Humility guards Torah before and after

ובמדרש משל למטרונה זיין לפניה וזיין לאחריה כך התורה דינין מלפני' ודינין לאחרי' כו'.

And in the Midrash: a parable of a noblewoman (matronah) with an armed guard before her and an armed guard behind her — so too the Torah has laws (dinim) before it and laws after it.

The Midrash likens the Torah to a queen flanked by guards: just as Parshas Yisro (the giving of the Torah) is preceded and followed by civil laws, the Torah itself is "guarded" by mishpatim on both sides.

פירוש שקודם שזוכין לתורה צריכין לתקן עצמו עפ"י מדה"ד לתקן כל פרטי המעשים.

The explanation: before one merits the Torah, he must rectify himself according to the attribute of strict justice (midas hadin), perfecting all the details of his deeds.

The "guard in front" is the preparatory work of midas hadin — a person must first set all his actions straight through disciplined self-correction before he is worthy to receive the Torah.

אח"כ זוכין לתורה שהיא מדה"ר.

Afterward one merits the Torah, which is the attribute of mercy (midas harachamim).

The Torah itself corresponds to midas harachamim, the gift of mercy that one earns only after the groundwork of justice.

כמ"ש בפרשה הקודמת בענין לקחת מתנות כו'.

As was written in the previous parsha regarding "to take gifts..."

He references his earlier teaching on receiving the Torah as a "gift," reinforcing that the Torah is bestowed as a matnas chinam of mercy.

אמנם כן גם אחר שזוכין לתורה צריכין לדקדק ביותר שלא לבוא ח"ו לידי גבהות ע"י התורה.

Even so, after one merits the Torah he must be even more careful, lest he come, Heaven forbid, to haughtiness through the Torah.

The "guard behind" addresses a subtler danger: once a person has acquired Torah, he must guard all the more against the gaavah that learning can breed.

וצריכין לשוב בתשובה ע"י התורה שידע האדם ויבוש בעצמו איך הקב"ה היטיב עמו וזכהו לתורה.

And one must return in teshuvah by means of the Torah, that a person should know and feel ashamed within himself at how the Holy One, blessed be He, has been good to him and granted him the merit of Torah.

The very Torah should drive him to teshuvah: realizing how undeservedly Hashem favored him with the gift of Torah should fill him with a humbling sense of shame before Hashem.

ומזה יפול עליו בושה וישוב בתשובה ועי"ז התורה מתקיימת אצלו.

And from this a sense of shame falls upon him and he returns in teshuvah, and through this the Torah endures within him.

This humble shame leads to genuine teshuvah, and it is precisely this humility that allows the Torah to take root and remain with him permanently.

וזו היראה והמשפט שאחר השגת התורה היא יראה אמיתית שיראה הקודמת היא ע"י חסרון דעת.

And this fear and judgment that come after attaining the Torah is a true yirah, whereas the earlier fear was due to a deficiency of understanding (chisaron da'as).

The yirah one reaches after acquiring Torah is authentic, born of knowledge; the yirah that preceded Torah was rooted only in ignorance and lack of clarity.

ויראה זו בא ע"י הדעת שרואה ומבין ע"י התורה איך ליבוש מפני הבורא ית' והוא דבר של קיימא.

And this fear comes through da'as, for through the Torah he sees and understands how to feel shame before the Creator, may He be blessed, and it is something enduring.

Because this yiras Shomayim flows from da'as — true understanding gained through Torah of how to stand humbly before Hashem — it is lasting and unshakable.

וגם המשל כן הוא שזיין שקודם המטרונה הוא לבל יקרב לה איש רע ובליעל.

And the parable too is thus: the guard before the noblewoman is so that no wicked and worthless man should draw near to her.

Returning to the mashal: the forward guard keeps unworthy people away — corresponding to the prerequisite refinement that bars a person from approaching the Torah while still unfit.

והזיין שלאחרי' הוא מי שכבר נתחבר אלי' שלא יתעכב (עצמו אלי') [אצלה] יותר מדאי.

And the guard behind her is for one who has already joined himself to her, that he should not remain with her overly much.

The rear guard addresses one who has already drawn close to the queen — the Torah — warning him not to become overly familiar, that is, not to let closeness breed presumption.

ויהיה עליו פחד ומורא ויזכור כי היא המלכה ולא יהי' שוה בעיניו להתקרב אלי' יותר מדאי כנ"ל.

And there should be upon him fear and awe, and he should remember that she is the queen, and it should not be light in his eyes to draw near to her overly much, as explained.

Even after attaining Torah, one must retain pachad and yirah, remembering that the Torah is "the queen" — so that closeness never slides into the casual presumption of gaavah.

[והמ"י שהוא סוד הו' שבין ב' הההי"ן]:

[And the "matter to understand," which is the secret of the vav between the two heis.]

A bracketed allusion to the inner sod: the letter vav standing between the two heis of Hashem's Name hints at the balance between the two "guards" — justice before and the enduring, connecting humility after.

Summary: Reading the Midrash of the queen guarded front and back, the Sefas Emes teaches that Torah (midas harachamim) must be preceded by self-rectification through midas hadin and followed by an even more careful guard — the humility and authentic yiras Shomayim born of recognizing Hashem's undeserved kindness, which alone allows the Torah to endure within a person and protects him from the gaavah that learning can breed.