We continue in Chapter 119 of Tehillim, with the letter Peh. The two verses before us deal with two facets of the Torah: on the one hand, its depth and its hidden secrets - "Your testimonies are wonders," and on the other hand, the great light that radiates from it and illuminates even the simplest folk - "The opening of Your words gives light, giving understanding to the simple." The very combination of the two carries the message: a person might think that if the Torah is wondrous and concealed from him, he has no reason to approach it; the second verse comes and teaches that for whoever opens it, it shines for him.
פְּלָאוֹת עֵדְוֺתֶיךָ עַל־כֵּן נְצָרָתַם נַפְשִׁי׃ (קכ"ט) - Your testimonies are wonders; therefore my soul keeps them. (129)
Rashi explains: "Your testimonies are wonders" - the testimonies are concealed and wondrous from mankind. There are minor mitzvot for which the Holy One, blessed be He, gave immense reward, such as the sending away of the mother bird (shiluach haken); and in contrast, there are arduous, formidable mitzvot like honoring one's father and mother, regarding which the Gemara says, "Fortunate is he who never saw them" - fortunate is one who never saw his parents, for then he does not stumble in this difficult mitzvah. Yet nevertheless, concerning it as well it is said, "so that your days may be lengthened," and "so that your days may multiply." It turns out that the mitzvot are concealed from me: I cannot comprehend why the Torah gives equal reward for an exceptionally light mitzvah and an exceptionally difficult mitzvah. "Therefore my soul keeps them" - therefore I observe all of them, for I do not know which one will succeed.
And so our Sages said: The Holy One, blessed be He, gave a variety of mitzvot and did not reveal the reward for each mitzvah. Notice the phrasing: "You do not know the reward given for mitzvot" - and it is not said that you do not know the punishment given for sins, for the punishments are indeed known to us: for this one spiritual excision (karet), for that one stoning, another is merely a negative prohibition, here lashes, and here not even lashes. The punishment testifies to the gravity of the transgression, but the reward for mitzvot is not revealed to us.
The Midrash compares this to a king who wished to plant an orchard, and wanted it to contain all kinds of delectable fruits and all kinds of trees. He said: If I reveal that an orange tree, for instance, earns the highest wage and the other trees earn less, they will plant an orchard made entirely of orange trees, and that is not what I want. I want oranges, pomegranates, figs, and grapes - everything. He told them: I am not revealing the wage; know that some are paid handsomely and some less, but how much, I will not reveal. Through this, it was ensured that the orchard would be filled with every kind of fruit. So too here: since the mitzvot are concealed and wondrous from mankind, "therefore my soul keeps them" - all of them, in Rashi's words. This guarantees that I fulfill everything, for I do not know which mitzvah has a greater standing and which a lesser one - and therefore I fulfill them all.
Radak explains that "Your testimonies are wonders (pelaot)" is related to "If a matter eludes (yippalei) you," meaning: if a matter is hidden from you. A wondrous thing (pele) is a hidden thing, and there are hidden matters within the testimonies. "Therefore my soul keeps them" - either meaning that my intellectual soul set its sights on understanding them, or meaning that it kept them in order to fulfill them. Both explanations are true: to contemplate them and delve into them, because there are many wonders within them, and also to guard and fulfill them. These two elements are intertwined, for one who does not understand the matters cannot guard properly nor act properly; and since my soul knows how wondrous Your testimonies are, I fulfill them with great devotion, with the necessary understanding and depth.
Radak asks: After all, Moshe Rabbeinu said, "For this commandment which I command you this day is not hidden (niflet) from you," while King David says the opposite - "Your testimonies are wonders (pelaot)"! He resolves this: one must distinguish between the two matters. "It is not hidden from you" means do not think the mitzvot were given as allegories. Were that so, a person might say: Go figure out what the Torah means by the prohibition of the sciatic nerve (gid hanasheh) - perhaps it does not mean the literal sciatic nerve, but rather an allegory for some internal spiritual matter against which one must be on guard. In that case, the matter would truly be hidden from him, for he would never know the true allegorical meaning of each mitzvah. Therefore, the verse states, "For the matter is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to perform it" - just as you study it with your mouth, so shall you understand it in your heart and so shall you perform it. Do not eat the sciatic nerve - in its literal sense. The mitzvah is not an allegory.
