Completion unlocks the Torah's gift

במדרש ויתן אל משה ככלותו לסוף מ' יום אמר א"י כלום נתן לו הקב"ה במתנה כו'.

In the Midrash: "And He gave to Moshe when He finished (ke-kaloso)" — at the end of forty days. It said: I do not know — did the Holy One, blessed is He, perhaps give it to him as a gift, etc.

The Midrash (on Shemos 31:18) notices the word "ke-kaloso" and asks how Moshe Rabbeinu acquired the whole Torah, suggesting it came to him as an outright gift from Hashem.

פי' שדייק תיבת ככלותו לומר כי הכל תלוי בסוף המעשה.

The explanation is that it derives precisely from the word "ke-kaloso" to say that everything depends on the completion of the deed.

The word "when He finished" teaches that the decisive moment is the finishing — it is the end of an act that gives it its full worth.

כי בכל המצות אין בכח האדם להתדבק בשורש המצוה רק ע"י הסיוע משמים.

For in all the mitzvos it is not within a person's own power to cleave to the root of the mitzvah — only by means of Heavenly assistance.

A person cannot reach the inner source of any mitzvah by his own strength; that bond is granted as siyata diShmaya (Heavenly help).

שע"י קיום המצוה שמראה ומרמז להתדבק בקדושת המצות.

For through fulfilling the mitzvah — which shows and signals a longing to cleave to the holiness of the mitzvos —

The physical performance of the mitzvah is a person's way of demonstrating his desire to attach himself to its inner kedushah.

אז פותח לו הקב"ה שערי בינה.

then the Holy One, blessed is He, opens for him the gates of binah (understanding).

In response to that effort, Hashem opens the gates of deeper understanding that no person could force open on his own.

אך זה בא בסוף המעשה לכן המניח באמצע לא השיג עיקר המכוון.

But this comes only at the end of the deed; therefore one who leaves off in the middle has not attained the essential goal.

Because the opening of the gates is tied to completion, whoever abandons a mitzvah halfway misses the very thing it was meant to achieve.

וז"ש אין המצוה נקראת אלא על הגומרה.

And this is what they said: a mitzvah is called only after the one who completes it.

Chazal teach that a mitzvah is named for the one who finishes it — the credit belongs to completion.

ז"ש ככלותו אז זכה שניתנה לו במתנה.

This is the meaning of "ke-kaloso" — then he merited that it was given to him as a gift.

Precisely because Moshe Rabbeinu brought the avodah to its completion, he merited that the Torah was bestowed upon him as a gift.

כי מרע"ה לא פסק באמצע.

For Moshe Rabbeinu did not stop in the middle.

Moshe held nothing back and did not break off partway through his avodah.

וגמר כל מה שהי' בכחו.

And he completed all that was within his power.

He exhausted every bit of his own ability before the gift was granted.

ואז ניתן לו במתנה.

And then it was given to him as a gift.

Only after his own effort was complete did Hashem add what is beyond human reach.

גם פי' ככלותו הוא כלות הנפש לה'.

"Ke-kaloso" can also be explained as the yearning of the soul (kelos ha-nefesh) for Hashem.

The same root can be read not as "finishing" but as the soul's consuming longing — a craving that empties a person toward Hashem.

כיון שעשה בכל יכולתו והשלים כל כח נפשו להשיג פקודי ה'.

Since he acted with all his ability and brought the full force of his soul to bear in order to attain the commands of Hashem —

Moshe poured the entire strength of his nefesh into grasping the mitzvos of Hashem.

זכה שניתנה לו כל התורה במתנה.

he merited that the whole Torah was given to him as a gift.

That total self-investment is what earned him the Torah in its entirety.

וכמו כן כל אדם כפי כחו יכול להשיג מה שיש לנשמתו חלק בתורת ה' כמאמר ותן חלקנו בתורתך:

And likewise every person, according to his ability, can attain that portion which his soul has in the Torah of Hashem, as in the saying: "And give us our portion in Your Torah."

Every Jew, by giving everything within his own capacity, can reach the unique share of Torah that his neshamah is meant to receive — the portion we daven for each day.

Summary: The word "ke-kaloso" teaches that everything hinges on completion. A person cannot cleave to the inner root of a mitzvah by his own strength; but when he pours the full longing of his soul into finishing the avodah, Hashem opens the gates of understanding and grants what lies beyond human power — as a gift. So Moshe Rabbeinu received the whole Torah, and so every Jew can attain his own portion in it.