Perceiving Hashem through the Divine image

במדרש ואחר עורי כו' ומבשרי אחזה אלקי.

In the Midrash: "And after my skin... and from my flesh I shall behold God (u'mibesari echezeh Eloka)" (Iyov 19:26).

The Sefas Emes opens with the verse teaching that a person can perceive Hashem "from his own flesh" — from contemplating himself.

כי הנה כתיב נעשה אדם בצלמינו.

For behold it is written, "Let us make man in Our image (b'tzalmeinu)" (Bereishis 1:26).

Man was created in the "image" of the Divine, which is why he can recognize his Creator from his own being.

אם כן יוכל האדם להכיר את בוראו מעצמותו וכ"כ המפרשים במאמר דע מה למעלה ממך.

If so, a person is able to recognize his Creator from his own self, and so the commentators wrote regarding the teaching, "Know what is above you (da mah l'ma'alah mimcha)" (Avos 2:1).

Because man bears the Divine image, he can come to know Hashem by looking inward — the mishnah "know what is above you" can be read as "know that what is above stems from you."

ובספר קול שמחה בפסוק נעשה כתב כי שם אדם ע"ש אדמה לעליון ע"ש.

And in the sefer Kol Simcha, on the verse "Let us make," he wrote that the name "Adam" is from "adameh la'Elyon (I shall resemble the One Above)" — see there.

The very name "Adam" hints at resemblance to the Divine, "I will be like the Most High," indicating man's capacity to mirror Hashem.

ובאמת זה עבודת האדם כפי כח הציור והדמיון אצלו יוכל להתדבק בעולמות עליונים וז"ש בזוה"ק נודע בשערים בעלה כפום שיעורין דלבא כפי השתוקקת ורצון האדם שמצייר תמיד בלבו להתבונן בדביקות הבורא כך נפתח לו מן השמים שערי בינה.

And in truth this is the avodah of man: according to the power of imagery and imagination (tziyur v'dimyon) within him, he can cling to the higher worlds. This is what the Zohar HaKadosh says, "her husband is known in the gates" (Mishlei 31:23) — "according to the measure of the heart" — according to a person's yearning and ratzon, that he constantly pictures in his heart to contemplate clinging to the Creator, so are opened for him from Heaven the gates of binah (understanding).

A person's spiritual work is to use his power of imagination to envision and cling to higher realms. As the Zohar teaches, Hashem is "known" to each person according to the capacity of his heart — the more one yearns and pictures deveikus with Hashem, the more the gates of understanding open from Above.

וע"ז כתיב ביד הנביאים אדמה יד הוא כח כמ"ש חז"ל גדול כחן של נביאים שמדמין הצורה ליוצרה כמ"ש ואראה כמראה אדם.

And concerning this it is written, "By the hand of (b'yad) the prophets I am imaged (adameh)" (Hoshea 12:11) — "yad" means power, as Chazal said: "Great is the power of the prophets, who liken the form to its Former" — as it says, "and I saw like the appearance of a man (k'mareh adam)" (Yechezkel 1:26).

The prophets had the spiritual power to "image" the Divine, perceiving Hashem in a form their minds could grasp — Yechezkel saw a vision "like the appearance of a man," a likeness suited to human perception.

פירוש שהקב"ה מתגלה בצורת צלם אדם ע"י הכנת האדם למטה.

The meaning is that Hashem reveals Himself in the form of the "image of man" (tzelem adam) through the preparation of man below.

Hashem reveals Himself in a "human-like" form precisely in response to, and proportional to, the spiritual preparation a person makes below.

וכל בני ישראל מוכנים לזה כמ"ש לעתיד ונבאו בניכם ובנותיכם וכתיב אדם אתם קרוין אדם.

And all of Bnei Yisrael are prepared for this, as it says regarding the future, "and your sons and daughters shall prophesy" (Yoel 3:1); and it is written, "You [Yisrael] are called 'Adam'" (Yevamos 61a).

This prophetic capacity to perceive the Divine "image" is latent in all of Bnei Yisrael, who are uniquely called "Adam" — and in the future it will be openly realized.

דכ' ויקרא שמם אדם.

For it is written, "and He called their name Adam" (Bereishis 5:2).

The Torah states that Hashem named mankind "Adam," which the Sefas Emes will read as an appointment to a task.

פי' קריאה לשון מינוי כמ"ש ז"ל בפסוק ויקרא לאור יום קריא רחמנא לנהורא ופקדי' אמצותא דיממא כו'.

The meaning is that "calling (kriah)" denotes appointment (minui), as Chazal said on the verse "and He called the light Day" — "the Merciful One called the light and appointed it (pakdei) to the task of the daytime..."

