Rising Above Nature
בפסוק תמים תהי'
On the pasuk, "Be wholehearted [tamim] with Hashem your God" (Devarim 18:13).
The Sfas Emes opens with the Torah's command to be tamim, wholehearted, with Hashem.
כ' בפרשת מילה שניתנה לא"א ע"ה התהלך לפני והי' תמים
It is written in the parsha of milah, which was given to our father Avraham, peace be upon him, "Walk before Me and be wholehearted [tamim]" (Bereishis 17:1).
He links this to the identical word tamim used when Hashem commanded Avraham at the bris milah.
כי בעוה"ז אין נמצא השלימות כי הטבע מכסה הפנימיות
For in this world completeness is not to be found, since nature conceals the inner dimension.
Wholeness cannot be found in this world because the physical nature of the world hides the spiritual inner reality.
וכמו כן הערלה באדם
And so too is the orlah (the foreskin) within a person.
The orlah, the foreskin, is a physical covering that parallels this concealment within a person.
ובהסרת הערלה בא א"א ע"ה אל התמימות
And through the removal of the orlah, our father Avraham, peace be upon him, came to that wholeness.
By removing the orlah, Avraham broke through the concealment and reached true wholeness.
וכן הוא כפי מה שיוצאין מן הטבע זוכין אל השלימות וזה ניתן לבנ"י הנהגה עליונה שלמעלה מן הטבע
And so it is: to the extent that one emerges from nature, one merits this completeness, and this was given to Bnei Yisrael — a higher conduct that is above nature.
The principle is that as one steps beyond nature one attains completeness, and Bnei Yisrael were given a mode of conduct that rises above nature.
והנה הגוים אל מעוננים וקוסמים ישמעו כי הם תחת הטבע לכן חכמות שלהם מצד הטבע
Now, the nations turn to soothsayers and diviners and heed them, for they are under nature; therefore their wisdom is rooted in nature.
The nations rely on soothsayers and diviners because they live within nature, so their wisdom is bound to nature.
אבל אתה לא כן נתן לך כי הנהגת בנ"י למעלה מן הטבע בכח התורה ולכן כל כחם אדרבא ע"י ביטול הטבע נתחזק כחם
"But as for you, Hashem your God has not given you such" (Devarim 18:14) — for the conduct of Bnei Yisrael is above nature through the power of the Torah, and therefore, on the contrary, all their strength is fortified specifically through the nullification of nature.
Bnei Yisrael are different: their conduct rises above nature through the Torah, so their strength actually grows precisely when nature is set aside.
וכמו שחכמת האומות והתחזקם בכח הטבע כי זה קיומם
And just as the wisdom of the nations and their fortification lie in the power of nature, for that is their sustenance,
Just as the nations draw their power and survival from nature itself,
כמו כן כחם של בנ"י בביטול הטבע
so too the strength of Bnei Yisrael lies in the nullification of nature.
so the power of Bnei Yisrael comes from nullifying nature.
כ' אני לדודי ודודי לי אני לדודי הוא ביטול הטבעיות לבטל כל הכח אל הש"י וזה אינו בנמצא רק בבנ"י וכמו כן דודי לי שמה"ט יש התגלות אלקותו ית"ש לבנ"י מה שאין בנמצא לשום אומה
It is written, "I am to my Beloved, and my Beloved is to me" (Shir HaShirim 6:3). "I am to my Beloved" is the nullification of the natural, to surrender all one's strength to Hashem Yisborach, and this is found only among Bnei Yisrael; and likewise "my Beloved is to me" — that for this very reason there is a revelation of His Godliness, Yisborach Shemo, to Bnei Yisrael, such as is not found by any other nation.
"I am to my Beloved" means surrendering all one's strength to Hashem by nullifying the natural, unique to Bnei Yisrael; "my Beloved is to me" means Hashem reveals His Godliness to them as to no other nation.
וכפי מה שפונין בנ"י עצמם להיות קדושים ומוכנים להקב"ה כך חל אלקותו ית"ש עליהם
And to the degree that Bnei Yisrael turn themselves to be holy and prepared for the Holy One, Blessed is He, so does His Godliness, Yisborach Shemo, rest upon them.
The measure of Hashem's resting His presence upon Bnei Yisrael corresponds to how much they prepare and sanctify themselves for Him.
זה נביא מקרבך כו' שע"י השתוקקות בנ"י לדבר הי' זוכין לנביאים
"A navi from your midst... [Hashem your God will raise up for you]" (Devarim 18:15) — for through the yearning of Bnei Yisrael for the matter, they would merit nevi'im.
Because Bnei Yisrael yearned for prophecy, they merited to have nevi'im arise from among them.
