Avodah as preparation for bittul

במדרש חכמות (נשים) בנתה ביתה כו'.

In the Midrash: "The wisdom of women builds her house" (Mishlei 14:1), etc.

The Sefas Emes opens with the pasuk about wisdom building its house, which Chazal apply to the ordered structure of creation and of avodas Hashem.

כבר כתבנו במ"א.

We have already written about this elsewhere.

He references a fuller treatment in another place and will only sketch the idea here.

והעולה בקצרה כי אם שיש סדר מסודר בבריאות עולם ובתיקון המעשים בעוה"ז כפי היכולת.

The upshot, in brief: even though there is an arranged order in the building of the world and in the tikkun (rectification) of our deeds in this world as far as one is able,

There is a fixed, orderly system to creation and to the work a person does to perfect his actions in olam hazeh.

אע"פ כן כל זה רק הכנה לקבל הארה מעולם העליון.

nevertheless, all of this is only a preparation to receive an illumination from the upper world.

All our ordered avodah is merely a vessel to make us fit to receive a he'arah (illumination) that descends from Above; it is not the goal itself.

וזה ענין הברכה בש"ק אחר שכולל כל הימים לכן נק' שלום.

This is the matter of the blessing on Shabbos Kodesh: since it includes all the days, it is therefore called shalom (peace/wholeness).

Shabbos gathers in all six weekdays and unifies them, which is why it is called "shalom" — completeness.

אז מחזיק ברכה וחל עליו שם שמים.

Then it holds blessing, and the Name of Heaven rests upon it.

Once the days are unified in Shabbos, that wholeness becomes a vessel that can contain berachah and have Hashem's Name dwell within it.

ויש בו תוספות נשמה יתירה מעולם העליון.

And there is in it the addition of the neshamah yeseirah (extra soul) from the upper world.

This added soul of Shabbos is itself the illumination drawn down from the higher world.

כאשר מצינו בפרשה זו כי אחר מלואות הימים שנראה שתיקנו כל השלימות כמ"ש שבעת ימים ימלא את ידכם ונק' ימי מלואים.

As we find in this parsha, that after the completion of the days — when it appears that they had perfected the entire wholeness, as it says, "Seven days shall he fill your hands" (Vayikra 8:33), and they are called the yemei milu'im (days of inauguration) —

The seven days of inauguration of the Mishkan looked like the finished and complete avodah, a full rectification.

הי' כל זה הכנה לקבל הארת יום השמיני שהוא למעלה מז' ימי הבנין.

all of this was only a preparation to receive the illumination of the eighth day, which is above the seven days of building.

Even that complete seven-day avodah was just a hachanah (preparation) for the eighth day, which corresponds to a level beyond the natural order of the seven days of creation.

וכ' ויקרבו ויעמדו לפני ה' א"כ נראה שנתקנו לגמרי והיו בעלי תשובה גמורים שבאין בחילא סגי.

And it is written, "And they drew near and stood before Hashem" (Vayikra 9:5) — so it appears they were fully rectified and were complete baalei teshuvah who come "with great force."

Their drawing near and standing shows they had reached the lofty madreigah of baalei teshuvah, who serve Hashem with tremendous strength.

וז"ש ויקרבו ויעמדו.

This is the meaning of "and they drew near and stood."

Their "standing" expresses an established, completed level of avodah.

עכ"ז הי' כל מגמתם לקבל פני השכינה.

Even so, their entire aim was to receive the Presence of the Shechinah.

Despite reaching such a complete level, their whole striving was still directed only toward receiving the Shechinah — not toward their own accomplishment.

וכאשר חכמים הגידו על מאמר מרע"ה למה אתה בוש לכך נבחרת בעבור שאתה בוש.

As the Chachamim said regarding the words of Moshe Rabbeinu: "Why are you ashamed? For this very reason you were chosen — because you are bashful."

