Shabbos equals all the mitzvos

בפסוק ששת ימים תעשה מעשיך וביום השביעי תשבות למען ינוח כו' ובכל אשר אמרתי אליכם תשמרו.

On the verse: "Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, so that… may rest… and in all that I have said to you, you shall be careful."

The Sefas Emes takes up a verse that joins the command of Shabbos rest with a general charge to be careful in "all that I have said to you," and he will explain the connection between the two.

רמז שהמקיים השבת כאלו קיים כל התורה ומצות.

This hints that one who keeps Shabbos is as though he has fulfilled the entire Torah and all the mitzvos.

The juxtaposition teaches that observing Shabbos is somehow equivalent to keeping the whole Torah — a known idea the Sefas Emes will now ground.

ובאוה"ח פי' כי כל מצוה מתקן אבר מיוחד לכן צריכין לקיים כל המצות כדי להיות נשמרים כל החברים.

And in the Or HaChaim he explains that each mitzvah repairs (is mesaken) a particular limb; therefore one must fulfill all the mitzvos in order that all the "members" be guarded.

The Or HaChaim teaches that each of the 248 mitzvos corresponds to and rectifies a specific limb of a person; one must keep them all so that every part of the self is protected and made whole.

ז"ש ובכל אשר אמרתי אליכם תשמרו.

This is the meaning of "and in all that I have said to you, you shall be guarded."

Reading "tishmoru" as "you shall be guarded," the verse means that through keeping all the mitzvos, all the limbs of the person are kept safe.

וכמו כן בשמירת שבת כיון ששקול ככל המצות נשמר כל האדם.

And so too with shemiras Shabbos: since it is weighed against all the mitzvos, the whole person is guarded.

Because Shabbos is equal in weight to all the mitzvos together, keeping it likewise guards the entire person — every limb at once.

וכן אמר מו"ז ז"ל כי המצות שאמרו חכמים ששקולין ככל המצות היינו שמתקנים כל האדם.

And so said my grandfather, of blessed memory: those mitzvos of which Chazal said that they are equal to all the mitzvos — the meaning is that they repair the whole person.

The Sefas Emes cites his grandfather (the Chiddushei HaRim) that whenever Chazal call a mitzvah "equal to all the mitzvos," they mean it is mesaken the entire person, not merely one limb.

ובאמת על ידי השבת זוכין לקיים כל המצות.

And in truth, through Shabbos one merits to fulfill all the mitzvos.

Beyond being equivalent, Shabbos is also a gateway: through it a person is empowered to actually fulfill all the mitzvos.

ולכן יתכן לפרש כי למען נמשך גם על הפסוק ובכל אשר אמרתי כו'.

Therefore it is fitting to explain that "so that" (lema'an) extends also to the phrase "and in all that I have said…"

The word "lema'an" governs not only the rest, but also the keeping of the mitzvos: rest on Shabbos in order that you may keep all the mitzvos.

פי' למען השבת תשמרון כל המצות.

That is: by means of the Shabbos you will keep all the mitzvos.

Shabbos is the cause that enables the keeping of the rest of the Torah.

כי באמת כל עלול נמשך אחר העילה והי' צריך האדם להיות נמשך אחר הבורא ית' מצד עצם נפשו.

For in truth every effect is drawn after its cause, and a person ought to be drawn after the Creator, may He be blessed, by virtue of the very essence of his soul.

By the principle that an "alul" (effect) naturally follows its "ilah" (cause), a person — whose soul derives from Hashem — should be naturally drawn toward his Source.

רק הגשמיות והטבעיות מסתיר אור הנפש.

It is only that the physicality and naturalness conceal the light of the soul.

The reason we do not feel this pull is that the gashmiyus (materiality) of weekday life hides the inner light of the neshamah.

ולכן ע"י מצות השבת שבטלים מכל מלאכה.

Therefore, through the mitzvah of Shabbos, on which we are idle from all melachah (work) —

On Shabbos, when we cease from all creative labor, the screen of materiality is lifted.

מאיר הנפש ונמשך אחר מצות הבורא ית"ש.

— the soul shines forth and is drawn after the mitzvos of the Creator, may His Name be blessed.

With the concealment of work removed, the neshamah's light breaks through, and the person is naturally drawn to fulfill Hashem's mitzvos out of his own inner essence.

ונמצא ניתן השבת כדי להיות מנוחה אל הנפש מחשכות החמריות.

It emerges that Shabbos was given in order to be a rest for the soul from the darkness of materiality.

The true purpose of Shabbos rest is the soul's rest — relief from the obscuring darkness of physical, weekday existence.

ז"ש למען ינוח שירך כו'.

This is the meaning of "so that… may rest…"

"So that it may rest" refers ultimately to the rest of the soul, freed from the weight of materiality.

ובכל אשר אמרתי כו' תשמרו כו':

"And in all that I have said… you shall keep…"

And as a direct result of that inner rest, "you shall keep all that I have said" — the soul, now shining, is naturally drawn to fulfill all the mitzvos.

Summary: The Sefas Emes explains why keeping Shabbos is reckoned as keeping the whole Torah. Citing the Or HaChaim that each mitzvah rectifies a particular limb, and his grandfather that any mitzvah "equal to all the mitzvos" repairs the entire person, he shows that Shabbos guards the whole person at once. Moreover, the word "lema'an" teaches that Shabbos is the cause that enables keeping all the mitzvos: by ceasing from melachah, the materiality that conceals the soul is lifted, the soul's light shines forth, and the person is naturally drawn after his Creator — the rest of Shabbos being, in essence, the rest of the soul from the darkness of materiality.