Bittul and joy as the path to Torah

בפסוק והם תכו לרגליך ישא מדברותיך תורה צוה כו'.

On the verse "And they were gathered at Your feet; he bears Your utterances — the Torah that Moshe commanded," etc.

The Sefas Emes begins from the pasuk in Vezos HaBerachah (Devarim 33:3-4), the very Torah portion read on Simchas Torah, linking "tuku l'raglecha" to "Torah tzivah."

אא"ז מו"ר ז"ל אמר רמז לשמחת תורה אחר סוכות עפ"י התרגום ואינון דמדברין תחות עננך נטלין על מימרך כו' אח"כ תורה צוה כו'.

My grandfather and teacher, of blessed memory, said it is a hint to Simchas Torah following Sukkos, based on the Targum: "and they who travel beneath Your cloud journey at Your word," and afterward "the Torah Moshe commanded."

The Chiddushei HaRim is quoted: the Targum renders the pasuk as Bnei Yisrael traveling beneath the Clouds of Glory at Hashem's word, and only then "Torah tzivah" — Simchas Torah comes right after Sukkos, the festival of the Clouds.

ולהוסיף ביאור ע"ז כי הנה כן הי' בקבלת התורה.

And to add explanation to this: behold, so it was at the receiving of the Torah.

The Sefas Emes will show that the sequence of Sukkos-then-Torah mirrors the original sequence at Matan Torah.

אחר יציאת מצרים היה הכנה לקבלת התורה מ"ש זכרתי לך כו' לכתך אחרי במדבר כו'.

After the Exodus from Mitzrayim there was a preparation for receiving the Torah, as it says, "I remember for you… your following after Me in the wilderness," etc.

Yetzias Mitzrayim was followed by a preparatory stage — Bnei Yisrael following Hashem into the desert with pure faith (Yirmiyahu 2:2) — before they were ready for the Torah.

וכן הוא אחר ר"ה ויוהכ"פ שנגאלין מיצה"ר צריך להיות הכנעה וביטול אל הבורא ית' אשר גאלנו.

And so it is after Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, when we are redeemed from the yetzer hara: there must be submission and bittul (self-nullification) before the Creator who redeemed us.

Each year, after the "redemption" from the yetzer hara on the Yamim Noraim, we need a stage of humility and bittul to Hashem, paralleling the post-Exodus preparation.

והוא היציאה אל הסוכה להיות מוכן להתמשך לכל מקום שירצה הבורא ית' כמ"ש אחריך נרוצה.

And this is the going out into the sukkah — to be ready to be drawn after wherever the Creator desires, as it says, "we will run after You."

Leaving our homes for the sukkah expresses this readiness to follow Hashem anywhere (Shir HaShirim 1:4), just as Bnei Yisrael followed Him into the wilderness.

ע"י כן הבאני חדריו הוא הסוכה.

Through this, "He brought me into His chambers" — this is the sukkah.

This devotion draws us into Hashem's intimate "chambers" (Shir HaShirim 1:4), embodied in the sukkah.

נגילה ונשמחה שמחת תורה.

"We will rejoice and be glad" — the joy of Simchas Torah.

From within those chambers flows "nagilah v'nismechah" (Shir HaShirim 1:4) — the rejoicing of Simchas Torah.

כי התורה היא למעלה מהכל ואי אפשר לזכות עפ"י המעשים כי נעלמה מעיני כל חי.

For the Torah is above everything, and it is impossible to merit it through deeds, since it is hidden from the eyes of all living.

Torah transcends all; one cannot "earn" it merely by actions, because its essence is beyond the grasp of any creature (cf. Iyov 28:21).

ורק ע"י הביטול לגמרי תכו לרגליך עי"ז ישא מדברותיך.

Only through complete bittul — "they are gathered at Your feet" — through this, "he bears Your utterances."

Total self-nullification ("at Your feet") is the only path; by it one is lifted to "carry" the Torah's words.

דאיתא בזוה"ק כפי מה שאדם מבטל עצמו תחת עול מלכות שמים להיות כאסקופה הנדרסת בעבור השכינה.

