Torah Engraved on the Heart
בפסוק קרוב אליך הדבר מ' בפיך ובלבבך
On the verse, "For the matter is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it" (Devarim 30:14).
The piece opens with the verse that the Torah is near to us, accessible in both speech and heart.
פרש"י התורה נתנה לך בכתב ובע"פ
Rashi explains that the Torah was given to you in writing and orally (the Written Torah and the Oral Torah).
Rashi reads the verse as pointing to the two forms of Torah: the Written Torah and the Oral Torah.
משמע דבכתב היא בלבבך כי דברי תורה נחקקים בלב איש ישראל כמ"ש עם תורתי בלבם
This implies that the Written Torah corresponds to "in your heart," for the words of Torah are engraved upon the heart of a Jew, as it is written, "and My Torah is in their heart" (Yeshayahu 51:7).
The Sfas Emes maps the Written Torah onto "in your heart," because Torah is literally engraved within a Jew's heart.
והוא פנימיות הלב חכם לימינו
This refers to the inner dimension of the heart, "the heart of the wise man is to his right" (Koheles 10:2).
This engraving is in the deepest, innermost part of the heart, the seat of wisdom.
והוא ל"ב נתיבות חכמה החקוקים בלב
And this is the lamed-beis (thirty-two) pathways of wisdom that are engraved upon the heart.
He identifies this with the thirty-two pathways of wisdom imprinted on the heart.
וכ' בלבבך ב' לבבות ע"פ המדרש בחקותי חקים שהם חקוקים על היצה"ר שנק' אבן והתורה נק' אבן יבא אבן כו'
It is written "in your heart" (bilvavcha, with a doubled beis), alluding to two hearts, in line with the Midrash on "bechukosai" ("in My statutes") — chukim that are engraved, for they are engraved over the yetzer hara, which is called "stone," and the Torah too is called "stone," so let stone come and grind away stone.
The doubled beis in "bilvavcha" hints at two hearts; he ties it to the Midrash that Torah and the yetzer hara are both called "stone," and Torah grinds the yetzer hara down.
פי' כמו היצה"ר שהוא גזירת הבורא כמ"ש הוא אמר ויהי
The explanation is that just as the yetzer hara is a decree of the Creator, as it is written, "He spoke and it came to be" (Tehillim 33:9),
Just as Hashem decreed the yetzer hara into existence by His word,
והוא מוטבע בטבע
and it is fixed within one's nature,
and embedded it permanently into a person's nature,
כמו כן שם הקב"ה בטבע לב ישראל רשימות וחקיקות דברי תורה
so too the Holy One, Blessed is He, has implanted within the very nature of the Jewish heart the imprints and engravings of the words of Torah.
so too Hashem embedded the engravings of Torah into the natural makeup of the Jewish heart.
ולכן נק' אבן שהוא יסוד בל תמוט
Therefore it is called "stone," for it is a foundation that shall not be moved.
Torah is called "stone" because it is an immovable foundation within us.
והנה בשעת אמירת אנכי ה"א נחקקו אלה הדברים ונדחה לב כסיל לגמרי כדאיתא אלהים אתם כו' חרות חירות
Now, at the moment of the utterance "Anochi Hashem Elokecha" ("I am Hashem your God") at Sinai, these matters were engraved, and the heart of folly was entirely repelled, as is taught: "You are gods" (Tehillim 82:6) — "charus" (engraved) read as "cheirus" (freedom).
At the giving of the Torah, the first commandment engraved these truths so deeply that the evil inclination was completely pushed aside, granting true freedom.
והי' להם רק לב אחד והיא באמת חלק אלקית כמ"ש צור לבבי וחלקי
They then had but one heart, and it is in truth a portion of the Divine, as it is written, "the Rock of my heart and my portion" (Tehillim 73:26),
In that state Bnei Yisrael had a single, unified heart, which is genuinely a portion of the Divine.
שהוא לבן של ישראל כדאיתא במדרשים
which is the heart of Bnei Yisrael, as is brought in the Midrashim.
