Sanctifying every act as constant ascent

בפסוק כמעשה א"מ כו' את משפטי כו' ללכת בהם.

On the verse, "Like the practice of the land of Egypt… My ordinances [you shall do]… to walk in them" (Vayikra 18:3-4).

The Torah warns Bnei Yisrael not to follow the ways of Mitzrayim, but rather to keep Hashem's mishpatim "to walk in them." The Sefas Emes will probe why such a warning was even necessary for a holy nation.

פירש"י א"א רשאי לפטור מהם.

Rashi explains: it is impossible to exempt oneself from them.

Rashi understands "to walk in them" to mean that one is never permitted to free himself from these mitzvos; they are a permanent obligation.

דכתי' כמעשה לא מעשה א"מ ממש.

For it is written "like the practice" — not literally the practice of the land of Egypt itself.

The verse says "like the practice," implying that the warning is not only about actually copying Egyptian deeds in their literal form.

כי כבר היו בנ"י עדה קדושה ומה שייך להזהירם מלעשות כחוטאים האלה.

For Bnei Yisrael were already a holy congregation, so what relevance is there in warning them against acting like those sinners?

Bnei Yisrael had already reached a level of holiness; it seems beneath them to need a warning against literally behaving like the corrupt nations.

אבל הפי' שלא יהיה נדמה שום מעשה איש הישראלי למעשה הרשעים אשר כל מעשיהם לגשמיות בלבד.

Rather, the meaning is that no act of a Jew should resemble the acts of the wicked, whose every deed is for physicality alone.

The real caution is subtler: even a permitted act should not be done the way the wicked do it — for the sake of mere physical gratification with no higher purpose.

אבל בנ"י צריכין לקדש כל מעשיהם להדביקם בשורש החיות וליקח מהם חיות.

But Bnei Yisrael must sanctify all their deeds, to attach them to the root of vitality and to draw vitality from them.

The Jew's task is to elevate every action by connecting it to its spiritual root (the source of all chiyus), so that even ordinary acts become a means of drawing down life-force from Hashem.

כי המעשה צריך להיות רק לתכלית הליכת האדם בעבודת הבורא ית' ולפשוטי בנ"י המכוונים לאכול ולשתות להוסיף כח בעבודת הבורא הוא ג"כ בכלל ללכת.

For the act must serve only the purpose of a person's progress in the avodah of the Creator; and even for the simple among Bnei Yisrael, who intend their eating and drinking in order to add strength for the avodah of the Creator — this too is included in "to walk."

Every deed should aim at advancing a person in avodas Hashem. Even simple people, who merely intend that their eating and drinking give them strength to serve Hashem, are thereby "walking" — moving forward in their avodah.

ומה גם לצדיק שכל מעשיו לש"ש וכן בכל מצוה שאדם עושה צריך להיות המכוון לבוא עי"ז ליותר קדושה שיוכל להוסיף בכל עת ממדרגה למדרגה.

And how much more so for the tzaddik, whose every deed is l'shem Shomayim; and likewise in every mitzvah a person does, his intent must be to come thereby to greater kedushah, so that he can add at all times, rising from level to level.

For the tzaddik this is all the more so, since his every act is for the sake of Heaven. In every mitzvah one should aim to reach a higher level of holiness, constantly ascending from one madreigah to the next.

כענין מצוה גוררת מצוה.

This is like the principle "one mitzvah draws another mitzvah after it" (Avos 4:2).

Mitzvos are meant to be generative: each one should pull a person toward the next, in continuous forward motion.

ולא יהי' נעשה המצוה רק להיות נפטר מחיובה רק אדרבא לזכות עי"ז למצות אחרות כמ"ש שכר מצוה מצוה.

And the mitzvah should not be done merely to discharge one's obligation, but on the contrary, to merit through it further mitzvos — as it is said, "the reward of a mitzvah is a mitzvah" (Avos 4:2).

A mitzvah should never be performed just to "get it over with." Its true reward is the opportunity it opens to perform yet another mitzvah, keeping a person in perpetual ascent.

והיינו ללכת בהם כו' וליקח מהם חיות כמ"ש וחי בהם:

And this is "to walk in them"… and to draw vitality from them, as it is written, "and he shall live by them" (Vayikra 18:5).

"To walk in them" means to be ever-moving, never static — and to draw genuine life-force from the mitzvos, fulfilling "and he shall live by them": the Torah and its mitzvos are meant to be a wellspring of living vitality.

Summary: The warning not to act "like the practice of Egypt" is not only about gross sin; it teaches that a Jew must never do even a permitted act merely for physical gratification. Rather, every deed — even a simple person's eating and drinking — should be sanctified and tied to its spiritual root, serving as a step forward in avodas Hashem. "To walk in them" means constant ascent from level to level, where each mitzvah draws the next and one draws living vitality from them.