Torah's pure sayings draw all to taharah

במד' אמרות ה' אמרות טהורות כו' אלקים חיים ומלך עולם כו' תינוקות שיודעין לדרוש התורה מ"ט פנים טהור ומט"פ טמא כו' אתה ה' תשמרם נטר אורייתא בלבהון כו'.

In the Midrash: "The sayings of Hashem are pure sayings…" — "the living God and eternal King…" — children who know how to expound the Torah, forty-nine "faces" of purity and forty-nine "faces" of impurity… "You, Hashem, shall guard them" — guard the Torah within their hearts.

The Midrash on "the sayings of Hashem are pure" speaks of pure children who can expound the Torah's forty-nine "faces" of purity and impurity. "You, Hashem, shall guard them" is read as a request that Hashem preserve the Torah within their hearts.

כי הכל במאמר עשה ודברי תורה מעלין הכל מטומאה לטהרה.

For everything was made by an "utterance," and the words of Torah raise everything from impurity to purity.

Since all of creation came into being through Divine utterances, the words of Torah — which are those same utterances — have the power to lift everything from a state of tumah (impurity) to taharah (purity).

והאדם נברא להמשיך ע"י תורה ומצות הטהרה לכל הנבראים.

And man was created to draw down, through Torah and mitzvos, purity to all created things.

The very purpose of man is to serve as a channel: through Torah and mitzvos he brings taharah into all of creation, elevating the world around him.

ופי' אמרות טהורות שמביאין טהרה להעוסק בהם.

And the meaning of "pure sayings" is that they bring purity to one who occupies himself with them.

The Torah's words are called "pure" not only in themselves but functionally: they impart purity to whoever engages in their study.

אתה ה' תשמרם קאי על המאמרות שהש"י שומר אמרותיו שלא יגע טומאה בהם.

"You, Hashem, shall guard them" refers to the utterances — that Hashem guards His sayings so that no impurity touches them.

The verse is reread: "guard them" refers to Hashem guarding His own utterances of Torah, keeping them eternally untouched and untainted by any tumah.

וממילא כפי מה שמכניס אדם דברי תורה תוך לבו מטהרים הלב ושומרים אותו.

Consequently, to the degree that a person brings the words of Torah into his heart, they purify the heart and guard it.

Because the Torah's words are themselves immune to impurity, when a person internalizes them they cleanse his heart and stand guard over it, protecting him from tumah.

ואך שא"י להתדבק בדברי תורה כראוי עד שיהי' טהור מקודם.

However, one cannot cleave to the words of Torah properly until he is first pure.

There is a prerequisite tension: truly attaching oneself to Torah requires a measure of prior purity — yet purity itself comes through the Torah, raising the question of how one begins.

וע"ז נאמר מזוקק שבעתים.

And regarding this it is said, "refined sevenfold."

The pasuk "refined sevenfold" addresses this: purification is a progressive, repeated process, each stage of Torah enabling a deeper one, refining a person again and again.

בעליל לארץ פרש"י ז"ל שבארץ צריך להיות ניכר בעליל שלא יהי' נסתר ע"י דברי עוה"ז.

"Manifest to the earth" — Rashi explains that on earth it must be clearly recognizable, openly visible, that it not be hidden by the affairs of this world.

Rashi reads "ba'alil la'aretz" to mean that the Torah's purity must become plainly visible here on earth — not allowed to remain concealed beneath the distractions and concerns of worldly life.

וזה ע"י שדוחה האדם מ"ט פנים טמא שכולם רק הסתרות ומחיצות להסתיר המ"ט פנים טהור.

And this comes about when a person pushes away the forty-nine "faces" of impurity, which are all merely concealments and partitions to hide the forty-nine "faces" of purity.

The "faces of impurity" have no independent substance; they are only screens and barriers hiding the corresponding "faces of purity." By rejecting them, a person clears away the concealment and lets the pure dimension shine through.

ומקודם צריך האדם להאמין שהנראה מבחוץ הוא רק קליפה ותוכו טהור.

And first a person must believe that what appears on the outside is only a shell (klipah) and that its inside is pure.

The starting point is emunah: one must firmly believe that the impure outer appearance of things is merely an outer husk, while the inner core is pure and holy.

ועי"ז מתדבקות בהפנימיות כנ"ל.

And through this one cleaves to the penimiyus (inner dimension), as above.

This belief in the pure inner core is precisely what enables a person to break through the shell and attach himself to the hidden inner point.

וכשמתדבק בפנימיות ממילא יוכל להמשיך כל הדברים להפנימיות.

And when he cleaves to the penimiyus, he is automatically able to draw all things toward the penimiyus.

Once a person is bound to the inner dimension, he gains the power to draw everything else inward as well — pulling all things back to their holy core.

כי וודאי האדם נברא בעוה"ז שע"י חשקו והתדבקותו בתורה ימשכו כל הדברים שהדביקו בו ג"כ להקדושה.

For surely man was created in this world so that, through his desire and attachment to Torah, all the things connected to him should also be drawn toward holiness.

Man's purpose in this physical world is that his burning desire and attachment to Torah should magnetize everything bound up with him, drawing it all into kedushah.

רק שזה נעשה אח"כ בעזר וסיוע דברי התורה שנתדבק בהם כנ"ל.

Only that this happens afterward, with the help and assistance of the words of Torah to which he has attached himself, as above.

