Soul revelation at Sinai rectifies the body

ואלה המשפטים אשר תשים לפניהם.

"And these are the ordinances (mishpatim) that you shall place before them" (Shemos 21:1).

The piece opens with the verse introducing the civil laws Moshe was to set before Bnei Yisrael.

דבעשרת הדברות כתיב נפשי יצאה בדברו ועתה נאמר תשים לפניהם בחי' תיקון הגוף וגם אלו מסיני שהנשמות שנתעלו בהר סיני הי' כדי לתקן גם הגוף כי דבר שהי' בכלל ויצא מן הכלל ללמד על הכלל כולו יצא.

For regarding the Ten Commandments it is written, "my soul departed as He spoke" (Shir HaShirim 5:6), whereas now it says "you shall place before them" — the aspect of rectifying the body. And these too are from Sinai, for the souls that were elevated at Har Sinai were [elevated] in order to rectify also the body; for "a matter that was included in a generalization but emerged from it to teach, emerged to teach not only about itself but about the entire generalization."

At Matan Torah the experience was so overwhelming that "my soul departed" — a purely soul-level revelation. The Mishpatim, by contrast, are "placed before them," addressing the body and daily life. Yet Rashi notes these laws too were given at Sinai. Using the hermeneutical rule that an item singled out from a general category teaches about the whole, the Sefas Emes shows that the soul-elevation of Sinai was meant precisely to flow back and rectify the body and ordinary conduct.

וזה שנפשי יצאה בדברו הי' התעצמות הנשמה לתקן אח"כ גם הגוף והכל בכח התורה כמ"ש גדולה תורה שנותנת חיים לעושיה בעוה"ז ובעה"ב.

And this is "my soul departed as He spoke" — it was a strengthening of the neshamah, to afterward rectify the body as well; and all of it is by the power of the Torah, as it says, "Great is the Torah, for it gives life to those who fulfill it, in this world and in the World to Come" (Avos 6:7).

The soul's "departure" at Sinai was not an end in itself but an empowering of the neshamah so that it could subsequently elevate the body too. The Torah accomplishes both, granting life "in this world" (the body) as well as "in the World to Come" (the soul).

וזהו בחי' בוקר וערב שכ' במדרש שהדיברות ניתנו בבוקר שהי' התגלות אלקות אנכי ה' אלקיך.

And this is the aspect of morning and evening, as it is written in the Midrash that the Commandments were given in the morning, when there was a revelation of G-dliness — "I am Hashem your G-d."

The Sefas Emes frames this as "morning" and "evening." The Ten Commandments came in the "morning" — a time of open Divine revelation, clear and luminous like daylight.

אבל זה הי' הכנה לתקן גם בחי' ערב שהוא הגוף שצריך בירור מן התערובות.

But this was a preparation to rectify also the aspect of "evening," which is the body, which requires clarification from the admixtures.

The luminous "morning" revelation was meant to prepare for the "evening" work — refining the body, which is mixed with material elements and needs sorting out (birur) of good from bad.

וכן הוא בכל שבת קודש יש בו הארת הנשמה והוא הכנה גם על ימי המעשה לתקן הגוף:

And so it is with every holy Shabbos: it contains an illumination of the neshamah, and it is a preparation also for the weekdays, to rectify the body.

The same pattern recurs weekly. Shabbos brings a "morning"-like illumination of the soul, which then empowers the coming weekdays — the "evening" of bodily, material work — to be refined and rectified.

Summary: At Matan Torah "my soul departed" — a pure, soul-level revelation. The Mishpatim, "placed before them," address the body and daily conduct, yet were also given at Sinai, teaching that the soul-elevation of Sinai was meant to flow back and rectify the body too. The Torah gives life both in this world (body) and the next (soul). This is the rhythm of "morning" (the luminous revelation of the Ten Commandments) preparing for "evening" (the refining of the body and its material admixtures) — the very same pattern by which each Shabbos illuminates the soul and empowers the coming weekdays to rectify the body.