Opening And Sealing The Heart

במדרש כי המצוה הזאת כו' הפותח וחותם בתורה כו'

In the Midrash on "For this mitzvah" (Devarim 30:11), it speaks of the One Who opens and Who seals with the Torah.

The Midrash, expounding the pasuk "For this mitzvah," describes Hashem as the One Who both opens and seals through the Torah. The Sfas Emes will explain these as two avodos.

כבר פרשנו במ"א ב' בחי' אלו שהיא פתיחת הלב בתורה כמ"ש יפתח לבנו בתורתו

We have already explained elsewhere that these are two distinct aspects, which are the opening of the heart through the Torah, as we say in tefillah, "May He open our heart with His Torah."

These two aspects, opening and sealing, correspond to opening one's heart through Torah, as we ask in davening that Hashem open our heart with His Torah.

כי התורה היא מפתח שיוכל איש ישראל לפתוח לבו ע"י התורה

For the Torah is the key by which a Jew is able to open his heart through the Torah.

Torah serves as the key that unlocks a Jew's heart, enabling him to access his inner avodah.

והוא בחי' תורה שבכתב אותו הנקודה שחקוקה בלבות בנ"י

And this is the aspect of Torah she'biksav, the Written Torah, that very point which is engraved upon the hearts of Bnei Yisrael.

The "opening" corresponds to the Written Torah, the core point of kedushah engraved in the hearts of Bnei Yisrael.

והחתימה היא בחי' מעין חתום שהוא להסגיר פנימיות התלהבות אש הלב שלא יתפשט רק למקום הצריך

And the "sealing" is the aspect of a "sealed fountain" (Shir HaShirim 4:12), which is to enclose the inner fervor of the fire of the heart so that it should not spread except to the place where it is needed.

The "sealing," likened to a sealed fountain, means containing the fiery passion of the heart so it is channeled only to where it properly belongs.

והיא בחי' תורה שבעל פה להיות מנהיג את הפה ולשלוט עליו

And this is the aspect of Torah she'bal peh, the Oral Torah, to govern the mouth and to rule over it.

This containing function corresponds to the Oral Torah, whose role is to govern and discipline the mouth.

והיא היפוך מבחי' לשון הרע

And this is the opposite of the aspect of lashon hara.

Speech properly governed by Torah she'bal peh is the very opposite of lashon hara.

וצריך כל הוגה בתורה לידע כי הכל בעזר הש"י הפתיחה והחתימה לכן יש ברכה לפני' ולאחרי'

And everyone who toils in the Torah must know that everything is through the help of Hashem Yisbarach, both the opening and the sealing, and that is why there is a berachah recited before learning and a berachah recited after.

One must recognize that both opening the heart and sealing it come solely through Hashem's help, which is why we make a berachah both before and after learning Torah.

וכשיודע שהיא בעזר הבורא ית' יכול להתקיים

And when a person knows that it is through the help of the Borei Yisbarach, the Creator, then he is able to endure and to be firmly established.

Only when a person recognizes that his Torah comes through the Creator's help can his learning truly endure and take root.

וז"ש מרע"ה לא בשמים היא כו' שצריך כל אדם לידע זאת הטובה הגדולה שהשי"ת נתן לנו התורה הקדושה שהיא נעלמה מעיני כל חי כו'

And this is what Moshe Rabbeinu meant by saying, "It is not in Heaven" (Devarim 30:12), that every person must know this great goodness, that Hashem Yisbarach gave us the holy Torah, which is hidden from the eyes of all living, as it is written.

Moshe Rabbeinu's words "It is not in Heaven" teach us to appreciate the great kindness that Hashem gave us the Torah, which is otherwise concealed from all living beings.

ורק הש"י בחסדו נתנה לנו

And it was only Hashem in His chesed Who gave it to us.

It was purely out of Hashem's chesed that He bestowed the Torah upon us.

וכשמבינים זאת כי הי' צריכין לעלות לשמים אחרי' ואעפ"כ השי"ת קרבנו לתורתו

And when one comprehends this, that we would otherwise have had to ascend to Heaven after it, and yet despite this Hashem Yisbarach drew us close to His Torah,

We would have had to rise up to Heaven to retrieve the Torah, yet instead Hashem brought us close to it Himself.

אז יכולין להשיגה

then we are able to attain it.

Once a person grasps this, attaining the Torah becomes possible for him.

וע"י ידיעה זו מתקרבת אל האדם:

And through this very knowledge, the Torah draws close to a person.

This very recognition of Hashem's kindness is itself what causes the Torah to draw near to the person.

Summary: The Sfas Emes explains the Midrash that describes Hashem as the One Who opens and seals through the Torah as two complementary aspects of a Jew's avodah. The "opening" is the Written Torah, the point of kedushah engraved in the hearts of Bnei Yisrael through which Hashem opens our hearts; the "sealing" is the Oral Torah, which contains and channels the heart's fervor and governs the mouth, the very opposite of lashon hara. Both the opening and the sealing come only through the help of Hashem Yisbarach, which is why we make a berachah both before and after learning, and only when a person recognizes this does his Torah endure. This is the meaning of "It is not in Heaven": we would have had to ascend to Heaven to grasp the Torah, yet out of His chesed Hashem drew us close to it. The very recognition of this kindness is itself what causes the Torah to draw near to a person.