With this, Rashi also hints at a lesson in Torah study for a Jew, which is why he emphasizes “Here too, we need to rely on Aggadic interpretation” rather than simply saying “Here too, there is a need to rely on Aggadic interpretation”:
A Jew might think: Certainly those Jews who constantly deal with matters of creation—”the heaven and the earth,” generally those engaged in commerce—need to turn to the teaching that “This verse says nothing but ‘Interpret me’”—to explore the interpretative aspects of Torah, to reveal that “In the beginning G-d created” means “for the sake of Torah and for the sake of Israel.”
This makes sense {for the businessman} because when he deals with worldly matters, it could confuse him and interfere with his Divine service, or at least make worldly existence {overly} significant to him. He needs to turn to Torah interpretations that will reveal and remind him that the world isn’t an independent existence, but was created “for the sake of Torah and for the sake of Israel.”
This understanding would affect him so that his involvement with worldly matters doesn’t interfere with his Divine service. On the contrary, through his work “for the sake of Heaven” and by “knowing G-d in all your ways,” he would transform the world into a dwelling place for the Divine.
But someone who “sits in the tent” of learning—who deals only with matters of “light” {in the context of the verse} “a commandment is a lamp, and Torah is light,” who is always in the illuminated four cubits of Jewish law (and prayer)—might think he doesn’t need to study Aggadah and the inner dimensions of Torah.
To this, Rashi offers the guidance that “Here too, we need to rely on Aggadic interpretation”: Even in the study of the “light” aspects of Torah (Rashi includes even himself by saying “anu”—“we need”), one must turn to Aggadic interpretation.
As the Alter Rebbe states in his Hilchos Talmud Torah, study should also include “Aggadic interpretations to contemplate from them moral lessons to know G-d. As the Sages said, ‘Do you wish to know the One Who spoke and the world came into being? Study Aggadic interpretation, for through this you come to know the Holy One, Blessed be He, and cleave to His ways, because most of Torah’s secrets, which is the wisdom of Kabbalah and knowledge of G-d, are hidden in Aggadah.’”
The study of the inner dimensions of Torah, which in our days has been revealed in Chassidic teachings, is necessary not only to learn and know another part of Torah and to fulfill the command “Know the G-d of your father,” but it’s essential “here too,” in the matter of light, {i.e.,} in Torah study itself.
There must be a “blessing the Torah first”—{only} then does Torah become a “Torah {of} light,” and “it becomes for him an elixir of life.” {The essence of this blessing lies in} knowing and perceiving the inner essence and truth of Torah—the “good” (tov) within Torah: the recognition that “He gave us His Torah,” G-d’s Torah, and that through it, one connects with the Giver of the Torah.
This is the content of the blessing over Torah, as the Bach on the Tur (—the revealed part of the Torah—) explains: “so that our souls may be united with the Essence, spirituality, and holiness of the source of Torah... becoming a chariot and abode for the Divine Presence itself within us.”
This is achieved through studying the inner dimensions of Torah, which is the aspect of the “tree of life”—where Divinity shines within it openly. And through studying the inner dimensions of Torah (together with studying the revealed aspects of Torah), the Ra’aya Mehemna says that we will “leave exile with mercy,” in the true and complete redemption, when the light that was set apart for the righteous in the future will be revealed, speedily in our days.
From a Sichah delivered on Shabbos Parshas Bereishis, 5743
