Sustenance drawn from the root of life

בענין זאת החי' אשר תאכלו ובפסוק כי אני ה' המעלה אתכם.

On the matter of "This is the animal (zos hachayah) that you may eat," and on the pasuk "for I am Hashem who raises you up (hama'aleh eschem)" (Vayikra 11:45).

The Sefas Emes addresses the laws of permitted animals together with the verse describing Hashem as the One who "raises up" Bnei Yisrael from Egypt.

ובמד' עמד וימודד ארץ כו' ע"ש כל הענין.

And in the Midrash: "He stood and measured the earth (amad vayemoded eretz)…" (Chavakuk 3:6); see there the entire matter.

He references the Midrash on the verse describing Hashem "measuring" the earth, which speaks of His distinguishing and apportioning within creation.

דכבר כתבתי במ"א כשבחר הקב"ה בבנ"י והוציאנו ממצרים שהי' שם בירור הנפשות מתערובות טו"ר וכמו כן נעשה הבירורים בכל הבריאה ונתיחד א"י מכל המקומות.

For I have already written elsewhere that when the Holy One, blessed be He, chose Bnei Yisrael and took us out of Egypt, there occurred a clarification (birur) of the souls from the mixture of good and evil (tov v'ra); and likewise clarifications were made throughout all of creation, and Eretz Yisrael was set apart from all other places.

The Exodus involved a sorting of holy souls out from the admixture of good and evil; parallel separations occurred throughout creation, including the designation of Eretz Yisrael as distinct and holy among all lands.

וכמו כן נתיחדו המינים טהורים מבע"ח.

And likewise the pure species were set apart from among the living creatures.

The same process of separation distinguished the kosher, "pure" species of animals from the rest.

שזה עיקר הגאולה שלא להיות נאסר בתערובות הרע שזה הוא כלאים מלשון בית הכלא כדאיתא בזוה"ק קדושים.

For this is the essence of redemption — not to be bound up in the mixture of evil, which is "kilayim," from the term "bais hakela (prison)," as it is brought in the Zohar HaKodosh, Parshas Kedoshim.

True geulah means being freed from entanglement with evil; the Zohar links "kilayim" (forbidden mixtures) to "prison," for being mixed with evil is a kind of imprisonment from which redemption liberates.

וכל המזון של בנ"י בא משורש החיים.

And all the sustenance (mazon) of Bnei Yisrael comes from the root of life.

Bnei Yisrael's food draws from the supernal source of life, not merely from natural processes.

וכ' עיני כל אליך כו' ואתה נותן להם את אכלם בעתו ודרשו חז"ל לכל א' עת מיוחד.

And it is written "the eyes of all look to You… and You give them their food in its time (b'ito)" (Tehillim 145:15), and Chazal expounded: for each one there is a designated time.

Hashem provides sustenance "in its time," which Chazal understood to mean an individually appointed time for each creature.

והאמת עיני כל נק' בנ"י המצפים אליו ית'.

And the truth is that "the eyes of all (einei chol)" refers to Bnei Yisrael, who look expectantly toward Him.

The Sefas Emes reads "the eyes of all" as alluding specifically to Bnei Yisrael, who direct their gaze and hope to Hashem.

ולכן ניתן להם הפרנסה דבוק בשורש וזה נק' בעתו ולפי"ז בעתו קאי על כל ודו"ק.

And therefore their parnasah (livelihood) is given to them attached to the root, and this is called "in its time" — and according to this, "in its time" refers to "all (chol)"; consider this well.

Because Bnei Yisrael look to Hashem, their sustenance arrives bound to its supernal root, which is the deeper meaning of "in its time"; thus "b'ito" can be read as modifying "all," i.e., the sustenance of those whose eyes are turned to Hashem.

וכתיב אי לך ארץ שמלכך נער כו' אשריך ארץ שמלכך בן חורים ושריך בעת יאכלו הוא א"י המיוחד לבנ"י.

And it is written "Woe to you, O land, whose king is a youth (na'ar)… Fortunate are you, O land, whose king is a free man (ben chorin) and whose princes eat at the proper time (b'eis)" (Koheles 10:16-17) — this is Eretz Yisrael, which is designated for Bnei Yisrael.

The verse contrasts a "land whose king is a na'ar" with the blessed "land whose king is a free man"; the Sefas Emes applies the latter to Eretz Yisrael, set apart for Bnei Yisrael.

ונק' בן חורין כמ"ש המעלה אתכם מארץ מצרים.

And [Bnei Yisrael] are called "free men (bnei chorin)," as it says "who raises you up from the land of Egypt."

Having been redeemed from Mitzrayim, Bnei Yisrael are the true "free people," tying back to the parsha's verse about Hashem raising them up.

