Shedding Physical Garments for Truth

בפסוק ויעזוב בגדו כו' וינס ויצא החוצה.

“In the verse: ‘And he left his garment… and he fled and went outside.’”

The Sefat Emet opens by noting Joseph’s leaving of his garment as a symbolic act.

פי' חוץ ממלבוש הגוף כמו ויוצא אותו החוצה כמ"ש במ"א.

“This means: outside of the bodily garment, as in the verse ‘and He took him outside,’ as explained elsewhere.”

He interprets ‘outside’ as transcending the physical layer of the self, as Avraham was lifted out of his limiting bodily perspective.

והנה כתיב הרכבת אנוש לראשינו.

“And behold it is written: ‘You caused a mortal to ride over our heads.’”

This verse teaches that human physicality dominates us as a result of primordial sin.

פי' שע"י חטא הראשון נעשה כתנות עור ממשכא דחויא ונתלבש באנושיות וגשמיות.

“Meaning: through the first sin, garments of skin—of the serpent’s hide—were made, and humanity became clothed in corporeality and physicality.”

The Sefat Emet reads the ‘garments of skin’ as a descent into coarse material existence imposed after Adam’s sin.

באנו באש ובמים ותוציאנו לרויה.

“‘We came through fire and water, and You brought us out to abundance.’”

This verse alludes to the spiritual trials necessary to refine the physical form.

שעתה צריכין מקודם לתקן הגוף ע"י יראה ואהבה שמדות אלו הם בהרגשות הגוף.

“Now we must first rectify the body through awe and love, for these traits are felt through the bodily senses.”

The path to inner holiness begins with sanctifying the emotions rooted in physical experience.

אח"כ זוכין להפנימיות.

“Afterward one merits the inner dimension.”

Only after refining the outer layers does true spiritual depth become accessible.

ובכלל האבות תקנו חטא אדה"ר אש ומים בחי' אברהם ויצחק.

“In general, the Patriarchs rectified Adam’s sin—‘fire’ and ‘water’—through the qualities of Avraham and Yitzchak.”

Avraham embodies the water of lovingkindness, Yitzchak the fire of awe, repairing the primal imbalance.

ותוציאנו לרוי' בחי' יעקב תתן אמת ליעקב.

“‘And You brought us out to abundance’ is the aspect of Jacob: ‘You give truth to Jacob.’”

Jacob represents the harmony and perfected balance that follows the trials of fire and water.

אמת הוא כמו שהי' קודם החטא כי הנחש הביא השקר בעולם.

“Truth is what existed before the sin, for the serpent brought falsehood into the world.”

Jacob’s truth restores the pre-sin state, untainted by the serpent’s distortion.

וייוסף נמשך אחר בחי' יעקב כמ"ש תולדות יעקב יוסף.

“And Joseph follows the aspect of Jacob, as it is written: ‘These are the generations of Jacob: Joseph.’”

Joseph inherits Jacob’s quality of truth and inner purity.

ועשה לו כתונת פסים הוא כתנות אור לכן וינס החוצה התפשטות הגשמיות.

“And he made him a coat of many colors—this is the garment of light; therefore he ‘fled outside,’ meaning the shedding of physical coarseness.”

The colorful coat symbolizes restored spiritual light. Joseph’s flight represents transcendence over the physical layers imposed since Adam.

The Sefat Emet reads Joseph’s flight as a mystical shedding of physicality, linking it to Adam’s garments of skin and the patriarchs’ work of repairing the primal sin. Joseph, as Jacob’s continuation, embodies a return to the original garment of light.