Opening And Sealing Torah

במדרש כי המצוה הזאת הפותח והחותם בתורה מברך לפני' ולאחרי' כו'

In the Midrash: "Ki HaMitzvah HaZos" — 'For this mitzvah' (Devarim 30:11) — the one who opens and the one who closes the Torah recites a berachah before it and after it, and so forth.

The Sfas Emes opens with the Midrash on the verse 'For this mitzvah,' noting that whoever opens and closes the Torah reading recites a berachah both before and after — a hint that there is significance both to the beginning and to the end.

הענין דכ' גן נעול גל נעול מ' חתום והרמז לברית הלשון והמעור

The matter is as it is written, "A locked garden, a locked spring, a sealed fountain" (Shir HaShirim 4:12), and this is an allusion to the bris of the tongue and the bris of the mailus (the covenant of guarding one's speech and one's purity).

He cites the verse describing a 'locked garden' and 'sealed fountain' as a remez to two covenants Bnei Yisrael guard: the covenant of the tongue (guarding speech) and the covenant of purity.

כי כפי שמירת הפה מדברים בטלים כך זוכין לפתוח בדברי תורה שהוא כחן של בנ"י כמ"ש בפיך ובלבבך לעשותו

For according to the degree that a person guards his mouth from idle words, so too does he merit to open with words of Torah — which is the strength of Bnei Yisrael, as it is written, "For it is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it" (Devarim 30:14).

When a person guards his mouth from idle talk, he earns the ability to open his mouth in Torah, since speaking Torah is the unique strength of Bnei Yisrael, as the verse says the word is in your mouth and heart to fulfill.

והפתיחה בתורה תלוי בשמירת פה ולשון כנ"ל

And the opening into Torah depends upon the guarding of the mouth and the tongue, as explained above.

Thus the 'opening' — the beginning of Torah — is dependent on guarding one's speech.

אמנם החתימה היא הפעולה שיבואו הדברים לידי מעשה ושיתמשך כל הגוף אחר הארת התורה זה תלוי בשמירת הברית

However, the closing is the act of bringing the matters into actual deed, and that the entire body should be drawn after the illumination of the Torah — and this depends upon the guarding of the bris (the covenant of personal purity).

The 'closing' is when the Torah is actually carried into deed and the whole body follows the Torah's light, and this depends on guarding the bris of personal purity.

וזה העיקר והכל הולך אחר החתום

And this is the essence, for everything goes according to the closing ("hakol holech achar hachasum" — all follows the seal).

This 'closing' is the main point, because everything is judged by how it ends — the seal determines the whole.

ויש לרמוז ב' ענינים אלו גם במ"ש לא נפלאת ולא רחוקה

And one may allude to these two matters also in what is written, "It is not too wondrous from you, nor is it far" (Devarim 30:11).

The Sfas Emes now finds these same two ideas hinted in the verse 'It is not too wondrous nor far from you.'

והיא כי לא נפלאת היא מה שבכח בנ"י לעורר ולפתוח שורש התורה דנעלמה מעיני כל חי ולזה זכו בנ"י בקבלת התורה

And this is the meaning: "It is not too wondrous" — this refers to that which lies within the power of Bnei Yisrael to arouse and to open the root of the Torah, which is hidden from the eyes of all living things, and to this Bnei Yisrael merited at the receiving of the Torah.

'Not too wondrous' refers to Bnei Yisrael's power to open and awaken the hidden root of Torah, a capacity they merited at Matan Torah.

אכן אחר החטא שקילקלנו נעשה נתרחק מהם הדביקות בחי' החיתום כנ"ל

Indeed, after the sin, through which we caused damage, the dveikus in the aspect of the closing became distanced from them, as explained above.

After the sin, the dveikus of the 'closing' aspect — bringing Torah into completed deed — became distanced from them.

ולזה אמר לא רחוקה היא שמ"מ נתקבלו בנ"י בתשובה

And to this it says, "Nor is it far" — that nevertheless Bnei Yisrael were received back through teshuvah.

'Nor is it far' teaches that despite this distance, Bnei Yisrael were accepted back through teshuvah.

ונמצא זכו לב' המדרגות תבחר ותקרב שרומז לצדיק ולבעל תשובה כמבואר בדרשות חז"ל בכמה מקומות

And it emerges that they merited the two levels of "You shall choose" and "You shall bring near" (Tehillim 65:5), which allude to the tzaddik and to the baal teshuvah, as is explained in the derashos of Chazal in many places.

So they attained both levels — 'choosing' and 'drawing near' — which Chazal explain as corresponding to the tzaddik and the baal teshuvah.

ויש להם כח לפתוח מעייני החכמה שבתורה

And they have the strength to open the wellsprings of the wisdom that is within the Torah,

They have the power to open the wellsprings of Torah's wisdom (the 'opening' aspect),

ולהתדבק בהדברים לבוא לידי מעשה כנ"ל:

and to cleave to the matters so as to bring them into actual deed, as explained above.

and the power to cling to those matters and bring them into actual deed (the 'closing' aspect).

Summary: Building on the Midrash that a berachah is said both before and after the Torah, the Sfas Emes teaches that there are two avodos: an 'opening' and a 'closing.' The opening — the ability to begin words of Torah and draw forth its hidden wellsprings — depends on the bris of the tongue, guarding one's speech from idle words, and this is the strength Bnei Yisrael received at Matan Torah. The closing — bringing the Torah into completed action so that the entire body follows its light — depends on the bris of purity, and this is the essence, for everything follows the seal. After the sin, this closing dveikus became distanced, yet through teshuvah Bnei Yisrael were accepted back, attaining both levels of 'choosing' and 'drawing near,' the tzaddik and the baal teshuvah. Thus, as the verse 'it is not too wondrous nor far' teaches, Bnei Yisrael possess both the power to open the wellsprings of Torah's wisdom and the power to cleave to it and bring it into actual deed.