Torah hidden in the soul, actualized through mitzvos

המשך התורה אשר עשה משה לעיני כל ישראל בראשית ברא.

The continuity of "the Torah which Moshe wrought before the eyes of all Yisrael" to "In the beginning He created."

The Sefas Emes connects the closing words of the Torah (the end of Devarim) with its opening words (Bereishis), as the cycle of Torah reading turns over on Simchas Torah.

כי בתורה נברא העולם כמ"ש בראשית.

For the world was created through the Torah, as it is said "Bereishis" (in the beginning).

Chazal read "Bereishis" as "through reishis" — through the Torah, called the "beginning of His way" — meaning the world was created by means of the Torah.

אך והארץ היתה תהו.

But "the earth was tohu (formless and void)."

Although the world was created through Torah, it remained in a state of chaos and concealment, its inner purpose not yet brought into the open.

עד שבאו בנ"י וע"י האותות והמופתים שעשה משה והוריד התורה לבנ"י הוציא ידיעה זו מכח אל הפועל לידע כי בראשית ברא.

Until Bnei Yisrael came, and through the signs and wonders that Moshe performed and his bringing down the Torah to Bnei Yisrael, he brought this knowledge from potential into actuality — to know that "In the beginning He created."

It was Moshe, through the miracles and the giving of the Torah, who actualized the latent truth of creation, making it known that Hashem created the world.

כמ"ש אתה הראת לדעת כו'.

As it is written: "You have been shown to know…"

The revelation at Sinai was a "showing" meant to bring Bnei Yisrael to the knowledge of Hashem as Creator.

ומאחר שבנ"י הם עדים על הבורא ית"ש א"כ בודאי ראו.

And since Bnei Yisrael are witnesses to the Creator, may He be blessed, then they surely saw.

To serve as witnesses to Hashem as Creator, Bnei Yisrael must have actually perceived this truth, for a witness testifies only to what he has seen.

ויכולים לראות ולהעיד כי הקב"ה ברא העולם.

And they are able to see and to testify that the Kadosh Baruch Hu created the world.

Bnei Yisrael have the capacity both to perceive and to bear witness that Hashem is the Creator.

וכדאיתא בנשמתן של ישראל נמלך.

And as it is brought, He took counsel with the souls of Yisrael.

The Midrash teaches that Hashem "consulted" the souls of Yisrael before creating the world — so their souls were present at and bound up with creation itself.

וז"ש לעיני כל ישראל בראשית ברא.

And this is the meaning of "before the eyes of all Yisrael" — "In the beginning He created."

The Torah ends with "the eyes of all Yisrael" and begins with creation, hinting that it is through Yisrael's "eyes" — their witness — that creation is established.

והנה כ' צוה לנו משה.

Now it is written: "Moshe commanded us."

He now turns to the verse "Torah tzivah lanu Moshe," noting its two descriptions of the Torah.

וכתיב מורשה קהלת יעקב.

And it is written: "a heritage (morashah) of the congregation of Yaakov."

The verse calls the Torah both something "commanded" and an inherited "heritage" — two distinct aspects.

והם ב' בחי' שהתורה ירושה לנו מאבותינו כדאיתא שהאבות קיימו את התורה עד שלא ניתנה.

And these are two aspects: that the Torah is an inheritance to us from our fathers, as it is brought that the Avos kept the Torah even before it was given.

One aspect is "heritage" — the Torah is already embedded in us from the Avos, who fulfilled it before it was formally given.

וע"י התורה שצוה לנו משה זוכין למצוא התורה הגנוזה בנפשות בנ"י.

And through the Torah that Moshe commanded us, we merit to find the Torah that is hidden away in the souls of Bnei Yisrael.

The other aspect — the Torah "commanded" by Moshe — is the means by which we uncover the inner Torah already concealed within our souls.

לכן כ' תורה אור שמאירה לאדם למצוא התורה הגנוזה בנפשו.

Therefore it is written "the Torah is light" — for it illuminates a person to find the Torah hidden within his soul.

The Torah given by Moshe acts as a light that helps a person discover the concealed Torah planted in his own neshamah.

וכ"כ ויקם עדות ביעקב.

And so it is written: "and He established a testimony (eidus) in Yaakov."

The verse speaks of the Torah being "established" as a testimony within Yaakov.

קימה הוא הוצאת הדבר הכח אל הפועל.

"Establishing" (kimah) means bringing a thing from potential into actuality.

The word "established" indicates the act of drawing out into the open something that was previously only latent.

דכ' אתם עדי א"כ התורה ועדות דבוק בעצם נפשותיהם של בנ"י.

