intact, one can always return through teshuvah and cleave once more to the source of his neshamah, which is why this verse precedes the parshah of teshuvah.