Three modes of receiving the Torah

במדרש עלית למרום כו'.

In the Midrash on "You ascended on high…"

The Sefas Emes opens from the verse "You ascended on high, you took a captive, you received gifts," which speaks of Moshe receiving the Torah.

ע"ש שדורש ג' בחי' בתורה שבי לקיחה מתנה.

See there, for it expounds three aspects in the Torah: captivity (shevi), taking (lekichah), and gift (matanah).

The Midrash finds three modes by which the Torah comes to us — as a captive seized, as something taken through effort, and as a free gift.

ונראה שעל זה תקנו שלשה ברכות.

And it appears that corresponding to this they instituted three blessings.

The three Birkos HaTorah parallel these three aspects of the Torah.

לעסוק בדברי תורה הוא מה שיכולין למצוא ע"י יגיעה בתורה ונק' לקיחה.

"To engage in the words of Torah" (la'asok b'divrei Torah) refers to what one can find through toil (yegiah) in the Torah, and this is called "taking" (lekichah).

The blessing "la'asok b'divrei Torah" corresponds to lekichah — the dimension of Torah that a person acquires through his own hard work and effort.

ויש בחי' מתנה וע"ז מבקשין והערב נא ומברכין המלמד תורה לעמו ישראל.

And there is the aspect of "gift" (matanah), concerning which we request "and make sweet, please…" and we bless "[Hashem,] who teaches Torah to His people Yisrael."

The blessing "v'ha'arev na" corresponds to matanah — the Torah that comes as a gift from above, which we ask Hashem to make sweet and which He Himself teaches us.

במדת טובו וחסדו.

Through the measure of His goodness and kindness (chesed).

This gift of Torah flows purely from Hashem's goodness and chesed.

ויש בחי' שבי הוא עיקר התורה הקדושה שנעלמה מעיני כל חי.

And there is the aspect of "captivity" (shevi), which is the essence of the holy Torah that is hidden from the eyes of all living.

The deepest aspect is shevi — the inner essence of the holy Torah, concealed from every living being.

ונתלבשה בתורה ערוכה שלפנינו.

And it became clothed in the Torah arranged before us.

This hidden, supernal Torah is "clothed" within the revealed Torah we have in our hands.

ועל זה מברכין אשר בחר בנו כו' ונתן לנו את תורתו דייקא.

And concerning this we bless, "who chose us… and gave us His Torah" — precisely "His Torah."

The blessing "asher bachar banu… v'nasan lanu es Toraso" corresponds to shevi; the precise phrase "His Torah" points to that hidden, essential Torah which is uniquely His.

וזו התורה כביכול בשביה אצלינו כמ"ש במד' משפטים כי ימכור כו' בתו לאמה בת יחידה היתה לי ומכרתיה לכם שאין אתם מוציאים אותה אלא חבושה בארון.

And this Torah is, as it were, "in captivity" with us, as it is taught in the Midrash on Mishpatim, "When a man sells… his daughter as a maidservant" — "she was My only daughter, and I sold her to you, so that you do not take her out except confined in the Aron."

Hashem describes the Torah as His only daughter whom He "sold" to Bnei Yisrael, but on condition that she remain bound up with them — represented by her being housed in the Aron, never fully separated from Him.

פי' כמ"ש חרות על הלוחות כמ"ש בזה בפ' יתרו ע"ש.

The meaning is as it is written, "engraved (charus) on the Tablets," as we discussed regarding Parshas Yisro, see there.

The captive Torah is alluded to by "charus on the Luchos," a theme he developed in Yisro, suggesting freedom (cheirus) hidden within the engraving.

וכתב באוה"ח פרשת עקב כי לוחות הראשונים לא היו צריכין ארון כי היו מחזיקים א"ע בנס ע"ש.

And the Ohr HaChaim wrote on Parshas Eikev that the first Luchos did not require an Aron, for they held themselves up miraculously, see there.

The Ohr HaChaim teaches that the first Tablets needed no Aron because they sustained themselves through a miracle — the Torah in its undiminished state.