As it is written: "you are My witnesses" — thus the Torah and the testimony are bound up in the very essence of the souls of Bnei Yisrael.

Since Bnei Yisrael are Hashem's "witnesses," the Torah-testimony is inherently fused with the core of their souls.

אך שצריכין להוציא זה העדות מכח אל הפועל ע"י התורה שמסר לנו משה.

But one needs to bring this testimony from potential into actuality through the Torah that Moshe transmitted to us.

This latent testimony within the soul must be actualized — and the vehicle for that is the Torah Moshe handed down.

וכן איתא במדרשות כשאמרו בנ"י אשר דיבר ה' נעשה כבר נעשה ע"ש.

And so it is brought in the Midrashim: when Bnei Yisrael said "all that Hashem has spoken we will do," it was already done — see there.

The Midrash hints that their "we will do" was instantly realized, because the Torah was already present within them, only waiting to be drawn out.

הרמז כי בהתקרבותם לפני הר סיני מצאו בנפשותיהם אור התורה אשר נטעו אבותיהם בהם.

The hint is that in their drawing near before Har Sinai, they found within their souls the light of the Torah that their fathers had planted in them.

Standing at Sinai, Bnei Yisrael discovered the Torah-light already implanted in them by the Avos — explaining how their acceptance was "already done."

ועוד תורה צוה לנו משה.

And further: "the Torah that Moshe commanded us."

He now adds another dimension to the verse "Torah tzivah lanu Moshe."

כי התורה נעלמה מעיני כל חי וכולה שמותיו של הקב"ה וב"ש.

For the Torah is hidden from the eyes of all living, and it is entirely the Names of the Kadosh Baruch Hu, may He be blessed.

In its true form the Torah is utterly concealed, being nothing other than the Divine Names — beyond ordinary human grasp.

אבל ע"י שנתלבשה בתרי"ג מצות הערוכות לפנינו יכולין להתדבק בשורש התורה.

But through its being clothed in the 613 mitzvos set out before us, we are able to cleave to the root of the Torah.

By garbing itself in the 613 concrete mitzvos, the hidden Torah becomes accessible, giving us a way to attach ourselves to its inner root.

וז"ש וזאת התורה אשר שם משה שסידר התורה בג"ן סדרים ותרי"ג מצות ועי"ז היא מורשה לקהלת יעקב.

And this is the meaning of "and this is the Torah that Moshe set" — that he arranged the Torah into fifty-three sedras and 613 mitzvos, and through this it is a heritage for the congregation of Yaakov.

Moshe "set" the Torah into an ordered, graspable form — its weekly portions and its 613 mitzvos — and precisely thereby it became an inheritance accessible to all of Yisrael.

וכמ"ש נר מצוה שאין יכולים לאחוז את האור רק ע"י הנר.

As it is written "a mitzvah is a lamp" — for one cannot grasp the light except by means of the lamp.

Just as flame can be held only through the vessel of a lamp, the light of Torah can be grasped only through the "lamp" of the mitzvos.

כן ע"י המצות יכולין להתדבק באור התורה כמ"ש לעיל מזה.

So too, through the mitzvos one can cleave to the light of the Torah, as was explained above.

The mitzvos are the means by which a person attaches himself to the otherwise ungraspable light of Torah.

וזה הוציא מרע"ה מכח אל הפועל.

And this is what Moshe Rabbeinu brought from potential into actuality.

Moshe's accomplishment was to actualize this — clothing the hidden Torah in mitzvos so that it could be grasped.

ונקרא איש האלקים מחצה איש מחצה אלקים.

And he is called "the man of Hashem" — half man, half godly.

Moshe's unique title reflects his role at the seam between the Divine and the human.

זהו השתתפות אלקות אל גוף האדם בכח תרי"ג מצות:

This is the joining of Divinity to the body of man through the power of the 613 mitzvos.

Being "half man, half godly," Moshe embodies the very union of the Divine with the human — which is precisely what the 613 mitzvos accomplish, binding the godly Torah to physical human life.

Summary: The Torah's end ("before the eyes of all Yisrael") joins its beginning ("In the beginning He created"), for the world was created through Torah but remained tohu until Moshe and Bnei Yisrael brought the knowledge of Hashem as Creator from potential into actuality, becoming His witnesses. The Torah is both a "heritage" already planted in the souls of Yisrael by the Avos and a Torah "commanded" by Moshe that illuminates a person to uncover that hidden inner Torah; and because the Torah in its essence is the concealed Divine Names, Moshe clothed it in the 613 mitzvos so that man could cleave to its root — uniting Divinity with the human, as Moshe himself was "half man, half godly."