lechem ha'pnim

It's been a busy week.  My wife finished shiva, and then my son had a baby girl, so it's been a roller coaster ride.  Still, I did not want to leave another week without at least something on the parsha:

1) Right after the Torah talks about the offering of the korban ha'omer on Pesach and then the shtei ha'lechem on Shavuos in the context of speaking about all of the moadim, the Torah sticks in the mitzvos of pe'ah and leket:

 וּֽבְקֻצְרְכֶ֞ם אֶת־קְצִ֣יר אַרְצְכֶ֗ם לֹֽא־תְכַלֶּ֞ה פְּאַ֤ת שָֽׂדְךָ֙ בְּקֻצְרֶ֔ךָ וְלֶ֥קֶט קְצִירְךָ֖ לֹ֣א תְלַקֵּ֑ט לֶֽעָנִ֤י וְלַגֵּר֙ תַּעֲזֹ֣ב אֹתָ֔ם

The Ohr haChaim puts the question succinctly:  מה ענין זה לכאן.  

Abarbanel has a beautiful answer: The korban ha'omer uses grain; the shtei ha'lechem uses grain.  Part of your crop gets to be used to serve G-d, and therefore, you might think you were "yotzei" your religious obligation, and now the rest is yours to do with it as you like.  Comes the Torah and says that serving G-d is not enough.  You have to also remember to serve your fellow man as well.  Don't think because you offered a korban ha'omer or a shtei ha'lechem you can forget about the poor and the needy. 

2) One of my kids kept making the mistake of referring to the Misrad ha'Pnim in Israel as the Misrad haPanim (yes, I am embarassed).  It finally sunk in that Pnim = inside, what in the US would be called Ministry of the Interior, or something like that.  The end of our parsha speaks about the lechem ha'panim.  Sefas Emes writes that it's really the lechem ha'pnim, because that special bread that is inside the heichel reveals to us the pnimiyus of the bread we consume every day.   כִּ֠י לֹ֣א עַל־הַלֶּ֤חֶם לְבַדּוֹ֙ יִחְיֶ֣ה הָֽאָדָ֔ם כִּ֛י עַל־כׇּל־מוֹצָ֥א פִֽי ה׳  יִחְיֶ֥ה הָאָדָֽם  R' Chaim Vital famously explained that it's the motzah pi Hashem **found within that bread** that keeps us going.  The lechem ha'panim=pnim reveals that מוֹצָ֥א פִֽי ה׳ found inside, that we ordinarily don't see.  

The Midrash comments at the beginning of the parsha speaking about korban ha'omer:

אָמַר רַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחְמָנִי בִּקְּשׁוּ לִגְנֹז סֵפֶר קֹהֶלֶת שֶׁמָּצְאוּ בוֹ דְּבָרִים שֶׁהֵם נוֹטִים לְצַד מִינוּת, אָמְרוּ כָּךְ הָיָה שְׁלֹמֹה צָרִיךְ לוֹמַר: מַה יִּתְרוֹן לָאָדָם, יָכוֹל אַף בַּעֲמָלָהּ שֶׁל תּוֹרָה בַּמַּשְׁמָע, חָזְרוּ וְאָמְרוּ אִלּוּ אָמַר בְּכָל עָמָל וְשָׁתַק הָיִינוּ אוֹמְרִים אַף בַּעֲמָלָהּ שֶׁל תּוֹרָה בַּמַּשְׁמָע הוּא, הָא אֵינוֹ אוֹמֵר אֶלָּא בְּכָל עֲמָלוֹ, בַּעֲמָלוֹ הוּא שֶׁאֵינוֹ מוֹעִיל אֲבָל בַּעֲמָלוֹ שֶׁל תּוֹרָה מוֹעִיל.

What kind of hava amina is is that even the ameilus of Torah has no value?  The whole book of Koheles is about olam ha'zeh being hevel havolim and the tachlis of man being to engage in Torah and yiras shamayim?

Sefas Emes (5656) answers that to find Hashem in a blatt of Bava Kama does not requires ameilus.  To find Hashem when you are standing in shul davening does not require ameilus.  What requires ameilus is to find Hashem when you are out in the world, engaged in your daily life, in your mundane pursuits.  That's עֲמָלָהּ שֶׁל תּוֹרָה.  It takes work to see the entire world through the lens of Torah, to find Hashem in everything.

So who says we need to do that?  Maybe just stick to Bava Kama?

יָכוֹל אַף בַּעֲמָלָהּ שֶׁל תּוֹרָה בַּמַּשְׁמָע, maybe there is no value to seeking out G-d in the world at large?  הָא אֵינוֹ אוֹמֵר אֶלָּא בְּכָל עֲמָלוֹ, בַּעֲמָלוֹ הוּא שֶׁאֵינוֹ מוֹעִיל אֲבָל בַּעֲמָלוֹ שֶׁל תּוֹרָה מוֹעִיל. 

That's the same message as the lechem ha'panim.  Don't starve yourself -- enjoy your sandwich.  But remember that there is a pnim to the lechem, that there is a מוֹצָ֥א פִֽי ה׳ that we have to dig for and uncover.