Making illumination endure into darkness

ואלה המשפטים אשר תשים לפניהם.

"And these are the mishpatim (laws) that you shall place before them."

The Sefas Emes opens with the verse introducing the civil laws, focusing on the word "lifneihem" (before them) and the connective "v'eileh" (and these).

לפניהם ולא לפני נכרים.

"Before them" — and not before non-Jews (nochrim).

Chazal derive that Yisrael's monetary disputes are to be judged in a Jewish beis din, "before them," and not in non-Jewish courts.

ועוד כתבו חז"ל ואלה מוסיף על הראשונים כו' דעשרת הדיברות מיוחדים רק לבני ישראל.

And further, Chazal wrote that "v'eileh" (and these) adds onto the earlier ones — for the Aseres HaDibros are designated only for Bnei Yisrael.

The word "and" connects the mishpatim to the preceding Ten Commandments. Just as the Dibros are exclusively for Yisrael, so too the mishpatim that follow are uniquely theirs.

והיא הנהגה שלמעלה מהטבע.

And this (the Aseres HaDibros) is a conduct that is above nature.

The Ten Commandments operate on a plane that transcends the natural order.

והיא בחינת עץ החיים.

And it is the aspect of the Eitz HaChaim (the Tree of Life).

The Dibros correspond to the Tree of Life — pure, undivided holiness with no admixture of evil.

ואין שם מגע נכרי כלל.

And there is no contact with a non-Jew there at all.

The realm of the Eitz HaChaim is wholly Yisrael's; no foreign element can touch it.

ובחי' משפטים בחי' עץ הדעת שהרי במשפט יש זכאי וחייב.

And the aspect of mishpatim is the aspect of the Eitz HaDaas (the Tree of Knowledge), for in judgment there is the innocent and the guilty.

Mishpatim, by contrast, belong to the Eitz HaDaas — the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil — since judgment necessarily involves sorting the innocent from the guilty, a mixture of opposites.

ולפי שגם האומות נצטוו על הדינים צריכים בזה הבדלה להבדיל בין משפטי בני ישראל שהוא בירור תערובות טוב ורע.

And since the nations too were commanded regarding laws (dinim), one needs a havdalah (separation) here, to distinguish the mishpatim of Bnei Yisrael, which are the refining (birur) of the mixture of good and evil.

The nations also have civil laws (among the Sheva Mitzvos), so a distinction must be drawn. Yisrael's mishpatim are not mere social order — they are an act of birur, sorting and refining good from evil within the Eitz HaDaas.

אמרו רז"ל אם אין דעת הבדלה מנין שבחי' הדעת צריך הבדלה.

Chazal said: "If there is no daas (knowledge), how can there be havdalah?" — showing that the aspect of daas requires separation.

Chazal connect daas with havdalah (we recite Havdalah in the blessing of daas). This teaches that the realm of "knowledge" — the Eitz HaDaas — is precisely where the avodah of separating and distinguishing takes place.

ולכן כתיב כאן לפניהם ולא לפני נכרים וגם ואלה מוסיף על הראשונים להיות חיבור המשפטים עם הדברות חיבור עץ הדעת לעץ החיים.

Therefore it is written here "before them and not before non-Jews," and also "v'eileh adds onto the earlier ones" — to join the mishpatim with the Dibros, the joining of the Eitz HaDaas to the Eitz HaChaim.

Both expressions point to one idea: Yisrael's task is to connect the mishpatim (Eitz HaDaas) to the Dibros (Eitz HaChaim) — to bind the world of distinctions and judgment to the source of pure life, infusing the lower realm with holiness from above.

ובמדרש מבקר לערב יוכתו מבלי משים לנצח יאבדו.

And in the Midrash: "From morning to evening they are broken; without anyone paying heed (mibli mesim) they perish forever" (Iyov 4:20).

The Sefas Emes brings a pasuk about things that pass from morning to evening and are lost "without heed," which he will expound on the theme of morning and evening, light and darkness.

