Freedom engraved on the tablets

במדרש בפסוק פסל לך כו' ויגד לך תעלומות חכמה.

In the Midrash on the verse "Carve for yourself..." (Shemos 34:1): "and He would tell you the hidden things of wisdom (ta'alumos chochmah)" (Iyov 11:6).

The Midrash connects the second set of luchos (tablets) to "hidden wisdom," and the Sefas Emes will explain why the second luchos contained concealed Torah.

הראשונים לא הי' בהם רק עשרת הדיברות ואחרונים הי' בהם מדרש ואגדות כו'.

In the first luchos there were only the Aseres HaDibros (Ten Commandments), but in the latter ones there were Midrash and Aggados.

The first tablets held the Torah in its pure, revealed form; the second tablets included the layers of midrash and aggadah — the "hidden wisdom."

ע"ש.

See there.

The Sefas Emes refers the reader to the Midrash for the full statement.

דהנה בראשונים כתיב חרות על הלוחות דרשו חז"ל חירות.

For regarding the first luchos it is written, "charus (engraved) upon the tablets" (Shemos 32:16), and Chazal expounded: do not read "charus" (engraved) but "cheirus" (freedom) (Avos 6:2).

Chazal reread the word "engraved" as "freedom," teaching that the first tablets carried a power of liberation.

דכתיב והלוחות מעשה אלקים המה שהיו דבוקים באלקותו ית"ש כמו שהיו מוכנים בנ"י בשעת מתן תורה להיות כמלאכים כמ"ש אמרתי אלקים אתם.

For it is written, "and the tablets were the work of God" (Shemos 32:16) — that they were attached to His Godliness, may His Name be blessed, just as Bnei Yisrael were prepared at Matan Torah to be like malachim, as it says, "I said, you are godlike beings (Elokim atem)" (Tehillim 82:6).

The first tablets were directly bonded to Hashem's own Godliness, matching the angelic state of Bnei Yisrael at Sinai.

וכמו שהי' אדה"ר קודם החטא הי' עולה ויורד בעולם העליון והתחתון.

And just as Adam HaRishon before the sin would ascend and descend between the upper world and the lower world.

Before his sin, Adam could move freely between the spiritual and physical realms — the same freedom Bnei Yisrael recovered at Sinai.

לכן נברא האדם להיות כלול מעליונים ותחתונים.

Therefore man was created to be composed of both the higher and the lower realms.

Man's design is to bridge the spiritual and physical worlds, belonging to both.

וזה עיקר החירות שלא יתקשר הנפש בגוף ויוכל לעלות בכל עת כמו אליהו הנביא ע"ה עלה שמים וירד.

And this is the essence of freedom — that the soul not be bound to the body, and that it be able to ascend at any time, like Eliyahu HaNavi who "ascended to heaven" (Melachim II 2:11) and descended.

True freedom means the soul is not imprisoned by the body but can rise whenever it wishes, as Eliyahu could.

ולכן כ' אשר הוצאתי אתכם מארץ מצרים שנעשו בני חורין שיוכלו לקבל הלוחות שהם חירות.

Therefore it is written, "who took you out of the land of Mitzrayim" (Shemos 20:2) — for they became free men, able to receive the luchos, which are "freedom."

The Exodus made Bnei Yisrael into free people, and only as free people could they receive the tablets of freedom.

וחרות הוא כמו דרור שדרשו חז"ל שנק' צפור דרור שיש לו חירות כמדייר בי דיירא ומוליך סחורה לכל מדינתא כו'.

And "cheirus" is like "dror," which Chazal expounded regarding the "tzippor dror" (free bird) that has freedom, "as it dwells (madyir) in any dwelling and carries merchandise to every land" (Beitzah 24a).

The free bird, at home anywhere and unconfined, is the model of the freedom the tablets confer.

וכמו כן הנשמה נק' צפור דרור.

And likewise the neshamah is called a "free bird."

The soul, when free, is itself the unconfined bird that can soar between the worlds.

וכן הי' הכתב שעל הלוחות עולה ויורד.

So too the writing upon the tablets would ascend and descend.

Even the letters engraved on the first tablets had this quality of freedom, rising and descending.

ולכן דרשו חז"ל שאחר החטא פרחו האותיות מן הלוחות.

Therefore Chazal expounded that after the sin (of the Golden Calf) the letters flew off from the tablets.

When Bnei Yisrael sinned, the freely-moving letters departed and the tablets shattered.

פירוש כשעלו וחזרו אל הלוחות ובעבור החטא לא היו יכולין להתדבק עוד בהלוחות שלמטה.

The meaning is: when they (the letters) ascended and then returned to the tablets, because of the sin they could no longer attach themselves to the tablets below.

The letters, which constantly rose and returned, could no longer re-attach to the physical tablets once the sin had created a barrier.

כי הכתב והלוחות היו כמו הנפש והגוף.

For the writing and the tablets were like the soul and the body.

The letters were the "soul" and the stone tablets the "body"; the sin severed their union, just as sin severs soul from a sanctified body.

