Hidden and revealed dimensions of Torah

עוד למדרש הנ"ל יש לך מקח שב"א אינם יודעין מה לקח.

Further on the aforementioned Midrash: "There is a purchase in which people do not know what was acquired."

The Sefas Emes builds on a Midrash that speaks of the Torah as a "purchase" whose true nature is hidden even from those who possess it.

רק משכר הסרסור נתוודע כו' ומשה לא ידע כו'.

Only from the reward of the broker does it become known… and even Moshe did not know.

The Midrash teaches that the value of this hidden "purchase" — the Torah — was so concealed that even Moshe Rabbeinu did not grasp its full worth; it could be sensed only indirectly, through the broker's reward.

הגם כי הלוקח בוודאי יודע המקח.

Even though the purchaser surely knows what he has bought.

Ordinarily the buyer himself certainly knows what he acquired — so how can it be that the recipients of the Torah do not?

אבל התורה סתים וגליא כדאיתא בזוה"ק קוב"ה וכן התורה וכן ישראל יש להם בחי' סתים וגליא.

But the Torah is "concealed and revealed," as it is brought in the Zohar HaKadosh: the Kadosh Baruch Hu, and likewise the Torah, and likewise Yisrael, each have an aspect of "concealed and revealed" (sasim v'galya).

The Zohar's principle is that Hashem, the Torah, and Bnei Yisrael each have a hidden, inner dimension and an outer, revealed one — and it is the hidden dimension of Torah that remains beyond ordinary knowing.

עיקר התורה שלמעלה לנשמתן של ישראל.

The essence of the Torah, which is above, belongs to the neshamos (souls) of Yisrael.

The true, supernal core of Torah is bound to the souls of Bnei Yisrael at their root, above the physical world.

ובני אדם בעוה"ז א"י לידע זה שמכסה הגוף מעכב.

And people in this world cannot know this, for the covering of the body obstructs it.

In Olam HaZeh (this world) the body conceals the soul's inner connection to Torah, preventing a person from perceiving it.

ולכן מרע"ה איש אלקים מחצה איש מחצה אלקים זכה לראות.

Therefore Moshe Rabbeinu, the "man of Hashem" — half man, half godly — merited to see it.

Because Moshe transcended the limitations of the body, being "half man, half divine," he was able to glimpse even the hidden dimension of Torah.

וכ"כ מה רב טובך אשר צפנת חלק הגנוז.

And so it is written: "How abundant is Your goodness that You have hidden away" — this is the concealed portion.

The posuk speaks of a "hidden" goodness, corresponding to the concealed, inner dimension of Torah.

פעלת לחוסים חלק הנגלה.

"You have wrought for those who take refuge in You" — this is the revealed portion.

The same posuk continues with what Hashem "wrought" openly, corresponding to the revealed dimension accessible in this world.

ובשבת קודש מתנה מבית גנזי יש הארה מחלק הנסתר.

And on the holy Shabbos — "a gift from My treasure house" — there is an illumination from the hidden portion.

Shabbos, which Hashem calls a gift from His hidden treasury, opens a window onto the concealed dimension of Torah and kedushah.

ולכן יש בו נשמה יתירה.

And therefore it contains a neshamah yeseirah (an additional soul).

The extra soul of Shabbos is what enables a person to receive this illumination from the hidden realm.

ולכן כל מעשיו כפולים כמ"ש חז"ל זכור ושמור.

And therefore all of its observances are doubled, as Chazal said: "Remember" and "Guard."

Because Shabbos joins the revealed and concealed dimensions, its mitzvos come in pairs — like the two expressions "zachor" and "shamor" for keeping Shabbos.

לחם משנה.

The double bread (lechem mishneh).

The two loaves of Shabbos likewise express this doubling of the revealed and hidden.

מזמור שיר.

"A psalm, a song" (mizmor shir).

The doubled praise "mizmor shir" of the Shabbos psalm is another expression of this twofold quality.

רמוז לב' בחי' הנ"ל:

All hinting at the two aspects mentioned above.

Each of these "doubles" of Shabbos alludes to the joined pair of the revealed and the concealed dimensions of Torah.

Summary: The Torah, like Hashem and like Bnei Yisrael, has a "concealed and revealed" nature; its true essence is bound to the souls of Yisrael above, hidden by the body in this world so that even Moshe barely perceived it. On Shabbos, through the neshamah yeseirah, an illumination breaks through from that hidden dimension — which is why the day's observances all come "doubled" (zachor and shamor, lechem mishneh, mizmor shir), uniting the revealed and concealed aspects of Torah.