Drawing timeless rest into the physical world

וזה הי' כל הבריאה שבנ"י יתקנו הטבע ג"כ.

And this was the entire purpose of creation — that Bnei Yisrael should rectify nature as well.

The Sefas Emes states that the world was created so that Bnei Yisrael, through their avodah, would elevate and refine the natural, physical world.

וזה ענין השמיטין שכל הגלות ע"י בטולם.

And this is the idea of the shemittin (the sabbatical years), for the entire purpose of the galus is through their nullification.

Shemittah is a model of bittul — letting the land rest expresses Bnei Yisrael's nullification before Hashem, and this same bittul is the avodah of galus.

כי השמיטה ממשיך הארה מלמעלה מן הזמן תוך הזמן.

For the shemittah draws down an illumination from above time into time itself.

The sabbatical year channels a light that transcends the natural order of time into the bounds of time, infusing the temporal world with something beyond it.

ושבתה הארץ להיות חיות ודביקות בשורש המנוחה גם בארציות וגשמיות.

"And the land shall rest" (Vayikra 25:2) — so that there be vitality and dveykus (cleaving) to the root of rest even within earthliness and physicality.

When the land "rests," the source of menuchah (rest) — which is rooted above — is drawn into the physical earth itself, so that even material existence cleaves to its spiritual root.

וזה ענין שמיטין להר סיני שכ"ז בכח התורה וקבלת תורה שבכתב בהר סיני והמשכת כח התורה בארציות היא תורה שבע"פ וא"י.

And this is the matter of "the laws of shemittah [were given] at Har Sinai" (Rashi, Vayikra 25:1) — for all this is through the power of the Torah: the receiving of the Written Torah at Har Sinai, and the drawing of the Torah's power into earthliness, which is the Oral Torah and Eretz Yisrael.

Chazal note that shemittah is specifically linked to Sinai. The Written Torah was given at Sinai, but bringing its power down into the physical land is the role of the Oral Torah and of Eretz Yisrael, where Torah is lived out in the material realm.

ופי' מו"ח ביד לשון.

And my father-in-law, my teacher, explained the verse "in the hand [power] of the tongue" (Mishlei 18:21).

The Sefas Emes now brings a teaching from his father-in-law on the pasuk that "death and life are in the power of the tongue."

הוא שהחיים אינו חסר בשום דבר רק שביד אדם למצוא החיים תוך כ"ד.

It means that life is lacking in nothing; it is only in a person's hand to find the life within every thing.

The Divine vitality is present in everything without exception. The challenge is upon the person — to discover and reveal the chiyus (life-force) hidden within all things.

וכן להיפוך ח"ו.

And so too the reverse, Heaven forbid.

Just as a person can find life in everything, he can — Heaven forbid — turn the very same thing toward death by failing to reveal its inner vitality.

ולשון הוא כמו תנועת הלשון שאף שהוא דבר אחד נתהפך ע"י תנועת הלשון כנודע.

And "tongue" is like the movement of the tongue, for although it is one and the same thing, it is transformed by the tongue's movement, as is known.

The "tongue" hints at how a single substance can be shaped into utterly different sounds and meanings merely by the tongue's motion — one reality, transformed by how it is engaged.

כן אף שהכל מהש"י תלוי כפי קבלת האדם ויוכל להתהפך כנ"ל:

So too, although everything is from Hashem, it depends on the person's receiving of it, and it can be transformed, as above.

Everything flows from Hashem as pure life, yet the outcome — life or its opposite — depends on how a person receives and channels it. The same Divine flow can be turned either way, just like the movement of the tongue.

Summary: Creation exists so that Bnei Yisrael may draw the timeless root of menuchah into the physical world — the avodah of shemittah, the Oral Torah, and Eretz Yisrael. Divine life fills everything; it lies in a person's hand, "in the power of the tongue," to find that hidden vitality and reveal it, for the same Divine flow can be turned toward life or its opposite depending on how one receives it.