Mitzvos Refine Creation Through Man

במד' זאת החי' אשר תאכלו כו' כל אמרת אלוה צרופה לא ניתנו המצות אלא לצרף בהם הבריות כו'.

The Midrash on "This is the living creature that you may eat" (Vayikra 11:2): "Every word of Hashem is refined" (Mishlei 30:5) — the mitzvos were given only in order to refine the creatures through them.

The Sefas Emes opens with the principle that the purpose of the mitzvos, including the laws of kosher animals, is to refine and purify mankind.

כי כל מה שברא הקב"ה בעולמו לכבודו ברא.

For everything that the Holy One, blessed is He, created in His world, He created for His honor.

All of creation exists ultimately to reveal kavod Shomayim, the glory of Hashem.

וסדר דצח"ם מתעלה הדומם לצומח וצומח לחי וחי למדבר.

And in the order of inanimate, vegetable, animal, and speaker, the inanimate is elevated into the vegetable, the vegetable into the animal, and the animal into the speaker.

There is an ascending ladder of creation in which each lower level is absorbed and raised by the one above it, culminating in man, the medaber.

וכמו שנבדלו בנ"י להיות ראש המדברים בלשון הקודש ובתורה ותפלה.

And just as Bnei Yisrael were set apart to be the head of the "speakers," through lashon hakodesh, through Torah and through tefillah.

Within mankind, Bnei Yisrael stand at the pinnacle, using speech for its highest purpose — holy language, Torah and prayer.

כן יש מינים מיוחדים בין הדצ"ח שמיוחד רק לבנ"י.

So too there are particular species among the inanimate, vegetable, and animal that are designated only for Bnei Yisrael.

Just as Bnei Yisrael are singled out among people, certain foods are singled out as fit for them, with the rest separated off.

דכ' הגו סיגים כו' ויצא לצורף כלי.

As it is written, "Remove the dross... and a vessel emerges for the smith" (Mishlei 25:4).

The process of separating permitted from forbidden is like refining metal — removing dross so that a finished vessel can be formed.

וכל אלה הבירורים נעשה באדם.

And all these refinements are accomplished through man.

Man is the one who carries out the birurim — the sorting of the holy from the dross throughout creation.

לכן הוקש אדם לקרקע.

Therefore man is compared to the ground.

Like soil, man receives the raw material of the world and brings forth refined fruit from it.

וכמ"ש והי' זרעך כעפר.

As it is written, "And your seed shall be like the dust" (Bereishis 28:14).

The comparison of Bnei Yisrael to dust expresses this same productive, refining quality of the earth.

וכן מבקשין נפשי כעפר לכל תהי'.

And likewise we request, "Let my soul be like dust to all" (from the Shemoneh Esrei).

Humility — making oneself like dust — is precisely what enables a person to absorb and elevate everything around him.

וכתבנו במ"א כי כמו העפר זורעין בו ומוציא פירות כן הכל בא אל האדם והפסולת נבדל והפנימיות מתעלה ע"י האדם ויצא לצורף כלי.

And we wrote elsewhere that just as one sows in the dust and it brings forth fruit, so too everything comes to man, and the dross is separated while the penimiyus (inner essence) is elevated through man, "and a vessel emerges for the smith."

Man functions like fertile ground: whatever enters him is sorted, the waste discarded and the inner holiness raised up into a refined vessel.

והוא ע"י המצות אמרת אלוה צרופה לחבר כל הברואים ע"י האדם עד השורש.

And this is by means of the mitzvos — "every word of Hashem is refined" — to bind all the creatures, through man, back to the Root.

The mitzvos are the tool through which man reconnects all of creation to its Source.

וצריך איש ישראל לידע כי נברא רק לעשות רצון קונו.

And a Jew must know that he was created solely to do the ratzon (will) of his Maker.

The entire purpose of a person's existence is to fulfill the will of Hashem.

ובמשנה אל תהיו כעבדים המשמשים ע"מ לקבל פרס כו'.

And in the Mishnah: "Do not be like servants who serve in order to receive a reward" (Avos 1:3).

True avodah is serving Hashem for His sake, not for the sake of compensation.

זה לא מיירי רק במצות. רק הוא על כלל הבריאה.

This does not speak only of the mitzvos; rather, it applies to all of creation.

The Sefas Emes broadens the Mishnah: selfless service is not limited to mitzvos but is the proper posture toward all of existence.

כי כל הבריאה עליונים ותחתונים עבדיו הם.

For all of creation, the upper worlds and the lower, are His servants.

Everything in existence, heavenly and earthly, serves Hashem.

וכל מה שנעשה וכל מה שיעשה הכל בוודאי רצונו ית'.

And everything that is done and everything that will be done is certainly His will, may He be blessed.

Nothing happens outside the ratzon Hashem; all events express His will.

אכן העליונים נק' עבדים שלא ע"מ לקבל פרס משרתיו עושי רצונו.

Indeed, the upper beings are called servants who serve not in order to receive reward — "His ministers who do His will."