הדברות ניתנו בבקר והמשפטים בערב כו'.

The Dibros were given in the morning, and the mishpatim in the evening.

The midrashic image: the Ten Commandments (Eitz HaChaim) belong to "morning" — clarity and light — while the mishpatim (Eitz HaDaas) belong to "evening" — the realm of mixture and dimness.

בוקר הוא במקום הבירור שאין צריך בירור תערובות.

"Morning" is in the place of clarity, where there is no need for the refining of a mixture.

Morning represents the state already clarified — pure light, where good and evil are not intermingled and no birur is required.

וערב הוא במקום שיש תערובות.

And "evening" is in the place where there is a mixture.

Evening represents the murky state where good and evil are mixed together and the work of separation is needed.

וזה עיקר כחן של ישראל לחבר בוקר עם ערב.

And this is the essential power of Yisrael — to join morning with evening.

The unique strength of Yisrael is to bridge these two — to bring the clarity of "morning" into the confusion of "evening," uniting Eitz HaChaim with Eitz HaDaas.

וכן הוא בפרטות.

And so it is on the individual level (b'pratus).

This same avodah of joining morning to evening applies to each person's private spiritual life, not only to the nation as a whole.

כאשר מו"ז ז"ל רגיל לומר בכל עת שנפתח איזה הארה לאיש ישראל צריך להתדבק בזו ההארה להיות נשאר אצלו קבוע תמיד גם לעת ערב וחושך.

As my grandfather, of blessed memory, was accustomed to say: whenever some illumination (he'arah) is opened to a Yid, he must cling to that illumination so that it remains fixed with him always, even at the time of evening and darkness.

The Sefas Emes cites his grandfather (the Chiddushei HaRim): when a person experiences a moment of spiritual inspiration ("morning"), he must hold fast to it so it stays with him permanently — even when the inevitable darkness and dryness of "evening" sets in.

והנה בשעת מתן תורה כ' נפשי יצאה בדברו שיצאו נשמתן של ישראל ונתעלו למעלה אל השורש.

Now, at the time of Mattan Torah it is written "my soul departed as He spoke," for the souls of Yisrael departed and were elevated above to the root.

At Sinai, the overwhelming revelation caused the souls of Yisrael to leave their bodies ("their souls flew out") and ascend to their supernal source — a "morning" of pure illumination.

ובזה זכו אח"כ (והמשפטים) [להמשפטים] אשר תשים לפניהם הוא המשכה מלמעלה למטה וזהו בחי' תורה שבע"פ אשר נטע בתוכינו.

And through this they merited afterward "the mishpatim that you shall place before them," which is a drawing-down from above to below; and this is the aspect of Torah She'baal Peh (the Oral Torah), which "He planted within us."

Having ascended at Sinai, Yisrael could then "bring the light down" — the mishpatim are the drawing of that revelation from above into the practical world below. This is the Oral Torah, planted within Yisrael, the work of applying Sinai's light to everyday life.

וכ' אתה הראת לדעת כו' הראי' שהי' במתן תורה.

And it is written: "You were shown, to know..." — the seeing that took place at Mattan Torah.

The pasuk "Atah hareisa la'daas" refers to the great vision and revelation experienced at Sinai.

בחי' עץ החיים.

The aspect of the Eitz HaChaim.

That revelation at Sinai was the level of Eitz HaChaim — pure, undivided light.

הי' כדי לדעת לקבל זו ההארה עד הערב כנ"ל.

It was in order "to know" — to receive this illumination [and carry it] until the evening, as above.

The purpose of the Sinai revelation ("la'daas," to know) was to enable Yisrael to internalize that light and sustain it even into the "evening" of ordinary, darker times.

וכן כתיב בשבת קודש לדעת כי אני ה' מקדישכם לפי ששבת בחי' עץ החיים והתורה כמ"ש יעשה כולו תורה.