Moshe's humility and self-effacement were precisely the reason Hashem chose him; the bushah (shame/humility) of bittul is the mark of the chosen servant.

והיינו שאחר תיקון השלימות צריך להיות בטל להשי"ת כי זה כל האדם.

That is to say, after the perfection of one's wholeness, one must become nullified to Hashem Yisbarach, for this is the whole of man.

The true purpose of a person, even after he has perfected himself, is bittul — to nullify himself before Hashem.

והבורא ית' נתן חכמה לאדם להבין כח מלכותו ית' וצריך האדם להשתוקק לזה שרוצה לקבל חכמה כדי לידע האיך לבטל א"ע לפניו ית'.

The Creator, may He be blessed, gave wisdom to man so that he should understand the power of His kingship, and a person must yearn for this — that he wants to receive chochmah (wisdom) in order to know how to nullify himself before Him.

The whole point of the chochmah Hashem grants is to grasp His malchus, and a person should desire wisdom not as an end but as the means to learn how to achieve bittul before Hashem.

וז"ש הן יראת ה' היא חכמה ומי שתיקן כל קומתו ואח"כ כופף מלא קומתו לפניו ית' הוא עבד נאמן אשר בחר בו השי"ת.

This is the meaning of "Behold, yiras Hashem — that is wisdom" (Iyov 28:28): one who has perfected his full stature, and then bends his entire stature before Him, is the faithful servant whom Hashem has chosen.

True chochmah is yiras Shomayim: a person first builds himself to his full height and then bows that whole height in submission to Hashem — that is the eved ne'eman (faithful servant).

וזהו שערומין בדעת כאדם ומשימין עצמם כבהמה.

This is the idea that they are "cunning in knowledge like Adam, yet make themselves like an animal."

Bnei Yisrael possess full human da'as, yet they place themselves in complete bittul like a simple beast — wise enough to know, humble enough to surrender.

אבל אם נתפעל מיד ע"י השגת איזה חכמה.

But if a person becomes immediately self-impressed through grasping some piece of wisdom,

The danger is that attaining some insight makes a person feel inflated and full of himself.

אז נאמר עליו חסר לב אמרה לו.

then of him it is said, "to one lacking a heart she said" (Mishlei 9:4).

Such a person, who lets his wisdom puff him up rather than humble him, is the "chasar lev" (one lacking understanding) of the pasuk.

ודבר זה נוהג בכל פרט ג"כ כי תכלית המצות לזכות אח"כ לקבל איזה הארה שע"ז נאמר ויהי נועם ה' כו' עלינו כו'.

This matter applies in every detail as well, for the purpose of the mitzvos is to merit afterward to receive some illumination, about which it is said, "And may the pleasantness of Hashem… be upon us…" (Tehillim 90:17).

Just as the seven days prepared for the eighth, so too every mitzvah is a vessel to merit a he'arah of Hashem's no'am — His sweetness resting upon us.

ונאמר אשר יעשה אותם האדם וחי בהם.

And it is said, "which a person shall do and live by them" (Vayikra 18:5).

The mitzvos are the channel through which a person draws living vitality from Above.

א"כ כל המצות רק עצות וכלים איך להמשיך חיות עליון.

If so, all the mitzvos are only counsels and vessels for how to draw down supernal vitality.

The mitzvos themselves are not the end goal; they are the practical means and keilim (vessels) to draw chiyus (life-force) from the upper world into this one.

וקצרתי כי כבר כתבתי במ"א עוד מזה:

I have been brief here, for I have already written more about this elsewhere.

He closes by noting that he has expanded on the theme in another place.

Summary: All the ordered avodah of this world — the seven days of inauguration, the perfecting of one's stature, the keeping of mitzvos — is only a preparation. Its true purpose is to make a person into a fit vessel: to receive the illumination of the "eighth day" from the upper world, and, above all, to bend his completed self in bittul before Hashem, for that humble surrender is the whole of man.