Accepting the Yoke Before Torah
במדרש ה' עוזי ומעוזי כשקרעת לנו הים אמרנו עזי וזמרת כו'.
In the Midrash: “Hashem is my strength and my fortress-when You split the sea for us, we said ‘my strength and song,’ etc.”
The Sefat Emet begins by noting that Israel acknowledged God's strength at the Red Sea.
כשנתת לנו התורה שנק' עוז בא יתרו כו'.
When You gave us the Torah, which is called ‘strength,’ then Jethro came, etc.
The giving of the Torah revealed divine strength in a manner that drew even Jethro.
דהנה כ' תנו עוז לאלקים ע"י גאותו ועוזו בשחקים.
For it is written: “Give strength to God-His majesty and might are in the heavens.”
Israel is described as adding ‘strength,’ so to speak, to God.
שבנ"י מוסיפין כח כביכול להקב"ה.
For Israel adds power, as it were, to the Holy One.
Their actions magnify God’s revealed sovereignty.
ופי' הענין דעוז היא התורה שהיא הנהגות כל המעשים ע"פ גזרות המקום ב"ה.
And the meaning is that ‘strength’ is the Torah, which governs all actions according to God’s decrees.
Torah is the divine system structuring all behavior.
ושלא יצא שום דבר קטן וגדול ממשפט וחוקי התורה.
No matter, great or small, departs from the Torah’s laws and judgments.
The Torah embraces the entire order of creation.
לכן נק' התורה עוז.
Therefore the Torah is called ‘strength.’
Its comprehensive authority is the meaning of its strength.
אבל ראינו כי הקב"ה נתן הבחירה בידי אדם לעשות ככל אשר יחפוץ.
Yet we see that God gave human beings free will to do as they choose.
This seems to challenge the Torah’s total governance.
והענין ע"פ דברי חז"ל ע"פ אנכי ה"א קבלו מלכותי. אח"כ גזירותי כו'.
And the matter follows the Sages: “With ‘I am Hashem’-accept My kingship; afterward My decrees.”
One must first accept God’s sovereignty before accepting the commandments.
פי' שאין זוכין לתורה רק ע"י הקדמת עול מלכותו ית'.
Meaning: one merits Torah only by first accepting God’s sovereignty.
The prerequisite is surrender of self-will.
ואמת כי זה הכח ניתן לבנ"י שיוכלו לצאת מן הבחירה להכניס עצמם תחת עול מלכותו ית"ש.
And indeed, Israel was given the power to transcend free will and enter under the yoke of His kingship.
Israel can rise above autonomy and bind themselves to divine rule.
וזה ה' עוז לעמו יתן.
This is “Hashem gives strength to His people.”
God grants the capacity for this acceptance.
וכשנתגלה ע"י בנ"י ביצ"מ כבוד מלכותו ית' כי גאה גאה.
And when through Israel at the Exodus His sovereign glory was revealed-“for He has triumphed gloriously.”
The Exodus displayed God’s kingship openly.
עי"ז זכו לקבלת התורה.
Through this they merited receiving the Torah.
The revelation of kingship enabled the giving of commandments.
ז"ש על ישראל גאותו שבנ"י משכו עליהם גיאותו של הקב"ה.
Thus “His majesty is upon Israel” means Israel drew upon themselves God’s majesty.
They became vessels for His revealed greatness.
ובאו לבחי' ועוזו בשחקים.
And they entered the level of “His strength is in the heavens.”
They aligned with the higher divine order.
וכ' ה' מלך גאות לבש כו' עוז התאזר כו' תכון תבל בל תמוט.
It is written, “God reigns, He is clothed in majesty,” and so on, “He has girded Himself with strength,” and so on, “the world is firmly set, it shall not be moved.”
He cites Psalm 93, the psalm of Friday.
פי' על ידי שנתגלה מלכותו והתלבשות כבוד גאונו.
Meaning, through the revelation of His kingship and the clothing of the glory of His majesty,
First God’s kingship is revealed,
עי"ז עוז התאזר. כי אחר שמקבלים מלכותו גוזר עליהם מצותיו ומשפטיו.
through this “He girded Himself with strength.” For after they accept His kingship, He decrees on them His commandments and laws.
then comes strength, which is the Torah’s laws.
וזה תיקון העולם. דאנשי כנה"ג תיקנו ברוך אומר ועושה גוזר ומקיים.
This is the repair of the world. The Men of the Great Assembly instituted, “Blessed is He who speaks and does, who decrees and fulfills.”
The order of these words in the morning prayer reflects the same sequence.
פרשנו אומר ועושה הוא עשרה מאמרות.
We have explained that “who speaks and does” refers to the ten utterances of creation,
Creation came through ten sayings,
גוזר ומקיים עשרת הדיברות.
and “who decrees and fulfills” to the Ten Commandments.
and the Torah through ten commandments.
פי' שהתורה היא תיקון כל מעשה בראשית.
Meaning, the Torah is the repair of all the work of creation.
The Ten Commandments complete what the ten utterances began.
