Ten Commandments, Inner Soul of Creation

מצות זכירת מתן תורה.

The mitzvah of remembering Matan Torah (the Giving of the Torah).

The Sefas Emes opens on the obligation to constantly remember the day the Torah was given.

כמ"ש יום אשר עמדת לפני ה' דכ' אשר אנכי מצוך היום.

As it is written: "the day that you stood before Hashem" (Devarim 4:10), and as it is written: "which I command you today" (Devarim 6:6).

The Torah commands us to recall standing at Sinai, and pairs it with the word "today," teaching that the experience is meant to be ever-renewed.

והוא אנכי דעשרת הדיברות.

And this is the "Anochi" (I am) of the Aseres HaDibros (Ten Commandments).

The "I command you" echoes the opening "Anochi" of the Ten Commandments — the direct word of Hashem.

וכמו כן אשר אנכי מצוה אתכם בפרשה שני'.

And likewise "which I command you" in the second parsha [of Shema].

The same language appears in the second paragraph of Shema, again invoking Hashem's direct command.

דהוא הציווי בפרט ובכלל.

For it is the command in the particular and in the general (b'frat u'v'klal).

The two parshiyos express the command on both the individual and collective levels.

ומתעורר מצות התורה בכל יום.

And the mitzvah of the Torah is aroused anew every day.

Through the word "today," the giving of the Torah is reawakened daily, not merely a one-time historical event.

דעשרת הדוברות הם כלל כל התורה ומצות.

For the Aseres HaDibros are the general principle (klal) of the entire Torah and mitzvos.

The Ten Commandments encompass and contain all 613 mitzvos in concentrated form.

והם מכוונים מול עשרה מאמרות.

And they correspond to the Asarah Ma'amaros (Ten Utterances of Creation).

The Ten Commandments parallel the ten utterances by which the world was created.

וכמו דכל מעשה בראשית.

And just as all of the work of Creation —

The author draws a comparison to the entire created order.

וכל מה שמתהווה בעולם בכלל ובפרט.

And everything that comes into being in the world, in general and in particular —

Every detail of existence, large and small.

הי' נכלל בעשרה מאמרות.

Was included in the Ten Utterances.

All of creation is contained within the ten ma'amaros that brought the world into being.

כמו כן כל התורה ומצות שנעשו מכל בנ"י בכלל ובפרט.

So too the entire Torah and mitzvos performed by all of Bnei Yisrael, in general and in particular.

Correspondingly, every mitzvah ever fulfilled by any Jew, collectively and individually.

הכל נכלל בעשרת הדיברות.

All of it is included in the Aseres HaDibros.

Just as creation is rooted in the ten utterances, all Torah-observance is rooted in the Ten Commandments.

והחילוק הוא.

And the difference is this.

The author now contrasts the two sets of "ten."

דמאמרות הם קבועים בטבע.

That the Utterances are fixed within nature.

The ten ma'amaros are embedded as the stable, fixed laws of nature.

והדיברות הם מתחדשים תמיד.

While the Commandments are constantly renewed.

The Dibros, by contrast, are perpetually fresh and renewing.

כי הוא פנימיות עשרה מאמרות.

For it is the inner dimension (penimiyus) of the Ten Utterances.

The Ten Commandments are the inner soul and penimiyus animating the ten utterances of nature.

וע"ז איתא במשנה ליתן שכר טוב לצדיקים שמקיימין העולם שנברא בע"מ.

And about this it is brought in the Mishnah: "to give a good reward to the tzaddikim who sustain the world that was created with ten utterances" (Avos 5:1).

The Mishnah teaches that tzaddikim actually uphold the ten-utterance world — through their Torah and mitzvos they sustain creation itself.

ואין שכר טוב אלא תורה.

And "good" [reward] is nothing other than Torah.

The "good reward" mentioned is the Torah, "for I have given you a good teaching" (Mishlei 4:2).

וכ' בחכמה יסד ארץ הוא בחי' מ"ב.

And it is written: "With wisdom (chochmah) He founded the earth" (Mishlei 3:19) — this is the aspect of "bread from the earth" (mazon b'ratz, lechem min ha'aretz).

The "wisdom" that founded the earth corresponds to the dimension of the fixed natural order — symbolized by the bread that grows from the ground.

כונן שמים בתבונה כונן תדיר כמ"ש בזוה"ק.

"He established the heavens with understanding (tevunah)" — "established" continually, as it says in the Zohar HaKadosh.

The Zohar reads "konen" (established) as an ongoing, ever-renewing act — the heavens are constantly being re-established, like the renewing Torah.

