The unchanging voice of Yaakov

בפסוק יבחר לנו כו' נחלתינו כו' גאון יעקב אשר אהב סלה.

On the pasuk: "He will choose for us our heritage (nachalaseinu)… the pride of Yaakov whom He loves, selah" (Tehillim 47:5).

The Sfas Emes opens from the pasuk describing Hashem choosing "the pride of Yaakov" as our eternal heritage.

דאיתא במד' בשלח בפסוק מה תצעק.

For it is brought in the Midrash on parshas Beshalach, on the pasuk "Why do you cry out to Me?"

He cites the Midrash on the splitting of the sea, where Hashem asks Moshe, "Why do you cry out to Me?"

צעקו וה' שמע מה כן אלא ב' ירושות הנחיל יצחק ליעקב הקול כו' יעקב מתגאה בירושתו ונצעק אל ה' כו' ע"ש.

"They cried out, and Hashem heard" — what is this? Rather, two inheritances Yitzchak bequeathed to Yaakov: the voice (kol), etc.; Yaakov takes pride in his inheritance, and "we cried out to Hashem," etc. — see there.

The Midrash teaches that Yitzchak left Yaakov two legacies, one of them being "the voice" (kol) — as in "the voice is the voice of Yaakov." Yaakov "takes pride" in this inheritance of the voice, which is why crying out to Hashem is so effective.

הפי' כי בכל מקום שנא' וה' הוא ובית דינו.

The explanation: wherever it says "and Hashem (v'Hashem)," it means He and His court (beis din).

Chazal teach that the phrase "v'Hashem" (with the connecting vav) always indicates Hashem together with His heavenly court — that is, the attribute of strict judgment.

א"כ מדה"ד עצמו שופט כי יהיה נשמע קול יעקב.

If so, the attribute of strict judgment (midas hadin) itself rules that the voice of Yaakov shall be heard.

Thus even strict Divine justice itself decrees that Yaakov's "voice" — his cry and his prayer — must be heeded.

לכן יצחק שהוא מדה"ד הנחיל ליעקב הקול.

Therefore Yitzchak, who is the attribute of strict judgment, bequeathed to Yaakov "the voice."

Yitzchak embodies din, and it is precisely from him — from the attribute of judgment — that Yaakov received the legacy of the prevailing "voice."

וזהו נחלתינו.

And this is "our heritage."

This inherited "voice" is the "nachalah" of the opening pasuk.

נחלה שאין לה הפסק.

A heritage that has no interruption (hefsek).

It is an inheritance that never ceases — an unbroken, permanent legacy.

כי הקול לעולם לא יתחלף.

For the voice (kol) never changes.

Unlike speech, the bare "voice" is constant and never altered.

ונק' גאון יעקב כמ"ש במד' שמתגאה בירושתו.

And it is called "the pride of Yaakov" (ge'on Yaakov), as is written in the Midrash that he takes pride in his inheritance.

This unchanging voice is "ge'on Yaakov," the "pride of Yaakov," for he glories in this inheritance.

לכן כתבו התוס' כי בשופר התוקע מתגאה בקול תקיעתו ע"ש.

Therefore the Tosfos wrote that with the shofar, the one who blows "takes pride" in the sound of his blast — see there.

The Tosfos note that the one who blows the shofar may "take pride" in his teki'ah, connecting back to ge'on Yaakov and the power of the kol.

אהב סלה הוא עפ"י מ"ש ויאהב יצחק כו' כי ציד בפיו והוא אהבה התלוי' בדבר בטל דבר בטל האהבה.

"Whom He loves, selah" is based on what is written: "And Yitzchak loved [Esav], for there was game in his mouth" — and this is a love that depends on a thing (ahavah ha'teluyah b'davar); when the thing ceases, the love ceases.

Yitzchak's love for Esav was conditional, dependent on the "game in his mouth"; such a love that depends on something external is fragile and ends when the thing ends.

אבל ביעקב כתיב ורבקה אוהבת את יעקב ולא כ' טעם.

But concerning Yaakov it is written, "And Rivkah loved Yaakov," and no reason is given.

Rivkah's love for Yaakov is stated without any reason — signifying an unconditional love.

שהוא אהבת עולם.

For it is an eternal love (ahavas olam).

A love with no stated cause is an everlasting love that never fades.

ובמד' כל שהיתה שומעת קולו היתה מוספת לו אהבה.

And in the Midrash: whenever she would hear his voice (kolo), she would increase her love for him.

The Midrash relates that whenever Rivkah heard Yaakov's voice — the voice of Torah and prayer — her love for him grew.

כי הדיבור יוכל להשתנות ולהסתיר הפנימיות כמ"ש ציד בפיו.

For speech (dibbur) can change and conceal the penimiyus, as it is written "game in his mouth."

Articulate speech can be manipulated and can mask one's true inner self — as with Esav's smooth "game in his mouth," which concealed his real nature.

אבל הקול לעולם לא ישתנה.

But the voice (kol) never changes.

The raw "voice," by contrast, cannot be falsified — it expresses the unchanging inner essence.

וקול בנ"י יש לו חן בשמים אשר אהב סלה.

And the voice of Bnei Yisrael finds favor (chein) in Heaven — "whom He loves, selah."

The genuine voice of Bnei Yisrael is beloved in Heaven, the object of an eternal, unconditional love.

וצונו לתקוע בשופר בר"ה שהוא יום הדין.

And He commanded us to blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, which is the Day of Judgment.

This is why we are commanded to sound the shofar — a bare "voice" — specifically on Rosh Hashanah, the day of din.

כמ"ש יונתי כו' בסתר המדרגה כו' השמיעני את קולך כמו שהי' בים תפסו אומנות אבותם.

As it is written: "My dove… in the hidden recesses of the cliff… let Me hear your voice (kolech)" — just as at the sea they took hold of the craft of their fathers.

The pasuk in Shir HaShirim, "let Me hear your voice," shows Hashem's longing for the inner voice of His people; at the splitting of the sea they "took up the craft of their forefathers," crying out with that very voice.

כמו כן בר"ה תקעו בחודש שופר בכסה.

So too on Rosh Hashanah: "Blow the shofar at the New Moon, at the appointed time (ba'keseh)."

On Rosh Hashanah we likewise "take up the craft of the fathers" by blowing the shofar, as the pasuk commands.

והוא אומנות אבותם קול שופר חכמה ואינה מלאכה:

And this is "the craft of their fathers" — the voice of the shofar, which is a wisdom (chochmah) and not a [forbidden] labor (melachah).

The voice of the shofar is the inherited "craft" of the Avos; halachically it is considered a chochmah rather than a melachah, expressing the pure, unchanging inner voice that secures favorable judgment.

Summary: Yitzchak — the attribute of din — bequeathed to Yaakov the legacy of "the voice" (kol), an unbroken, unchanging heritage called ge'on Yaakov, the "pride of Yaakov." Because the bare voice (unlike manipulable speech) cannot conceal one's true inner self, it draws an eternal, unconditional love — like Rivkah's reasonless love for Yaakov, which grew whenever she heard his voice. On Rosh Hashanah, the Day of Judgment, we blow the shofar — a wordless "voice" and the inherited craft of the Avos — so that even strict justice itself decrees that the beloved voice of Bnei Yisrael be heard.