Finding the inner life-force in the physical world

איש כי יפליא כו'.

"A man who shall set himself apart..." (Bamidbar 6:2) — the parsha of the nazir.

The Sefas Emes opens with the word "yafli" (sets apart, wondrous), which he reads as the key to the entire idea: the nazir separates himself toward something higher.

פי' נזיר להיות נבדל מעניני עוה"ז אף כי גם הוא עושה דברי העולם אבל בכח האדם להתדבק עצמו בכח השורש של כל דבר שהוא חיות הפנימיות ונק' פלא.

The meaning is that the nazir is to be separated from the matters of this world, even though he too performs the affairs of the world; yet it is within a person's power to attach himself to the root-force of every thing — which is the inner life-force — and this is called "pele" (wonder).

Being a nazir does not mean leaving the world. Even while engaged in worldly activity, a person can cling to the penimiyus (inner dimension) — the hidden root and chiyus (life-force) inside each thing. That hidden root is what the Torah calls "pele," a wonder.

כדכתיב עושה נפלאות שהשי"ת נותן בחי' פלא גם בעשי' גשמיית וכ"כ רמ"א בא"ח פי' ומפליא לעשות שהרכיב השי"ת נשמה רוחניי בגשם האדם ע"ש.

As it is written, "Who does wonders" (Tehillim 136:4) — that Hashem places an aspect of "pele" even within physical activity; and so too the Rema writes in Orach Chaim, explaining "u'mafli la'asos" ("and acts wondrously"), that Hashem joined a spiritual neshamah into the physical body of man — see there.

Hashem invests a "wonder" even into material action. The classic proof is the bracha "u'mafli la'asos," which the Rema explains as the wondrous union of a spiritual soul within a physical body — the meeting of the hidden inner force with the outer, gashmius (physical) world.

ובמד' שוקיו עמודי שש זה העולם שנשתוקק השי"ת לברוא העולם כמ"ש ויכולו השמים לשון תאוה כו' ע"ש ששת ימים כו' מיוסדים ע"א פז חכמה יראת ה' היא חכמה ובינה סור מרע ודעת המכיר את בוראו כו'.

And in the Midrash: "His legs are pillars of marble (shesh)" (Shir HaShirim 5:15) — this is the world, that Hashem desired (nishtokek) to create the world, as it says "Vayechulu (the heavens were completed)," a term of yearning; "the six (sheish) days," founded "upon sockets of fine gold (paz)" — wisdom, "the fear of Hashem is wisdom" (chochmah); and binah, "turn away from evil"; and da'as, "the one who recognizes his Creator."

The Midrash reads the verse homiletically: "shesh" (marble) hints at the "sheish" (six) days of creation and at Hashem's desire (teshukah) to create the world. The "fine gold" sockets that uphold it are chochmah, binah, and da'as — wisdom (yiras Shomayim), understanding (turning from evil), and knowledge (recognizing one's Creator). These three faculties are the foundation on which the world stands.

פי' ע"י אלו הבחי' חב"ד יוכל האדם להתדבק בפנימיות חיות השי"ת שברא העולם ונשתוקק להתשוקה של הנבראים ע"י שנתרחקו ואע"פ כן ויכלו כו' שבשבת קודש יש עלי' לכל דבר שמכירים שורשם וחפצים ומשתוקקים להכלל ולהבטל אליו ית'.

The meaning is that through these aspects of ChaBaD (chochmah, binah, da'as) a person can cling to the inner life-force of Hashem who created the world and yearned for the yearning of the created beings — by their having become distanced — and nonetheless "Vayechulu (they were completed)": that on Shabbos Kodesh there is an ascent for every thing, when they recognize their root and desire and yearn to be included and nullified to Him, may He be blessed.

Through chochmah, binah and da'as a person reconnects to the inner chiyus that Hashem set into creation. Hashem "yearned for the yearning" of created beings — He distanced them precisely so they would long to return. On Shabbos Kodesh every creation rises back toward its root, recognizing its source and desiring bittul (self-nullification) to Hashem.

ולכך יש לו בש"ק נחת רוח מהבריאה כמ"ש וינח ביום השביעי.

Therefore He has, on Shabbos Kodesh, nachas ruach (satisfaction) from the creation, as it says, "and He rested on the seventh day" (Shemos 20:11).

Because on Shabbos all of creation turns back toward its Source with longing, Hashem derives satisfaction from the world — this is the deeper meaning of His "rest" on the seventh day.

וז"ש שוקיו זה העולם שתשוקתו הוא תשוקתינו שיהי' השתוקקות לו ית'.

And this is what is meant by "His legs (shokav)" — this is the world; for His teshukah (desire) is our teshukah, that there be a yearning toward Him, may He be blessed.

He plays on "shokav" / "teshukah" (yearning). The world's whole purpose is that Hashem's desire becomes our desire — that creation be filled with longing to return to Him.

וזה בא ע"י הריחוק בחי' עוה"ז השפל.