ולכן אחר שנתקבלו בנ"י בתשובה והוחזר להם הלוחות היו באופן אחר שהוצרך התורה להתלבש במדרשות ואגדות.

Therefore, after Bnei Yisrael were accepted back through teshuvah and the tablets were restored to them, they were in a different manner, for the Torah now needed to be clothed in midrashos and aggados.

The second tablets, given after teshuvah, no longer held Torah in its pure revealed form; now the Torah had to be "garbed" in layers of interpretation.

ונק' תעלומות חכמה.

And this is called "the hidden things of wisdom" (ta'alumos chochmah).

This clothed, layered Torah of the second tablets is the "concealed wisdom" the Midrash spoke of.

ומקודם הי' הכל בהתגלות אור כי טוב.

Beforehand, everything was in a state of revelation — "the light, that it was good" (Bereishis 1:4).

The first tablets reflected the original revealed light of Creation, before that light was hidden away.

ולכן כתיב מקודם י"ג מדות והוא כמו י"ג מדות שהתורה נדרשת בהם וכתוב בספרים כי הי"ג מדות הם שורש הי"ג מדות שהתורה נדרשת בהם והכל ענין אחד כי מקודם לא היו צריכין לאלה המדות כי התורה ארוכה מארץ מדה.

Therefore it is written beforehand the Yud-Gimmel Middos (Thirteen Attributes of Mercy), which are like the Thirteen Middos by which the Torah is expounded; and it is written in the sefarim that the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy are the root of the Thirteen Middos by which the Torah is expounded — and it is all one matter — for beforehand they did not need these middos, since "the Torah is longer than the earth in measure" (Iyov 11:9).

The Thirteen Attributes of Mercy (revealed at the second luchos) are the root of the Thirteen hermeneutical principles of Torah interpretation; before the sin no such interpretive tools were needed, for the Torah was grasped in its boundless, direct fullness.

והיו דבוקים בעשרת הדברות.

And they were attached to the Aseres HaDibros.

Originally Bnei Yisrael clung directly to the Ten Commandments in their pure revealed form, without need of interpretation.

ואח"כ הוצרכו להתלבש בי"ג מדות שהם כלים האיך לאחוז בתורה גם בעוה"ז.

And afterward they needed the Torah to be clothed in the Thirteen Middos, which are the tools for how to grasp the Torah even in this world.

After the fall, the interpretive middos became necessary as the "vessels" by which one can still take hold of Torah within the limitations of the physical world.

ועל זה כתיב עשה אלקים את האדם ישר והמה בקשו חשבונות רבים.

Concerning this it is written, "God made man upright, but they sought many calculations" (Koheles 7:29).

Man was originally "upright" and direct; the fall introduced complexity and the need for "calculations" — the interpretive layers.

ולכן עתה נקראת התורה שבי.

Therefore the Torah is now called "captive" (shevi).

In its present state the Torah is, as it were, in captivity — concealed and constrained rather than openly revealed.

והרמז עמו אנכי בצרה.

And the hint is, "I am with him in distress" (Tehillim 91:15).

Hashem Himself, as it were, accompanies the Torah into its constrained state, dwelling with it in the "distress" of concealment.

כי כביכול התורה במאסר במצות גשמיות שבנ"י מקיימים בגלות.

For, as it were, the Torah is in imprisonment within the physical mitzvos that Bnei Yisrael fulfill in galus.

The Torah is "imprisoned" within the physical performance of mitzvos in exile — its inner light hidden inside concrete deeds.

וכפי החירות שנמצא בנפשות בני ישראל כך מתקיים חרות על הלוחות.

And according to the freedom found within the souls of Bnei Yisrael, so is "cheirus (freedom) upon the tablets" fulfilled.

The degree of inner freedom that Bnei Yisrael cultivate in their souls is the degree to which the freedom of the tablets is realized.

ולכן בש"ק שנק' יום מנוחה וחירות יש התגלות בתורה וזה קריאת התורה בשבת:

Therefore on Shabbos Kodesh, which is called a day of rest and freedom, there is a revelation in the Torah, and this is the reading of the Torah on Shabbos.

Because Shabbos is a day of freedom, the hidden inner light of Torah becomes revealed on it — which is the deeper meaning of the public Torah reading on Shabbos.

Summary: The first luchos contained only the pure, revealed Ten Commandments, "engraved" (charus) but read as "freedom" (cheirus) — a Torah directly bonded to Hashem, matching the angelic, unconfined state of Bnei Yisrael at Sinai and Adam before his sin. The letters, like a free soul, ascended and descended; but after the sin of the Golden Calf they flew off and could not re-attach to the physical tablets. The second luchos, given after teshuvah, had to clothe the Torah in midrash, aggadah, and the Thirteen interpretive middos — the "hidden wisdom" needed to grasp Torah in a fallen world. The Torah is now "captive" within physical mitzvos in galus, but to the extent Bnei Yisrael cultivate inner freedom, the freedom of the tablets is restored — most fully on Shabbos, the day of freedom when the Torah is revealed and read.