From here is also a refutation to the Christians who claim that the entire Torah is an allegory. One of their most difficult problems is with what their own leader stated: that man said he did not come to detract from the commandments of the Torah, but only to add to them. If so, why do you not keep Shabbat? Why do you not put on tefillin? Why do you not fulfill all the mitzvot? After all, according to his words, you ought to observe everything a Jew observes and add even more! To this they reply that the Torah is an allegory and its intent is not literal - not Shabbat literally, nor tefillin literally - and they interpret everything allegorically. Against this, the verse comes and responds: these are not allegories; rather, the words are meant literally.
If so, regarding what did Dovid HaMelech say, "Your testimonies are wonders"? He is speaking of the fundamentals of the mitzvot and their underlying reasons: how human intellect points to the mitzvah, why it is necessary, how it benefits, and why it must be performed this way and not that way - all these matters are truly in the realm of wonders. Likewise, "what path a person will arrive at through them": what one who fulfills the mitzvah will attain, what spiritual progress he will experience, and what merit he will achieve through it. These matters have many branches, and we do not know the exact benefit of each and every mitzvah - this is wondrous. But "it is not hidden from you" means that the words of the Torah were not said as an allegory, but in their plain meaning, and one must fulfill the mitzvot just as they are.
The Malbim notes precisely that the subject here is "testimonies" (eidot). As explained, the "testimonies" in the Torah are what the Torah testifies regarding reward and punishment, showing through history that the Holy One, blessed be He, punishes the wicked and pays a good reward to the righteous. Within these testimonies are wondrous and concealed matters: beyond the overt narratives before us in the Torah, which are all true in their literal sense, they contain secrets and hidden depths.
For example, the matter of Gan Eden: who can fathom what Gan Eden is, what was in it, and where it is located? What is the revolving flaming sword, and where is it today? And what of "a river went out of Eden to water the garden" - we see the rivers, but where is the garden itself? Although the holy books state that the Holy One, blessed be He, concealed it and hid it from our sight, at all events there are wondrous things in the testimonies of the Torah. So too the serpent: what was its nature, how did it speak, and what was its existence before the sin, before Hashem cut off its legs? So too the Nefilim - what was their nature, in what form did they descend from heaven, and how did they take wives from whomever they chose? And likewise the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, which are also part of the hidden dimension of the Torah.
And since the narratives in the Torah are not always readily understood, he says, "Therefore my soul keeps them": a wondrous and concealed matter requires extra safeguarding, and I preserve it in my soul. Why is safeguarding needed? Because the yetzer hara leads a person to doubt and raise challenges precisely about the less understood and more puzzling matters. Therefore he says: specifically regarding the deeper and more hidden matters, I add extra guarding - "my soul keeps them."
The Chida quotes Mahara Abulafia citing the Gemara's principle, "People remember two puzzling things" - a person might forget a single baffling matter, but two puzzling matters together are remembered. This is what Dovid HaMelech meant: "Your testimonies are wonders" - in the plural; I regard the mitzvot as two wonders and not just one. "Therefore my soul keeps them" - and since I view them as extraordinary and wondrous, this leads me to remember them.
The Chasam Sofer said likewise. When asked how he attained such an extraordinary level of remembering the Torah, he replied that he would marvel deeply at everything he learned; it was in his eyes a true wonder and an immense novelty - and that is how he retained it. For when something is perceived as novel and wondrous, a person naturally remembers it.
פֵּתַח דְּבָרֶיךָ יָאִיר מֵבִין פְּתָיִים׃ (ק"ל) - The opening of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.
Rashi explains: the opening of Your words illuminated the hearts of Israel, and You "give understanding to the simple" - when You said, "I am the Lord your God Who took you out," You informed them of the goodness You bestowed upon them by acquiring them from the house of bondage, so that they would know that You are their Master and accept Your sovereignty over them with "You shall have no other gods," and only afterward did You issue Your decrees.