For it is taught in the Zohar: according to how much a person nullifies himself under the yoke of Malchus Shomayim, to become like a threshold that is trodden upon for the sake of the Shechinah.

The Zohar teaches that the measure of a person's bittul — making himself like a doorstep trampled underfoot for the Shechinah's sake — determines his elevation.

כמו כן השכינה מגבהת אותו כו'.

Correspondingly, the Shechinah raises him up, etc.

The more one lowers himself before Hashem, the more the Shechinah lifts him — descent for His sake brings ascent.

וכן הוא כח המצות אשר על ידיהם זוכה אדם לתורה שהיא באמת למעלה מהמצות גשמיים.

And so is the power of the mitzvos, through which a person merits the Torah, which is truly above the physical mitzvos.

Although Torah is loftier than the physical mitzvos, it is precisely through performing those mitzvos that one becomes worthy of attaining the Torah.

עכ"ז הכל בא ע"י המצות ומעשים טובים בהכנעה לשם שמים.

Nevertheless, it all comes about through the mitzvos and good deeds performed with submission, for the sake of Heaven.

The gateway to the supra-mitzvah level of Torah is humble, sincere performance of the concrete mitzvos l'shem Shomayim.

וז"ש תכו אח"כ ישא מדברותיך.

And this is the meaning of "they are gathered" and afterward "he bears Your utterances."

First the bittul of "tuku l'raglecha," and only then the elevation of "yisa midabrosecha" — first lowering, then receiving Torah.

לכן ע"י הליכתם במדבר שהוא ביטול להנהגת הבורא.

Therefore, through their journeying in the wilderness, which is bittul to the Creator's guidance.

Bnei Yisrael's travels in the desert expressed total surrender to Hashem's direction — pure bittul.

וכמו כן בסוכות זוכין אח"כ לתורה.

And likewise, through Sukkos, we afterward merit the Torah.

Just so, the bittul of dwelling in the sukkah leads us to the merit of Torah on Simchas Torah.

ואיתא שש אנכי על אמרתך כו' על מצות מילה שראה דוד המע"ה עצמו ערום כיון שהביט במילה שמח כו'.

And it is taught, "I rejoice over Your word," etc., refers to the mitzvah of milah: that Dovid HaMelech saw himself naked, and once he gazed at the milah he rejoiced, etc.

Chazal (Menachos 43b) relate that Dovid HaMelech, distressed in the bathhouse to find himself "stripped" of mitzvos, took comfort upon seeing the bris milah on his body, and said "sas anochi al imrasecha" (Tehillim 119:162).

פרש"י אמרתך אמירה יחידה כו' ועדיין אינו מובן כראוי למה סמכו בזה מצות מילה.

Rashi explains "imrasecha" as a single utterance, etc.; but it is still not properly understood why they connected the mitzvah of milah to this.

Rashi reads "imrasecha" as a singular command. The Sefas Emes asks: why specifically tie Dovid's joy "over Your word" to the mitzvah of milah?

אבל י"ל פ" על אמרתך שבודאי ע"י המילה מבשרי אחזה אלוה.

But one may explain "over Your word" thus: that surely through the milah, "from my flesh I behold God."

Through milah a person attains the level of "mibsari echezeh Eloha" (Iyov 19:26) — perceiving the Divine from within his own flesh.

ובא התגלות הקדושה לאדם ע"י הסרת הערלה.

And the revelation of kedushah comes to a person through the removal of the orlah.

Removing the orlah strips away a concealing covering, allowing holiness to be revealed within the person.

ונמצא שהמצוה הביא את האדם למה שלמעלה מעלה הרבה.

It emerges that the mitzvah brought the person to something far, far higher.

The physical mitzvah of milah elevated Dovid to a vastly loftier spiritual plane.

וזהו על אמרתך.

And this is "over Your word."

This is why Dovid rejoiced "al imrasecha" — over how a single mitzvah lifted him so high.

שהמצוה בגשמיות להסיר הערלה הביא את האדם להתדבקות בעולם העליון שלמעלה מהטבע.

For the physical mitzvah of removing the orlah brought the person to dveikus (attachment) in the upper world, above nature.

