Drawing soul's holiness into the body

עוד למדרש קדושים ואתה מרום לעולם רוממות אתה נוהג בעולמך.

Further on the Midrash to Kedoshim: "And You are exalted forever" (Tehillim 92:9) — You conduct exaltation in Your world.

The Midrash links the holiness of the parsha to the verse "You are exalted forever," teaching that Hashem brings an ongoing exaltation into His world.

נתת קדושה לישראל לעולם כו'.

You gave holiness to Yisrael forever …

And this exaltation includes the eternal holiness Hashem bestowed upon Yisrael.

וגם מ"ש עוד במד' בפסוק ישלח עזרך מקודש כו'.

And also what is said further in the Midrash on the verse, "May He send your help from the Sanctuary …" (Tehillim 20:3).

A second verse from the Midrash speaks of help sent "from the Sanctuary," which the Sefas Emes will connect to the flow of holiness.

דבכל אדם נמצא הקדושה בכח הנשמה שבאדם חלק ה' ממעל.

For in every person holiness is found, through the power of the neshamah within him, which is "a portion of Hashem from above" (Iyov 31:2).

Every Jew already contains holiness, located in his soul — a literal portion of the Divine drawn from Above.

אבל האדם צריך להמשיך מקדושת הנשמה אל הגוף ורמ"ח אברים.

But a person must draw the holiness of the neshamah down to the body and the 248 limbs.

The task is to extend that inner holiness of the soul outward, into the physical body and all its limbs.

והוא בכח המצות שהם מול רמ"ח אברים כמו שחיות הנפש מתפשט אל האברים בגשמיות כמו כן בקדושה מקור הקדושה בנשמה.

And this is through the power of the mitzvos, which correspond to the 248 limbs — just as the life-force of the soul spreads to the limbs physically, so too in holiness: the source of holiness is in the neshamah.

The 248 positive mitzvos parallel the 248 limbs. Just as the soul's life animates the body, the soul's holiness — channeled through the mitzvos — flows out to sanctify each limb.

ונמשך אל האברים כמ"ש אשר יעשה אותם האדם וחי בהם שע"י המצות נמשך החיות אל האברים.

And it is drawn to the limbs, as it says, "which a person shall do and live by them" (Vayikra 18:5) — that through the mitzvos, life-force is drawn into the limbs.

"Live by them" teaches that performing mitzvos draws genuine spiritual life into the body's limbs.

וכתי' וחי בהם פי' למעט חיות שמצד הטבע והגשמיות.

And it is written, "and live by them" — meaning, to diminish the vitality that comes from nature and physicality.

"Live by them" also implies reducing the merely physical, natural vitality, replacing it with the higher life that comes from holiness.

כמ"ש במ"א דהגם דדרשו חז"ל וחי בהם ולא שימות.

As is explained elsewhere, that although Chazal expounded "and live by them — and not that he should die by them" (Yoma 85b).

Chazal famously derive from "live by them" that mitzvos are meant to preserve life, not to cause death — pikuach nefesh overrides most mitzvos.

מ"מ במ"א אמרו אין התורה מתקיימת אלא במי שממית עצמו עלי' ופרשנו כי הכל דבר א' כמ"ש וקוי ה' יחליפו כח וכפי מה שממעט אדם כוחות הגוף בעסקו בתורה ומצות נתחדש לו כח אחר בכח התורה והמצות כמ"ש משיבת נפש.

Nevertheless, elsewhere they said, "The Torah endures only in one who puts himself to death over it" (Berachos 63b) — and we explained that it is all one matter, as it says, "Those who hope to Hashem shall renew their strength" (Yeshayahu 40:31); and to the degree that a person diminishes the powers of the body through his toil in Torah and mitzvos, a new strength is renewed for him by the power of Torah and mitzvos, as it says, "[the Torah of Hashem is perfect,] restoring the soul" (Tehillim 19:8).

The two teachings — "live by them" and "kill yourself over Torah" — are really one. As one lessens his coarse bodily strength through toil in Torah, a new and higher strength is "renewed" in its place. This is "they shall renew their strength" and "restoring the soul": Torah doesn't deplete life but exchanges physical vitality for a loftier spiritual one.

והנה כפי מה שנמשך הקדושה והחיות מהנשמה אל הגוף כמו כן מתרבה וניתוסף קדושה וחיות ביותר אל הנשמה מחי החיים.

Now, to the extent that holiness and vitality are drawn from the neshamah to the body, so too holiness and vitality are increased and added to the neshamah itself, from the Life of all life.

There is a reciprocal flow: as the soul pours holiness into the body, it does not deplete but is itself replenished — receiving ever more holiness and life from Hashem, the Source of all life.