"Calling" a name is not merely labeling but appointing to a role — just as the light was "appointed" to serve as day.

כמו כן האדם מצוה על בחי' אדם שלמעלה בכח הדמיון והציור שלו וזה ניתן רק לבנ"י שהם מאמינים בני מאמינים כי זה בחי' אמונה שמאמין ומדמה בנפשו להתדבק אפילו במה שאינו רואה בעין גשמיי.

So too man is "appointed" (commanded) regarding the aspect of the supernal "Adam," through the power of his imagination and imagery; and this was given only to Bnei Yisrael, who are "believers, the children of believers (ma'aminim bnei ma'aminim)" — for this is the aspect of emunah, that one believes and pictures in his soul, clinging even to that which he does not see with a physical eye.

Man is appointed to perceive the Divine "image" through his imaginative faculty — a capacity rooted in emunah, the ability to believe in and inwardly envision attachment to what the physical eye cannot see. This is the special inheritance of Bnei Yisrael, the "believers, children of believers."

וכפי רוב האמונה כך מתגלה לו.

And according to the abundance of one's emunah, so is it revealed to him.

The depth of Divine revelation one receives is proportional to the strength of one's emunah.

והנה אחר החטא נעשה פגם בדמות אדם.

And behold, after the sin a blemish was made in the "form of man" (demus adam).

Adam's sin damaged the pure Divine "image" within man, dimming this capacity.

ולכן ע"י הערלה נכסה זה הציור אדם.

And therefore, through the orlah (foreskin), this "image of man" became covered over.

The orlah symbolizes the covering and concealment of the Divine image brought about by the sin.

ואברהם אבינו זכה ע"י רוב אמונה שלו למצות מילה וחל עליו צלם אדם כמ"ש ז"ל שאברהם נקרא אדם אדם הגדול בענקים.

And Avraham Avinu merited, through the abundance of his emunah, the mitzvah of milah (circumcision), and the "image of man" (tzelem adam) rested upon him, as Chazal said that Avraham is called "Adam" — "the greatest man among the giants (ha'adam hagadol ba'anakim)" (Yehoshua 14:15).

Through his great emunah Avraham earned the mitzvah of bris milah, which removed the covering and restored the full Divine image upon him — so that he himself is called "Adam," the great man.

וכתיב ויקרא שמם אדם ביום הבראם זה אברהם כמ"ש ז"ל שהי' מוכן אברהם להיות אדם הראשון רק כדי שאם יקלקל אדם יבוא אברהם ויתקן.

And it is written, "He called their name Adam on the day they were created (b'yom hibaram)" — this is Avraham (be'Avraham), as Chazal said that Avraham was fit to have been Adam HaRishon, except that (he was held back) so that if Adam should ruin, Avraham would come and rectify.

Chazal read "b'hibaram" as "b'Avraham," teaching that Avraham was worthy to be the first man, but was held in reserve to repair Adam's eventual damage — restoring the Divine image that the sin had marred.

וכאן אחר המילה וירא אליו כו' ונתלבשו המלאכים במלבוש אדם.

And here, after the milah, "And [Hashem] appeared to him..." (Bereishis 18:1), and the malachim clothed themselves in the garment of a man (malbush adam).

Once Avraham was circumcised and the Divine image was restored upon him, Hashem revealed Himself to him, and the angels too appeared in human form — the realm of "adam" now opened to him.

והוא הנביא הראשון שכתב עליו בתורה כי נביא הוא:

And he is the first prophet about whom the Torah writes, "for he is a prophet (ki navi hu)" (Bereishis 20:7).

Avraham, having restored the Divine image through milah and emunah, became the first to be explicitly called a "navi" — fulfilling the prophetic power to perceive the Divine "image of man."

Summary: Because man was created in the Divine image and is called "Adam" (from "adameh la'Elyon," I will resemble the One Above), he can recognize his Creator by looking inward — "from my flesh I shall behold God." A person's avodah is to use his power of imagination to picture and cling to the higher worlds; as the Zohar teaches, Hashem is revealed to each one according to the measure of his heart's yearning, opening the gates of understanding from Above. This perception, rooted in emunah (believing in and inwardly envisioning what the eye cannot see), is the special inheritance of Bnei Yisrael, the "believers, children of believers," and is the power of the prophets who "liken the form to its Former." Adam's sin blemished and covered this Divine image (symbolized by the orlah); Avraham, through his great emunah, merited the mitzvah of milah that restored the tzelem adam upon him — so that Hashem appeared to him, the angels came in human form, and he became the first to be called a navi.