Hidden light revealed through removing the orlah

כתיב הרבית הגוי כו' הגדלת השמחה כו'.

It is written, "You have increased the nation… You have enlarged the joy" (Yeshayahu 9:2).

The Sefas Emes opens with this pasuk about increased nationhood and enlarged simchah, which he will tie to the month of Adar and Purim.

רמז למה שאמרו משנכנס אדר מרבין בשמחה.

A hint to what Chazal said, "When Adar enters, we increase in joy" (Taanis 29a).

The "enlarged joy" alludes to the special simchah that begins with the onset of Adar.

א"כ אדר חודש של שמחה ושחוק.

If so, Adar is a month of joy and laughter.

Adar is characterized as a time of both simchah and "sechok" (laughter, delight).

כמ"ש בס' יצירה כי שחוק באדר.

As it is written in Sefer Yetzirah, that "laughter (sechok) is in Adar."

Sefer Yetzirah assigns the trait of laughter to the month of Adar, confirming its festive character.

ובני ישראל יש להם שני אדרים.

And Bnei Yisrael have two Adars.

In a leap year Klal Yisrael have a doubled Adar — and the Sefas Emes reads this as a doubled measure of joy.

ז"ש לו הגדלת השמחה.

This is the meaning of "to it [Yisrael] You have enlarged the joy."

The "enlarged" joy is the double portion of Adar's simchah granted specifically to Klal Yisrael.

ועיקרן של דברים דכתיב שמחה לאיש במענה פיו.

And the essence of the matter is as it is written, "joy comes to a man through the answer of his mouth" (Mishlei 15:23).

True simchah is rooted in the power of the mouth — in speech and expression — which the Sefas Emes will connect to the deeper covenants.

וזה כולל ברית הלשון והמעור.

And this includes the bris of the tongue and [the bris] of milah.

The "mouth" here hints at both covenants — speech (the tongue) and milah — the two channels of holiness and joy.

ובאמת עיקר הזיוג הוא שמחה.

And in truth, the essence of union (zivug) is joy.

At its core, the bond of zivug is meant to be an expression of pure simchah.

וע"ז נאמר ולישרי לב שמחה.

And about this it is said, "and to the upright of heart, joy" (Tehillim 97:11).

For those whose hearts are straight and pure, this dimension is one of genuine joy.

אבל גשמיות התאוה מכסה השמחה.

But the physicality of desire covers over the joy.

When taavah becomes coarse and physical, it obscures the inner simchah that should have shone through.

ולא עוד שמפיל עצבות על האדם.

And not only that, but it casts sadness (atzvus) upon a person.

Physical lust not only hides the joy but actively brings on a heaviness and gloom.

היפוך הפנימיות שבו.

The opposite of the penimiyus within him.

This atzvus is the very inverse of a person's true inner point, which is joy.

וכל זה נעשה ע"י החטא.

And all of this came about through the cheit (the sin).

This concealment of joy and onset of sadness is a consequence of the original sin of Adam.

וזה נרמז באומרו בזעת אפיך תאכל לחם.

And this is hinted in His saying, "By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread" (Bereishis 3:19).

The curse of toil and sweat after the sin alludes to how joy became burdened — and "eating bread" itself carries a deeper hint.

כי גם הזיוג נקרא אכילה כמ"ש במ"א מזה אבל בנ"י זכו להסרת הערלה ועליהם נאמר אור זרוע לצדיק ולישרי לב שמחה.

For zivug too is called "eating," as explained elsewhere about this; but Bnei Yisrael merited the removal of the orlah, and about them it is said, "Light is sown for the tzaddik, and for the upright of heart, joy" (Tehillim 97:11).

Through milah, which removes the orlah, Klal Yisrael strip away the coarse covering of physicality. Thus for them the inner light and joy are revealed — "light is sown for the tzaddik."

ועל זה נאמר פתחת שקי שהוא הסרת הערלה שנק' לבוש שק.

And about this it is said, "You have opened my sackcloth" (Tehillim 30:12) — this is the removal of the orlah, which is called a "garment of sackcloth."

The orlah is likened to mourning-garb (sackcloth); milah "opens" and removes it, lifting the gloom that the covering imposes.

ומכסה על אות היו"ד שהיא ברית מילה.

And it covers over the letter yud, which is the bris milah.

The orlah conceals the holy sign, the letter yud of milah; removing it uncovers the kedushah of the covenant.

וכשפתחת שקי תאזרני שמחה.

And "when You opened my sackcloth, You girded me with joy" (Tehillim 30:12).

Once the "sackcloth" of the orlah is removed, what remains is being "girded with joy" — the revealed simchah of the inner point.

וז"ש הרבית הגוי שפריין ורביין של בנ"י הוא בשמחה פנימיות.

And this is the meaning of "You have increased the nation" — that the fruitfulness and multiplying of Bnei Yisrael is through inner joy.

