Guarding Speech On Shabbos
בפסוק השמר בנגע כו' זכור את אשר ע' כו' למרים כו'
On the verse 'Be careful regarding the affliction of tzaraas... Remember what Hashem your God did to Miriam...' (Devarim 24:8-9).
The Sfas Emes opens with the verses about the affliction of tzaraas and the command to remember what happened to Miriam, who was stricken for speaking lashon hara.
גדול כח פיהם של בנ"י וכל כחן בפה לכן צריכין מאוד לשמור פה ולשון
Great is the power of the mouth of Bnei Yisrael, and all their strength lies in the mouth; therefore they must guard the mouth and the tongue with great care.
The unique strength of Bnei Yisrael is concentrated in the power of speech, which is why guarding the mouth and tongue is so vitally important.
וכמו שיש בשבת זכור ושמור ואמרו בזוה"ק שכל התורה כלולה בזכור ושמור כמו כן בלשון הרע כ' השמר וכ' זכור
And just as regarding Shabbos there is 'Remember' and 'Guard,' and the Zohar HaKadosh states that the entire Torah is contained within 'Remember' and 'Guard,' so too regarding lashon hara it is written 'Be careful (guard)' and it is written 'Remember.'
He draws a parallel: just as the whole Torah is encompassed in the Shabbos commands of 'Remember' and 'Guard,' the same two terms appear regarding lashon hara, showing that speech carries the weight of the entire Torah.
וכן כתיב מוצא שפתיך ת' דרשו חז"ל מ"ש מ"ע תשמור מל"ת כו' שכל התורה תלוי בפה כנ"ל
And likewise it is written 'That which goes out from your lips you shall keep' (Devarim 23:24); Chazal expounded that 'you shall keep' refers to a positive commandment, while a prohibition is also implied, for the entire Torah depends upon the mouth, as above.
The verse about keeping the utterance of one's lips teaches that speech involves both positive commands and prohibitions, since the whole Torah hinges on the proper use of the mouth.
ובאמת גם בשבת היא בחי' הפה דיש ראי' שמיעה ריחא ודיבור
And in truth, on Shabbos too it is the aspect of the mouth, for there are sight, hearing, smell, and speech.
He maps the five senses, noting that Shabbos itself corresponds to the faculty of speech, the mouth.
וימי המעשה הם בחי' ב' עיינין [ב'] אודנין ב' נוקבין דחוטמא
The weekdays correspond to the aspect of the two eyes, the two ears, and the two nostrils.
The six weekdays correspond to the six paired openings of the face—two eyes, two ears, two nostrils.
והשבת הוא הפה שנק' סהדותא ושבת יעשה כולו תורה
And Shabbos is the mouth, which is called 'testimony' (sahadusa), and on Shabbos one should devote oneself entirely to Torah.
Shabbos, the seventh, corresponds to the mouth, the single 'testimony,' and is meant to be filled entirely with Torah.
לכן אמרו לכל יש בן זוג
Therefore Chazal said that for each one there is a partner.
This is why Chazal taught that each of the weekdays has a partner, just as each pair of facial organs has a mate.
אבל הפה יחיד
But the mouth is singular.
The mouth, however, has no pair; it stands alone, like Shabbos among the days.
ומיוחד לכנס"י לקבל הדיבורים שבתורה כמ"ש ישקני כו' [וגם בגוף ב' ידין ורגלין וראש וגוף
And it is set aside, uniquely, for Knesses Yisrael to receive the words of the Torah, as it is written 'Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth' (Shir HaShirim 1:2). And likewise in the body there are two hands, two feet, a head and a trunk.
The solitary mouth is reserved for Knesses Yisrael to receive the words of Torah, paralleled by the limbs of the body which come in pairs while certain features stand alone.
והמילה בחי' השבת שאין לו ב"ז רק כנס"י
And the bris milah corresponds to the aspect of Shabbos, which has no partner—only Knesses Yisrael.
Bris milah, like Shabbos, has no partner; its sole 'mate' is Knesses Yisrael itself.
וראי' שמיעה ריחא הכל הוא לדבר שמבחוץ שרואה ושומע מדבר שמחוץ ודיבור בגרמייהו קיימא
Sight, hearing, and smell are all directed toward something external, for one sees and hears from a thing that is outside; whereas speech stands on its own.
Sight, hearing, and smell all reach out to external objects, while speech alone is generated entirely from within a person.
והיא בחי' השבת כנ"ל] ועיין לקמן בפ' כי תבא מ"ש מזה
And this is the aspect of Shabbos, as above. And see further in Parshas Ki Savo what is written concerning this.
Because speech is self-contained and not dependent on the outside, it mirrors the self-sufficient holiness of Shabbos; he refers the reader to a related teaching in Ki Savo.
ותלה הכ' ביצ"מ כמ"ש בדרך בצאתכם ממצרים
And the verse made it depend upon yetzias Mitzrayim, as it is written 'on the way as you went out of Mitzrayim' (Devarim 24:9).
