Union of Distance and Closeness

במדרש ואל מי תדמיוני ואשוה א"כ יאמר קדוש שאו מרום עיניכם כו'.

In the Midrash: “And to whom will you liken Me and make Me equal? Thus it says: Holy, lift your eyes on high…”

The Sefat Emet begins by citing the Midrash, which teaches that God is incomparable and beyond human grasp, yet Israel is commanded to raise their perception upward.

הענין הוא כי באמת צריך האדם לידע כי אין לו שום שייכות והשגה בו ית'.

The matter is that a person must truly know that he has no connection or comprehension of the Blessed One.

The first foundation is total humility: by essence, humanity cannot grasp God at all.

אכן מצד הבריאה שהשי"ת ברא אותנו מצד זה יש לנו שייכות אליו.

However, from the aspect of creation—that the Holy One created us—through this we do have a connection to Him.

Our link to God exists only because He willed it through creation; this bestowed relationship is not inherent.

ובהצטרפות ב' הידיעות נוכל לעבוד אותו שיתקבל לפניו לרצון עבודתינו.

And through joining these two knowings, we can serve Him so that our service is acceptable before Him.

Only when we hold both truths—our nothingness and our God-given closeness—does our service become whole.

וזה שלום לרחוק ולקרוב.

And this is “peace to the distant and to the near.”

The verse refers to harmonizing distance and nearness within the soul.

פי' מי שיש בו ב' הבחי' שיודע שהוא מרוחק ושאעפ"כ הוא מקורב ושניהם אמת ואין בזה סתירה.

Meaning: one who possesses both aspects—who knows he is distant and yet nevertheless close—and both are true without contradiction.

This inner dialectic is the essence of spiritual peace: living simultaneously in humility and in covenantal closeness.

ויתכן שלכן הקדים מרע"ה מצות השבת קודם מלאכת המשכן.

It is possible that this is why Moshe our teacher placed the command of Shabbat before the work of the Mishkan.

Shabbat is given precedence because it teaches the existential stance needed before sacred action.

להודיע כי הגם שצוה הקב"ה לבני ישראל לעשות משכן וציורים לדברים עליונים.

To make known that although God commanded Israel to build a Mishkan and images corresponding to supernal matters…

Even holy construction projects risk misleading us into thinking we resemble the divine.

מ"מ נדע כי אין בנו הדמיון והשתוות מצד עצמינו להעליונים.

Nevertheless we must know that we have no likeness or equivalence to the upper realms from our own selves.

We must never confuse symbol with essence; our works do not make us divine.

וצריכין להבטל אליו ית'.

And we must nullify ourselves before Him.

Self‑nullification is the prerequisite to all spiritual creation.

שזה ענין השבת השבתות כל המעשים.

For this is the concept of Shabbat: cessation of all deeds.

Shabbat teaches release—stepping back from action to affirm God as the true source.

וזה הביטול הוא קיום כל המעשים.

And this nullification is the sustenance of all deeds.

Only through surrender does human action gain permanence and divine acceptance.

ובהצטרפות השבת ועשיית המשכן נגמר המכוון והשלימות כענין לרחוק ולקרוב שכתבנו.

And through the joining of Shabbat and the making of the Mishkan, the intention and completeness are achieved, as with “the distant and the near” mentioned above.

Shabbat (distance) and Mishkan (closeness) mirror the spiritual dialectic; together they produce wholeness.

וכן ענין ברכת המצות שאמרו חז"ל שצריך לברך עובר לעשייתן.

And so too with the matter of the blessing over commandments, which the Sages said must be recited before performing them.

The blessing precedes the act to establish the proper inner stance.

פי' הברכה לידע כי לא מצד עצמותינו יש לנו כח לגשת לקדושת המצות.

Meaning: the blessing is to know that not from our essence do we have the power to approach the holiness of the commandments.

One blesses to affirm that the capacity to perform mitzvot is granted, not innate.

וזה הביטול הוא קודם וחשוב יותר מגוף המעשה וזה עובר לעשייתן.

And this nullification comes before and is more important than the act itself, and this is “before their performance.”

The inner surrender is the true beginning of any mitzvah; the external action only follows.

Summary: The Sefat Emet teaches that spiritual wholeness arises from holding two truths—our essential distance from God and our God‑given closeness. Shabbat represents surrender and distance; the Mishkan represents active closeness. Joined together, they model the inner dynamic required for authentic divine service, echoed also in the blessings that precede commandments.