Daily Renewal Through Bittul

ראה כו' היום

"See..." — and the verse says "today."

The opening word of the parsha is paired with the word "today," which the Sfas Emes will now unpack.

הוא בכל יום ויום כי הקב"ה מחדש בכל יום מ"ב וכשנתחדש הבריאה נמשך ברכה חדשה

This refers to every single day, for the Holy One, Blessed is He, renews the act of creation each day with His goodness, and when the creation is renewed a fresh blessing is drawn down.

"Today" is not a one-time event but a daily one, because Hashem constantly renews creation, and each renewal carries a new flow of blessing.

ולכן בכל יום יש לבחור א' מהדרכים

Therefore, on each and every day a person must choose one of the paths.

Since creation is renewed daily, a person is given a fresh choice every day to select his path in life.

וההתחדשות ניתן לבנ"י כדכת' החודש כו' לכם

And this power of renewal was given to Bnei Yisrael, as it is written, "This month... shall be for you" (Shemos 12:2).

This capacity for renewal was entrusted specifically to Bnei Yisrael, as seen in the mitzvah of sanctifying the new month.

ובחי' היום היא ההתחדשות אנכי נותן לפניכם כו' וממילא הברכה וקללה נמסר בידכם

The aspect of "today" is this renewal — "I place before you..." — and as a result the blessing and the curse are handed over into your hands.

Because each day is a new beginning, the blessing and curse are placed in our hands — our choices determine which we receive.

וחז"ל דרשו היום סתם על שבת דכתי' בי' ג"פ היום

Our Sages expounded the unqualified word "today" as referring to Shabbos, regarding which the word "today" is written three times.

Chazal read the bare word "today" as a hint to Shabbos, which the Torah describes three times with that word.

וי"ל כנ"ל כי התחדשות הבריאה בשבת עלי' לכל הברואים לשורשם והיא בחי' היום כנ"ל

And one may explain as above, for the renewal of creation on Shabbos is an ascent for all created beings back to their root, and this is the aspect of "today" as mentioned above.

Shabbos is the day on which all of creation ascends back to its spiritual root, which is precisely the deeper meaning of "today."

ולכן ויברך אלקים כו' יום השביעי כו'

Therefore it says, "And Hashem blessed... the seventh day..." (Bereishis 2:3).

This is why Hashem blessed the seventh day in particular — Shabbos is the channel of blessing.

כלי מחזיק ברכה שלום

There is no vessel that holds blessing other than peace (shalom).

Chazal teach that the only vessel capable of holding blessing is peace, since blessing needs a unified container.

והיינו התכללות כל הנבראים להיות מוכנים לקבל חיות מחי החיים

And this is the gathering together of all created beings, so that they should be prepared to receive vitality from the Source of all life.

Peace means all creations being drawn together as one, making them fit to receive life from Hashem, the Source of all life.

כי הקב"ה חפץ חסד הוא

For the Holy One, Blessed is He, desires kindness.

Hashem's whole desire in creating is to bestow kindness upon His creations.

ומאן דאכיל דלאו דילי' בהית לאסתכולי באפי'

And one who eats that which is not his own is ashamed to look upon the face of the one who provides it.

But a person who receives a gift he did not earn feels shame — Chazal call this the "bread of shame."

לכן עשה הקב"ה להיות נמשך החיות מחדש ע"י עבודת האדם לבטל עצמו למקורו כנ"ל

Therefore the Holy One, Blessed is He, arranged that vitality should be drawn down anew through the avodah of man, who nullifies himself to his Source, as mentioned above.

To spare us that shame, Hashem set it up that vitality is drawn down anew through man's own avodah of nullifying himself to his Source.

והוא ענין שבת שמתחדש בו חיות כל ימי השבוע ע"י הביטול להשי"ת

And this is the matter of Shabbos, on which the vitality of all the days of the week is renewed through bittul to Hashem Yisbarach.

Shabbos is exactly this: through our bittul to Hashem, the life-force of the entire coming week is renewed.

וז"ש נותן לפניכם כמ"ש במד' שנמסר הכל ביד האדם

This is the meaning of "He places before you" — as the Midrash states, that everything was handed over into the hand of man.

"He places before you" teaches, per the Midrash, that everything has been handed over into man's control.

גם פי' לפניכם להיות בטל כל חיי האדם להשי"ת חי החיים

Also the meaning of "before you" is that all of a person's life should be nullified before Hashem Yisbarach, the Source of all life.

"Before you" also hints that a person should nullify his entire life before Hashem, the Source of all life.

ואז בכחו להמשיך ברכה

And then it is within his power to draw down blessing.

Once a person attains this bittul, he gains the power to draw blessing down into the world.

ובמד' שמור תשמרון כו' נרך בידי כו' ע"ש

And the Midrash on "If you will surely guard..." says, "the blessing is in your hands..." — see there.

The Sfas Emes cites the Midrash on "guard My mitzvos" that the blessing rests in our hands.

פי' כי האדם צריך לשמור מצות הש"י וממילא נשמר הוא ממנו ית' כי ע"י שמניח צרכיו ועוסק בחפצי שמים עי"ז לא יבא לידי חסרון ח"ו:

The explanation is that a person must guard the mitzvos of Hashem Yisbarach, and as a result he himself is guarded by Him, may He be blessed; for through setting aside his own needs and occupying himself with the matters of Heaven, he will thereby never come to any lack, chas v'shalom.

When a person guards Hashem's mitzvos, Hashem in turn guards him; by setting aside his personal needs for the sake of Heaven, he is assured never to suffer any lack.

Summary: The Sfas Emes opens with the word "today" in the parsha and teaches that it points to the daily renewal of creation: each day the Holy One, Blessed is He, recreates the world and draws down a fresh blessing, giving a person a renewed choice of which path to take. This power of renewal was entrusted to Bnei Yisrael, and Chazal's reading of "today" as Shabbos deepens the idea — on Shabbos all creation ascends back to its root. Blessing, however, can only rest in the vessel of peace, the gathering of all creations together to receive life from the Source of all life. Because Hashem desires to bestow kindness yet a person is ashamed to receive an unearned gift, Hashem arranged that vitality be drawn down anew specifically through man's avodah of nullifying himself to his Source — and this is the essence of Shabbos. Through such bittul a person gains the power to draw down blessing, and by guarding Hashem's mitzvos and setting his own needs aside for the matters of Heaven, he is himself guarded and will never come to lack.