Sanctifying the physical through the inner divine spark

קדושים תהיו.

"You shall be holy."

The Sefas Emes opens with the command of the parsha — that Bnei Yisrael are charged to attain kedushah (holiness).

במד' וזוה"ק כי הוא הבטחה ג"כ כי איך יוכל בו"ד להתקדש בקדושת הש"י.

In the Midrash and the holy Zohar it is explained that this is also a promise, for how could a human being of flesh and blood sanctify himself with the kedushah of Hashem?

"You shall be holy" is not only a command but a guarantee — on his own a mortal could never reach the holiness of Hashem, so Hashem assures us that it is possible.

אך כי קדוש אני ה' אלקיכם.

Rather, "for I, Hashem your God, am holy."

The verse itself supplies the answer: the holiness comes from Hashem, who is holy and shares that kedushah with Bnei Yisrael.

פי' אחר שהוציאנו הש"י ממצרים שהיינו משועבדים להם.

The meaning is: after Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim, where we were enslaved to them,

The capacity for kedushah began with yetzias Mitzrayim, when Hashem freed us from servitude to Egypt.

והבדילנו מהאומות שהחיות והכח שיש בתוך כל איש ישראל הוא מהש"י וז"ש אנכי ה' אלקיך כו' מיוחד מלכל האומות.

and separated us from the nations — for the chiyus (life-force) and the power within every Yid is from Hashem, and this is the meaning of "I am Hashem your God" — singled out from all the nations.

What sets a Yid apart is that his very life-force flows directly from Hashem in a unique way, unlike the other nations.

אף שכח כל הנבראים ממנו ית'.

Even though the power of all created beings is from Him, may He be blessed,

Of course every creature also draws its existence from Hashem.

אבל בדרך הסתר וצימצומים.

but only by way of concealment and tzimtzumim (contractions).

For the rest of creation, that divine life-force is hidden behind layers of concealment and contraction.

אבל חיות כל איש ישראל היא חלק אלקי ממעל.

But the chiyus of every Yid is a portion of the Divine from above.

A Yid's soul is literally a piece of the Divine, drawn from Above (chelek Eloka mimaal — Iyov 31:2).

וממילא בכחינו להתקדש גם בעוה"ז.

And consequently it is within our power to sanctify ourselves even in this world.

Because that inner divine spark is unconcealed within us, we can become holy even while living in olam hazeh (this world).

כי הש"י מחי' הכל אף כי הוא קדוש ונבדל מכל.

For Hashem gives life to everything, even though He is holy and set apart from all.

Hashem remains utterly transcendent and separate, yet He simultaneously animates all of creation.

וז"ש כי קדוש אני ה' ועי"ז יכולין להבין כי בכח האדם להתקדש בכל מעשיו אף שהם תוך הטבע.

This is the meaning of "for I, Hashem, am holy" — and through this we can understand that it is within a person's power to sanctify himself in all his deeds, even though they are within nature.

Since Hashem is both holy and life-giving, a person too can draw holiness into all his actions, even ordinary deeds done within the natural world.

וז"ש במד' ואתה מרום לעולם ה' לעולם ידך בעליונה.

And this is what the Midrash says: "But You are exalted forever, Hashem" (Tehillim 92:9) — forever Your hand is uppermost.

The Midrash on this verse teaches that Hashem's "hand" — His power — always remains supreme over all.

הפי' כי חיות הכל מהש"י רק הטבע נמשך מדרגה אחר מדרגה עד שנתכסה בחי' הפנימיות.

The meaning is that the chiyus of everything is from Hashem, only that nature is drawn down level after level until the aspect of penimiyus (inner dimension) becomes covered over.

The same divine life-force descends through many levels of nature, and in that descent the inner point becomes hidden behind the outer world.

אבל לעולם ידך בעליונה שהוא כח והחיות מהש"י שיש תוך ההעלם.

But "forever Your hand is uppermost" — this is the power and chiyus from Hashem that exists within the concealment itself.

Even inside the hidden, natural world, Hashem's life-giving power is still present and supreme; the concealment never truly cuts off the source.

ועי"ז יכולין להתבטל לנקודה הפנימיות בכל מעשה להיות נבדל מחומר המעשה להתדבק בפנימיות כל דבר.

Through this one is able to be nullified (bittul) to the inner point in every deed, to become separated from the physical matter of the act and to cleave to the penimiyus of each thing.

Knowing that Hashem's power dwells within everything, a person can practice bittul — setting aside the coarse, external side of any act in order to attach himself to its inner divine point.

וז"ש קדושים תהיו.

This is the meaning of "You shall be holy."

This bittul to the inner point in all one's deeds is precisely the kedushah the verse demands.

וברש"י שנאמרה בהקהל כו'.