ונתיחד להם א"י שהתבואה הגדילה שם הוא דבוק בשורש.

And Eretz Yisrael was designated for them, where the produce that grows there is attached to the root.

In the holy land set aside for them, even the crops grow connected to their supernal life-source.

ונפרש עוד כי הוא ההפרש בין השפע הבא בימי המעשה שהוא ע"י צמצום בטבע וגשמיות.

And we will further explain that this is the difference between the abundance (shefa) that comes on the weekdays, which is by way of contraction (tzimtzum) within nature and physicality —

The weekday flow of sustenance comes filtered through the contractions of the natural, physical order.

ומזה ניזון כל העולם.

— and from this the whole world is nourished.

This natural, contracted shefa is the general source of sustenance for all of creation.

וזהו שמלכך נער ושריך בבוקר יאכלו.

And this is "[woe to the land] whose king is a youth… and whose princes eat in the morning (baboker yochelu)."

The "morning" eating represents this lower mode of sustenance — drawn through nature, associated with the "youth" king and ordinary weekday flow.

כי באמת בכל יום השי"ת מחדש בטובו מעשה בראשית.

For in truth, every day Hashem in His goodness renews the act of creation (ma'aseh bereishis).

Each weekday Hashem renews creation anew, sustaining the world through this daily renewal.

אך השבת כולו טוב כמ"ש טוב להודות

But Shabbos is entirely good (kulo tov), as it says "it is good to give thanks (tov l'hodos)" (Tehillim 92:1, the psalm of Shabbos).

Shabbos transcends the daily renewal; it is wholly good, as expressed in its psalm "it is good to give thanks."

ולכן בשבת לא כתיב ויהי ערב כו'.

And therefore regarding Shabbos it is not written "and it was evening…"

Unlike the six days of creation, no "evening" is recorded for Shabbos, signifying that it has no admixture of darkness — it is entirely light and good.

לכן אשריך ארץ שמלכך בן חורים הוא יום שבת מנוחה ושריך בעת יאכלו שהוא יום שכולו טוב ועת רצון לה'.

Therefore "fortunate are you, O land, whose king is a free man" refers to the day of Shabbos, [a day of] rest, "and your princes eat at the proper time (b'eis)" — for it is a day that is entirely good, an eis ratzon (time of favor) before Hashem.

The blessed land "whose king is free" alludes to Shabbos, the day of rest that is wholly good and a special time of divine favor — the higher mode of sustenance "at its proper time."

ויום השבת מיוחד לבנ"י שהם בני חורין ויכולין להפרד מן הגשמיות.

And the day of Shabbos is designated for Bnei Yisrael, who are "free men" and are able to separate themselves from physicality.

Shabbos belongs to Bnei Yisrael precisely because, as free people, they can detach from the material and rise to the higher source.

וכמו שייחד בזמן השבת קודש לבנ"י כן בעולם ייחד א"י לבנ"י שהשפעתה מהשי"ת בעצמו כמ"ש חז"ל בפסוק נותן מטר כו' ושולח מים ע"פ חוצות הוא בחוץ לארץ ע"י שליח.

And just as He designated within time the Shabbos Kodesh for Bnei Yisrael, so within the world He designated Eretz Yisrael for Bnei Yisrael, whose flow comes from Hashem Himself, as Chazal said on the pasuk "who gives rain (nosein matar)…" — whereas "and sends water upon the open fields (ushole'ach mayim al pnei chutzos)" refers to outside the land, [where it comes] through an intermediary (shaliach).

Eretz Yisrael is the spatial parallel to Shabbos in time: both receive sustenance directly from Hashem. Chazal contrast the rain given directly to the land with water sent "abroad" through an intermediary.

וכמו כן ייחד בנפשות בני חורין אותן שיש להם דביקות בשורש החיים כנ"ל:

And likewise among souls He designated the "free ones" — those who have a cleaving (devekus) to the root of life, as above.

Paralleling holy time (Shabbos) and holy place (Eretz Yisrael), there is also a designation among souls: the truly "free" souls are those cleaving directly to the supernal root of life.

Summary: When Hashem redeemed Bnei Yisrael from Egypt, He effected a birur — separating holy souls from the mixture of good and evil — and parallel separations occurred throughout creation: Eretz Yisrael was set apart among lands, and the kosher species among animals. Bnei Yisrael's sustenance comes attached to the supernal root of life, unlike the contracted natural flow of the weekdays. This higher, direct sustenance appears in three parallel designations — Shabbos in time (entirely good, with no "evening"), Eretz Yisrael in place (watered directly by Hashem, not through an intermediary), and the "free" souls who cleave directly to the root of life.