אך אחר החטא הוצרכה להתלבש בארון.

But after the sin, [the Torah] needed to become clothed within the Aron.

Only after the sin of the Golden Calf did the Torah require the "garment" of the Aron to contain and protect it.

ובג' ארונות שהוא רמז למיני צמצומים שיש לתורה עד שיכולין להנות מאורה.

And there were three arks, which alludes to the kinds of tzimtzumim (contractions) that the Torah undergoes until one is able to derive benefit from its light.

The three nested arks hint at the layers of contraction the Torah's light passes through, dimming it enough that human beings can receive and benefit from it.

וסיום הפסוק לא תצא כצאת העבדים כי התורה שהוריד אותה הקב"ה בשבילנו בוודאי הסוף שתעלה כל העוסקים בה להוציאם מאפילה לאורה.

And the end of the verse, "she shall not go out as the slaves go out," for the Torah which the Holy One brought down for our sake will surely, in the end, raise up all who engage in it, to bring them out from darkness to light.

The Torah's "descent" into our world is not a permanent lowering; like the maidservant who does not go out as slaves do, the Torah's ultimate purpose is to lift up all who toil in it, leading them from darkness to light.

כי היא ירידה שצורך עלייה.

For it is a descent for the sake of an ascent.

The Torah's coming down into this world is a yeridah tzorech aliyah — a descent whose entire purpose is a greater rising afterward.

וכמ"ש ארון נושא את נושאיו.

And as it is said, "the Aron carried those who carried it."

Just as the Aron miraculously bore the very ones who appeared to be carrying it, the Torah lifts up those who seem merely to be laboring at it.

וכמ"ש אף סוררים לשכון כו' שיכולה התורה לרחם ולקרב כל נדחי בני ישראל.

And as it is written, "even the rebellious, that [Hashem] may dwell…" — that the Torah is able to have mercy upon and draw near all the dispersed of Bnei Yisrael.

The Torah has the power to embrace even rebellious sinners, bringing back all the scattered and estranged of Bnei Yisrael.

וג' בחי' הנ"ל הם בחי' ג' אבות.

And the three aspects mentioned above correspond to the three Avos.

The three modes of the Torah — gift, taking, and captivity — align with the three Patriarchs.

מתנות באדם הם חסד לאברהם.

"Gifts among men" are the chesed of Avraham.

Matanah (gift) corresponds to Avraham, the embodiment of chesed.

ולקחת הוא בחי' יצחק.

And "taking" is the aspect of Yitzchak.

Lekichah, the dimension of effort and restraint, corresponds to Yitzchak, who represents gevurah and self-discipline.

ובאמת נראה כי הם בחי' מ"ע ומל"ת.

And in truth it appears that they are the aspects of positive and negative commandments (mitzvos asei and lo saaseh).

These two aspects, matanah and lekichah, also map onto the two categories of mitzvos — the positive and the prohibitive.

וכח כבישת היצר שלא לעבור על ל"ת הוא בחי' לקחת מה שאדם מניח הבלי עולם בשביל התורה.

And the power of subduing the yetzer so as not to transgress a prohibition is the aspect of "taking" — that a person sets aside the vanities of the world for the sake of the Torah.

Restraining oneself from the prohibitions, giving up worldly indulgence for Torah, is the effortful "taking" associated with Yitzchak and lo saaseh.

אבל מ"ע הוא מתנה וחסד שרצה הקב"ה לזכות את בני ישראל.

But a positive commandment is a gift and an act of chesed, by which the Holy One wished to grant merit to Bnei Yisrael.

The positive mitzvos are pure gift — Hashem's chesed in giving Bnei Yisrael opportunities to earn merit, corresponding to matanah and Avraham.

ושבית שבי הוא תתן אמת ליעקב ונק' תורת אמת.

And "you took a captive" (shavisa shevi) is "You shall give truth to Yaakov," and it is called the Torah of truth (Toras emes).

The third aspect, shevi, corresponds to Yaakov, who is emes — the hidden essence called the Torah of truth.

