Infinite levels of Torah and dveikus

במדרש לקח טוב נתתי כו'.

In the Midrash: "A good acquisition (lekach tov) I have given you," etc.

The Sfas Emes opens from the Midrash on the pasuk in Mishlei, "For I have given you a good lekach (acquisition/teaching) — do not forsake My Torah."

חושב המעלות שבמקח הזה יש הכל כסף זהב שדות וכרמים כו' ובמקח הזה א"י מה לקח כו' וכי המוכר נמכר עמו ע"ש.

It enumerates the virtues of this "purchase": in it there is everything — silver, gold, fields, and vineyards, etc.; and with this purchase one does not know what he has acquired, etc.; and that the seller is sold along with it — see there.

The Midrash describes Torah as a purchase that contains everything of value, yet whose buyer cannot grasp the full extent of what he has gained — and in which, astonishingly, "the Seller is sold along with it," i.e., Hashem Himself comes with the Torah.

שזה תכלית המקח של התורה לדבוק בו ית' ולכן תורתי אל תעזובו שאין סוף למדריגות הנמצאים בהתורה.

For this is the ultimate purpose of the "purchase" of the Torah — to cleave to Him, may He be blessed; and therefore "do not forsake My Torah," for there is no end to the levels found within the Torah.

The whole goal of "acquiring" Torah is dveikus, attachment to Hashem Himself; one must never forsake it, because its levels are infinite.

ואחר שנמצא הכל בתורה זהב וכסף הוא בירור המדות וכל השלימות.

And since everything is found in the Torah — "gold and silver" is the refinement of one's middos (character traits) and all perfection.

The "gold and silver" the Midrash mentions correspond to the perfecting of one's character and every kind of completeness available through Torah.

אח"כ יבוא למדריגה עליונה שידע ויבין כי אינו יודע מה לקח כי תכלית הידיעה שנדע שא"א לידע.

Afterward he comes to a higher level: that he knows and understands that he does not know what he has acquired — for the goal of knowledge is that we know that it is impossible to know.

Beyond refining one's middos lies a higher rung — the humbling recognition that the Torah is unfathomable; the summit of knowing is knowing that one cannot fully know.

ואח"כ יבוא למדריגה עליונה שהמוכר נמכר עמו והוא תכלית התורה כנ"ל.

And afterward he comes to the highest level: that "the Seller is sold along with it" — and this is the ultimate purpose of the Torah, as above.

The loftiest rung is the realization that Hashem Himself is "included in the sale" — that through Torah one attains the very dveikus with the Giver, which is its entire purpose.

ומי שהוגה בתורה לעולם צריך להכין עצמו להשיג מה שלא השיג שאין סוף למדריגות התורה.

And one who toils in Torah must always prepare himself to grasp that which he has not yet grasped, for there is no end to the levels of the Torah.

Because Torah is infinite, the one who studies it must constantly ready himself to reach yet higher levels he has not attained.

לכן בזר של ארון כתיב עליו.

Therefore, regarding the crown (zeir) of the Aron (the golden rim atop the Ark), the word "alav" ("upon it") is written.

The Torah specifies that the golden crown of the Ark was made "upon it" — a hint that the crown of Torah always points beyond itself, to what is still higher.

כמ"ש מדרכיו ישבע סוג לב ומעליו איש טוב אין טוב אלא תורה.

As it is written: "From his own ways the backsliding-hearted is sated, but a good man [is satisfied] from that which is above him" — and "good" refers to nothing but the Torah.

The pasuk in Mishlei contrasts the complacent person, satisfied with his own attainments, with the "good man" (the man of Torah), who is satisfied only by what lies above him — always reaching higher.

כי בעל תורה כל התשוקה להתבטל למה שלמעלה ממנו.

For the whole longing of the man of Torah is to nullify himself (bittul) to that which is above him.

The defining desire of a Torah person is bittul — to humble and nullify himself before the higher levels constantly beckoning him upward.

והוא כמ"ש בזוה"ק על פסוק החכם עיניו בראשו:

And this is as is written in the Zohar HaKadosh on the pasuk: "The wise man — his eyes are in his head (b'rosho)."

The Zohar reads "his eyes are in his head" as meaning the wise man fixes his gaze on his "Rosh," his Source above — always looking upward to that which transcends him.

Summary: The Torah is a "good acquisition" that contains everything, yet its true purpose is dveikus with Hashem, for "the Seller is sold along with it." The Sfas Emes maps three ascending levels: refining one's middos ("gold and silver"), then realizing the Torah is unknowable in its depth, and finally attaining the Giver Himself. Since the levels of Torah are endless, the true ben Torah lives in constant bittul and yearning, like the crown of the Aron and "the wise man whose eyes are in his head," always reaching toward what lies above him.