And in Rashi: that it was said at hakhel (a gathering of the whole assembly), etc.

Rashi notes that this parsha was taught to the entire nation gathered together, hinting that kedushah is bound up with the klal (community).

דעיקר הקדושה ע"י שמכניס אדם עצמו בכלל ישראל כי הקדושה שורה בכלל ישראל שהיא כנס"י הכנסי' והתאספות כל החיות להש"י.

For the essence of kedushah comes about when a person brings himself into the klal Yisrael, for holiness rests upon the klal Yisrael, which is Knesses Yisrael — the gathering and ingathering of all the life-force to Hashem.

Holiness rests on the whole nation united, since Knesses Yisrael (the "ingathered" community, from the root k-n-s, to gather) draws all the scattered chiyus back to its source in Hashem.

וע"י הביטול להכלל יכולין להתקדש.

And through bittul to the klal one is able to become holy.

By nullifying oneself to the community rather than standing apart, the individual taps into the kedushah that rests on the whole.

וגם בשבת כתי' ויקדש כו' ג"כ כנ"ל (שבקדש) [*שבש"ק] נתברר ונתגלה חיות הפנימיות שבכל דבר.

And also regarding Shabbos it is written "and He sanctified" (Bereishis 2:3), likewise as above — that on Shabbos Kodesh the inner chiyus that is in everything becomes clarified and revealed.

Shabbos is itself a vessel of kedushah: on the holy day the hidden inner life-force of all things shines forth and becomes clear.

ממילא יכולין להתקדש בנקל.

Consequently one is able to become holy with ease.

Because the penimiyus is revealed on Shabbos, attaining holiness comes naturally and without struggle.

וברכתו מכל הימים פי' שבת הוא השפעת החיים לכל הימים.

"He blessed it more than all the days" (cf. Bereishis 2:3) — meaning that Shabbos is the flow of life to all the days.

The blessing of Shabbos is that it channels life-force into every other day of the week.

וקדשתו מכל הזמנים ששבת מקושר בחיות שלמעלה מהטבע ועי"ז ע"י שבת יכולין להמשיך קדושה בהזמן והטבע עצמו.

"And He sanctified it more than all the times" — for Shabbos is connected to the chiyus that is above nature, and through this, by means of Shabbos, one can draw holiness into time and into nature itself.

Shabbos is rooted in a supernatural life-force, and from that root we can pull kedushah down into ordinary time and the natural world.

וקדושת שבת ג"כ ע"י דאתאחדת ברזא דאחד כו'.

And the kedushah of Shabbos too comes about "because it is unified in the secret of the One" (Zohar), etc.

The Zohar teaches that Shabbos derives its holiness from being bound up in the mystery of Hashem's absolute Oneness.

וכן ע"י כל המצות שהם נגד רמ"ח אברים דכתי' אשר קדשנו במצותיו שע"י מעשה המצוה שיש בה אור מציווי ה' בתוך המעשה.

And likewise through all the mitzvos, which correspond to the 248 limbs, as it is written "Who has sanctified us with His mitzvos" — for through the act of the mitzvah, which contains a light from the command of Hashem within the deed,

Each of the 248 mitzvos parallels a limb of the body, and performing a mitzvah embeds the light of Hashem's command inside a physical act.

עי"ז יכולין לברר הקדושה גם במעשה ממש.

through this one is able to bring out the holiness even in actual, physical deeds.

The mitzvah lets us extract and reveal kedushah within a concrete, material action.

ובכל מעשה נמצא רצון הש"י כי בל"ז לא הי' לו קיום.

And in every deed the ratzon Hashem (will of Hashem) is found, for without it the deed would have no existence.

Hashem's will is present in every action whatsoever — otherwise it could not exist at all — so every act holds a point of holiness waiting to be revealed.

וכ"כ אשר יעשה כו' האדם וחי בהם.

And so it is written: "which a person shall do and live by them" (Vayikra 18:5).

The Torah promises life through the mitzvos — the verse "and live by them" hints that the mitzvos are the very source of a person's true vitality.

פי' שחיות כל מעשיו יהי' ע"י המצות שהוא רצון ה' המחי' כל המעשים כנ"ל:

The meaning is that the chiyus of all his deeds will be through the mitzvos, which are the ratzon Hashem that gives life to all deeds, as above.

The life within all of a person's actions flows through the mitzvos, since Hashem's will is what animates every deed in the first place.

Summary: The command "You shall be holy" is also a promise: because every Yid's life-force is a direct portion of the Divine, and because Hashem's life-giving power dwells hidden within all of nature, a person can sanctify even his physical actions. Through bittul to the inner point — joining the klal, drawing on the revealed penimiyus of Shabbos, and performing mitzvos that embed Hashem's will in the deed — kedushah is brought down into time, nature, and ordinary life itself.