לכן בעלמא דשיקרא התורה נק' שבי שהיא מהופכת מכל סדר עוה"ז.

Therefore, in the world of falsehood (alma d'shikra), the Torah is called "captive," for it is the inverse of the entire order of this world.

Because this world is a realm of falsehood, the Torah of truth is like a captive within it — it runs opposite to everything in the worldly order.

והיא משיבת נפש להעלות אותנו משקר לאמת.

And it "restores the soul," to raise us up from falsehood to truth.

The Torah revives the soul by lifting a person out of the world's falsehood and into the realm of emes.

ובמדרש אני ישנה ולבי כו' קול דודי דופק.

And in the Midrash on "I am asleep but my heart is awake… the voice of my Beloved knocks."

He turns to the verse from Shir HaShirim describing the soul "asleep" yet inwardly stirred by the knocking of the Divine Beloved.

מרתיק עלי כו'.

"He knocks upon me…"

The Beloved knocks, seeking to rouse the slumbering soul to open itself.

והענין הוא לומר שזה הרצון ונדיבות להשי"ת נמצא בכל איש ישראל.

And the matter is to say that this desire and generosity (nedivus) toward Hashem exists within every Jew.

Every Jew already possesses an inner ratzon, a willing-heartedness toward Hashem, lying within him.

רק שצריכין להוציאו מכח אל הפועל.

It is only that one must bring it from potential into actuality.

This latent desire needs only to be drawn out and activated from its hidden, potential state.

וקול דודי הוא קול התורה שבכח העסק בתורה יכולין להוציא המטמוניות שבלב מכח לפועל.

And "the voice of my Beloved" is the voice of the Torah, for through engaging in Torah one can bring the hidden treasures of the heart from potential into actuality.

The knocking voice is the call of the Torah; toiling in it is what unlocks the hidden treasures buried in a Jew's heart and brings them into the open.

וזה לקח טוב נתתי לכם שהתורה היא מאירה לאדם למצוא ההארות הגנוזים בו כמ"ש תורה אור.

And this is "a good acquisition (lekach tov) I have given you" — that the Torah illuminates a person to find the hidden lights within him, as it is written, "the Torah is light."

The Torah is a "good lekach" because it shines a light by which a person discovers the concealed illuminations already within his own soul.

ושם תורה על המראה שיכול האדם להסתכל באור תורה.

And the name "Torah" denotes a mirror (mar'ah), that a person can gaze into the light of Torah.

"Torah" is connected to "mar'ah," a mirror or lens, through which a person beholds and reflects the Divine light.

וכתיב מראהו כלבנו שכשזוכה אדם לקצת התגלות בתורה כמ"ש גל עיני ואביטה.

And it is written, "his appearance is like the Levanon," for when a person merits a small revelation in the Torah, as it is written, "uncover my eyes that I may behold…"

When a person attains even a slight unveiling of Torah's light — praying "uncover my eyes" — his soul is roused and brightened.

אז לבו מתלבלב ועושה פירות וזהו קול דודי דופק:

Then his heart blossoms (mislalev) and bears fruit — and this is "the voice of my Beloved knocks."

That first glimmer of Torah causes the heart to bud and bear fruit; this awakening is precisely the "knocking of the Beloved" rousing the slumbering soul to flower.

Summary: The Torah was received in three modes — matanah (gift), lekichah (taking through toil), and shevi (captivity) — corresponding to the three Birkos HaTorah and the three Avos: Avraham/chesed/positive mitzvos, Yitzchak/restraint/prohibitions, and Yaakov/emes, the hidden Toras emes that lies "captive" within this world of falsehood, never fully separated from Hashem (the daughter confined in the Aron). The Torah's descent into our world, veiled through layers of tzimtzum, is a yeridah for the sake of aliyah: it bears up those who carry it and draws back even the most distant Jews. Within every Jew lies a hidden ratzon and concealed lights; the "voice of the Beloved" — the call of Torah — knocks to draw these treasures from potential into actuality, until the heart blossoms and bears fruit.