Pure thought refines speech and deed

במדרש זית רענן כו'.

In the Midrash: "a fresh olive tree..." (cf. Yirmiyahu 11:16).

The Sefas Emes opens with the Midrash that expounds the verse comparing Bnei Yisrael to a flourishing olive tree.

שיש ג' שמנים.

That there are three [grades of] oil.

The olive yields three grades of oil, drawn out by different means and of differing purity.

וכל אלה המדריגות נמצא בכל איש ישראל.

And all these levels are found within every Jew.

The three grades of oil correspond to three inner levels present in every member of Bnei Yisrael.

שיש בו חלק אלקות שאין בו פסולת והוא שמן זך למאור שהוא בחי' הנשמה.

For there is within him a portion of Godliness that contains no dross — and that is the "pure oil for illumination" (Shemos 27:20), which is the aspect of the neshamah (soul).

The highest level is the neshamah, an utterly pure spark of the Divine within, like the clear oil fit for kindling the Menorah.

וכחות הנשמה כשמתפשטין לגוף מתערב בהם פסולת וצריכין בירור.

And the powers of the neshamah, when they spread out into the body, become mixed with dross and require refinement (birur).

As the soul's energies descend into the physical body, they pick up impurity and must undergo birur — a process of sifting out the dross.

ומ"מ בכח השמן זך יכולין לתקן גם הכחות שמתערבין בגוף.

Nevertheless, through the power of the pure oil one can rectify even those powers that are intermixed within the body.

The untainted core of the neshamah gives a person the strength to repair and elevate even the lower, body-bound faculties.

ובמ"א כתבנו כי בדורו של מרע"ה הי' מגרגרו בראש הזית ויקחו אליך שמן כו'.

And elsewhere we wrote that in the generation of Moshe Rabbeinu it was "crushed at the top of the olive," [as in] "and they shall take to you oil..." (Shemos 27:20).

The dor (generation) of Moshe Rabbeinu drew the very finest oil — the kind pressed from the topmost, choicest olive — reflecting their elevated spiritual level.

והיה הכנה לכל הדורות.

And this was a preparation for all the generations.

That first, purest drawing of oil in Moshe's time laid down a power that all later generations can tap into.

ומעין זה יש בכל פרט.

And something of this exists in every individual.

Each person carries within himself a private version of that same purest "first oil."

ובאמת בחי' מחשבה דיבור ומעשה הן המה הג' שמנים.

And in truth the aspects of machshavah (thought), dibbur (speech), and maaseh (deed) are the three oils.

The three grades of oil map onto a person's three modes of expression: thought, speech, and action.

כי במחשבה לא שייך תערובות.

For in thought no mixture is possible.

Machshavah, the highest faculty, cannot be adulterated — it is the level of "pure oil" that admits no dross.

וזה השמן שכתב במדרש שאינו מתערב עם שאר משקין.

And this is the oil that the Midrash describes as not mixing with other liquids.

Oil floats apart and never blends with other fluids — a fitting image for thought, which stays distinct and unmixed.

כי אין המחשבה מקבל תערובות.

For thought does not admit mixture.

By its very nature machshavah cannot be intermingled with anything foreign.

והמחשבות זרות שבאין לאדם מ"מ אינם יכולין להתערב רק שנדחה המחשבה מפני המחשבה זרה.

And the foreign thoughts (machshavos zaros) that come to a person nevertheless cannot intermingle [with his thought]; rather, one thought is merely pushed aside by the foreign thought.

Even when alien thoughts intrude, they do not actually fuse with one's own thinking — at most they displace a thought, but they never blend into it.

אבל אין מתערב מחשבה במחשבה.

But thought does not blend into thought.

Two thoughts can never truly merge; each remains separate, like oil that will not mix.

לכן אין פגם במחשבה.

Therefore there is no blemish in thought.

Because the foreign thought never fuses with one's own, the faculty of machshavah itself remains essentially unblemished.

וע"י בחי' המחשבה יכולין לעולם לשוב ולתקן גם הדיבור והמעשה כי המחשבה אינה נפגמת כנ"ל.

And through the aspect of thought one can always return and rectify even speech and deed, for thought is never blemished, as above.

Because the inner point of machshavah always stays pure, a person can forever do teshuvah from it and use it to repair his flawed words and actions.

ובכחה יכולין לתקן כל הרמ"ח איברים כמ"ש להעלות נר תמיד רמז לרמ"ח אברים שהם התפשטות הנשמה:

And through its power one can rectify all 248 limbs, as it says "to kindle a continual lamp" (Shemos 27:20) — a hint to the 248 limbs, which are the spreading-out of the neshamah.

The pure thought can refine the whole person — all 248 eivarim — for the kindling of the "continual lamp" alludes to elevating every limb, each of which is an extension of the soul.

Summary: The three grades of olive oil correspond to three levels in every Jew — and to thought, speech, and deed. The neshamah is the pure "oil for illumination" with no dross; as its powers descend into the body they pick up impurity and need birur. But thought, like oil that never mixes with other liquids, can never truly be blemished — foreign thoughts only displace, never blend. Therefore a person can always return through his unblemished machshavah and, from that pure inner point, rectify his speech, his deeds, and all 248 limbs, which are the soul's extension.