Torah Names Reveal Hashem
בפסוק קרוב אליך הד' כו' בפיך ובלבבך
Regarding the pasuk, "For the matter is very close to you" (Devarim 30:14), "in your mouth and in your heart, to do it" — Hashem is near, in your mouth and in your heart.
The Sfas Emes opens with the pasuk that the Torah is exceedingly close to us — in our mouth and our heart — meaning Hashem Himself is accessible and near.
כ' דרשו ה' בהמצאו כו' בהיותו קרוב פירשו חז"ל בעשי"ת בהמצאו בר"ה בהיותו קרוב ביוה"כ וכמו שיש בשנה זמנים שהוא נמצא וקרוב כמו כן בנפשות
It is written, "Seek Hashem while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near" (Yeshayahu 55:6). Our Chazal expounded this regarding the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah: "while He may be found" refers to Rosh Hashanah, "while He is near" refers to Yom Kippur. And just as there are within the year specific times when He is found and near, so too there are such places within our very nefashos.
He brings the pasuk that Hashem may be found and is near, which Chazal applied to the Ten Days of Teshuvah, with Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as special times of closeness. Just as the year has such times, so the human nefesh has such inner places.
בפיך שהיא התורה ובלבבך שהיא תפלה ותשובה הם מקומות מיוחדים שהקב"ה נמצא וקרוב בהם לאיש ישראל
"In your mouth" — this is Torah; "and in your heart" — this is tefillah and teshuvah. These are the particular places in which the Holy One, Blessed is He, is found and near to a Yid.
He identifies the two places of closeness: the mouth, which is Torah, and the heart, which is tefillah and teshuvah. In these specific avenues Hashem is found and near to every Yid.
ובמד' הפותח והחותם בתורה מברך לפני' ולאחרי' דאיתא קוב"ה ואורייתא וישראל כולהו חד
And in the Midrash: the one who opens and the one who concludes in the Torah reading recites a brachah before it and after it. For it is brought down that the Holy One, Blessed is He, the Torah, and Bnei Yisrael are all one.
He cites the Midrash about the brachos recited before and after the Torah reading, grounded in the teaching that Hashem, the Torah, and Bnei Yisrael are all one unified whole.
וברכה שלפני' הוא לקשר התורה בהקב"ה
And the brachah before it serves to bind the Torah to the Holy One, Blessed is He.
The brachah recited before the reading functions to bind the Torah to Hashem.
וברכה לאחרי' לקשר כנס"י בתורה
And the brachah after it serves to bind Knesses Yisrael to the Torah.
The brachah recited after the reading functions to bind Knesses Yisrael to the Torah, completing the connection.
דאיתא כל התורה שמותיו של הקב"ה
For it is brought down that the entire Torah is the Names of the Holy One, Blessed is He.
He brings the well-known teaching that the entire Torah is, in truth, the Names of Hashem.
והענין הוא כמו שהשם הוא להיות נקרא האדם ע"י שמו
And the matter is as follows: just as the purpose of a name is that a person should be called by his name,
He explains the principle: a name exists so that a person can be summoned and called by it.
כמו כן בנ"י קוראין להקב"ה בכח עסק התורה
so too Bnei Yisrael call out to the Holy One, Blessed is He, through the power of their toil in Torah.
So too, through the avodah of learning Torah, Bnei Yisrael are calling out to Hashem and drawing Him near.
וכפי מה שעוסקין בתורה לשמה ומתקרבין אל הקב"ה כך מתגלין הארת שמותיו של הקב"ה:
And according to the measure that they toil in Torah lishmah and draw close to the Holy One, Blessed is He, so are the illuminations of the Names of the Holy One, Blessed is He, revealed.
The closer one comes to Hashem through Torah learned lishmah, the more the light of Hashem's Names becomes revealed.
Summary: The Sfas Emes teaches that the closeness Hashem describes in the pasuk "the matter is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart" points to the specific avenues through which a Yid reaches Him: Torah is in the mouth, and tefillah and teshuvah are in the heart. Just as the year contains special times of nearness, like the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah, so too the nefesh contains these places of nearness. Drawing on the teaching that Hashem, the Torah, and Bnei Yisrael are all one, he explains the brachos of the Torah reading: the first binds the Torah to Hashem, and the second binds Knesses Yisrael to the Torah. Since the entire Torah is the Names of Hashem, learning Torah is the way Bnei Yisrael call out to Him and summon His Presence. And to the measure that one toils in Torah lishmah and draws close to Him, the light of His Names is revealed.