Three partners in man and bittul

בפסוק איש אמו ואביו תיראו כו' שבתותי תשמורו.

On the verse "Every man shall fear his mother and his father... and you shall keep My Shabbosos" (Vayikra 19:3).

The Sefas Emes seeks the inner link between the mitzvah of fearing one's parents and the mitzvah of guarding Shabbos, which are joined in a single pasuk.

דאיתא הסתכל בג"ד כו' מאין באת מטפה סרוחה כו'.

For it is taught: "Look at three things... From where did you come? From a putrid drop..." (Avos 3:1).

The Mishnah bids a person reflect on three things — his origin, his destination, and before Whom he will give a reckoning — as a guard against sin.

ובאמת מאלו הג' שותפין שיש באדם הן ג' הדברים.

And in truth, these three things correspond to the three partners in a person (Hashem, father, and mother).

Chazal teach that there are three shutafim (partners) in a person's creation; the Sefas Emes maps the Mishnah's three reflections onto these three.

מאין באת כח האב ט"ס.

"From where did you come" — this is the power of the father, the seminal drop.

The first reflection, on one's lowly origin, corresponds to the father's contribution, the tipah seruchah (the initial drop).

ולאן אתה הולך הוא כח האשה.

"And where are you going" — this is the power of the woman (the mother).

The second reflection, on one's mortal destination, corresponds to the mother's role.

רמז לדבר שהמיתה באה לעולם ע"י האשה.

A hint to this: death came into the world through the woman (Chavah).

Since mortality entered the world through Chavah, "where are you going" — i.e., to the grave — is associated with the power of the woman.

וגם הריון קרוב למיתה.

And also, pregnancy is close to death.

The danger of childbirth further links the mother's domain to the theme of mortality and "where are you going."

ולפני מי אתה עתיד ליתן דין וחשבון הוא כח הבורא שיש בו.

"And before Whom you are destined to give a judgment and accounting" — this is the power of the Creator that is within him.

The third reflection, on accountability before Hashem, corresponds to the Divine portion — the chelek Eloka — that the Creator places within every person.

וזה רמז בשבתותי תשמורו שהוא לשמור תמיד ולהשתוקק לחזור בשמחה לשורשו שהוא תכלית הכל כמ"ש חז"ל על זאת יתפלל כל חסיד כו'.

And this is hinted in "you shall keep My Shabbosos" — which means to constantly guard and yearn to return with joy to one's root, which is the purpose of everything, as Chazal said: "For this let every chassid pray..." (Berachos 8a).

"Guarding" Shabbos here means a constant longing to return joyfully to one's Divine source — the ultimate purpose of life, as the pious pray for a worthy end.

מצוא זו מיתה כו'.

"To find" — this refers to death, etc. (Berachos 8a).

The Gemara reads "a time of finding" as the moment of death; the tzaddik prays that his passing be a return to his source rather than a loss.

וכענין יום שכולו שבת כו'.

And similar to "a day that is entirely Shabbos," etc.

The final return to one's root is likened to the world-to-come, "a day that is wholly Shabbos" — the eternal rest in Hashem.

ואין כוונת החשבון רק להפחיד האדם.

And the intent of the "accounting" is not merely to frighten a person.

The Sefas Emes clarifies that reflecting on the final reckoning is not meant simply to instill dread.

רק שיבוש האדם באיזה חשבון יבא לפני המלך אם יהי' כדאי לחשוב המעשים טובים.

Rather, that a person should feel shame at what kind of accounting he will bring before the King — whether his good deeds will be worth reckoning.

The purpose is a healthy sense of bushah (shame) — prompting one to ask whether his good deeds are substantial enough to "count" before Hashem the King.

כי דין קאי על עבירות וחשבון קאי על המצות.

For "judgment" (din) refers to the sins, and "accounting" (cheshbon) refers to the mitzvos.

The two words are distinguished: din addresses one's aveiros, while cheshbon weighs whether one's mitzvos amount to anything of worth.

ואלה הג' בחינות נמצאין בכל דבר.

And these three aspects are found in everything.

The pattern of the three partners is not limited to a person's birth; it recurs in every act and endeavor.

היינו כח הכנת האדם לפעול איזה דבר טוב או מכין עצמו למצות וזה נק' כח האב.

That is: the power of a person's preparation to accomplish some good thing, or his readying himself for a mitzvah — this is called the power of the father.

In any good deed, the initial human initiative and preparation parallels the father's seminal contribution.

הזרע כדי להוליד.

The seed, in order to give birth.

This first effort is like the seed planted toward producing a result.

אבל אינו נעשה מזה כלל והוא ט"ס.

But nothing whatsoever comes into being from this alone — it is only the putrid drop.

Human initiative by itself produces nothing; like the tipah seruchah, it is merely raw material that must decompose.

אך ורק אח"כ צריך בחי' הביטול להיות כעפר ורק מוכן יהי' לבטל עצמו להבורא ית' והוא בחי' האם שבה נסרח הזרע.

Rather, afterward one needs the aspect of bittul — to be like dust, only prepared to nullify oneself before the Creator; and this is the aspect of the mother, in which the seed decomposes.

The next stage is bittul: like the seed that must rot in the mother's womb before it can grow, a person must reduce himself to "dust" and nullify his own will before Hashem.

ואח"כ שולח הש"י חלק אלקי ממעל ובא לגמר הולדה וכולם ממתינין על כח הבורא.

And afterward Hashem sends a Godly portion from Above, and it comes to the completion of birth — and all of them wait upon the power of the Creator.

Only after human effort and self-nullification does Hashem add the Divine portion that brings the matter to fruition; everything depends on, and waits for, Hashem's input.

וזה שבתותי תשמורו לשון המתנה כמו שמר את הדבר:

And this is "you shall keep My Shabbosos" — a term of waiting, as in "and his father kept (guarded) the matter" (Bereishis 37:11).

"Shemiras Shabbos" is read as "waiting" — patiently awaiting Hashem's completing portion, just as Yaakov "kept" (awaited) the fulfillment of Yosef's dream.

Summary: The three reflections of Avos — origin, destination, and the final reckoning — correspond to the three partners in man (father, mother, and Hashem), and this same pattern repeats in every good deed: human initiative (father) produces nothing on its own, must pass through self-nullification like dust (mother), and only then does Hashem add the Divine portion that brings it to fruition. Thus "guard My Shabbosos" means to yearn for return to one's Source and to patiently wait upon the power of the Creator.