Yom Kippur strips away physicality to reveal the inner self

איתא ימים יוצרו ולא א' בהם.

It is brought: "Days were formed (yutzaru), and not one (lo echad) of them" (Tehillim 139:16).

The Sefas Emes cites this enigmatic pasuk, which speaks of days that were "formed," reading "lo echad" — "and not one of them" — as a hint to a special, singular day, as he will explain.

הוא יוה"כ.

This is Yom Kippur.

The day alluded to in the pasuk is Yom Kippur, the unique day set apart from all others.

פי' שבו מתגלה ציור הפנימי של איש ישראל דכ' וייצר ב' יצירות.

The meaning is that on it the inner form (tzius penimi) of a Jew is revealed, as it is written "vayyitzer" with two yuds, hinting at two formations (Bereishis 2:7).

On Yom Kippur the true inner image of a Yid is uncovered. The word "vayyitzer" (and He formed) is spelled with two yuds, which Chazal read as two formations — an outer, physical creation and an inner, spiritual one — and on Yom Kippur the inner one shines forth.

ולא א' בהם.

"And not one of them."

The Sefas Emes returns to the phrase to interpret it through Rashi.

פירש"י שכשהיו הימים לפניו לא היו בגשמיות.

Rashi explains that when the days were before Him, they were not in physicality (gashmius).

According to Rashi, in their original state before Hashem the days had no physical form at all — they were purely spiritual.

רק שנתלבש בציור גשמיי.

Only that [each day] became clothed in a physical form.

The days only later took on a "garment" of physicality as they descended into this world.

וביוה"כ הסיר זה הגשמיות.

And on Yom Kippur, this physicality is removed.

Yom Kippur is the one day that strips away the physical garment, returning to the original spiritual state — "and not one of them" was in gashmius.

לכן אמרו השטן אין לו רשות ביו"כ.

Therefore they said that the Satan has no permission (to prosecute) on Yom Kippur.

Because the physical dimension — the Satan's foothold — is removed on Yom Kippur, Chazal teach that the Satan has no authority to accuse on this day.

ומסתמא כן הוא באדם שאין היצה"ר שהוא השטן שולט בו וכמלאכים שאין להם רק לב א'.

And presumably so it is within a person: the yetzer hara, which is the Satan, does not rule over him, and he is like the angels who have only one heart.

Just as the Satan cannot prosecute on high, so within each Jew the yetzer hara loses its grip on Yom Kippur, and a person becomes like the malachim, who are wholly undivided — possessing only "one heart," fully devoted to Hashem.

לכן א"צ אכילה ושתי'.

Therefore there is no need for eating and drinking.

Since on Yom Kippur a person rises above his physical garment and is like an angel, he no longer requires food and drink — which is why we fast.

וכ' שחורה אני כו'.

And it is written: "I am black [but comely]" (Shir HaShirim 1:5).

Knesses Yisrael describes herself as outwardly "black" — dimmed by the physical garment and sin — yet inwardly beautiful.

דרשו חז"ל ונאוה ביוה"כ שהוסר מלבוש הגשמיי כנ"ל.

Chazal expounded "[black] but comely (vena'avah)" as referring to Yom Kippur, when the physical garment is removed, as above.

Chazal read "but comely" as Yom Kippur: though she appears "black" through the physical garment all year, on Yom Kippur that garment is stripped away and her inner beauty is revealed.

לכן הי' נכנס הכ"ג לפני ולפנים.

Therefore the Kohen Gadol would enter into the innermost chamber (the Kodesh HaKodashim).

Precisely because the physical garment is removed on this day, the Kohen Gadol could enter the Holy of Holies, the innermost place, reflecting the revelation of the innermost essence.

בזאת יבא.

"With this (b'zos) he shall enter" (Vayikra 16:3).

The Torah's word for how the Kohen Gadol may enter the Kodesh HaKodashim is "b'zos" — "with this" — which the Sefas Emes now interprets.

בזאת הוא כשנתברר הפנימיות בלי התלבשות הגשמיות.

"With this" refers to when the inner essence (penimiyus) has been clarified, without the clothing of physicality.

"B'zos" — "with this" — hints that entry into the innermost place is possible only when the penimiyus stands revealed and clarified, free of any physical garment.

וכ"כ אך בעשור כמ"ש חז"ל בפ' אך את הזהב שצריכין להעביר החלודה כן ביוה"כ תטהרו:

And so it is written "Ach (only) on the tenth" (Vayikra 23:27) — as Chazal said regarding "Ach (only) the gold" (Bamidbar 31:22), that one must pass [it through fire] to remove the rust; so too on Yom Kippur "you shall be purified" (Vayikra 16:30).

The word "ach" (only) signals a process of refinement: just as the gold of the Midianite spoils had to be passed through fire to burn off its rust, so the "ach" of "the tenth day" teaches that Yom Kippur passes a Jew through a purifying process that removes the "rust" of physicality, fulfilling "on this day you shall be purified."

Summary: The Sefas Emes reveals Yom Kippur as the singular day hinted in "days were formed, and not one of them" — the day on which the physical garment (gashmius) is stripped away and the true inner form (tzius penimi) of a Jew, the second of the two "formations" in "vayyitzer," is revealed. With physicality removed, the Satan and the yetzer hara have no power, a Jew becomes like an undivided angel needing no food, and the inner beauty hidden behind "I am black but comely" shines forth. This is why the Kohen Gadol enters the innermost chamber "b'zos," with the clarified penimiyus, and why "ach" — like the gold purified by fire — signals that Yom Kippur burns away the rust of gashmius so that "you shall be purified."