Mitzvos as the conduit of life

בפסוק ושמרתם את חקותי כו' אשר יעשה כו' האדם וחי בהם.

On the pasuk: "You shall keep My chukim… which a person shall do… and live by them."

The Sefas Emes opens with the verse that promises life as the reward for keeping Hashem's mitzvos, and he will now probe what "living by them" really means.

פירש"י בעוה"ב כו'.

Rashi explains: in the World to Come.

Rashi reads "and live by them" as referring to Olam Haba — the eternal life earned through mitzvos, not merely physical life in this world.

וי"ל עוד הפי' אשר זה עצמו הקב"ה מבקש מאתנו אשר באמצעיות שמירת המצות כראוי יתתקנו כל המעשים ויתברר האמונה בעולם.

One can also explain that this itself is what Hashem asks of us: that by keeping the mitzvos properly, all of our deeds become rectified and emunah (faith) becomes clarified in the world.

Beyond the reward, the Sefas Emes adds a second meaning: the very purpose of the mitzvos is that our actions in this world should be refined and that Hashem's presence should be made evident.

ובאמת כפי התגלות האמונה מתקיים השגחת הש"י בהתגלות.

And in truth, to the degree that emunah is revealed, the hashgachah (Divine providence) of Hashem is established in a revealed way.

When people make their faith manifest through proper avodah, Hashem's guiding hand likewise becomes openly visible in the world.

ולכן לעתיד יתברר כי גם הגשמיות הכל מכח הש"י כח הפועל בנפעל.

Therefore in the future it will be made clear that even the physical world is entirely from the power of Hashem — the power of the Maker present within that which is made.

Ultimately it will be revealed that physicality itself has no independent existence; the Creator's life-force is embedded within every created thing.

ואז יהי' חיות כל חי אף בעוה"ז הכל מסטרא דקדושה בלבד.

Then the life-force of every living thing, even in this world, will flow entirely from the side of kedushah (holiness) alone.

In that future state, all vitality — even worldly vitality — will be drawn purely from the realm of holiness, with nothing flowing through any other channel.

וע"י התורה ומצות יחי' האדם.

And through Torah and mitzvos a person will live.

Torah and mitzvos become the actual conduit of life itself, not merely a path to future reward.

נמצא פי' הכתוב ושמרתם כו' כדי שתפעלו במעשיכם אשר יעשה אותם האדם וחי בהם והבן מאוד כי הכל תלוי בעבודתינו.

It emerges that the meaning of the verse "You shall keep…" is: in order that you should accomplish, through your deeds, that "a person shall do them and live by them" — and understand this well, that everything depends on our avodah (service).

The mitzvah of "keeping" is so that our actions should actively bring about a world that lives only from holiness; the entire rectification hinges on our own efforts.

כי בוודאי הש"י מחי' כל חי רק שכן הי' רצונו ית' שיהי' גם לרשעים חיות מסט"א.

For surely Hashem gives life to all that lives; it is only that it was His ratzon (will) that even the resha'im (wicked) should have vitality from the sitra achra (the "other side").

Hashem is of course the source of all life, but He arranged the world so that life-force could also reach the wicked indirectly, through the side of impurity.

אבל בכח בנ"י לדחות הסט"א ולתקן העולם במלכותו ית' בלבד:

But it is in the power of Bnei Yisrael to push away the sitra achra and to rectify the world under His kingship alone.

The mission of Bnei Yisrael is to drive out that "other side" so that all of creation draws its life directly from Hashem's sovereignty.

Summary: Keeping the mitzvos is not only a path to reward in Olam Haba; it is the avenue through which our deeds refine the world and reveal that all life flows from Hashem alone. Bnei Yisrael are charged with pushing away the "other side" until creation lives entirely from kedushah under Hashem's kingship.