Humble searching lets the Torah elevate us

מאד צריכין לשמוח בשמחת תורה ולכבדה.

We must rejoice greatly on Simchas Torah and honor it.

The Sefas Emes opens by stressing the obligation of joy and honor toward the Torah on this day.

הרי אמרו הלומד מחבירו אות א' צריך לנהוג בו כבוד.

Behold, they said: one who learns even a single letter from his fellow must treat him with honor.

If a person who teaches us merely one letter is owed honor, how much more so the Torah itself.

ומה נעשה אל התורה בעצמה אשר מלמדת אותנו תמיד איך לעבוד את ה'.

Then what shall we do for the Torah itself, which constantly teaches us how to serve Hashem?

The Torah is our perpetual teacher in all avodah; the honor due to it is therefore beyond measure.

ומה הכבוד אל התורה להגות בה יומם ולילה.

And what is the honor due to the Torah? To toil in it day and night.

The truest honor we can give the Torah is to immerse ourselves in its study without ceasing.

כ' סלסלה ותרוממך פרש"י כמחזר על עוללות בכרם ע"ש.

It is written: "Exalt her (salseleha) and she will raise you up" (Mishlei 4:8). Rashi explains: like one who searches among the gleanings (the small leftover clusters) in a vineyard — see there.

Rashi reads "salseleha" as the act of a poor gatherer turning over the small, leftover grape clusters; the Sefas Emes builds on this image of humble, persistent searching after the Torah's leftovers.

כי באמת התורה אין לה שיעור ויש לכל פרשה ולכל פסוק ולכל תיבה ולכל אות כמה עולמות עליונים מיוחדים.

For in truth the Torah has no measure, and to every portion, every verse, every word, and every letter belong many distinct supernal worlds.

The Torah is infinite; behind each parsha, pasuk, word, and even letter stand entire upper worlds beyond our grasp.

אבל הקב"ה הניח לנו פיאה ועוללות כמ"ש לעני ולגר תעזוב.

But the Holy One, blessed be He, left for us pe'ah and gleanings (olelos), as it says: "for the poor and the stranger you shall leave them" (Vayikra 19:10).

Just as a field owner leaves a corner and the leftover clusters for the poor, Hashem left us only the "gleanings" of the infinite Torah — the portion we are able to grasp.

וכל מה שאנו יכולין להשיג הכל נובלות התורה שלמעלה.

And all that we are able to attain is but the "withered fruit (novlos)" of the Torah Above.

Even our fullest comprehension is only a faint, fallen reflection of the supernal Torah — its overflow that reaches down to us.

וכפי מה שאדם יודע זאת ומחזר על העוללות כעני ואביון אז התורה מרוממת אותו.

And to the degree that a person recognizes this and searches after the gleanings like a poor and destitute man, then the Torah raises him up.

The key is humility: when a person knows how little he grasps and pursues even the smallest "gleanings" like a pauper, the Torah lifts him — "salseleha u'teromemecha."

וכן כתוב באבותינו שעמדו על הר סיני ויתיצבו בתחתית ההר.

And so it is written regarding our forefathers who stood at Har Sinai: "and they stationed themselves at the foot of the mountain (b'tachtis hahar)."

The Sefas Emes reads "the foot of the mountain" as an expression of their lowliness — they placed themselves at the very bottom.

שהבינו שהם רחוקים מן אמיתיות התורה רק אחזו בתחתיות ההר.

For they understood that they were far from the true essence of the Torah, and so they grasped only at the bottom of the mountain.

Bnei Yisrael recognized how distant they were from the Torah's inner truth, and humbly took hold only of its "lowest" portion.

ולכן נתרוממו ונתעלו עד לשמים.

And therefore they were raised up and elevated all the way to the heavens.

Precisely because of that humility, they were lifted to the greatest heights — measure for measure, the Torah exalted them.

גם צריך איש ישראל לחפש למצוא הארת התורה בכל מקום.

A Jew must also seek to find the illumination of the Torah in every place.

The search for Torah is not confined to the study hall; one should look for its light in everything he encounters.

שאין לך דבר שאין בו תורה.

For there is nothing that does not contain Torah.

Every thing and every circumstance holds within it some teaching of Torah, waiting to be found.

וכשאדם נותן לבו לחפש למצוא איזה לימוד בכל הבא לפניו הוא בכלל סלסלה ותרוממך.

And when a person sets his heart to seek out some lesson in everything that comes before him, he is included in "Exalt her and she will raise you up."

Actively searching for a Torah lesson in all of life is itself the avodah of "salseleha" — the humble gleaning that causes the Torah to elevate him.

ואיתא רצה הקב"ה לזכות את ישראל הרבה להם תורה דכ' למען צדקו יגדיל תורה.

And it is brought: The Holy One, blessed be He, wished to grant merit to Yisrael, so He gave them an abundance of Torah, as it is written: "For the sake of His righteousness, He made the Torah great and glorious" (Yeshayahu 42:21).

Hashem multiplied the Torah and its mitzvos out of love, to give Bnei Yisrael more opportunities for merit.

כי באמת התורה היא שמו של הקב"ה והוא אחד.

For in truth the Torah is the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He, and He is One.

At its root the entire Torah is a single, unified Name of Hashem, reflecting His absolute oneness.

ולזכות אותנו הרבה את התורה בצירופים שונים משמו הקדוש.

And in order to grant us merit, He expanded the Torah into various combinations (tzerufim) of His holy Name.

To give us a Torah we can engage with, Hashem "unfolded" His one Name into the many letter-combinations that make up the words of Torah.

עד שנתגלה לנו התורה בצירופים הערוכים לפנינו.

Until the Torah was revealed to us in the combinations arranged before us.

The Torah we hold — its arranged words and verses — is the revealed form of those combinations of the Divine Name.

וכל אלה הצירופים אחוזים ומדובקים בשמו הגדול והקדוש.

And all these combinations are bound and attached to His great and holy Name.

Beneath the surface, every word of Torah remains connected to the one great Name of Hashem from which it was formed.

וע"ז א' ושמך הגדול והקדוש עלינו קראת.

And concerning this it is said: "And Your great and holy Name You have called upon us."

By giving us the Torah, Hashem placed His own Name upon Bnei Yisrael, binding us to Himself.

הוא התורה שהיא שמו של הקב"ה ונתן לנו דביקות בזאת התורה כי קריאה לשון חיבה ודביקות:

This is the Torah, which is the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He; and He gave us deveikus (attachment) to this Torah — for "calling" (keriah) is an expression of love and attachment.

"You have called Your Name upon us" expresses chibah and deveikus: through the Torah, which is His Name, Hashem drew us close to Himself in love. This is the joy of Simchas Torah.

Summary: On Simchas Torah we must honor the Torah by toiling in it, recognizing that it is infinite and that all we can grasp is merely the "gleanings" and overflow of the supernal Torah. As with the gleaner in the vineyard and Bnei Yisrael standing humbly at the foot of Sinai, it is precisely through humility — knowing how little we attain and searching for Torah's light everywhere — that "salseleha u'teromemecha," the Torah raises a person to the heights. Ultimately the Torah is the very Name of Hashem, unfolded into letter-combinations so we can merit it, and through it He has called His Name upon us in love and deveikus.