The tzaddik who uses falsehood without clinging to it

חז"ל דרשו הפסוק הצילה נפשי משפת שקר על יעקב אע"ה בעת שהוצרך לומר אנכי עשו בכורך.

Chazal expounded the verse "Save my soul from a lip of falsehood" (Tehillim 120:2) as referring to Yaakov our father, peace be upon him, at the moment when he was forced to say "I am Esav your firstborn" (Bereishis 27:19).

When Yaakov took the brachos he had to speak words that were, on the surface, untrue. Chazal connect his prayer "save my soul from a lip of falsehood" to this very moment.

כי שקר אין לו רגלים.

For falsehood (sheker) has no legs.

By its nature falsehood has no enduring foundation — like the Hebrew letters of "sheker," it cannot stand on its own and has no lasting existence.

רק ב"א המשקרים ע"י שדבוקים בשקר.

Only that people who lie, through their being attached (devukim) to falsehood —

Falsehood gains a foothold in the world only because liars cling to it inwardly, binding themselves to it.

נותנין כח וקיום להשקר בעולם.

— they give power and permanence to falsehood in the world.

By attaching their will to sheker, such people lend it the strength and stability it does not possess on its own, propping it up in the world.

כמ"ש שמאבדין העולם כו'.

As it is said, that they destroy the world, etc.

Chazal teach that those who cling to falsehood ultimately bring ruin to the world, since they sustain something fundamentally baseless.

אבל הצדיק שדבוק באמת.

But the tzaddik, who is attached to truth (emes) —

The tzaddik's inner bond is to emes; his will is rooted in truth, not in falsehood.

אף שנצרך להשתמש לפעמים גם בהשקר כמ"ש מותר לשנות מפני דרכי שלום.

— even though he sometimes needs to make use of falsehood as well, as it is taught that one is permitted to deviate (from the strict truth) for the sake of the ways of peace (darkei shalom).

Even a tzaddik may at times have to speak something untrue — for instance, Chazal permit altering a statement for the sake of peace. The question is the inner stance behind it.

שמי שמכוין להאמת ואינו מדבק עצמו בהשקר יוכל עוד עי"ז לבטל השקר.

For one who aims toward the truth and does not attach himself to the falsehood can even, through this, nullify the falsehood.

Because the tzaddik's intent remains fixed on truth and his will never bonds with the lie, he can actually use the act to dismantle and nullify falsehood rather than strengthen it.

כי עוה"ז נק' עלמא דשיקרא ולכן נצרך לפעמים לתקן העולם ע"י השקר עצמו.

For this world is called "the world of falsehood" (alma de-shikra), and therefore it is sometimes necessary to rectify the world by means of the falsehood itself.

Olam hazeh is itself a realm of concealment and falsehood. So at times the very tikkun of the world requires entering into that falsehood in order to break it from within.

רק שצריך לזה סייעתא דשמיא שלא להתדבק הרצון בהשקר ח"ו.

Only that for this one needs siyata di-shmaya (Heavenly assistance), so that the will should not become attached to the falsehood, God forbid.

This is spiritually dangerous work, and it requires Divine help to ensure that one's ratzon — one's inner will — stays clear of the falsehood and is never drawn into it.

וז"ש הצילה נפשי דיקא שלא להתדבק בשפת שקר שמוציא מפיו כנ"ל.

And this is the precise meaning of "Save my soul" — specifically that his soul should not become attached to the lip of falsehood that he brings forth from his mouth, as above.

Yaakov's prayer was exact: not to be spared from speaking the necessary untruth, but that his nefesh — his inner self — not cling to that falsehood even as his lips uttered it. He asked to keep his soul bound only to emes.

[וי"ל בזה סוף הפסוק שכנתי עם אהלי קדר כו' אדבר המה למלחמה כנ"ל]:

[And one might explain by means of this the end of the verse: "I have dwelt with the tents of Kedar... I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war" (Tehillim 120:5-7), as above.]

The Sefas Emes adds a bracketed thought: the rest of the psalm — dwelling among the deceitful "tents of Kedar," speaking for peace amid those bent on strife — fits this same theme of the tzaddik who must operate within a world of falsehood while remaining anchored in truth and peace.

Summary: Sheker has no legs of its own; it endures only because liars attach their will to it. The tzaddik, bound inwardly to emes, may at times have to use falsehood — as when Yaakov said "I am Esav" or when one alters words for darkei shalom — yet because his ratzon never clings to the lie, he can actually nullify falsehood and rectify this "world of falsehood" from within. Yaakov's prayer "save my soul" was precisely that his inner self never bond to the untruth on his lips, a task that requires siyata di-shmaya.