And this comes about through the distancing — the aspect of this lowly world.

Paradoxically, the very lowliness and distance of olam hazeh (this world) is what generates the yearning to draw close again.

וז"ש ועלי תשוקתו.

And this is the meaning of "and his desire is toward me" (Shir HaShirim 7:11).

The longing that arises from the gap of this world is itself the fulfillment of "his desire is toward me" — the yearning of creation directed back to Hashem.

אך מעשה עוה"ז מרחקים ומסתירין כח הפנימיות.

However, the activities of this world distance and conceal the inner force.

The flip side: worldly involvement can also bury the penimiyus, hiding the inner spark rather than revealing it.

וע"י חכמה שהוא הביטול אליו ית' ע"י שמבין בחכמתו שאין להשיג כח גבורתו ית'.

And through chochmah — which is bittul (self-nullification) to Him, may He be blessed — by understanding in his wisdom that one cannot grasp the force of His might, may He be blessed.

Chochmah here is bittul: the wise person grasps that Hashem's power is utterly beyond comprehension, and this very realization nullifies his sense of self before Hashem.

נופל ממילא פחד ויראה על כל מעשה האדם שכל חפצו ורצונו בטל בהשגה לה' ית' ולרצונו.

There falls, of itself, a dread and yirah (awe) upon all of a person's deeds, so that all his desire and will is nullified in his attainment toward Hashem, may He be blessed, and toward His will.

Once a person truly senses Hashem's unfathomable greatness, yiras Shomayim descends automatically over everything he does; his own wishes dissolve into Hashem's ratzon (will).

ובינה הוא שממשיך החכמה להיות נדבק בגוף האדם שעי"ז סר מרע בטבע שכל אבר נבדל ומרוחק מחטא ע"י שמכניס היראה בעומק חיותו ורצונו.

And binah is the drawing-down of the chochmah so that it becomes bound up in the body of a person, whereby he "turns away from evil" by nature — that each limb is set apart and distanced from sin, through his bringing the yirah into the depth of his life-force and his will.

Binah takes the abstract awareness of chochmah and embeds it in the physical body. When yirah penetrates to the depth of a person's chiyus and ratzon, every limb naturally recoils from sin — "turn away from evil" becomes second nature.

ודעת הוא המשכת החו"ב לכל מעשה ומדה בפרט כמ"ש בכל דרכיך דעהו וכ"כ ובדעת חדרים ימלאו שהוא לידע ולהבין איך להתדבק כל מעשה בפנימיות חיות שבו.

And da'as is the drawing-down of chochmah and binah into each deed and trait in particular, as it says, "In all your ways know Him" (Mishlei 3:6), and as it says, "and through da'as the chambers are filled" (Mishlei 24:4) — that it is to know and to understand how to attach every deed to the inner life-force within it.

Da'as is the practical application: bringing chochmah and binah into each individual action and middah (trait). "In all your ways know Him" means knowing how to connect every single deed to the hidden chiyus contained within it.

וז"ש המכיר בוראו בחי' פנימיות כח הבורא בנבראים.

And this is the meaning of "the one who recognizes his Creator" — the aspect of the inner force of the Creator within the created beings.

To "recognize one's Creator" is precisely to perceive the penimiyus — the Creator's power hidden inside every created thing.

ולכך בש"ק דכתיב לדעת כי אני ה' מקדישכם לכך מתבטלין כל הנבראים בשבת אליו ית' כדכתיב ויכלו כו'.

And therefore on Shabbos Kodesh, of which it is written "to know that I am Hashem who sanctifies you" (Shemos 31:13), all created beings are nullified on Shabbos to Him, may He be blessed, as it is written, "Vayechulu (and they were completed)."

Shabbos is described with the word "to know" (da'as), and so it is the day on which all creation attains bittul to Hashem — "Vayechulu," everything completed and absorbed back into its Source.

וז"ש המד' איך בכח האדם להיות נבדל ונדבק בשורש עליון אף שהוא בעוה"ז ע"י החפץ והרצון והשתוקקות להתדבק בחיות פנימיות שנמשך ממקום גבוה מעל גבוה:

And this is what the Midrash means: how it is within a person's power to be separated and yet attached to the supernal root — even while he is in this world — through the desire, the will, and the yearning to cling to the inner life-force that is drawn from a place high above high.

This brings us back to the nazir. The Midrash reveals that a person can be "set apart" (nivdal) and at the same time bound (nidbak) to his supernal root, even while living in olam hazeh — through desire, ratzon, and yearning to cling to the penimiyus, the chiyus drawn from "a place high above high."

Summary: The Sefas Emes reads the nazir's "yafli" as "pele" — the wonder of the inner divine life-force hidden within physical reality. Through chochmah, binah, and da'as, a person can stay engaged in the world yet remain separated toward and attached to his supernal root. Hashem distanced creation so it would yearn to return; on Shabbos Kodesh everything rises back to its source in bittul, and a person, like the nazir, can be both apart from the world and bound to Hashem within it.