Sanctifying time and the inner gate

החדש הזה לכם ואמרו חז"ל נתקשה משה רבינו ע"ה והראהו כזה ראה וקדש.

"This month shall be for you" (Shemos 12:2). Chazal said that Moshe Rabbeinu found this difficult to grasp, and Hashem showed him as it were a vision of the moon, saying, "Like this, see and sanctify."

Moshe could not picture exactly how to determine the new moon, so Hashem displayed the proper crescent and instructed him: when you see the moon in this form, declare the new month. The very phrase "this month shall be for you" hints that the power of sanctifying time was handed to Bnei Yisrael.

הענין הוא כי הקב"ה מסר קידוש החודש לבני ישראל.

The matter is that HaKadosh Baruch Hu handed over the sanctification of the month to Bnei Yisrael.

Hashem placed the calendar in human hands: it is Bnei Yisrael who declare when the new month begins, and Heaven follows their ruling.

היינו שכפי מה שמרגישין המה ההתחדשות כך מתנהג העולם בזה ההתחדשות.

That is to say, according to how they feel the renewal, so the world is conducted with that renewal.

The handing-over is not merely legal. The degree to which Bnei Yisrael actually sense the inner renewal of the new month determines how much fresh divine vitality flows into the world that month.

וכאשר היו מקדשין על פי הראי' הרגישו בנ"י התחדשות בכל ר"ח [וזהו הרמז זיל לעין טב וקדשי' לירחא כי הרגישו] מטוב הגנוז שבזה הטוב מחדש הקב"ה מעשה בראשית כמ"ש מחדש בטובו.

And when they would sanctify the month by direct sighting of the moon, Bnei Yisrael felt the renewal each Rosh Chodesh [and this is the hint in "Go to Ein Tav and sanctify the month" — because they sensed it] from the hidden good through which HaKadosh Baruch Hu renews the act of Creation, as we say, "He renews in His goodness…"

When the calendar depended on actually seeing the moon, the people experienced the renewal tangibly. The Sefas Emes reads the Talmud's place-name "Ein Tav" (lit. "the eye of good") as a hint to the "hidden good" — the concealed primal goodness through which Hashem perpetually renews Creation, as in the daily blessing "He renews in His goodness, each day, the work of Creation."

והנה החודש הזה הוא התחדשות המגולה ומבורר בלי הסתר כי בטבע הקב"ה מנהיג העולם והוא ע"י הסתר מימי המעשה.

Now, "this month" is a renewal that is revealed and clear, without concealment, for through nature HaKadosh Baruch Hu conducts the world, and that is by way of the concealment of the weekday workdays.

Ordinarily Hashem runs the world through the "natural order," which by definition hides Him — the routine of the workweek conceals the divine hand. But the renewal of this month (Nissan) breaks through as open and unmistakable.

אכן לבנ"י יש הנהגה מיוחדת פנימיות.

However, Bnei Yisrael have a special, inner mode of divine conduct (penimiyus).

Beyond the hidden, natural governance given to the world at large, the Jewish people are granted an inner channel through which Hashem relates to them directly.

והוא דרך התורה.

And this is the path of the Torah.

That inner, penimiyus relationship operates through Torah, which lifts Bnei Yisrael above the concealing veil of nature.

והוא שנאמר שער החצר הפנימית כו' וביום השבת יפתח שבשבת ההנהגה למעלה מהטבע.

This is what is meant by "the gate of the inner courtyard… and on the day of Shabbos it shall be opened" (Yechezkel 46:1), for on Shabbos the divine conduct is above nature.

The navi describes an "inner gate" that stays shut on weekdays but opens on Shabbos. The Sefas Emes reads this as the inner, supernatural mode of governance that becomes accessible on Shabbos, lifting Bnei Yisrael past the natural order.

וזה הדרך מיוחד רק לבנ"י וביצ"מ התחיל התגלות זה הדרך הפנימי.

And this path is unique to Bnei Yisrael alone, and at Yetzias Mitzrayim (the Exodus) the revelation of this inner path began.

This direct, above-nature relationship belongs to no other nation. It first burst into the open at the Exodus, when Hashem related to Bnei Yisrael through open miracles rather than hidden nature.

אכן ביום החודש יפתח הוא בכח בנ"י בעצמם כמ"ש במ"א שהוא כמו מנעל שיש לו ב' מפתחות.

However, "on the day of the New Moon it shall be opened" (Yechezkel 46:1) — this is through the power of Bnei Yisrael themselves, as I wrote elsewhere, that it is like a lock that has two keys.

The same navi adds that the inner gate also opens on Rosh Chodesh. The Sefas Emes distinguishes: the Shabbos opening comes from Above, but the Rosh Chodesh opening comes through the active power of Bnei Yisrael — like a single lock that can be opened by either of two keys.

דכתיב פתחו לי שערי צדק.

As it is written: "Open for me the gates of righteousness" (Tehillim 118:19).

This verse expresses the human side of the opening — the person below asking, and acting, to have the gates opened for him.

וכ' פתחי לי אחותי כו'.

And it is written: "Open for me, my sister…" (Shir HaShirim 5:2).

And this verse expresses the other key — Hashem, as it were, asking Bnei Yisrael to open from their side, with even a small opening from below drawing a great opening from Above.