The increase of Klal Yisrael flows from a purified, inner simchah rather than from coarse physical desire.

ולא בגשמיות.

And not through physicality.

Their growth is rooted in penimiyus, not in gross materiality.

ולו הגדלת השמחה.

"And to it You have enlarged the joy."

Hence the enlarged, doubled joy of Adar belongs specifically to them.

ומקודם כתיב העם ההולכים בחושך ראו אור גדול.

And earlier it is written, "The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light" (Yeshayahu 9:1).

The preceding pasuk speaks of a great light seen precisely by those in darkness — which the Midrash applies to Purim.

ופי' במדרש שוחר טוב שהוא בימי המן שהי' חושך גדול וזכו לגאולה הה"ד ליהודים היתה אורה ע"ש בילקוט ישעי'.

And the Midrash Shocher Tov explained that this refers to the days of Haman, when there was great darkness and they merited redemption — this is the meaning of "the Yehudim had light" (Esther 8:16) — see there in Yalkut Yeshayahu.

The Midrash reads "the people in darkness who saw a great light" as the Purim story: out of Haman's deep darkness came the great light of "la'Yehudim haysah orah."

והפי' דבאמת כ"מ שיש חושך הוא סימן שנמצא בו גנוז אור.

And the explanation is: in truth, wherever there is darkness, it is a sign that there is light hidden within it.

Here is the core principle: darkness is never empty — it is precisely where a hidden light lies concealed, waiting to be revealed.

ולכן דייקא במילה שהוא אור זרוע לצדיק חופף עליו הערלה.

Therefore, specifically by milah, which is "light sown for the tzaddik," the orlah hovers over it.

Because the brightest light is hidden in the darkest place, the holy light of milah is davka covered by the orlah — the covering is the sign of the treasure beneath.

וכמו כן עמלק והמן הם המה הערלה החופפת על המילה.

And likewise Amalek and Haman are the orlah that hovers over the milah.

On a national scale, Amalek and Haman function as the "orlah" — the concealing darkness covering Yisrael's inner light.

וכשהי' להם מפלה נגלה האור שהי' גנוז שם.

And when they had their downfall, the light that was hidden there was revealed.

The fall of Haman/Amalek peeled away the covering, revealing the great light that had been concealed within that very darkness.

ז"ש היתה אורה שנתגלה למפרע האור שהי' גנוז באותו החושך.

This is the meaning of "the Yehudim had light" — that retroactively the light that had been hidden in that darkness was revealed.

"La'Yehudim haysah orah" means the salvation revealed, in hindsight, the light that had been latent all along within the darkness of the Purim threat.

וניסן ואדר שניהם בחי' ב' הבריתות כמ"ש לעיל במצרים הי' הדבור בגלות וזכו לברית הפה.

And Nissan and Adar both correspond to the two covenants, as said above: in Mitzrayim speech was in galus, and [upon redemption] they merited the bris of the mouth.

Nissan (Pesach) and Adar (Purim) map onto the two brisos. Nissan, when speech itself was freed from its Egyptian exile, is the covenant of the mouth.

ואדר בסוף הוא ברית המעור.

And Adar, at the end [of the year], is the bris of milah.

Adar, the final month, corresponds to the covenant of milah — the "end" dimension, matching the removal of the orlah at Purim.

פתחת שקי.

"You have opened my sackcloth."

Purim is the "opening of the sackcloth" — the removal of the concealing orlah of Amalek.

דכתיב אין לבוא אל שער המלך בלבוש שק.

As it is written, "for one may not enter the gate of the king clothed in sackcloth" (Esther 4:2).

The Megillah's detail that sackcloth bars entry to the king's gate becomes a hint to the spiritual barrier of the orlah.

הוא הערלה.

This is the orlah.

The "sackcloth" that blocks access to the King is the orlah — the covering that must be removed to draw close.

ולכן ג"פ בשנה יראה כל זכורך.

Therefore, "three times a year shall all your males appear [before Hashem]" (Shemos 23:17).

The mitzvah of aliyah la'regel three times a year is tied to this theme of appearing before the King once the covering is removed.

שע"י הסרת הערלה זכו לראות פני המלך ג"פ בשנה:

For through the removal of the orlah they merited to see the face of the King three times a year.

Only because Klal Yisrael have removed the "sackcloth" of the orlah can they enter the King's gate and behold His Presence on the shalosh regalim.

Summary: The "enlarged joy" of Adar reflects the doubled simchah of Klal Yisrael, rooted not in coarse physical desire — which since the sin covers over joy and breeds sadness — but in the inner joy revealed by removing the orlah through milah. Wherever there is darkness, a hidden light lies concealed; Amalek and Haman are the "sackcloth" covering Yisrael's light, and Purim's salvation ("la'Yehudim haysah orah") revealed that hidden light. Nissan and Adar embody the two covenants of speech and milah, and only by removing the orlah does one merit to enter the King's gate and behold His Presence.