וביאור הענין דכ' ששת ימים עשה ה' כו' וביום השביעי שבת כו'.
The explanation is that it is written, “For in six days God made,” and so on, “and on the seventh day He rested,” and so on.
He turns to the verse about Shabbat.
ואיתא באוה"ח הקדוש כי הקב"ה נתן כח הבריאה על ששה ימים.
The holy Ohr HaChaim says that the Holy One gave the power of creation for six days,
Creation was given power to last six days at a time,
ובש"ק חוזר הארה חדשה על קיום ששה ימים אחרים ע"ש פרשת בראשית.
and on the holy Shabbat a new light returns to sustain another six days. See there, Parshat Bereishit.
and each Shabbat renews the world for the coming week.
והן הדברים אשר דברנו כי קיום הנבראים הם ע"פ משפטי התורה וסדר המיוחד לכל הדברים בשורש העליון והוא בחי' השבת.
These are the things we have said: the existence of creatures follows the laws of the Torah and the special order of each thing in the upper root, and that is the aspect of Shabbat.
The world stands by the Torah’s order, which is the essence of Shabbat.
לכן בשבת ניתנה תורה לישראל.
Therefore the Torah was given to Israel on Shabbat.
Sinai happened on Shabbat.
פי' שהתנהגות כל העולם במשפטי התורה.
Meaning, the conduct of the whole world by the laws of the Torah
The world run by the Torah’s laws
הוא ענין השבת. ובימי המעשה עבודת האדם לקבל עול מלכותו ית'.
is the matter of Shabbat. In the working days, a person’s service is to accept the yoke of His kingship.
is Shabbat, while the weekdays are for accepting God’s kingship.
וכפי הכנה זו זוכה בשבת לתורה.
According to this preparation, he merits the Torah on Shabbat.
The week’s acceptance earns Shabbat’s Torah.
והוא ענין פריסת סוכת שלום שהקב"ה פורס עלינו בשבת.
This is the matter of the spreading of the tabernacle of peace that the Holy One spreads over us on Shabbat.
Shabbat is a canopy of peace.
כי שלום הוא במקום שאין מחלוקת.
For peace is where there is no dispute.
Peace means no opposition.
כמו שמתגלה בשמים כבוד מלכותו ית' בלי סטרא אחרא כלל.
Just as in heaven the glory of His kingship is revealed without any other side at all,
In heaven nothing opposes God,
כדאיתא ולית שולטנא אחרא בכ"ע.
as it is taught, “and no other power rules in all the worlds.”
as in the Zohar’s Shabbat prayer.
ואף כי ראינו שיש גם לאיש ישראל בחירה לעשות כרצונו בשבת ג"כ.
Even though we see that a Jew also has free choice to do as he wishes on Shabbat,
One could still break Shabbat,
מ"מ זה הוא חילול שבת וודאי שע"י העבודה מגרש עצמו משורשו ואינו תחת סוכת שלום הנ"ל.
still that is desecration of Shabbat, and certainly through that act he drives himself from his root and is not under the tabernacle of peace.
but one who does so leaves its shelter.
אבל מיוחדין הם בנ"י תחת סוכת שלום בש"ק.
But Israel are set apart under the tabernacle of peace on the holy Shabbat.
Israel, as a people, rests under it.
ובגמ' דרשו כ' זכור כו' יום השבת גז"ש מזכור דיצ"מ בעצומו של יום אף כאן בעצומו של יום.
In the Talmud they expounded the verse “Remember... the day of Shabbat” by a parallel to “Remember” of the Exodus: on the very essence of the day, so too here on the very essence of the day.
The Talmud links remembering Shabbat to remembering the Exodus.
א"כ נראה כמו שם הפי' שבכל ט"ו בניסן מתעורר עצם היום ביצ"מ.
If so, it seems that the meaning there is that every fifteenth of Nisan, the essence of the day of the Exodus is awakened.
Each Pesach the Exodus itself returns.
כמו כן בכל שבת מתעורר עצם היום דנתינת התורה.
So too on every Shabbat the essence of the day of the giving of the Torah is awakened.
Each Shabbat Sinai returns.
"שמוע "תשמעו "בקולי ר"ת שב"ת.
“If you will surely listen to My voice”: the initials spell Shabbat.
The first letters of שמוע תשמעו בקולי spell שבת.
פי' כי השי"ת נותן התורה תמיד.
Meaning, God gives the Torah always,
The giving of Torah never stops,
כדכ' ולא פסק. רק שבש"ק מתקרבין בנ"י לשמוע הקול.
as it is written, “and it did not cease.” Only on the holy Shabbat Israel draws near to hear the voice.
but on Shabbat we come close enough to hear it.
והוא ענין קבלו מלכותי אח"כ קבלו גזירותי כנ"ל:
This is the matter of “accept My kingship, afterwards accept My decrees,” as said above.
The week accepts the kingship, and Shabbat receives the decrees, the Torah.
The Sefat Emet teaches that Torah is divine ‘strength,’ revealed when Israel first accepts God’s kingship. Shabbat and Sinai renew this revelation continually, drawing Israel under the canopy of divine peace.