ובמתן תורה יצאו לגמרי מן הטבע כמ"ש אמרתי אלקים אתם וזכו לשמוע הדברות ונשאר מזה הכנה לדורות אל הנביאים
And at Matan Torah they emerged entirely from nature, as it is written, "I said, you are godlike beings" (Tehillim 82:6), and they merited to hear the Dibros, and from this there remained a preparedness for the generations toward the nevi'im.
At Matan Torah they left nature entirely and reached an exalted state, hearing the Dibros directly, and this left a lasting readiness for prophecy in later generations.
ועתה בעוה"ר שנחסר זה ההשתוקקות אין עוד נביא
And now, because of our many sins, since this yearning is lacking, there is no longer a navi.
Today, with that yearning absent, prophecy has ceased.
ואיתא בספרים כי חדש אלול רומז לפסוק אני לדודי כו'
And it is brought in the sefarim that the month of Elul alludes to the pasuk "I am to my Beloved..." (Ani LeDodi).
The sefarim teach that the month of Elul is hinted at in the verse Ani LeDodi, whose initial letters spell Elul.
כי מ' ימים אחרונים נתרצה לנו הקב"ה מתוך התעוררות הרחמים של משה רבינו ותשובת בנ"י
For during the final forty days the Holy One, Blessed is He, was reconciled to us through the arousal of mercy of Moshe Rabbeinu and the teshuvah of Bnei Yisrael.
During the final forty days on Har Sinai, Hashem became reconciled to Bnei Yisrael through Moshe's pleading and their teshuvah.
דאיתא מה ראשונים ברצון כך אחרונים ברצון דכ' כימים הראשונים אך הראשונים היו ברצון הקב"ה בעצמו
As it is brought: just as the first [forty days] were with favor, so the last were with favor, as it is written, "like the first days" (Devarim 10:10) — yet the first were with the favor of the Holy One, Blessed is He, Himself.
The first forty days were with Hashem's own inherent favor, as the Torah's phrase "like the first days" indicates.
ואחרונים נתרצה הקב"ה לנו כמ"ש מתרצה ברחמים ומתפייס בתחנונים
And during the last [forty days] the Holy One, Blessed is He, was reconciled to us, as we say, "He is appeased through mercy and conciliated through supplications."
The last forty days achieved favor through Hashem being appeased by mercy and supplication, a reconciliation we draw down through prayer.
לכן כ' אחר פסוק זה יפה כו' רעיתי כתרצה ואיתא במדרש כתרצה כשאתם מתרצים לי כד את בעיא לא בעית מליף כלום ע"ש
Therefore it is written after this pasuk, "You are beautiful, My beloved, as Tirtzah" (Shir HaShirim 6:4); and it is brought in the Midrash, "as Tirtzah" — when you are reconciled [meratzim] to Me; when you desire, I desire, [but when] you do not desire, I teach nothing — see there.
The verse "beautiful as Tirtzah" follows, and the Midrash reads Tirtzah as 'when you are reconciled to Me' — Hashem responds to Bnei Yisrael's desire and reciprocates it.
פי' שבכל עת יכולין בנ"י לעורר רצון העליון בהתעוררות תשובה
The meaning is that at every time Bnei Yisrael are able to arouse the higher Will through an arousal of teshuvah.
The lesson is that at any time Bnei Yisrael can awaken Hashem's higher Will by arousing themselves to teshuvah.
ולפי שבימים אלו נתקיים בפועל ממש
And since during these days [of Elul] this was fulfilled in actual deed,
Because this reconciliation actually occurred in deed during these very days of Elul,
לכן הימים מסוגלים לזה בכל שנה:
therefore these days are uniquely suited for this every single year.
these days carry a special power each year to arouse that same Divine favor through teshuvah.
Summary: The Sfas Emes builds on the command to be tamim, wholehearted, with Hashem, teaching that true wholeness cannot be reached within nature, which conceals the inner spiritual reality much as the orlah conceals it within a person. Avraham reached wholeness by removing the orlah, and Bnei Yisrael as a whole were granted a conduct that rises above nature: unlike the nations, whose wisdom and survival are rooted in nature, the strength of Bnei Yisrael grows specifically through nullifying nature, surrendering everything to Hashem — "I am to my Beloved" — which in turn draws down the revelation of His Godliness — "my Beloved is to me." This same yearning once brought nevi'im and the direct hearing of the Dibros at Matan Torah, and its absence is why prophecy has ceased. He then connects this to Elul, hinted at in Ani LeDodi, the final forty days in which Hashem was reconciled to Bnei Yisrael through Moshe's mercy and their teshuvah. Because that reconciliation actually took place in these very days, Elul carries a unique power every year to arouse Hashem's higher Will through teshuvah.