והיא התורה שהיא מתחדשת בכל עת.

And this is the Torah, which renews itself at every moment.

This continual "establishing of the heavens" is the Torah, eternally renewing itself.

ולא עוד אלא שבכח התורה מתחדשין גם העשרה מאמרות.

And not only that, but through the power of the Torah even the Ten Utterances are renewed.

The renewing Torah does more than renew itself — it drives the renewal of nature, the ten utterances, as well.

וע"ז נאמר בטובו מחדש בכל יום מ"ב.

And about this it is said: "In His goodness He renews each day, continually, the work of Creation (ma'aseh bereishis)."

The daily blessing that Hashem "renews creation each day" reflects this: the Torah, the "goodness," continually renews the natural world.

וע"י מצות התורה יכולין למצוא התחדשות התורה בכל יום.

And through the mitzvah of [studying] the Torah one can find the renewal of the Torah each day.

By engaging in Torah, a person taps into and discovers its daily renewal.

וכמו כן ע"י מצות תפילין שכ' בפרשיות הנ"ל.

And likewise through the mitzvah of tefillin, which is written in the aforementioned parshiyos.

The mitzvah of tefillin — contained in those very Shema passages — is another means to access this renewal.

וכמ"ש למען תהי' תורת ה' בפיך.

As it is written: "so that the Torah of Hashem shall be in your mouth" (Shemos 13:9).

Tefillin's purpose, per the pasuk, is to keep the living Torah on one's lips.

ובשבת א"צ תפילין.

And on Shabbos one does not need tefillin.

On Shabbos the mitzvah of tefillin does not apply — and the Sefas Emes explains why.

כי בו ניתנה תורה.

For on it [Shabbos] the Torah was given.

The Torah was given on Shabbos, so the day itself carries the power of Matan Torah.

ויכולין לשמוע קול תורה בכח עצם היום לכן א"צ תפילין.

And one can hear the voice of the Torah through the power of the day itself; therefore one does not need tefillin.

Shabbos itself grants direct access to the "voice of Torah," making the aid of tefillin — needed on weekdays — unnecessary.

ואיתא כי בשבת יש לחם משנה לחם מן השמים ולחם מן הארץ.

And it is brought that on Shabbos there is lechem mishneh (double bread): bread from Heaven and bread from the earth.

The two Shabbos loaves represent two kinds of sustenance: heavenly bread and earthly bread.

והוא כנ"ל לחם מן הארץ הוא מ"ב.

And this is as above: the bread from the earth is the aspect of "He founded the earth with wisdom" (the fixed natural order).

"Bread from the earth" corresponds to the ten utterances, the wisdom that founded the fixed natural world.

ולחם מה"ש הוא התורה.

And the bread from Heaven is the Torah.

"Bread from Heaven" corresponds to the ever-renewing Torah, the inner dimension.

והנה שבת יש בו כח עשרה מאמרות שפרשת ויכלו הוא גמר מעשה בראשית.

Now Shabbos contains the power of the Ten Utterances, for the passage of "Vayechulu" is the completion of the work of Creation.

Shabbos holds the power of the ma'amaros, since "Vayechulu" marks the finishing of the created world.

ויש בו כח התורה שפרשת זכור את יום השבת הוא חלק לחם מן השמים שבשבת מתעלה הטבע ומתקשר ע"מ בעשרת הדיברות כנ"ל:

And it contains the power of the Torah, for the passage "Remember the day of Shabbos" is the portion of bread from Heaven — for on Shabbos nature is elevated and the Ten Utterances become bound to the Ten Commandments, as above.

Shabbos uniquely unites both dimensions: "Vayechulu" (the ma'amaros) and "Zachor" within the Aseres HaDibros (the Torah). On Shabbos the fixed natural order is elevated and reconnected to its inner soul, the renewing Torah — heaven and earth, the two loaves, joined as one.

Summary: The Aseres HaDibros are the inner penimiyus of the Asarah Ma'amaros: just as all creation is contained in the ten utterances of nature (fixed, "bread from the earth"), all Torah and mitzvos are contained in the Ten Commandments (ever-renewing, "bread from Heaven"). The Torah constantly renews itself and even renews nature, and we access this daily renewal through Torah study and through tefillin. On Shabbos — when the Torah was given — one hears the "voice of Torah" through the day itself (hence no tefillin), and the day uniquely joins both powers, "Vayechulu" and "Zachor," so that the natural order is elevated and bound back to its source in the Ten Commandments.