Saying the words of the Torah is considered the physical performance of a mitzvah, since “the movement of a person’s lips when speaking is considered a physical action.” (Bava Metzia 90b)
The idea here is that just like putting on tefillin is a physical mitzvah that connects the person to Hashem’s Unknowable Essence, so too, with regard to physically saying the words of the Torah, the action of moving the lips is a mitzvah that connects the person to Hashem’s Essence. This is in contrast to contemplation of the words of the Torah, which is a purely spiritual activity. Therefore, contemplation is similar to the soul’s connection to Hashem via understanding, which occurs in Gan Eden, rather than to the connection achieved through action mitzvos, including the physical act of verbalizing the words of Torah during study.
This explains why the first verse of Krias Shema begins with contemplating Hashem’s Names, i.e., the levels of Hashem’s Light that permeate and encompass the world.
By thinking about how that Light of Hashem is so great that it creates the whole world and is, moreover, beyond all worlds, a person comes to a yearning for Hashem Himself. If His Light is so great, He Himself is above and beyond anything that has to do with the world. He is the Ultimate True Existence, which has no beginning, end, or limit, in any way. Therefore, a person can consider how there can be nothing in life that is more desirable than to connect Hashem Himself.
This yearning for Hashem’s Essence is called the love of Hashem בְּכָל מְאֹדֶךָ—with all of one’s might.
Now that we yearn for Hashem Himself, how do we connect His Essence? To answer this, the verse continues by explaining that when we perform action mitzvos (including verbalizing the words of the Torah), we connect to Hashem’s Essence and fulfill our yearning for Him.
After the Alter Rebbe explained the verse in Shir HaShirim (8:7), that many waters cannot extinguish the love of the soul for Hashem etc., he continues to explain the next verse, 8:8.
The verse reads in full:
“We have a young sister, and she is not ready to get married yet, what should we do for our sister when they speak about her [getting married]?”
The Commentary of the Metzudos Dovid
The commentary of the Metzudos Dovid explains: This verse is an analogy for the Jewish People in the time of exile. Hashem asks: The Jewish People seem to be spiritually immature and underdeveloped. Are they ready to “get married” to Hashem (to experience the full connection to Hashem with the coming of Moshiach)?
In the next verses (ibid.), the Jewish People answer that they are ready to “get married” to Hashem, because they had steadfast devotion to Him during the time of exile.
The Alter Rebbe will explain the beginning of this verse on a non-literal level:
This is the meaning of the subsequent verse in Shir Hashirim, “We have a young sister.” (Shir Hashirim 8:8)
Meaning that she (the soul of the Jew doing the Mitzvah) becomes a “sister” to Hashem, and this word can also mean “united.”
She actually becomes completely united with Hashem’s very Essence and Being, as it were, through the fulfillment of the action Mitzvos.
As it is written earlier in the chapter of Shir Hashirim, (8:3) “His [Hashem’s] right hand hugs me.”
This is like someone who hugs his friend, grasping him from all sides.
So too, when a Jew does a Mitzvah or says words of Torah, Hashem “hugs” him, as it were, surrounding him from all sides. Thus, a Jew becomes united with Hashem by fulfilling a Mitzvah.
Rashi’s Explanation
Rashi on this verse explains the word “אָחוֹת,” which usually means “sister,” to mean “bound together,” or “united.” He thus translates the phrase “אָחוֹת לָנו”—she, [the Jewish People] are bound up and yearning to unite with us, [meaning with Hashem]. The Alter Rebbe is explaining this phrase according to Rashi’s interpretations.
The End of the Verse
This is the meaning of the end of the verse, “What should we do for our sister on the day that people talk about her?”
The simple meaning of the verse is (as mentioned previously) that Hashem is asking what to do for the Jewish People, his “sister,” when they discuss the coming of Moshiach?
Here, we are explaining it differently: “מַה נַעֲשֶׂה לַאֲחֹתֵנוּ”—the level of ‘מַה—selfless transparency to Hashem’ has made our sister become united with Hashem, in the day, i.e., revelation of Hashem, when the speech of Hashem enters her.
Meaning that when a Jew selflessly unites himself with Hashem with Torah study (which is the Torah study that comes after passionate prayers of awakening a yearning for Hashem’s Essence), he attains the ability to say over the words of the Torah as though he is just a conduit for Hashem’s words to flow through him.
And this will suffice for one who understands.
