Drawing Life From Mitzvos

במדרש תנחומא כל המצוה כו' חיים הם למוצאיהם כו' אם התחלת במצוה גמור כו'

In the Midrash Tanchuma it is taught: "The entire mitzvah" — "they are life to those who find them" (Mishlei 4:22) — if you have begun a mitzvah, complete it.

The Sfas Emes opens with the Midrash's teaching that mitzvos are a source of life, and that once a person starts a mitzvah he must see it through to completion.

כי חיות הכל מן התורה ומצות וכפי היגיעה בתורה כן מוציא ממש חיים בנפשו ומעשיו שנתקשר בחי החיים עי"ז

For the life-force of everything flows from the Torah and the mitzvos, and according to the toil one invests in the Torah, so does one literally draw forth life into his neshamah and his deeds, for through this he becomes bound up with the Life of all life.

All vitality in creation comes from Torah and mitzvos, and the effort a person pours into Torah is what draws genuine life into his soul and actions, connecting him to Hashem, the Source of life.

וז"ש ומצותי תצפון אתך שמכל מצוה ישאר אצלו מעט דביקות

And this is the meaning of "and store My mitzvos with you" (Mishlei 2:1) — that from every mitzvah there should remain with him a measure of dveikus.

The verse about storing away Hashem's mitzvos teaches that each mitzvah should leave behind in a person a lasting bit of dveikus, a connection to Hashem.

ושלא לעשות ברגילות רק להיות בטל ודבוק לפנימיות המצוה

And one should not perform the mitzvos out of mere routine, but rather to be wholly nullified in bittul and cleaving to the inner essence of the mitzvah.

Mitzvos must not be done by rote, but with bittul, where one nullifies himself and clings to the inner spiritual essence of the mitzvah.

וז"ש כל המצוה מלשון מיצוי כמ"ש שם ע"ש במד' וכתי' תשמעו אל מצותי מכלל שהמצוה עצמו משמעת קול כמ"ש חז"ל שכל מצוה אומרת לאבר מיוחד לה ומזכרת האדם ע"ז המצוה לעשותה

And this is the meaning of "the entire mitzvah (kol haMitzvah)" — from the expression of miloi (squeezing out the full measure), as is explained there in the Midrash, see there; and it is written "you shall hearken to My mitzvos" — from which we infer that the mitzvah itself sounds forth a voice, as Chazal taught that every mitzvah calls out to the particular limb that belongs to it and reminds the person about that mitzvah, to fulfill it.

The phrase "kol haMitzvah" hints at squeezing out the full measure of a mitzvah; and since the verse says we hearken to the mitzvos, the mitzvah itself must produce a voice, as Chazal say each mitzvah calls to its own limb and prompts the person to fulfill it.

ומ"מ נשמעת לאדם כפי הרצון לשמוע ולדבק בפנימיות המצוה כנ"ל:

And nonetheless, it is heard by the person according to his will to listen and to cleave to the inner essence of the mitzvah, as explained above.

Even so, a person only hears that inner call of the mitzvah to the degree that he genuinely wants to listen and to attach himself to the mitzvah's inner essence.

Summary: The Sfas Emes teaches that all life and vitality in the world flow from the Torah and its mitzvos, and that the toil a person invests draws true life into his neshamah, binding him to Hashem, the Life of all life. Therefore one must complete every mitzvah he begins and not perform mitzvos out of mere routine, but with bittul and dveikus to their inner essence, so that each mitzvah leaves behind a residue of connection to Hashem. He explains that "kol haMitzvah" alludes to squeezing out the mitzvah's full measure, and that the mitzvah itself sounds forth a voice, calling out to the limb that belongs to it. Yet this inner call is heard only to the degree that a person desires to listen and to cleave to the mitzvah's inner essence.