The malachim serve consciously and selflessly, with no thought of recompense.

והתחתונים נטבע בהם להיות להם תאוה ורצון בטבע לעשות מה שחפצים ואינם מבינים כי כל זה רצון המלך הוא.

And in the lower beings it is ingrained that they have desire and a natural will to do what they wish, and they do not understand that all of this is the will of the King.

Earthly creatures act on instinct and craving, unaware that even their natural drives are carrying out Hashem's will.

כמ"ש בס' חובת הלבבות.

As is written in the sefer Chovos HaLevavos.

He cites Rabbeinu Bachya's classic work as the source for this idea.

כי לפי שרצה הקב"ה בקיום העולם כפי רצונו ית' נתן להברואים הפרס להיות נמלא תאותם באלה הדברים ע"ש שער הפרישות פ"א.

That since the Holy One, blessed is He, desired the continuity of the world according to His will, He gave the creatures the "reward" of having their desires satisfied in these matters — see the Gate of Abstinence, chapter one.

Hashem built pleasure into natural drives so that the world would perpetuate itself; the satisfaction of desire is itself a kind of reward that keeps creation running.

אבל מי שעיניו פקוחות צריך לידע כי כל מעשיו הם רצון המלך.

But one whose eyes are open must know that all his actions are the will of the King.

A spiritually aware person recognizes that everything he does is part of fulfilling Hashem's will.

ולעתיד יתגלה זאת לעיני הכל.

And in the future this will be revealed to the eyes of all.

In the time to come, everyone will plainly see that all of existence was always serving Hashem.

וע"ז אומרים יכירו וידעו כל יושבי תבל כי לך תכרע כל ברך תשבע כל לשון.

And concerning this we say, "All the inhabitants of the world will recognize and know that to You every knee must bend, every tongue must swear" (from the Aleinu / Yeshayahu 45:23).

The future recognition is universal: all of creation will openly acknowledge that it bends to Hashem.

זה כולל המעור והלשון מה שהם נטבעים בהם לתאותם והתאוה מכסה ומסתיר שלא לראות איך הוא רק שליח לעשות רצון הבורא.

This includes the organs of desire and the tongue — that which they are naturally ingrained with for their cravings, and the craving covers and conceals, so that one does not see how he is merely a messenger to do the will of the Creator.

Physical desire creates a veil: it hides from a person the truth that even his bodily drives are really a shlichus (mission) carrying out the Creator's will.

לכן נאמר יכירו וידעו מה שלא הי' נודע להם עד עתה.

Therefore it says "they will recognize and know" — that which had not been known to them until now.

The future revelation will lift the veil of desire and disclose the truth that was hidden all along.

ואיש ישראל צריך להיות עבד שלא ע"מ לקבל פרס רק כמלאך לעשות רצונו ית'.

And a Jew must be a servant who serves not in order to receive reward, but rather like a malach, to do His will, may He be blessed.

The Jew is called to rise above the level of craving creatures and serve selflessly, like the angels.

ולפי שהטבע מסתיר נתן הקב"ה לבנ"י המצות.

And because nature conceals, the Holy One, blessed is He, gave Bnei Yisrael the mitzvos.

Since the natural order veils Hashem's will, the mitzvos were given to pierce that concealment.

ומה שאסר להם מאכלות אסורות וביאות אסורות שבהם הקליפה דבוקה ולא יוכלו לעשות עבודתם לשם שמים.

And that which He forbade them — forbidden foods and forbidden relations — in which the kelipah (husk of impurity) clings, so that they cannot perform their service for the sake of Heaven.

Certain things are prohibited because the kelipah is so attached to them that they cannot be elevated or used l'shem Shomayim.

וז"ש המעלה אתכם מארץ מצרים להיות לכם לאלקים פי' שניטל מהם מיצר הטבע.

And this is the meaning of "Who raises you up from the land of Egypt to be your God" (Vayikra 11:45) — meaning that the natural impulse was removed from them.

By taking Bnei Yisrael out of Mitzrayim, Hashem lifted them above the blind pull of the yetzer hara so they could perceive Him.

ושיכירו בכל דבר אלקותו ית"ש.

And so that they would recognize His Divinity, may His Name be blessed, in everything.

The goal is to perceive Hashem's presence within every detail of the world.

לכן זאת תאכלו וזאת לא תאכלו כו' ודו"ק:

Therefore: "This you may eat" and "this you may not eat," etc. — examine this carefully.

The dietary laws are the practical instrument of this avodah, training a Jew to sort the elevatable from the inseparably impure and to find Hashem in his eating.

Summary: The mitzvos — and the laws of kosher food in particular — were given to refine mankind. Man stands at the head of creation, like fertile ground that separates dross from the inner holiness and elevates everything back to its Root. A Jew must serve Hashem selflessly, like a malach, recognizing that even nature's drives are a shlichus to carry out the ratzon Hashem; the kashrus laws train him to perceive Hashem's Divinity in all things.