This unified heart is the essential heart of Bnei Yisrael described in the Midrashim.
ואחר החטא שחזר היצה"ר מ"מ לב חכם לימינו נשאר בבנ"י ויכולין להטות לב כסיל בכח התורה
And after the sin (of the golden calf), when the yetzer hara returned, nevertheless "the heart of the wise man to his right" remained within Bnei Yisrael, and they are able to subdue the heart of folly through the power of the Torah.
Even after the sin of the golden calf reawakened the yetzer hara, the wise heart endured in Bnei Yisrael, giving them power through Torah to overcome the foolish heart.
אך גם התורה שבלב צריכין לעורר בפה ע"י היגיעה בדברי תורה מאירין אותיות התורה שבלב
However, even the Torah that is in the heart must be aroused through the mouth — through toil in the words of Torah, the letters of the Torah within the heart are illuminated.
The inner Torah of the heart still needs to be awakened by spoken effort; toiling aloud in Torah lights up the letters engraved within.
וכעין ד' המדרש הנ"ל הוא בגמ' בראתי יצה"ר בראתי תבלין זו התורה
Something akin to the words of the above Midrash is found in the Gemara: "I created the yetzer hara, I created Torah as its antidote" (Kiddushin 30b).
The Gemara echoes the Midrash, teaching that Hashem created the yetzer hara and created the Torah as its antidote.
אמרו ג"כ שהוא כמו בריאה מוטבע בלב איש ישראל
They likewise said that it (the Torah) is, as it were, a creation implanted within the heart of a Jew.
The Sages also describe this Torah as something built-in, implanted within the heart of a Jew.
ובאמת זכו בנ"י לזה בקבלת ברית התורה
And in truth, Bnei Yisrael merited this through receiving the covenant of the Torah.
Bnei Yisrael earned this implanted Torah specifically by entering into the covenant of Torah.
וז"ש על הפורק ממנו הברית בשרירות לבי אלך למען ספות הרוה כו' הצמאה
This is the meaning of what is said regarding one who casts off the covenant from himself: "I will walk in the stubbornness of my heart, in order to add the watered to the thirsty" (Devarim 29:18).
Conversely, one who throws off the covenant is described by the verse about walking in stubbornness of heart.
פי' חלק לב חכם שיש באיש ישראל שאינו מושך להבלי עולם
The explanation is the portion of the wise heart that exists within a Jew, which does not draw him toward the vanities of the world.
That "wise heart" portion in a Jew is precisely what keeps him from being pulled after worldly vanities.
והרשע שפורק עול איבד מתנה זו
But the wicked one who casts off the yoke loses this gift,
The wicked person who casts off the yoke forfeits this precious gift.
ולכן הרשעים הם ברשות לבן
and therefore the wicked are under the dominion of their (lower) heart.
As a result, the wicked fall under the control of their lower heart.
וע"י קבלת עול תורה זוכין ללב חכם הנ"ל:
And through accepting the yoke of Torah one merits the wise heart mentioned above.
By taking on the yoke of Torah, a person merits that wise heart and its protective power.
Summary: The Sfas Emes builds on Rashi's reading of "in your mouth and in your heart" to show that the words of Torah are literally engraved within the heart of every Jew, the inner seat of wisdom, parallel to the thirty-two pathways of wisdom. Just as Hashem decreed the yetzer hara into a person's nature, He likewise implanted the engravings of Torah into the very nature of the Jewish heart, which is why both are called "stone" — and Torah, the firmer foundation, grinds the yetzer hara down. At the giving of the Torah this engraving was so total that the foolish heart was repelled and Bnei Yisrael stood with one Divine heart, and although the sin of the calf reawakened the yetzer hara, the wise heart endured within them. This inner Torah, however, must still be aroused through toil with the mouth, which illuminates the letters engraved in the heart. One who casts off the covenant forfeits this gift and falls under the dominion of his lower heart, while accepting the yoke of Torah is what restores a person to the wise heart that guards him from the vanities of the world.