The Midrash illustrates this with a parable: If a king were to arrive and say to the townspeople, "You must do such and such," they would say to him, "And what have you done for us that you come to place so many obligations upon us?" And they would not accept his sovereignty. But a king who came to a city, fortified its walls, provided livelihood and all the needs of its people, and saved them from their enemies - and only after all these kindnesses said to them, "Now fulfill my decrees" - here the people submit to his honor and are willing to carry out his decrees, for he saved them, helped them, and brought them to where they stand today.
This is "The opening of Your words illuminates": the opening of the Holy One, blessed be He's words to the Jewish people brought light and led even the simple to fulfill Hashem's will. For He did not open with "You shall have no other gods before Me," but rather with "I am Hashem your God, Who took you out of the land of Egypt" - like that king who benefited the people and only then issued his decrees. First, "I did good for you and acquired you from the house of bondage," and naturally they accept His divinity upon themselves; only afterward do the decrees follow. Then even the simple accept Hashem's mitzvos without asking why they are obligated to observe them.
We have mentioned several times that this is precisely what we say every day in Kerias Shema. Before "Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad" and before "You shall love Hashem your God," what blessing do we recite? "Blessed are You, Hashem, Who chooses His people Israel in love," or "Who loves His people Israel." And why do we mention this first? The Holy One, blessed be He, says: Before I command you to "love," it begins with Me - I chose you in love. First comes His love for us, and only then "You shall love Hashem your God." Hashem does not demand anything of us before He has given - "Who has preceded Me, that I should repay him?" First, "I brought you out of the land of Egypt," and afterward, "fulfill My mitzvos"; first I bestow My love upon you, and afterward I command you to "love." The command does not come in a vacuum. Therefore, "The opening of Your words illuminates" - the opening is what provides light and brings even the simple to fulfill Hashem's mitzvos.
Rashi cites an additional explanation: What was the first thing Hashem said at the beginning of Creation? "And God said, Let there be light." The very first opening of Divine speech among the Ten Utterances with which the Holy One, blessed be He, created His world was "Let there be light" - "The opening of Your words illuminates."
Radak explains: The opening of Your words enlightens the eyes of the blind of heart. When a person begins his study by contemplating the ways of Hashem and His words, it enlightens his eyes, and he proceeds further and further in understanding. Radak explains the connection to the preceding verse: Since we said, "Your testimonies are wondrous," meaning that Hashem's Torah is deep and beyond me, and who can claim to have grasped the Torah of Hashem - "it is wider than the sea" - a person might say: If so, I will not begin to study it at all; it is far beyond me and unattainable anyway. Therefore the verse comes and says: "The opening of Your words illuminates" - know that if you begin to contemplate at the entrance, Hashem will enlighten you, for He "gives understanding to the simple."
And this is the reality. The Gemara refers to the Babylonian Talmud as "He has placed me in darkness." Why darkness? Because when a person approaches a sugya, at first everything is dark to him: he does not understand who is holding what, he does not grasp the logic, he does not understand the subject, and everything feels foreign. But after he begins, hears some concepts, reviews, memorizes, studies with Rashi, and reviews the sugya once more - suddenly he begins to understand, suddenly it clicks, and the question of Tosafos already pops into his mind before he has even seen Tosafos, because he has already grasped the sugya. If you remain on the outside, you will never understand; "Your testimonies are wondrous" and that is the end of it - it is beyond me, it is not for me. But if you open it, if you begin engaging in Torah and do not let the matter slip away, gateways of understanding will open for you and Hashem will enlighten your eyes - "giving understanding to the simple": even someone who is considered simple, who does not understand much or delve deeply, yet because he exerted himself and desired to learn, he merits that his eyes are enlightened. And so it is in every single area: if a person persists and says, "Nevertheless, I will exert myself" - he merits having his eyes enlightened from Above.
At one time, Rav Chaim Kanievsky approached Rav Gedaliah Nadel to study the laws of intercalating the year and the intricate sugyos in the Rambam regarding sighting the new moon - whether it was seen from here or seen from there - highly complex and intricate topics. Rav Gedaliah Nadel replied to him, when Rav Chaim was still a young avreich: "This is not for you." One of Rav Chaim Kanievsky's natural traits, attested to by his family members, was immense persistence - not toward other people, Heaven forbid, but in all spiritual matters he would persist, exert himself, and cut himself no slack. He said: "They told me it is not for me - is there any part of the Torah that is not for me? I threw myself entirely into studying this subject." He ultimately merited becoming one of the few in his generation with mastery over all matters of intercalating the year and determining the new moon, intricate and complex halachos in which he acquired expertise. Why? Because there is no such thing as "a part of the Torah that is not for me." And this is "The opening of Your words illuminates": you think it is difficult and complicated - open it, exert yourself, persist, and suddenly Hashem will enlighten your eyes, "giving understanding to the simple" - even someone who was simple, Hashem enlightens his eyes to gain deep understanding.