A wholly physical act — the bris — became the bridge to cleaving to the supra-natural upper world.

ומזה בא עיקר השמחה כשאדם מדבק עצמו בשורשו שלמעלה מהטבע.

And from this comes the essential joy — when a person attaches himself to his root, which is above nature.

The deepest simchah arises when one cleaves to his spiritual root, which lies beyond the natural order.

והוא ע"י המילה כנ"ל.

And this is by means of the milah, as above.

For Dovid, that connection to his supra-natural root came specifically through the bris milah.

וכמו כן בשמיני עצרת יש התדבקות בשורש שלמעלה מהטבע.

And likewise, on Shemini Atzeres there is dveikus in the root that is above nature.

Shemini Atzeres provides the same kind of attachment to the supra-natural root.

לכן הוא שמחת תורה כמ"ש כי הם חיינו ואורך ימינו.

Therefore it is Simchas Torah, as we say, "for they are our life and the length of our days."

Because of this dveikus, Shemini Atzeres is the day of rejoicing with the Torah, "ki heim chayeinu v'orech yameinu" (from Maariv).

פי' אורך ימינו הוא התפשטות הימים למעלה עד השורש.

The explanation of "the length of our days": it is the extension of our days upward, until the root.

"Orech yameinu" means our days are stretched and connected upward to their spiritual source.

ושם עולם שכולו ארוך שחיות בנ"י דבוק בעולם העליון.

And there is the "world that is entirely long," where the vitality of Bnei Yisrael is attached to the upper world.

This points to the "olam she-kulo aroch" (Kiddushin 39b), the eternal world, where the life-force of Bnei Yisrael is bound to the upper realm.

ושם יש לכל איש ישראל חלק בתורה.

And there every Jew has a portion in the Torah.

At that root-level, each individual Jew possesses his own share in the Torah.

וזהו מורשה שהיא כמו נחלה שאין לה הפסק.

And this is "morashah" (an inheritance), which is like a nachalah (heritage) that never ceases.

The Torah as "morashah kehillas Yaakov" (Devarim 33:4) is an unbroken, eternal inheritance belonging to every Jew.

וגם אמת הדבר שע"י השמחה של מצוה מתדבקין בשורש התורה ג"כ.

And it is also true that through the joy of a mitzvah one cleaves to the root of the Torah as well.

Simchah shel mitzvah is itself a means of attaching oneself to the very root of the Torah.

ולכן בחג הזה זמן שמחתינו זוכין לתורה.

Therefore on this festival, "the time of our rejoicing," we merit the Torah.

Because Sukkos is "zman simchaseinu," its very joy enables us to attain the Torah at its conclusion.

וכן אמרו חז"ל מצות שקיבלו עליהם בשמחה עדיין עושין בשמחה.

And so Chazal said: mitzvos that they accepted with joy, they still perform with joy.

Chazal (Shabbos 130a) teach that mitzvos originally embraced with simchah, such as milah, continue to be kept with joy in every generation.

לכן בתחלת השנה צריך כל אחד לקבל עול תורה בימי שמחה אלו על כל ימות השנה:

Therefore, at the beginning of the year, each person must accept the yoke of Torah during these days of joy, for all the days of the year.

The practical avodah: at the year's start, on these joyous days, one should joyfully take upon himself the ol Torah so that it carries him with simchah throughout the whole year.

יתר הדברים נשכחו ממני מאיחור הזמן:

The rest of the matters I have forgotten, due to the lateness of the time.

A closing personal note: the Sefas Emes records that the remainder of the thought slipped from his memory because of the delay in writing it down.

Summary: Just as the Exodus led through following Hashem into the wilderness to Matan Torah, Sukkos leads through the bittul of the sukkah to the joy of Simchas Torah. The Torah is above all and cannot be earned by deeds alone; only through total self-nullification and humble mitzvos — like the physical bris milah that lifted Dovid to "behold God from his flesh" — does one cleave to his supra-natural root. The joy of the mitzvah binds a Jew to the root of the Torah, his eternal inheritance, and so on these joyous days one should joyfully accept the yoke of Torah for the entire year.