Torah as Path to Freedom
בפסוק השמר בנגע הצרעת כו' זכור את א"ע ה"א למרים בצאתכם ממצרים
On the verse, "Be careful regarding the affliction of tzaraas... remember what Hashem your God did to Miriam on your way out of Mitzrayim" (Devarim 24:8-9).
The Sfas Emes opens with the Torah's warning to be careful about tzaraas, immediately followed by the command to remember what happened to Miriam when Bnei Yisrael left Mitzrayim.
כבר כתבנו במ"א כי השמר היא שמירה שע"י הצרעת נשמרים נפשות בנ"י וברית הלשון וזה כולל כל התורה דכ' בי' שמירה וזכירה וזה כלל המ"ע ול"ת שכולם ניתנו כדי שיהי' איש ישראל בן חורין לכן הקדים לנו יצ"מ ואח"כ התורה שמלמדת איך להיות נשאר הנפש בחירות שלא להתקשר בגשמיות ע"י תרי"ג עיטין שבתורה וכל המצוה שכ' בי' יצ"מ הוא לומר שע"י המצוה יתדבק בחירות וכמו כן בפרשת לקט שכחה פיאה וזכרת כי עבד היית לומר שע"י זו המצוה יהי' הלחם בלי פסולת ושלא יתדבק בעשרו יותר מדאי לכן נתנה תורה מצות מעשרות וצדקות שהיא שמירה להעושר ואיש ישראל צריך להיות בן חורין בנפש וגוף וכל אשר לו
We have already written elsewhere that "Be careful" (hishamer) refers to a safeguarding, for through tzaraas the souls of Bnei Yisrael and the covenant of the tongue are guarded; and this encompasses the entire Torah, regarding which the language of "guarding" (shemirah) and "remembering" (zechirah) is used. This is the general principle of the positive and negative commandments, all of which were given so that a person of Yisrael should be a free man; therefore the exodus from Mitzrayim was placed before us first, and afterward the Torah, which teaches how the soul should remain in freedom, not to become bound up in physicality, through the six hundred and thirteen pieces of counsel within the Torah. Every mitzvah by which the exodus from Mitzrayim is mentioned comes to tell us that through the mitzvah one cleaves to freedom; and likewise in the passage of leket, shichechah, and pe'ah, "and you shall remember that you were a slave" (Devarim 24:22), to tell us that through this mitzvah the bread will be without dross, and that he should not become bound up in his wealth more than is proper. Therefore the Torah gave the mitzvos of tithes and tzedakah, which are a safeguard for wealth, for a person of Yisrael must be a free man in soul and body and in all that he possesses.
He explains that the word "be careful" denotes safeguarding: tzaraas guards the souls of Bnei Yisrael and the holiness of proper speech. This safeguarding theme runs through the whole Torah, whose mitzvos were given to keep a Jew free — first Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim, then gave the Torah with its 613 pieces of advice so the neshamah would not get entangled in physicality, including the gifts to the poor and the mitzvos of tithes and tzedakah that guard a person from being enslaved to his wealth.
לכן גם בדירה ניתן מצות מזוזה
Therefore, for one's dwelling as well, the mitzvah of mezuzah was given.
Because freedom must extend to every area of life, even one's home is given a mitzvah — the mezuzah on the doorpost.
ובטלית מצות ציצית שהכל מסייע אל החירות והיא זכר ליצ"מ
And for one's garment, the mitzvah of tzitzis, for everything assists toward freedom, and it is a remembrance of the exodus from Mitzrayim.
So too one's clothing receives the mitzvah of tzitzis, since every mitzvah furthers a person's freedom and recalls the exodus from Mitzrayim.
לכן מצות ציצית סמוכה לכלאים שע"י הכלאים מתערב בו פסולת וציצית הוא חירות אל המלבוש
Therefore the mitzvah of tzitzis is juxtaposed to the prohibition of kilayim, for through kilayim dross becomes mixed into it, while tzitzis is freedom for the garment.
The Sfas Emes notes that tzitzis is placed right next to the prohibition of kilayim: kilayim introduces a foreign "dross" into the garment, whereas tzitzis brings freedom to it.
וזה כלל כל התורה לכן אמרו חרות על הלוחות חירות אין לך בן חורין אלא העוסק בתורה שמלמדת לאדם דרך החירות כנ"ל
And this is the general principle of the entire Torah; therefore the Chachamim expounded "engraved (charus) upon the Luchos" (Shemos 32:16) as "freedom (cheirus)," for "you have no free man other than one who occupies himself with Torah" (Avos 6:2), which teaches a person the way of freedom, as above.
This principle of freedom underlies all of Torah, which is why the Chachamim read "engraved on the Luchos" as "freedom on the Luchos" — only one who toils in Torah is truly free, because Torah teaches the path to freedom.
ושמירת הלשון היא חירות בנפש
And the guarding of the tongue is freedom in the soul.
Guarding one's speech is itself a form of inner freedom for the neshamah.
נפש חי' רוח ממללא:
"A living soul" (Bereishis 2:7) — a speaking spirit (as Targum Onkelos renders it: a speaking spirit).
He closes by citing that man became "a living soul," which Targum Onkelos renders as "a speaking spirit" — tying the power of speech directly to the living neshamah and its freedom.
Summary: The Sfas Emes builds the whole Torah around a single theme: Hashem took Bnei Yisrael out of Mitzrayim to make them free men, and the entire Torah is the means to keep them free. The 613 mitzvos are pieces of counsel that prevent the neshamah from becoming enslaved to physicality — tithes and tzedakah guard a person from his wealth, mezuzah sanctifies his home, and tzitzis brings freedom to his garment, each one a remembrance of the exodus. Tzitzis is set beside kilayim precisely because kilayim mixes foreign dross into the clothing while tzitzis frees it from such admixture. This is why the Chachamim read "engraved on the Luchos" as "freedom on the Luchos": only one who toils in Torah is truly free. Above all, guarding the tongue — hinted at in the warning about tzaraas — is freedom in the soul itself, for man is "a speaking spirit" whose power of speech reflects his free, living neshamah.