וע"ז כתי' יחליפו כח שכפי התרחבות כח הנשמה בגוף כך מקבלת לעולם כח חדש וז"ש מרום לעולם ה' שיש בכח הנשמה להמשיך חיות דקדושה לעולם יותר ויותר לכן כתי' לעולם קדושים תהיו שאין סוף לקדושה זו.

And of this it is written, "they shall renew (yachalifu) their strength" — for as the soul's power expands into the body, it perpetually receives new strength; and this is "You are exalted forever, Hashem," that it lies within the power of the neshamah to draw holy vitality more and more without end, and therefore it is written "forever — you shall be holy," that there is no end to this holiness.

"They shall renew their strength" describes this endless cycle: the more the soul expands its holiness into the body, the more fresh strength it draws from Above. This is the meaning of "exalted forever" and "forever you shall be holy" — the capacity for holiness is limitless.

וכמ"ש והתקדשתם היינו המשכת הקדושה מנשמה לגוף.

As it is written, "and you shall sanctify yourselves" (Vayikra 11:44) — this is the drawing of holiness from the neshamah to the body.

The phase "you shall sanctify yourselves" refers to the active work of channeling the soul's holiness down into the body.

אח"כ והייתם קדושים התחדשות הקדושה מלמעלה וזה עזרך מקודש.

Afterward, "and you shall be holy" — the renewal of holiness from Above; and this is "your help from the Sanctuary."

The next phrase, "you shall be holy," is the responding gift: a renewed holiness sent down from Above. This is the verse's "help from the Sanctuary" — the heavenly reinforcement that follows one's own effort.

ומציון יסעדך הוא הקדושה שלמטה מהנשמה להגוף.

"And He will support you from Tzion" — this is the holiness below, from the neshamah to the body.

The verse's "support from Tzion" corresponds to the lower flow: drawing the soul's holiness into the body.

ועזרך מקודש הוא מלמעלה.

And "your help from the Sanctuary" is from Above.

While "help from the Sanctuary" corresponds to the holiness that descends from Above in response.

לכן צריך כל אדם לעסוק בתורה ומצות כדי להמשיך קדושה לגוף כמ"ש אשר תמצא ידך לעשות בכוחך פי' בזוה"ק כוחך זו נשמה.

Therefore every person must occupy himself with Torah and mitzvos in order to draw holiness to the body, as it says, "whatever your hand finds to do, do with your strength" (Koheles 9:10) — which the Zohar HaKadosh explains: "with your strength" refers to the neshamah.

The practical lesson: engage in Torah and mitzvos to channel holiness into the body. "Do with your strength" means doing it with the power of the soul, as the Zohar reads it.

וכעין זה הוא בקדושת השבת דכתי' זכור כו' לקדשו שהגם שהשבת הוא קודש כמ"ש ויקדש אותו.

And similar to this is the holiness of Shabbos, of which it is written, "Remember … to sanctify it" (Shemos 20:8) — for although Shabbos is itself holy, as it says, "and He sanctified it" (Bereishis 2:3).

The same dynamic applies to Shabbos. Even though Hashem already made Shabbos intrinsically holy, we are still commanded to "sanctify it" ourselves.

אבל כפי שמקבלין בני ישראל קדושת השבת וממשיכין מקדושת השבת קדושה לכל ימי המעשה כמו כן מתרבה יותר קדושת השבת מלמעלה.

But in accordance with how Bnei Yisrael receive the holiness of Shabbos and draw from the holiness of Shabbos to all the weekdays, so too the holiness of Shabbos is increased further from Above.

Just as with body and soul, the more Bnei Yisrael receive Shabbos's holiness and extend it into the weekdays, the more Shabbos's holiness is itself increased from Above — the same reciprocal cycle.

הנשמה כלי לקבל הקדושה להמשיך ממנו קדושה גם להגוף.

The neshamah is a vessel to receive the holiness, in order to draw holiness from it to the body as well.

The soul functions as a receiving vessel: it takes in holiness so as to pass it onward to the body.

והשבת הוא כלי לקבל הקדושה ולהמשיך ממנו קדושה לכל הימים:

And Shabbos is a vessel to receive the holiness and to draw holiness from it to all the days.

Shabbos plays the parallel role in time: it is the vessel that gathers holiness and then radiates it out to sanctify all the days of the week.

Summary: Every Jew's neshamah is "a portion of Hashem from above," and his task is to draw that holiness down into his body and 248 limbs through the mitzvos. "Live by them" and "kill yourself over Torah" are one truth: diminishing coarse bodily vitality renews a higher strength from Above. This sets up an endless reciprocal flow — as the soul pours holiness into the body, it is itself replenished without limit, which is why holiness is "forever." "Sanctify yourselves" is the work below; "you shall be holy" is the renewed help from Above. The very same dynamic governs Shabbos, which is a vessel that receives holiness and radiates it into all the weekdays.