Elevating time through daily illumination

במדרש יודע ה' ימי תמימים כו' כשם שהם תמימים כך שנותיהם כו'.

In the Midrash: "Hashem knows the days of the wholehearted (temimim)" — just as they are temimim, so too are their years.

The Sefas Emes opens with the Midrash on the pasuk (Tehillim 37:18): the "completeness" of the tzaddikim extends even to their days and years, so that their very time becomes whole.

פי' תמים מתפרש בב' אופנים.

Explanation: "tamim" can be understood in two ways.

He sets up his analysis by noting that the word tamim carries two distinct meanings, which he will now unpack.

א' שאין בו מום והוא בשלימות.

One: that there is no blemish (mum) in it, and it is in a state of completeness (shleimus).

The first sense of tamim is "unblemished" — whole and perfect, lacking any defect.

ולזה שייך גם הזמן.

And to this meaning, time too is relevant.

This sense of completeness applies not only to a person's character but also to time itself, as he now explains.

כי האדם נברא להוציא שלימותו מכח אל הפועל.

For man was created to bring his completeness from potential into actuality (mei'koach el ha'po'al).

A person's purpose is to actualize the shleimus latent within him — to realize in deed the perfection he holds only in potential.

וכיון שנברא בעוה"ז ויש לכל אחד זמן קצוב.

And since he was created in this world (olam ha'zeh) and each person has a fixed allotment of time.

Because man lives in the physical world, his life unfolds within a measured, bounded span of time.

ע"כ שיש שייכות הזמן לשלימותו.

Therefore, time has a bearing on his completeness.

Since the work of self-perfection happens within time, time itself becomes bound up with achieving that shleimus.

ופשוט ע"י שמתחדש לו ידיעות בכל יום וכמ"ש אא"ז מו"ר ז"ל כי יום נקרא ע"ש ההארה כמ"ש ויקרא אלקים לאור יום עכ"ד.

And it is simple: through new awarenesses (yedi'os) that are renewed for him each day — as my grandfather, my teacher and master z"l, said, that "day" (yom) is named for the illumination (ha'arah), as it is written, "And Elokim called the light 'day'" — thus far his words.

Each day brings a fresh portion of Divine awareness. Citing his grandfather, he notes that the word "yom" itself denotes light — the pasuk names the light "day" — so every day carries its own measure of spiritual illumination.

והיינו שבכל יום הקב"ה מחדש בטובו מעשה בראשית.

And this means that each day HaKadosh Baruch Hu, in His goodness, renews the act of creation (maaseh bereishis).

Creation is not a one-time event; Hashem continually renews it daily, so each day is a fresh act of Divine giving.

נמצא שנותן הקב"ה בכל יום נקודה התעוררות בכל איש ישראל להתדבק בו וז"ש אשר אנכי מצוך היום כו' בכל יום כחדשים כו'.

It emerges that HaKadosh Baruch Hu places into every Yid each day a point of awakening (nekudas hisorerus) to cling to Him; and this is the meaning of "which I command you today" — each day they should be as new, etc.

With each renewed day comes an inner point of awakening, an impulse drawing the Yid to attach himself to Hashem. This is why the Torah says "today" — the mitzvos should feel fresh and newly given every single day.

ומי שמקבל כל אלו ההארות על זה נאמר יודע ה' ימי תמימים שע"י הימים נגמר שלימותו.

And one who receives all of these illuminations — of him it is said, "Hashem knows the days of the temimim," for through the days his completeness is finished.

The tamim is the one who absorbs each day's hidden illumination. His shleimus is built day by day, so that his very days become the building blocks of his perfection.

וכ"כ בזוה"ק שע"י הימים נעשה לבוש אל האדם.

And so too it is written in the Zohar HaKadosh, that through the days a garment (levush) is made for a person.

The Zohar teaches that the days a person sanctifies are woven into a spiritual garment that clothes his soul.

והיינו שיש בעולם העליון ג"כ הסתרות מסט"א שלא יוכל כל אחד לגשת להקודש.

And this means that in the upper world there are also concealments from the sitra achra (the side of impurity), so that not everyone is able to approach the holy.

Even in the higher realms there are barriers of concealment thrown up by the sitra achra, preventing unimpeded access to the kodesh.

וע"י הכנעת עוה"ז והתהפכות הטבע נעשה לבוש שמתחבר הטבע שמכונה בשם זמן טפל אל הקדושה.

And through subduing this world and transforming nature (teva), a garment is made — that nature, which is referred to by the name "time," becomes joined as subordinate (tafel) to holiness.

By subduing the physical world and bending nature toward holiness, a person fashions that protective garment. Nature — that is, time — is then absorbed and made secondary to the kedushah it now serves.

וז"ש שנותיהם תמימים.

And this is the meaning of "their years are temimim."

This is how the years of the tzaddikim become "whole" — their time itself is elevated and made complete through their avodah.

שהצדיק מדבק כל יום בשורשו וע"י שמקבל ידיעות והשגות בהמשך הזמן עי"ז מראה תועלת בהזמן ומתעלה ג"כ.

For the tzaddik attaches each day to its root (shoresh), and by receiving awarenesses and understandings over the course of time, he thereby demonstrates the usefulness of time and elevates it as well.

The tzaddik connects every day back to its Divine root. By gathering yedi'os and hasagos across time, he reveals that time has real purpose — and in doing so he lifts time itself upward.

ויודע ה' כו' פשוט שימי הצדיקים הם רק בידיעת ה' שנתוסף לו תמיד ידיעות חדשות כנ"ל.

And "Hashem knows," etc. — it is simple: the days of the tzaddikim consist only of the knowledge of Hashem (yedias Hashem), for new awarenesses are constantly being added to him, as above.

The phrase "Hashem knows their days" can be read: the substance of the tzaddik's days is yedias Hashem itself — a steady accumulation of ever-new awareness of the Divine.

ויש עוד פירוש תמים שאינו מהרהר כמ"ש רש"י ז"ל ע"פ תמים תהי' עם ה' אלקיך.

And there is yet another explanation of "tamim": that one does not speculate or question — as Rashi z"l writes on the pasuk "Be wholehearted (tamim) with Hashem your Elokim."

He turns to the second meaning of tamim, per Rashi: a wholehearted person walks with Hashem in simple trust, without probing or second-guessing what the future holds.

וג"כ נכון על הזמן והטבע שנראה סותר להקדושה רק ע"י עבודת האדם מקרב הכל להיות אחד שמתדבק רק בפנימיות ומעלה הזמן כנ"ל:

And this too applies fittingly to time and nature, which appear to contradict holiness — yet only through a person's avodah he draws everything together to become one, clinging solely to the inner dimension (penimiyus) and elevating time, as above.

This second sense also fits: time and nature seem to stand opposed to kedushah, breeding doubt. But through avodah a person unifies everything, attaching himself to the inner penimiyus alone — and so lifts even time and nature into the oneness of holiness.

Summary: "Tamim" has two meanings — unblemished completeness and unquestioning wholeheartedness — and both apply to time itself. Since man is created to actualize his shleimus within a fixed span, each day carries a renewed Divine illumination and an inner point of awakening. The tzaddik who receives these makes his very days and years "whole," weaving time into a garment for the soul and elevating nature, which seems to contradict holiness, by binding everything to the inner penimiyus and to yedias Hashem.