The Key to a Jewish Heart

One Shavuos night, at the tisch he conducted, the Sefas Emes said to the chassidim, “We say in davening, in Uva LeTzion at Shacharis, ‘Hu yiftach libenu besoroso,’ may Hashem open our hearts through His Torah. Do you hear? The key to opening our hearts is the Torah itself. Only through Torah can a Jew open his heart for Torah. In the Torah itself is hidden the key to a Jewish heart.”

These words caused such a stir that that night every sefer was taken from the shelves. Every bench and shtender was occupied, and the Gemaras, volumes of Shulchan Aruch and seforim of Chassidus were snatched up until the shelves stood bare. The chassidim learned through the night, trembling and in awe, as if standing at Har Sinai.