Elevating Sparks Through Eating

כי ירחיב ה' כו' גבולך כו' בכל אות נפשך ת"ב

"When Hashem expands your borders... in accordance with all the desire of your soul" — the verse comes to teach a lesson.

The pasuk speaks of Hashem widening one's borders so that a person may eat according to his soul's desire, and the Sfas Emes signals that this carries a deeper lesson.

פרש"י למדך ד"א שלא יתאוה לבשר רק מתוך רחבת ידים ועושר

Rashi explains that the Torah teaches proper conduct: a person should not crave meat except out of ample means and wealth.

Rashi reads this as a guidance in middos: one should only crave meat when blessed with abundance, not out of base appetite.

ובמד' עושה משפט לעשוקים נותן לחם כו' מתיר אסורים כו' ע"ש

And in the Midrash on the verse "He executes justice for the oppressed, He gives bread... He releases the imprisoned" — see there.

The Sfas Emes points to a Midrash linking Hashem's giving of bread to the hungry with His releasing the imprisoned, hinting at a deeper dynamic.

דאיתא בס' קטן מבעש"ט ז"ל ע"פ רעבים גם צמאים נעשם בהם תתעטף

For it is brought in the small sefer of the Baal Shem Tov, of blessed memory, on the verse "They were hungry, they were also thirsty; their soul fainted within them" (Tehillim 107:5).

He cites the Baal Shem Tov on a verse describing souls fainting from hunger and thirst, introducing a question about why such cravings exist.

שקשה למה עשה הש"י להיות תאוה וחשק למאכלים אלו

It is difficult: why did Hashem make there be a craving and desire for these particular foods?

The difficulty: why would Hashem implant in us a real desire for specific physical foods?

וע"כ שיש איזה ניצוץ מנפש האדם באותו מאכל

It must therefore be that there is some spark of a person's soul within that very food.

The answer must be that a spark of the person's own soul is embedded within that food, drawing him to it.

וז"ש נפשם בהם תתעטף לכך רעבים וצמאים כו' ע"ש

And this is the meaning of "their soul fainted within them" — because of this they are hungry and thirsty, etc. — see there.

Thus the soul "faints" with hunger precisely because it seeks to reclaim its own sparks scattered in food and drink.

והם דברי אלקם חיים

And these are the words of the living Hashem.

The Sfas Emes affirms that these teachings of the Baal Shem Tov are true words of the living Hashem.

כי איך יש מזון לנפש אדם באלו הדברים

For how could there be nourishment for a person's soul in these physical things,

He presses the logic: there could be no spiritual nourishment in physical food,

אם לא הי' [*בהם] שייכות לנפש האדם

if there were not within them a connection to a person's soul?

unless that food contained some genuine connection to the soul of the one eating it.

עי"ז ע"מ לעשוקים כי הנקודה בדצ"ח הוא בבית אסורים שנעשקה נקודה זו בתוך הדברים הטבעיים ועי"ז שנותן לחם לרעבים עי"ז עולין לבחי' מדבר עד שעולין למקומם [לכן נק' מדבר שהוא סוף העליות ונמצא הוא מנהיג כולם כמ"ש כל שתה תחת רגליו ]. ה' מתיר אסורים כנ"ל

Through this He "executes justice for the oppressed," for the spark within the inanimate, the plant, and the animal is in a prison-house, since this point has been oppressed and held captive within the natural things. And through His giving bread to the hungry, these sparks ascend to the level of the speaker, until they rise to their proper place. (This is why man is called the "speaker," for he is the culmination of all the ascents, and thus he leads all of them, as it is written, "You have placed everything beneath his feet.") In this way Hashem "releases the imprisoned," as explained.

The divine sparks trapped in inanimate, plant, and animal matter are like prisoners; when a person eats with the right intent, those sparks rise through the level of the human "speaker" back to their source. Man is the pinnacle of creation's ascent and thereby leads all lower beings upward, fulfilling Hashem's role as the One who "releases the imprisoned."

אך זה הוא אחר שכ' ירחיב ה' כו' גבולך

But this comes only after that which is written, "When Hashem expands your borders."

