The foundation of the existence of the Jewish people is the Giving of the Torah, which we are commanded to always remember, and to know that God is "the Giver of the Torah" every day. The Torah is God's greatest gift to mankind and the world. To receive the gift properly and fully, we must contemplate how God gives it to us and strive to stand parallel to Him.
Whenever we give a gift to another person, it is important to tell him that it is a gift ("One who gives a gift to his friend must inform him"), to extend the gift with both hands so that it reaches and is received by him, and to give it with a pleasant countenance. But the main thing is to give the gift with all one's heart – for this is the most important aspect of a gift. Similarly, at the Giving of the Torah, although it is said "for you saw no form," we can use these four 'physical' images: God gives the Torah from His mouth, "from the mouth of the Almighty"; God writes the Ten Commandments on the tablets with His ten fingers, as it were, and extends the Torah from His hand to ours – "from His right hand He gave a fiery law to them"; of course, God gives us the Torah "face to face"; and in the deepest dimension, God gives us the Torah 'with all His heart', from within "a heart of fire."
Each of these four images, which together form a complete structure, grants a different dimension to the gift of Torah:
Giving the Torah "mouth to mouth," through Divine speech that we too can utter, bestows upon us a "Torah of life" – "for they are life to those who express them with the mouth."
In "And the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved (חָרות) upon the tablets" – the handiwork of God delivered to us from His hands – we receive the liberty (חֵרות) that comes with engaging in the Torah. From its deepest secrets to the minutiae of Jewish law, Torah liberates us from enslavement to the nature of the world.
"The wisdom of a person illuminates his face" – from the face we receive "Torah light," a Torah that illuminates the world and reveals the inner intention of its creation.
Giving the Torah with all His heart introduces God's essence, "'I am' who I am," into the Torah – "I Myself have written My soul and given it."
The recognition of these four dimensions in the Giving of Torah is expressed in our learning: "As water reflects face to face, so the heart of man to man" – in standing "face to face" with God (the Supernal Man) we feel the whole-hearted devotion and devote ourselves to Him with all our hearts. Conversely, the yearning heart seeks the wondrous "face to face" encounter – "My heart says of You, 'Seek His face!'"
When the face and heart are present, the inner heart is revealed in the speech of the mouth, and "words that come from the heart enter the heart and have their effect" in the actual fulfillment of Torah and mitzvot, with the hands and all the body’s limbs and organs.
But Torah study is for the purpose of teaching – "If you have learned much Torah [or even a little…], do not take credit for yourself," but teach it to others, exactly as God does: with vital and explanatory speech, with open hands that bring the matters close to their world, demonstrating and conveying the teachings according to their ability to understand, with a shining countenance, and most importantly – with all your heart!
