Torah as the Tree of Life through separating good from evil

במד' וכי תבואו כו' ונטעתם כו' עץ חיים היא כו' [בני אם תקח כו'] ע"ש.

In the Medrash: "And when you come [into the land]... and you shall plant..." (Vayikra 19:23) — "She is a tree of life (eitz chaim)..." (Mishlei 3:18) — ["My son, if you take [my words]..." (Mishlei 2:1)] — see there.

The Medrash links the mitzvah of planting trees in Eretz Yisrael with the Torah as the "tree of life," setting up the Sefas Emes's theme of Torah as the path to true life.

כי התורה היא עצה למצוא דרך החיים.

For the Torah is an "eitzah" (counsel) to find the way of life.

The Torah serves as guidance — a strategy — for discovering the genuine "way of life."

שאחר החטא מעה"ד נתערב טו"ר.

For after the sin of the Eitz HaDaas (Tree of Knowledge), good and evil became intermingled.

Since the sin of Adam, good and evil have been blended together within the world and within man, so that the path of life is no longer self-evident.

וכפי הבירור והבדל טוב מרע זוכין לעץ החיים.

And according to the clarification (birur) and separation of good from evil, one merits the Eitz HaChaim (Tree of Life).

To the degree that a person works to sift out and separate good from evil, he gains access to the Tree of Life.

והתורה ומצות הם מבררין טוב מרע.

And the Torah and mitzvos are what clarify good from evil.

The very tools for performing this birur are the Torah and its mitzvos, which disentangle good from evil.

לכן צריך להיות ג"ש ערלה.

Therefore there must be three years of orlah (the prohibition on a tree's fruit for its first three years).

The mitzvah of orlah — refraining from a young tree's fruit for three years — embodies this process of separation, holding back from the produce until it can be elevated.

ואח"כ יכול להתגלות הטוב והחיות הפנימיות.

And afterward the good and the inner life-force (chiyus penimiyus) can be revealed.

Only after this period of restraint and refinement can the hidden good and inner vitality within the fruit emerge.

ז"ש להוסיף לכם תבואתו הוא תוספות למעלה מדרך הטבע וצימצום.

This is the meaning of "to add for you its produce" (Vayikra 19:25) — it is an addition that is above the way of nature and tzimtzum (contraction).

The promised increase in the fruit's yield after orlah represents a blessing that surpasses the natural order, drawn down by the prior restraint and refinement.

שאחר החטא אין הפנימיות מתגלה קודם שמתקנים התערובות כנ"ל.

For after the sin, the penimiyus (inner dimension) is not revealed before one rectifies the admixture, as above.

Because of the post-sin mixture of good and evil, the inner holiness stays hidden until the impurity is first cleansed away.

ופי' עץ חיים כו' למחזיקים בה שכפי רוב האמונה בתורה ומצותי' כך נותנת החיים.

And the explanation of "She is a tree of life to those who grasp her" (Mishlei 3:18) — that according to the abundance of one's emunah in the Torah and its mitzvos, so does she give life.

The Torah gives life in proportion to one's faith; the more wholeheartedly a person grasps the Torah with emunah, the more life-force it bestows upon him.

וז"ש אשר יעשה כו' וחי בהם.

And this is the meaning of "which a person shall do... and live by them" (Vayikra 18:5).

The pasuk teaches that life flows specifically through the doing of the mitzvos.

שע"י העשי' ימצא אח"כ החיים כמ"ש בפ' משפטים שזה ענין הקדמת נעשה לנשמע ע"ש.

For through the doing (asiyah), one will afterward find the life, as we explained in parshas Mishpatim that this is the matter of placing "naaseh" (we will do) before "nishma" (we will hear) — see there.

Action comes first and life follows from it; this is the deeper meaning of Bnei Yisrael's declaration of "naaseh v'nishma," prioritizing deed, through which the inner life of Torah is then discovered.

[וז"ש בני אם תקח שלא הכל זוכין ללקח טוב הנ"ל רק בנ"י לכן כתי' כי הוא חייך דייקא]:

[And this is the meaning of "My son, if you take" (Mishlei 2:1) — that not everyone merits the aforementioned "good acquisition" (lekach tov), only Bnei Yisrael; therefore it is written, "for it (the Torah) is your life" (Devarim 30:20) — precisely [yours].]

In a closing aside, the Sefas Emes notes that this "good acquisition" of Torah-life is the unique portion of Bnei Yisrael, which is why the Torah emphatically calls it "your life."

Summary: The Torah is the counsel for finding the true way of life. After the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, good and evil became intermingled, and only through the birur — separating good from evil by means of the Torah and mitzvos — can one reach the Tree of Life. The mitzvah of orlah embodies this restraint, after which the inner good and life-force are revealed and a supernatural blessing of increase is drawn down. The Torah gives life in measure with one's emunah, and since "naaseh" precedes "nishma," it is specifically through doing the mitzvos that one then discovers the inner life of Torah — the unique portion of Bnei Yisrael, of whom alone it is said "for it is your life."