Elevating Body Through Neshamah

בפסוק תמים תהי' כו' כי הגוים כו' מעוננים וקוסמים ישמעו ואתה לא כן כו'

Regarding the verse "You shall be wholehearted (tamim) with Hashem your God, etc." — "for these nations, etc." listen to those who divine times and to soothsayers, "but as for you, Hashem your God has not given you such, etc." (Devarim 18:13-14).

The Torah forbids Bnei Yisrael from turning to sorcery and divination as the nations do; instead they must be tamim, wholehearted, with Hashem.

במדרש תנחומא והיית רק למעלה ולא תהי' למטה כשאתה רוצה לשאול שאל מלמעלה ולא מלמטה דכת' רוח בני האדם העולה כו' למעלה ורוח הבהמה היורדת כו' למטה

In the Midrash Tanchuma it is expounded on "and you shall be only above and you shall not be below" (Devarim 28:13) — when you wish to inquire, inquire from Above and not from below, as it is written, "the spirit of man, which ascends upward, etc.," while "the spirit of the animal descends downward, etc." (Koheles 3:21).

The Midrash teaches that Bnei Yisrael should seek guidance from Above, since man's spirit rises upward while the animal's descends, hinting at two opposite directions of conduct.

כי באמת הגוף מן האדמה ולכן ניזון מן האדמה

For in truth the body is from the earth, and therefore it is nourished from the earth.

Because the body originates from the earth, it naturally draws its sustenance from the earth below.

והנשמה מלמעלה ומקבלת חיות מלמעלה

But the neshamah is from Above, and it receives its vitality from Above.

The neshamah, by contrast, has its source Above and receives its life-force from there.

ואיתא צדקים במיתתן קרוים חיים

And it is taught that tzaddikim, even in their death, are called living (see Berachos 18a).

Chazal say that tzaddikim are called living even after death, pointing to a special quality in how they live.

פי' שממשיכין החיות מן הנשמה גם אל הגוף

The meaning is that they draw down the vitality from the neshamah even into the body.

This is because a tzaddik channels the neshamah's vitality down into the body itself, so the body too becomes alive with that higher life.

כי הגוף נק' מת שסופו למות אבל הצדיקים עתידין להחיות לפי שהם מביאין החיות גם אל הגוף וע"ז כ' חי חי כו' יודך פי' חי בנשמה חי בגוף

For the body is called dead, since its end is to die; but the tzaddikim are destined to be revived, because they bring the vitality even into the body. Concerning this it is written "the living, the living, he shall thank You" (Yeshayahu 38:19) — meaning, alive in the neshamah and alive in the body.

An ordinary body is destined to die, but the tzaddikim will be revived because they infuse the body with the neshamah's vitality — hence "the living, the living" means alive in both neshamah and body.

והרשעים להיפוך בחייהן קרוין מתים כי גם הנשמה מתבטלת אל הגוף ומאבדין כח הנשמה ולכן כל הנהגתם גם הנפש שבהם מלמטה

And the resha'im are the reverse: in their lifetime they are called dead, for even the neshamah within them is nullified to the body, and they lose the power of the neshamah; therefore their entire conduct, even the nefesh within them, is from below.

Resha'im are the opposite: while still alive they are called dead, because they let the neshamah be swallowed up by the body and forfeit its power, so even their inner soul-force operates from below.

ולכן אל מעוננים וקוסמים ישמעו שכל אלה המעשים מהטבע שלמטה

And therefore "they listen to those who divine times and to soothsayers," for all those deeds are drawn from the nature that is below.

This is why the nations turn to divination and sorcery — those powers all stem from the lower realm of nature, which is the only realm they live by.

אבל בבנ"י כ' והיית רק למעלה פי' רק שגם הגוף יהי' למעלה וזהו בחי' תמים כמו שעשה האלקים את האדם ישר כמו שהי' קודם החטא ובקבלת התורה קיבלו בנ"י זה התמימות כמ"ש בני עליון כולכם

But concerning Bnei Yisrael it is written "and you shall be only above" — the meaning of "only" is that even the body shall be above; and this is the aspect of tamim, "as Hashem made man upright" (Koheles 7:29), just as he was before the sin. And at Kabbalas HaTorah, Bnei Yisrael received this temimus, as it is written "you are children of the Most High, all of you" (Tehillim 82:6).

Bnei Yisrael, however, are told to be "only above," meaning even the body is to be elevated; this is temimus, the upright wholeness of man before the sin, which Bnei Yisrael received anew at Kabbalas HaTorah.

פי' אפי' חלק הגוף

The meaning is: even the portion that is the body.

The word "only" comes to include even the physical body in this elevation.

וזה הכח נשאר אצל הנביאים ככל אשר שאלת כו' בחורב כו' ומ"מ אפי' אחר החטא כח קבלת התורה מאיר לבנ"י וע"ז כ' ה' אורי וישעי אורי כמו שהי' בקבלת התורה ולוחות הראשונות שהיו הלוחות מעשה אלקים לפי שגם גופות בנ"י היו מזוככים כמו הנשמה

And this power remained with the nevi'im — "according to all that you asked, etc., at Chorev, etc." (Devarim 18:16). Nevertheless, even after the sin the power of Kabbalas HaTorah shines for Bnei Yisrael. Concerning this it is written "Hashem is my light and my salvation" (Tehillim 27:1): "my light" is just as it was at Kabbalas HaTorah and the first Luchos, for the Luchos were "the work of God" (Shemos 32:16), since even the bodies of Bnei Yisrael were as refined as the neshamah.

This elevated power lived on through the nevi'im, and even after the sin the light of Kabbalas HaTorah still shines for Bnei Yisrael — "my light" recalling the first Luchos, when even their bodies were as refined as the neshamah.

וישעי הוא אחר החטא כי הגוף צריך ישועה כמ"ש אדם ובהמה תושיע ה' היינו בחי' בינוני שיש בו מהארת הנשמה אבל חלק הגוף עוד לא ניתקן וכמו כן אורי בשבת יומא דנשמתין

And "my salvation" refers to after the sin, for the body requires salvation, as it is written "man and beast You save, Hashem" (Tehillim 36:7) — this is the aspect of the beinoni, who has within him some of the illumination of the neshamah, but the portion of the body has not yet been rectified. And likewise "my light" is on Shabbos, the day of the neshamah.

"My salvation" addresses the situation after the sin, when the body still needs to be saved; this is the beinoni, lit by some of the neshamah while the body remains unrectified — paralleling how "my light" corresponds to Shabbos, the day of the neshamah.

וישעי בימי המעשה:

And "my salvation" is during the weekdays of labor.

"My salvation" corresponds to the weekdays of labor, when the body still requires rescue and elevation.

Summary: The Sfas Emes explains that the mitzvah of temimus — being wholehearted with Hashem rather than turning to divination like the nations — flows from the difference between the body, which is rooted in the earth below, and the neshamah, which draws its vitality from Above. Tzaddikim are called living even in death because they channel the neshamah's life-force down into the body itself, while resha'im are called dead in their lifetime because they let the neshamah be nullified to the body and live entirely from below; this is why the nations cling to sorcery, which is drawn from lower nature. At Kabbalas HaTorah, Bnei Yisrael recovered the upright temimus of man before the sin, when even their bodies were as refined as the neshamah, like the first Luchos that were the very work of Hashem. After the sin this is split into "Hashem is my light" — the neshamah's illumination, corresponding to Shabbos — and "my salvation," the body that still awaits rescue during the weekdays of labor, the level of the beinoni.