Mitzvos Unlock the Torah

כי המצוה הזאת כו' ל"נ היא ממך כו'

"For this mitzvah which I command you this day, it is not too wondrous for you" (Devarim 30:11).

The Sfas Emes opens with the verse that the mitzvah is not too wondrous or out of reach for a person.

ובמד' הפותח והחותם בתורה מברך לפני' ולאחרי' כו'

And in the Midrash: the one who opens with the Torah and the one who concludes with the Torah recites a berachah before it and a berachah after it.

He cites the Midrash that one recites a berachah both before and after learning Torah, hinting that Torah has two ends, a beginning and a conclusion.

כי הנה אורייתא סתים וגליא כמ"ש בזוה"ק

For behold, the Torah is hidden and revealed, as is stated in the holy Zohar.

He grounds this in the Zohar's teaching that the Torah has two dimensions: a concealed inner dimension and a revealed outer one.

וב' הבחי' ניתנו לישראל שגם הם סתים וגליא

And these two aspects were given to Bnei Yisrael, for they too are hidden and revealed.

These two dimensions were given over to Bnei Yisrael, who themselves contain both a hidden and a revealed aspect.

ולכן אמר לא נפלאת על בחי' הסתום לא בשמים הוא כי התורה היורדת מן השמים תורה שבכתב הוא סתום ומלא סודות ורזין עד אין מספר

Therefore the verse says "it is not too wondrous" regarding the hidden aspect: "it is not in heaven" (Devarim 30:12), for the Torah which descends from heaven, the Written Torah, is hidden and filled with secrets and mysteries beyond number.

"Not in heaven" addresses the hidden dimension: the Written Torah came down from heaven yet remains packed with endless secrets.

ולא רחוקה היא בחי' הנגלית שבכח הפה לגלות ונדבר בדברי תורה

"Nor is it far off" (Devarim 30:11) refers to the revealed aspect, that which lies within the power of speech to reveal, so that we may speak words of Torah.

"Nor far off" addresses the revealed dimension, the Torah that the mouth can articulate and speak aloud.

וע"ז אמר לא מעבר לים הוא כי באמת הדיבור הי' בגלות במצרים עד שהוציאנו הקב"ה משם

And regarding this it says "it is not across the sea" (Devarim 30:13), for in truth speech itself was in exile in Mitzrayim, until the Holy One, Blessed is He, brought us out from there.

"Not across the sea" alludes to how the faculty of speech was itself in exile in Mitzrayim until Hashem redeemed us.

ובזה ניתן לנו כח הפה כמ"ש למען תהי' תורת ה' בפיך כי בי"ח הוציאך ה' ממצרים

And through this the power of speech was given to us, as it is written, "so that the Torah of Hashem shall be in your mouth, for with a strong hand Hashem brought you out of Mitzrayim" (Shemos 13:9).

The redemption from Mitzrayim restored our power of speech, so that the Torah could literally be in our mouths.

וז"ש בפיך ובלבבך לעשותו בפיך בחי' גליא ובלבבך בחי' סתום

And this is the meaning of "in your mouth and in your heart, to do it" (Devarim 30:14): "in your mouth" is the aspect of the revealed, and "in your heart" is the aspect of the hidden.

"In your mouth" corresponds to the revealed Torah, while "in your heart" corresponds to its hidden, inner depths.

ואין מי שיכול לפתוח בתורה רק בנ"י בכח התרי"ג מצות שנק' נר מצוה שהוא עצה איך לגלות אור תורה

And there is none who can open the Torah except Bnei Yisrael, through the power of the six hundred and thirteen mitzvos, which are called "the mitzvah is a lamp" (Mishlei 6:23), for they are the counsel for how to reveal the light of the Torah.

Only Bnei Yisrael can unlock the Torah, and the tool for unlocking it is the six hundred and thirteen mitzvos, the lamp that reveals Torah's light.

וכמו שכל מפתח יש בו צורה כדמות המנעל ובו יכולין לפתוח

And just as every key has a form matching the shape of the lock, and with it one is able to open,

He brings a parable: a key works only because its form precisely matches the shape of the lock it opens.