The Malbim explains: "The opening of Your words" - the stories told by the Torah are not like the fables of the ancient nations, whose outer narratives are meaningless fabrications with no inherent value. When you read the allegories of the ancient nations, the parable itself is devoid of substance; it serves only to point to something else. If it has a moral, that moral is the essence, while the parable itself possesses no significance. But in the words of Torah, even in its narratives, the literal story itself - the "opening" through which one enters Your words - radiates light. From it as well, one learns moral lessons, proper conduct, and countless practical insights.
To be sure, within all the words of the Torah there are profound secrets and immense depth. For example, the entire topic of the creation of the worlds and the shattering of the vessels (*shevirat hakelim*), which the Kabbalists elaborate upon at length - where is it hinted? In the seven kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the Children of Israel: Bela son of Beor, the name of whose city was Dinhabah, his wife Mehetabel daughter of Matred, and so on. Seemingly, who could be interested in these accounts, and of what relevance are they to us? Yet whoever delves into the Zohar will discover there all the esoteric secrets of Creation: the divine emanations, the order of the *Sefirot*, the devolution of reality from above to below - from *Atzilut* to *Beriah*, *Yetzirah*, and *Asiyah* - the shattering of the vessels and their elevation, and all the rectifications (*tikkunim*) leading up to the creation of the world; everything is alluded to here.
This is precisely what the Malbim is saying: among the nations, when a story is a fable, the tale itself is of no interest and only the moral matters. But for us, even where there is profound inner depth, the narrative itself is brimming with substance. When you read about Eliezer - how he traveled, what he did, his prayer, his meeting with Rivkah, and what he told her - one might wonder why the Torah elaborates at such length. Of course, we do not doubt the historical truth of the account, Heaven forbid; it is entirely true, and it certainly contains hidden mystical depths concerning higher realms. What you read on the surface is only the outer layer. Nevertheless, even the literal narrative carries an essential message: how many ethical teachings are drawn from Eliezer's actions, from the way he prayed, and regarding a person's *shidduch*! A simple person (*peti*) may be unable to delve into the esoteric depths and inner secrets of the Torah, but he can readily understand the surface narrative and its direct message. Thus, "the opening of Your words" - the entryway provided by the Torah's stories - "gives understanding to the simple": it enables even the simple to grasp what is written here, at least on the plain level (*peshat*), which itself carries vital instruction.
It is cited in the name of the Vilna Gaon that "The opening of Your words gives light" alludes to the very opening of the Torah: the opening verses of each of the Five Books of Moses correspond to the Menorah. The first verse of Sefer Bereishit contains seven words - corresponding to the seven branches of the Menorah. The first verse of Sefer Shemot contains eleven words - corresponding to the eleven knobs (*kaftorim*) of the Menorah. The first verse of Vayikra contains nine words - corresponding to the nine flowers (*perachim*). The first verse of Bamidbar contains eighteen words (including the *kolel*, the verse as a whole) - corresponding to the height of the Menorah, eighteen *tefachim* (handbreadths). And the first verse of Devarim contains twenty-two words - corresponding to the twenty-two cups (*gevi'im*). Thus the entire Menorah is represented here: "The opening of Your words" - the openings of the Five Books - "gives light," illuminated by the light of the Menorah.
It is interesting to add: whoever consults the literature on Torah letter codes (equidistant letter sequences) - I believe it is Rabbi Weissmandl - will see that the Menorah is encoded at the beginning of each Chumash through letter skips. What the Vilna Gaon taught us is hinted at by the word count of the opening verse is also encoded through letter sequences: at the opening of each Chumash, the Menorah appears. This reinforces the principle: "The opening of Your words gives light" - the opening of each and every Chumash shines with the light of the Menorah.