Freedom Before Soul Light

בענין שמור וזכור ובשמור כתי' וזכרת כי עבד היית

Regarding the matter of "Shamor" (Guard) and "Zachor" (Remember): in connection with "Shamor" it is written, "And you shall remember that you were a slave" (Devarim 5:15).

The Sfas Emes opens on the two words of the Shabbos commandment, "Shamor" and "Zachor," noting that the Torah ties "Shamor" to remembering that we were slaves.

כי הנה השבת הוא שביתה ממלאכה והוא בחי' תיקון הגוף להיות בן חורין מהתקשרות בהבלי עולם

For behold, Shabbos is a cessation from melachah (forbidden labor), and it is the aspect of repairing the body, so that a person becomes a free man, no longer bound up in the vanities of this world.

Shabbos means stopping from melachah, and this stopping repairs the body by freeing a person from being entangled in worldly emptiness.

וזה בחי' שמור

And this is the aspect of "Shamor" (Guard).

This freeing of the body from worldly vanities is what "Shamor" represents.

וזכור הוא בחי' עשה טוב והוא המשכת נשמה יתירה בשבת ועל ב' אלו כתי' אם תשיב משבת רגליך כו' וקראת לשבת עונג הוא בחי' זכור

And "Zachor" (Remember) is the aspect of "do good," and it is the drawing down of the neshamah yeseirah (the additional soul) on Shabbos; and concerning these two it is written, "If you restrain your foot because of Shabbos... and you call Shabbos a delight" (Yeshayahu 58:13) — this is the aspect of "Zachor."

"Zachor" is the positive side — drawing down the extra Shabbos soul; the pasuk in Yeshayahu about restraining one's foot (Shamor) and calling Shabbos a delight (Zachor) captures both sides.

וכאשר חכמים הגידו כי בשבת א"צ אות תפילין

And as Chazal have taught, that on Shabbos one does not need the "os" (sign) of tefillin.

Chazal teach that Shabbos itself is already an "os," so the sign of tefillin is not needed on Shabbos — linking Shabbos to the function of tefillin.

א"כ כמו שיש תש"י וש"ר והם ג"כ תיקון הגוף בתש"י לכן כתי' וקשרתם

If so, just as there are tefillin shel yad (of the hand) and tefillin shel rosh (of the head), and they too are a repair of the body — for regarding the tefillin shel yad it is written, "And you shall bind them" (Devarim 6:8) —

The two tefillin parallel this: the shel yad, like "Shamor," works on repairing the body, as its verse says "and you shall bind them."

שזה מדרגה הראשונה להיות ב"ח מתאוות הגופניות

for this is the first level: to become a free man from the bodily desires.

Binding the body is the first stage — becoming free of physical cravings.

וזה הי' ביצ"מ ובכח התפילין נזכר חסד ה' ביצ"מ וזוכין לחירות

And this took place at yetzias Mitzrayim (the Exodus from Mitzrayim), and through the power of the tefillin one calls to mind the chessed of Hashem at yetzias Mitzrayim, and one merits freedom.

This freedom began at yetzias Mitzrayim; the tefillin recall Hashem's kindness in the Exodus, which is how a person attains true freedom.

ותש"ר היא תורת ה' בפיך שאחר יצ"מ קיבלנו התורה וכ"כ אנכי ה"א אשר הוצאתיך כו' פי' לכן מוכן אתה לקבל הדברות

And the tefillin shel rosh is "the Torah of Hashem in your mouth" (Shemos 13:9), for after yetzias Mitzrayim we received the Torah; and so it is written, "I am Hashem your God who took you out" (Shemos 20:2) — meaning, therefore you are prepared to receive the Dibros (the Commandments).

The shel rosh corresponds to Torah in the mouth, for the Exodus led to receiving the Torah, as the first of the Dibros opens by invoking the One who took us out.