But this elevation of the sparks is only possible after the prior condition: Hashem first expanding one's borders.

והוא רוח הקדושה שיש בנפש האדם

And this refers to the spirit of holiness that exists within a person's soul.

That "expansion" refers to the spirit of holiness alive within a person's soul.

וי"ל גבולך כי הקב"ה א"ס

And one can explain the word "your border": for the Holy One, Blessed is He, is without limit,

The word "your border" itself teaches that, whereas Hashem is infinite and without limit,

ובכל נברא

and in every created being,

within every created thing,

מכ"ש באדם

and all the more so in man,

and especially within a human being,

נתן הקב"ה נקודה קדושה ויש לה גבול

the Holy One, Blessed is He, placed a holy point, and it has a boundary.

He placed a holy point that is finite and bounded.

אך ע"י עבודת האדם יכול להרחיבה בעזר השי"ת

But through a person's avodah he is able to expand it, with the help of Hashem.

Yet through one's avodah, with Hashem's help, that bounded point can be expanded.

לכן נק' הפנימיות גבול שהוא סוף המדרגות שבאדם

Therefore the inner essence is called a "border," for it is the endpoint of the levels within a person.

The inner essence is called a "border" because it marks the outermost edge of the spiritual levels within a person.

וכן בהמ"ק נק' גבולנו כמ"ש ותטענו בגבולנו שהוא הפנימיות שבכל הארצות

And so too the Beis HaMikdash is called "our border," as it is written, "You brought us to our border" — for it is the innermost point of all the lands.

Likewise the Beis HaMikdash is termed "our border," being the innermost, holiest point of all the lands.

וז"ש כי ירחיב שכשאדם זוכה להרחבת הדעת שבו כמ"ש בזוה"ק ע"פ ויוצר רוח אדם בקרבו שהקב"ה מוסיף כח נשמת האדם בתוכו כשזוכה לעלות ממדרגה למדרגה נפש רוח נשמה כו'

And this is the meaning of "when He expands": that when a person merits an expansion of the understanding within him, as is written in the Zohar HaKadosh on the verse "and forms the spirit of man within him," that the Holy One, Blessed is He, adds to the power of a person's neshamah within him when he merits to ascend from level to level — nefesh, ruach, neshamah, etc.

"When He expands" thus means an expansion of one's daas, as the Zohar teaches that Hashem adds to one's neshamah as he climbs the rungs of nefesh, ruach, and neshamah.

ועי"ז צריך לקרב שאר הנבראים ג"כ

And through this he must draw the rest of the created beings close as well.

As one's own soul expands, he is obligated to bring the rest of creation close and elevate it too.

כי כפי התרחבות הנשמה כן צריך להתרחב הכלים

For according to the expansion of the neshamah, so too must the vessels expand,

The vessels — body and lower soul — must grow in proportion to the expanding neshamah,

והוא הנפש והגוף להעלות בחי' דצח"מ לרוח חיים שבקרבו:

and these are the nefesh and the body, to elevate the inanimate, plant, animal, and speaker to the living spirit within him.

so that through nefesh and body a person can lift the inanimate, plant, animal, and speaker up to the living spirit within him.

Summary: The Sfas Emes opens with the verse about Hashem expanding our borders so we may eat according to our soul's desire, and asks, in the name of the Baal Shem Tov, why Hashem implanted a genuine craving for physical food. The answer is that every food holds a spark of the eater's own soul, and these divine sparks — imprisoned within the inanimate, plant, and animal worlds — are released and elevated when a person eats with proper intent, rising through man, the "speaker," who is the pinnacle of creation. But this avodah of elevating sparks depends on a prior "expansion": Hashem places a holy yet bounded point within every person, and through one's own avodah that point grows, paralleling the inner sanctity of the Beis HaMikdash, called "our border." As the neshamah expands from nefesh to ruach to neshamah, Hashem adds spiritual power within the person. In turn, the person's vessels — body and nefesh — must expand to draw all of creation upward to the living spirit within him.