And so it is written regarding Shabbos Kodesh: "to know that I am Hashem who sanctifies you," because Shabbos is the aspect of Eitz HaChaim and Torah, as it says: "let it all be made Torah."

Shabbos, like Sinai, is the Eitz HaChaim — a day of pure illumination, entirely Torah. Its pasuk also uses "la'daas" (to know), indicating it too is meant to be internalized and carried forward.

אבל הוא לדעת להכין מזו ההארה גם על ימי המעשה שבהם כתיב ויהי ערב ויהי בוקר.

But it is "to know" — to prepare from this illumination also for the weekdays (yemei ha'maaseh), regarding which it is written "and it was evening and it was morning."

The light of Shabbos is meant to be stored up and carried into the six weekdays — the days described as "evening and morning," the realm of mixture and labor — so the Shabbos illumination endures even there.

אשר תשים כמ"ש ושם דרך אראנו בישע אלקים דרשו חז"ל המשים אורחותיו ומדליק נרות במבואות האפלים זוכה לראות בישועתו של הקב"ה וכמ"ש ושמתם את דברי אלה על לבבכם כו' נפשכם.

"That you shall place (asher tasim)" — as it is written: "and to one who orders his way (v'sam derech) I will show the salvation of Hashem"; Chazal expounded: one who orders his ways (ha'sam orchosav) and kindles lamps in the dark passageways merits to see the salvation of Hakadosh Baruch Hu; and as it is written: "and you shall place (v'samtem) these words of Mine upon your heart... your soul."

The Sefas Emes connects the root "sim/sam" (to place/set in order) across several pesukim. The avodah of "placing" the mishpatim means setting one's path in order and kindling lights in the dark — taking the illumination and fixing it within heart and soul so it shines even in darkness, which is what merits seeing Hashem's salvation.

להיות ההארה נשאר קבוע.

So that the illumination remains fixed.

The whole goal of this "placing" is to make the inspiration permanent and enduring within the person.

ולכן כתיב אדם ביקר בל ילין נמשל כבהמות כשאינו משים אל לבו להיות נשאר אצלו גם בעת החושך וערב.

Therefore it is written: "Man, [though] in honor (bikar), does not abide overnight (bal yalin); he is likened to the animals" — when he does not place it upon his heart so that it remains with him even in the time of darkness and evening.

The pasuk warns that a person who has glory ("yikar") but does not "lodge" it overnight — who fails to hold onto his illumination into the darkness — sinks to the level of an animal. The downfall is precisely failing to fix the light in his heart so it lasts through the "evening."

וז"ש המדרש מבלי משים כו' שאינו דבר של קיימא ובישראל כתיב אשר תשים לפניהם:

And this is what the Midrash means by "mibli mesim" (without placing) — that it is not something enduring; whereas regarding Yisrael it is written "asher tasim lifneihem" (that you shall place before them).

The Midrash's phrase "mibli mesim" describes that which perishes because it was never "placed" and made permanent. By contrast, Yisrael are given "asher tasim" — the power to place, fix, and make their illumination endure, joining the morning-light of revelation to the evening-darkness of everyday life.

Summary: The Aseres HaDibros are the Eitz HaChaim — pure, supernal holiness above nature, untouched by any foreign element — while the mishpatim are the Eitz HaDaas, the realm of judgment where good and evil are mixed and must be refined through birur. Yisrael's unique power is to join the two: to draw the "morning" light of revelation (Sinai, Shabbos, Eitz HaChaim) down into the "evening" of mishpatim and weekday life. Both at Sinai and on Shabbos the Torah says "la'daas" (to know), because the goal is to internalize each illumination so it stays fixed even in times of darkness. As the Chiddushei HaRim taught, when a Yid is granted inspiration he must cling to it so it endures. One who fails to "place" his light in his heart is like an animal whose glory does not last; but Yisrael are given "asher tasim" — the power to make the holy light permanent, uniting morning with evening.