Scripture ties the lesson of guarding speech to the Exodus by recalling the journey out of Mitzrayim.
כמ"ש אנכי ה"א המעלך מא"מ הרחב פיך כו'
As it is written 'I am Hashem your God who brought you up from the land of Mitzrayim; open wide your mouth and I will fill it' (Tehillim 81:11).
The verse from Tehillim links Hashem bringing us out of Mitzrayim directly to opening the mouth wide, connecting redemption with the power of speech.
פי' כמו שביצ"מ בכלל הי' התגלות הפנימיות והנהגתו ית' את העולם כדאיתא בזוה"ק במצרים הי' הדיבור בגלות פי' הנהגתו ית' הי' נסתר וביצ"מ בניסים ונפלאות נתגלה אלקותו ית"ש
The meaning is that just as at yetzias Mitzrayim, in a general sense, there was a revelation of the inner dimension and of His conduct, blessed is He, of the world—as is brought in the Zohar HaKadosh that in Mitzrayim the 'speech' was in galus, meaning that His conduct, blessed is He, was concealed, and at yetzias Mitzrayim, through miracles and wonders, His Godliness, blessed and exalted is His Name, was revealed—
Just as the Exodus revealed Hashem's hidden inner conduct of the world—the Zohar describing 'speech' as having been in exile in Mitzrayim and then revealed through miracles—the same dynamic plays out in each individual.
כן הי' בכל פרט נפש ישראל שהנפש היא במאסר הגוף
so too it was within each individual soul of Yisrael, for the neshamah is imprisoned within the body.
Within every Jew the neshamah is likewise 'imprisoned' within the body, mirroring the national exile.
ואיש ישראל הוא בן חורין שהנפש מתגלה בו וזה עיקר גאולת מצרים בנפשות בנ"י לכן צריך איש ישראל לשמור הפה שהוא חיות הפנימי כמ"ש ויפח באפיו כו'
And a Jew is a free man, in whom the neshamah is revealed; and this is the essence of the redemption of Mitzrayim within the souls of Bnei Yisrael. Therefore a Jew must guard the mouth, which is the inner vitality, as it is written 'And He blew into his nostrils...' (Bereishis 2:7).
A Jew is fundamentally free, with the neshamah able to shine through; this inner liberation is the real redemption of Mitzrayim, so one must guard the mouth, the channel of that inner life-force breathed into man.
לנפש חי' רוח ממללא
'...a living soul' (Bereishis 2:7)—which Onkelos renders as 'a speaking spirit.'
He cites Onkelos who renders 'living soul' as 'a speaking spirit,' identifying the neshamah's life with the power of speech itself.
וזה טעם רשעים בחייהם קרוים מתים שהנפש נסתר ונכסה בגשם הגוף
And this is the reason that the wicked, even during their lifetimes, are called dead—for the neshamah is concealed and covered over within the physicality of the body.
This explains why the wicked are called 'dead' even while alive: their neshamah is buried and hidden beneath their physicality, its speaking-light unrevealed.
לכן בשבת שנק' סהדותא ובנ"י מעידין על הבורא ית' היא זכר ליצ"מ כדאיתא ודבר דבר שלא יהי' דבורך בשבת כמו בחול ע"י שבו יש גאולה בנפש ויכולין להעיד עליו ית' בהתגלות:
Therefore on Shabbos, which is called 'testimony' (sahadusa), and on which Bnei Yisrael bear witness regarding the Creator, blessed is He, it is a remembrance of yetzias Mitzrayim, as is brought 'and speaking a word' (Yeshayahu 58:13)—that your speech on Shabbos should not be like your speech on a weekday—because on it there is redemption within the soul, and one is able to bear witness regarding Him, blessed is He, in a revealed manner.
Therefore Shabbos—called 'testimony,' on which Bnei Yisrael testify about the Creator—is a remembrance of the Exodus, and our speech must be elevated above weekday speech, because on Shabbos the soul is redeemed and can openly bear witness to Hashem.
Summary: The Sfas Emes teaches that the entire strength of Bnei Yisrael is concentrated in the power of speech, which is why guarding the mouth and tongue carries the weight of the whole Torah—just as 'Remember' and 'Guard' encompass all of Torah regarding both Shabbos and lashon hara. He maps the faculties of the face: the paired eyes, ears, and nostrils correspond to the six weekdays, while the singular mouth, which stands alone and is generated from within rather than reaching outward, corresponds to Shabbos and is reserved for Knesses Yisrael to receive the words of Torah. Drawing on the Zohar, he explains that yetzias Mitzrayim was a revelation of Hashem's hidden inner conduct of the world, 'speech' having been in galus and then liberated through miracles. The same redemption unfolds within every Jew, whose neshamah—identified by Onkelos as 'a speaking spirit'—lies imprisoned in the body until it is freed and revealed; this is why the wicked are called dead even in life. Shabbos, called 'testimony,' is therefore a remembrance of the Exodus on which the soul is redeemed and our elevated speech allows us to openly bear witness to the Creator.