ולכן בתש"י כתי' והיו לטוטפות שהיא הארת הנשמה אחר תיקון הגוף

And therefore regarding the tefillin shel yad it is written, "And they shall be as totafos" (Devarim 6:8), which is the shining of the neshamah after the repair of the body.

Yet the shel yad's verse already speaks of totafos, the soul's radiance — showing that the soul's light follows the repair of the body.

לכן תש"י קודמין כמ"ש ז"ל כ"ז שבין עיניך יהיו שתים

Therefore the tefillin shel yad comes first, as Chazal have said, "As long as it is between your eyes, there shall be two" (Menachos 36a).

That is why the shel yad is donned first, as the Gemara derives that while the shel rosh is on, both must be present.

כמו כן בשבת זכור ושמור שמור בחי' תש"י לכן כתי' וזכרת כו'

So too on Shabbos there are "Zachor" and "Shamor": "Shamor" is the aspect of tefillin shel yad, and therefore it is written, "And you shall remember [that you were a slave]" (Devarim 5:15) —

The same order applies to Shabbos: "Shamor" corresponds to the body-work of tefillin shel yad, which is why its verse recalls the slavery.

שהוא בחי' יצ"מ

for this is the aspect of yetzias Mitzrayim.

That recollection of slavery is the yetzias Mitzrayim dimension.

וזכור הוא בחי' התורה שניתנה בשבת

And "Zachor" is the aspect of the Torah, which was given on Shabbos.

"Zachor" corresponds to the Torah, which was given on Shabbos.

ובד' פרשיות של תפילין הם ג"כ ב' אלו יצ"מ וקבלת עול תורה ומצות

And in the four parshiyos of the tefillin these two themes are likewise present: yetzias Mitzrayim and the acceptance of the yoke of Torah and mitzvos.

The four passages inside the tefillin carry both themes too: the Exodus and accepting the yoke of Torah and mitzvos.

וחז"ל אמרו זו"ש בדיבור א' נאמרו כלומר שב' אלו תלוין זה בזה כפי מה שנעשה אדם בן חורין ממאסר הגוף כך מאירה הנשמה

And Chazal said that "Zachor" and "Shamor" were said in a single utterance — that is to say, that these two are dependent one upon the other: according to the measure in which a person is made a free man from the imprisonment of the body, so does the neshamah shine.

Chazal's teaching that "Zachor" and "Shamor" were uttered as one shows the two are interdependent — the more one is freed from the body's prison, the more the soul shines.

ובהארת הנשמה כל סט"א מתעברת

And through the shining of the neshamah, all the sitra achra (the side of impurity) is removed.

When the neshamah shines, the forces of impurity are stripped away.

ושניהם מתקיימים בשבת דסט"א ערקת

And both of these are fulfilled on Shabbos, for the sitra achra flees.

Both are achieved on Shabbos, since the sitra achra flees before its kedushah.

בחי' שמור ויצ"מ

The aspect of "Shamor" and yetzias Mitzrayim —

First comes "Shamor" and the Exodus dimension — freeing the body.

ואח"כ באת נשמה יתירה הארת התורה זכור:

and afterward there comes the neshamah yeseirah, the shining of the Torah, which is "Zachor."

Then comes the neshamah yeseirah and the radiance of Torah, which is "Zachor."

Summary: The Sfas Emes builds the two Shabbos commands, "Shamor" and "Zachor," upon the model of the two tefillin. "Shamor," tied to remembering our slavery, parallels the tefillin shel yad: it repairs the body and frees a person from the desires and vanities of this world, the freedom first attained at yetzias Mitzrayim. "Zachor" parallels the tefillin shel rosh and the neshamah yeseirah: the radiance of Torah, given on Shabbos, that follows once the body has been set free. He explains that just as the shel yad is donned first and both must be worn together, so "Shamor" and "Zachor" were spoken in one utterance and depend on each other — the more one is liberated from the body's imprisonment, the more brightly the neshamah shines. On Shabbos both are fulfilled at once, for the sitra achra flees, and through the body's freedom the light of the soul and of the Torah is drawn down.