ומפתח אחד נמסר לבני ישראל.

And one of the keys was handed over to Bnei Yisrael.

Of the two keys to the inner gate, Hashem entrusted one to the Jewish people — the power to initiate the opening through their own avodah.

וז"ש החודש הזה לכם.

And this is the meaning of "This month shall be for you."

"For you" signals that the key of Rosh Chodesh — the power to open the inner gate from below — was placed in the hands of Bnei Yisrael.

והוא בכח י"ב שבטים שיש לכל שבט כח לפתוח שער המיוחד אליו.

And this is through the power of the twelve Shevatim (tribes), for each tribe has the power to open the gate that is unique to it.

The twelve months correspond to the twelve tribes; each tribe possesses a particular spiritual "gate" that it alone can unlock, matching its own month of the year.

כמ"ש פתוחי חותם.

As it is written: "engravings of a signet" (Shemos 28:11), regarding the names of the tribes on the Choshen.

The tribal names engraved like a seal on the Kohen Gadol's breastplate hint that each tribe is "inscribed" with its own access to a unique spiritual gateway.

שאותיות של השבטים הם חקוקים לפניו ית' ובכל חודש נפתח שער מיוחד.

For the letters of the tribes are engraved before Hashem, and in each month a special gate is opened.

The names of the tribes are permanently "engraved" before Hashem, and as each month arrives, the corresponding tribe's unique gate of renewal swings open.

וניסן ר"ה לחדשים שבו התחיל התחדשות דרך הנסים ונפלאות למעלה מן הטבע ומסתמא בכל חודש ניסן מתגלה התחדשות על כל השנה.

And Nissan is the "Rosh Hashanah" (head) of the months, for in it the renewal began through the way of miracles and wonders, above nature; and presumably in every Nissan a renewal is revealed for the entire year.

Nissan, the month of the Exodus, is the source-month of the supernatural, inner mode of renewal. Each year, Nissan again opens that channel, releasing a fresh above-nature renewal that flows through the whole year ahead.

והוא הבחירה שבוחר השי"ת בנו בכל שנה מחדש.

And this is the choosing — that Hashem chooses us anew every year.

The annual renewal of Nissan is essentially Hashem re-choosing Bnei Yisrael each year, renewing His special bond with them.

וזה הרצון הוא פנימיות קיום כל הבריאה.

And this ratzon (divine will/desire) is the inner essence that sustains all of Creation.

Hashem's desire for and choice of Bnei Yisrael is not a side matter; it is the inner ratzon that keeps the entire universe in existence.

וע"ז מברכין בשבת קודש ורצה בנו ושבת קדשו הנחילנו.

And concerning this we bless on Shabbos Kodesh: "and He desired us (ratzah vanu), and gave us His holy Shabbos as an inheritance."

The Shabbos liturgy gives voice to precisely this ratzon — Hashem's desire for His people — which is why we speak of His "desiring us" and bequeathing us the holiness of the day.

דכ' פותח את ידך ומשביע לכל חי רצון.

As it is written: "You open Your hand and satisfy the desire (ratzon) of every living thing" (Tehillim 145:16).

The verse describes Hashem "opening His hand" — the channel of giving — and filling all creation not merely with sustenance but with ratzon, the inner desire that animates all life.

הוא הברכה שכתב בזוה"ק בפ' ויברך כו' יום השביעי כיון דלא אשתכח בי' מנא מה ברכתא אשתכח אלא כולא בשביעאה תליא ע"ש.

This is the blessing of which the Zohar HaKadosh writes on "And He blessed… the seventh day" (Bereishis 2:3): since no manna was found on it, what blessing was found in it? Rather, everything depends on the seventh day — see there.

The Zohar asks how Shabbos can be "blessed" when no manna fell on it. The answer is that Shabbos's blessing is not material but spiritual: it is the source upon which all the days, and all material abundance, depend.

היינו הברכה ברוחניות שמתגלה רצונו ית'.

That is to say, the blessing is a spiritual one — that His ratzon is revealed.

The blessing embedded in Shabbos is precisely the open revelation of Hashem's inner desire, the ratzon that sustains everything.

וע"ז כתיב ביום השבת יפתח כמ"ש פותח את ידך כו' לכל חי רצון ועיין בזוה"ק פ' בשלח:

And concerning this it is written, "on the day of Shabbos it shall be opened," like "You open Your hand… the desire of every living thing"; and see in the Zohar HaKadosh, Parshas Beshalach.

The "opening" of the inner gate on Shabbos is the same "opening" of Hashem's hand in the verse — both express the revelation of the divine ratzon that floods every living thing. The Sefas Emes closes by pointing to the Zohar in Beshalach for further development of this theme.

Summary: When Hashem handed the sanctification of the new month to Bnei Yisrael, He gave them a key to an inner, above-nature mode of divine conduct (penimiyus) that no other nation possesses. The inner gate that opens on Shabbos opens from Above, while the gate that opens on Rosh Chodesh opens through the people's own power — each of the twelve tribes unlocking its unique month. Nissan, source of the Exodus and of all open miracles, renews this channel yearly as Hashem re-chooses Bnei Yisrael, and that very ratzon — His desire for His people, revealed openly on Shabbos — is the inner force that sustains all of Creation.