Bittul opens the inner gate of Shabbos

ואמו"ז ז"ל הגיד בשם הרב מפרשיסחא ז"ל אשר תשים לפניהם להיות משפטי השי"ת קודם לעצמותם כענין הקדמת נעשה לנשמע שהוא למסור נפשו לעשות משפטי השי"ת ע"ש בס' קול שמחה.

And my grandfather, my teacher, of blessed memory, said in the name of the Rav of Pshischa, of blessed memory, on "which you shall place before them" (Shemos 21:1) — that the laws of Hashem (mishpatei Hashem) should come before one's own essence/selfhood, in the manner of placing "naaseh" before "nishma," which is to give over one's soul to fulfill the laws of Hashem — see there in the sefer Kol Simchah.

The Sefas Emes brings from his grandfather, citing the Rebbe of Pshischa (whose teachings are in Kol Simchah), that "asher tasim lifneihem (which you shall place before them)" hints that Hashem's mishpatim must take precedence over a person's own self-interest — like "naaseh" before "nishma" — meaning a readiness of mesirus nefesh (self-sacrifice) to carry out Hashem's law.

ובאמת זוכין לפנימיות טעמי התורה ע"י הביטול אליו ית'.

And in truth one merits the inner reasons (penimiyus taamei haTorah) of the Torah through bittul (nullification of self) to Him.

It is precisely through bittul — setting aside one's own selfhood before Hashem — that a person becomes worthy of grasping the inner depths and hidden reasons of the Torah.

כ' שער החצר הפנימית (שער) הפונה קדים כו' וביום השבת יפתח וביום החודש כו'.

It is written, "the gate of the inner court (the gate) that faces eastward..." (Yechezkel 46:1) — "and on the day of Shabbos it shall be opened, and on the day of the New Moon..."

He cites Yechezkel's vision: the inner gate that "faces east (kadim)" stays shut during the week but is opened on Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh — a model for when the inner dimension becomes accessible.

הפונה קדים הוא הביטול אל מה שלמעלה מהטבע כי בשבת ור"ח יש עלי' לנפשות בנ"י למעלה ועי"ז זוכין לפנימיות הטעמים.

"Facing east (kadim)" is the bittul to that which is above nature, for on Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh there is an ascent for the souls of Bnei Yisrael on high, and through this they merit the inner reasons.

The eastward-facing gate represents bittul toward what transcends nature ("kadim" hinting at "kadmon," the Primordial One). On Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh the neshamos of Bnei Yisrael ascend, and that elevation is what opens the gate to the penimiyus, the inner taamim of Torah.

וכ' בשבת קודש ויכולו השמים והארץ כו' פי' התמלאות שפע חיים בכל הבריאה כי ויכל הוא לשון מדה כמ"ש וכל בשליש.

And it is written regarding the holy Shabbos, "And the heavens and the earth were completed (vayechulu)..." (Bereishis 2:1) — meaning the filling-up of an abundance of life (shefa chayim) in all of creation, for "vayechulu" is an expression of measure, as in "and measured (v'chal) in a third [of a measure]" (Yeshayahu 40:12).

He reinterprets "vayechulu" not as mere "completion" but from the root meaning "measure/capacity": on Shabbos a flow of life (shefa) fills every creature up to the full measure it can hold.

אלפים בת יכיל.

"It could hold two thousand bas" (a measure of volume — cf. Melachim I 7:26).

He brings another instance of the same root used for "holding" a measured capacity, reinforcing that "vayechulu" denotes filling each vessel to its capacity.

כי הקב"ה השפיע בכל ברי' חיים כפי אשר יכולה לקבל.

For the Holy One poured forth into every creature life according to what it is able to receive.

Hashem channels a measure of vitality into each created thing precisely matched to its capacity to receive — every vessel is filled to its own full measure.

והאמת כי בריאת האדם ביום הששי הוא פנימיות החיות של כל הבריאה כמ"ש ואדם עלי' בראתי.

And the truth is that the creation of man on the sixth day is the inner life-force (penimiyus hachiyus) of all of creation, as it is written, "and I created man upon it" (Yeshayahu 45:12).

Man, created last on the sixth day, is the inner vitality of the entire creation — the verse "I created man upon it" indicates that all of creation exists for and is animated through man.

וע"י האדם נמשך חיות לכל הבריאה.

And through man, life is drawn down to all of creation.

Man is the conduit through which the life-force flows to the rest of the world.

וכפי הביטול ומס"נ של האדם בש"ק להקב"ה.

And according to the bittul and mesirus nefesh of a person on the holy Shabbos to the Holy One,

The degree to which a person nullifies himself and gives himself over to Hashem on Shabbos determines how much life he draws down.

ממשיך חיות מחדש לכל הבריאה כנ"ל:

he draws down renewed life to all of creation, as above.

Through his bittul and self-sacrifice on Shabbos, a person becomes the channel that brings a fresh flow of vitality into the whole of creation — the human "inner gate facing east" opening to receive and transmit the renewed shefa of Shabbos.

Summary: "Placing the mishpatim before them" means letting Hashem's law precede one's own selfhood — naaseh before nishma, the mesirus nefesh of bittul. Through such bittul one merits the inner reasons of Torah, like Yechezkel's eastward inner gate that opens on Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh when souls ascend. On Shabbos a measured flow of life fills every creature to its capacity ("vayechulu"), and since man is the inner life-force of creation, the more a person nullifies himself to Hashem on Shabbos, the more renewed vitality he draws down into all the world.