This elevation of the surrounding world is not accomplished by man's power alone; it follows afterward, with the assisting force of the Torah he has cleaved to doing the lifting.

וזה שביקש דהע"ה על אלו שגברו נגד יצרם וידעו לדרוש ולמצוא הפנימיות כנ"ל שיעזור להם הש"י שיוכלו לגבור במלחמה לקרב הכל להאמת כנ"ל ע"ש.

And this is what David Hamelech requested on behalf of those who overcame their yetzer and knew how to expound and find the penimiyus — that Hashem help them be able to prevail in the battle, to bring everything close to the truth, as above; see there.

David Hamelech's prayer "You, Hashem, shall guard them" is on behalf of those who conquer their yetzer hara and uncover the inner dimension: that Hashem grant them victory in their ongoing battle to draw all things close to the truth.

וזהו י"ל ענין אמור ואמרת.

And this, one may say, is the matter of "Emor… ve'amarta" ("Say… and you shall say").

The parashah's double expression "Emor el haKohanim… ve'amarta" (say… and say again) hints at two distinct aspects of "saying," which the Sefas Emes now explains.

אמירה היא דביקות וחיבור הדבר בשורשו כמ"ש האמירך עשנו חטיבה אחת בעולם.

"Amirah" (saying) is the cleaving and joining of a thing to its root, as it is written, "He has caused you to declare (he'emircha)… He made us a single entity in the world."

The word "amirah" connotes binding something to its source. Just as the pasuk speaks of a mutual "declaring" that makes Hashem and Israel "one entity," true "saying" is an act of connecting a thing back to its root in Hashem.

ואמירה אחת להיות נזהרין מן הטומאה והיינו ע"י התדבקות בשורש החיות.

And one "saying" is to be careful to guard against impurity — and this is achieved through cleaving to the root of vitality.

The first "amirah" relates to guarding against tumah, which is accomplished precisely by attaching oneself to the Source of life; closeness to that root is itself protection from impurity.

וכל טהרה בא על ידי התדבקות בשורש החיים.

And all purity comes about through cleaving to the root of life.

Taharah in its essence is nothing other than connection to the Source of life; the closer one is to that root, the purer one becomes.

וז"ש במד' למה שהוא אלקים חיים כו' וכיון שהוא שורש כל החיים שם מקור הטהרה כנ"ל.

And this is what the Midrash says: "because He is the living God…" — and since He is the root of all life, there is the source of purity, as above.

The Midrash's phrase "the living God" explains why His sayings are pure: Hashem is the root of all life, and since purity flows from connection to life, He is the very wellspring of taharah.

וכדפירש מו"ז ז"ל שכל טומאת מת הוא שאינו דבוק בחיות הפנימיות כנ"ל.

And as my grandfather, of blessed memory, explained, that all impurity of death is that one is not attached to the inner vitality, as above.

The Sefas Emes cites his grandfather, the Chiddushei HaRim: the impurity of death is essentially a disconnection from the inner life-force — tumah is the absence of bound-up vitality.

וע"י החשק והשתוקקות האדם להתדבק בהקב"ה ותו"מ שהיא שורש החיות כמ"ש אשר יעשה אותם האדם וחי בהם שע"י המצות מחדבק האדם בחיות הקודש וכן בתורה כתי' היא חייך כו'.

And through a person's desire and yearning to cleave to the Holy One and to Torah and mitzvos, which are the root of vitality — as it is written, "which a man shall do and live by them," for through the mitzvos a person attaches himself to the holy vitality, and likewise concerning the Torah it is written, "for it is your life."

By yearning to cleave to Hashem and His Torah and mitzvos — the source of all life — a person becomes attached to holy vitality. "And live by them" and "it is your life" both teach that Torah and mitzvos are literally a person's connection to life itself.

ואח"כ ע"י שיתדבק ברצונו ליבטל להש"י עי"ז ואמרת אליהם שיערה ה' עלינו רוח ממרום להתדבק בו ע"י דברי תורה שיכנסו בלבנו.

And afterward, through cleaving with one's will to be nullified (bittul) to Hashem — through this comes "ve'amarta aleihem" ("and you shall say to them") — that Hashem should pour upon us a spirit from on high, to cleave to Him through the words of Torah that enter our hearts.

The second "amirah" ("ve'amarta") follows: once a person attaches his will in bittul to Hashem, he draws down a "spirit from on high," so that the words of Torah enter his heart and bind him ever closer to Hashem.

וממילא לא יגע שום טומאה בנו ע"י דברי תורה ואמרות טהורות שנטע בתוכנו:

And consequently no impurity will touch us, through the words of Torah and the "pure sayings" that He has planted within us.

The result is complete protection: with the Torah's pure utterances planted within our hearts, no tumah can reach us — for we are bound to the very Source of life and purity.

Summary: The "pure sayings of Hashem" are the Divine utterances of Torah that raise everything from tumah to taharah and that purify whoever internalizes them. Since Hashem guards His utterances from any impurity, Torah planted in the heart guards a person too. The "faces of impurity" are only shells concealing the pure inner core; by believing in that hidden purity, a person cleaves to the penimiyus and draws all things into kedushah. This is the double "Emor… ve'amarta": amirah is binding a thing to its root, and since all purity flows from clinging to Hashem — the Source of life — Torah and mitzvos attach us to that life, so that with His pure sayings planted within us no impurity can touch us.