ואם נשתנה צורת המפתח א"א כלל לפתוח

and if the form of the key is altered it is altogether impossible to open,

Change the shape of the key even slightly and it can no longer open the lock at all.

כן מפתח של התורה הוא תרי"ג מצות

so too the key of the Torah is the six hundred and thirteen mitzvos.

So too, the mitzvos are the exact key that fits the lock of the Torah.

וכל מצוה ציור פרטי וע"י קיום כל התרי"ג נפתח התורה

And each mitzvah is a particular form, and through the fulfillment of all six hundred and thirteen the Torah is opened.

Each individual mitzvah is one specific contour of that key, and only the full set of all six hundred and thirteen opens the Torah completely.

ולכן נעלמה מעיני כ"ח רק בנ"י שנמסר להם המפתח

Therefore it is hidden from the eyes of all flesh, and only Bnei Yisrael, to whom the key was handed over, can open it.

This is why the Torah stays sealed to all others; only Bnei Yisrael were entrusted with the key.

ולכן כ' במד' למי שממציא את כל רמ"ח מצות

And therefore it is written in the Midrash regarding the one who attains all two hundred and forty-eight positive mitzvos.

He connects this to the Midrash about the one who attains the full two hundred and forty-eight positive mitzvos.

ומ"מ בכל מצוה יש התקשרות לכל תרי"ג מצות כמ"ש תרי"ג מצות התלויות בה

And nevertheless, in every single mitzvah there is a binding to all six hundred and thirteen mitzvos, as it is stated, "the six hundred and thirteen mitzvos that depend upon it."

Even so, every single mitzvah is bound up with all six hundred and thirteen, since each one carries the others within it.

ומכ"ש מצות שנאמר בהם ששקולין ככל המצות כמו שבת וציצית נפתח בהם אור התורה

And all the more so, the mitzvos concerning which it is said that they are equal to all the mitzvos, such as Shabbos and tzitzis, through them the light of the Torah is opened.

This applies especially to mitzvos said to be equal to all the mitzvos, like Shabbos and tzitzis, through which the Torah's light is unlocked.

והקורא בתורה מברך לפני' על שזיכנו הקב"ה לדבר בתורה וכשזוכה להשיג הארה פנימיות כמ"ש (מדרש שיר השירים פרשה א') לב חכם ישכיל ע' פיהו זה בחי' סתים וע"ז ברכה אחרונה שנתן לנו תורת אמת היא בחי' סתום וחתום:

And the one who reads in the Torah recites a berachah before it, for the Holy One, Blessed is He, has granted us the merit to speak in Torah; and when one merits to attain an inner illumination, as it is stated (Midrash Shir HaShirim, parashah 1), "the heart of the wise instructs his mouth" (Mishlei 16:23) — this is the aspect of the hidden, and regarding this is the final berachah, that He gave us a Torah of truth, which is the aspect of the hidden and sealed.

The opening berachah thanks Hashem for the merit to speak in Torah (the revealed), while the closing berachah, "a Torah of truth," corresponds to the hidden, sealed inner illumination one merits to grasp.

Summary: The Sfas Emes builds on the verse that the mitzvah is "not too wondrous" and the Midrash that we bless the Torah both before and after, teaching that the Torah has two dimensions, hidden and revealed, mirrored in Bnei Yisrael themselves. The verses "not in heaven," "nor far off," and "not across the sea" map onto the concealed Written Torah, the revealed Torah of speech, and the faculty of speech that was redeemed from exile in Mitzrayim so that Torah could rest in our mouths. He then offers his central image: the six hundred and thirteen mitzvos are the key to the Torah, each mitzvah a precise contour that must match the lock exactly, so that only the complete set unlocks the Torah's light — a key entrusted to Bnei Yisrael alone. Even a single mitzvah, especially weighty ones like Shabbos and tzitzis that are equal to all the mitzvos, contains within it a binding to all six hundred and thirteen and can open Torah's light. Finally, the opening berachah corresponds to the revealed Torah we are privileged to speak, and the closing berachah, "a Torah of truth," corresponds to the hidden, sealed inner illumination one merits to attain.