Torah restores Adam's lost inner soul

במדרש לקחת מתנות באדם כו'.

In the Midrash: "You took gifts (mattanos) among men..." (Tehillim 68:19).

The Midrash applies this verse about receiving "gifts" to the giving of the Torah — the opening theme.

פי' שבקבלת התורה נשתנו בנ"י וזכו לציור הפנימי שעליהם נאמר אדם אתם אתם קרוין אדם.

The meaning is that with the receiving of the Torah, Bnei Yisrael were changed and merited the inner form (tziyur penimi), about whom it is said, "You are 'adam'" — you are called "adam" (compare Yevamos 61a).

Receiving the Torah transformed Bnei Yisrael, granting them an inner spiritual image that earns them the title "adam" in its fullest sense.

כמו שהי' לאדה"ר קודם החטא.

Just as Adam HaRishon had before the sin.

This inner form is the same lofty spiritual image Adam possessed before he sinned.

וע"י החטא הוסר ממנו הנשמה העליונה.

And through the sin the supernal soul (neshamah elyonah) was removed from him.

Adam's sin caused that higher soul to be taken away from him.

ובקבלת התורה זכו לאותה הנשמה.

And with the receiving of the Torah they merited that very soul.

At Har Sinai, Bnei Yisrael regained the lofty neshamah that Adam had lost.

ולא לשעה רק לדורות שכפי היגיעה בתורה זוכין להארות אותו צלם ונשמה עליונה שע"ז כתיב אנכי ה"א.

And not for a moment but for all generations, that according to the toil (yegiah) in Torah one merits the illuminations of that "tzelem" (image) and supernal soul, concerning which is written, "I am Hashem your God" (Shemos 20:2).

This gift was not temporary but enduring for every generation — through toiling in Torah one continually accesses that divine image and soul, which is the inner meaning of "Anochi Hashem."

וכ' לאמר אנכי ה"א.

And it is written "leimor" (to say): "I am Hashem your God."

The word "leimor" hints that this declaration is to be internalized and re-expressed within each Yid.

שבכח התורה יכולין לקבל אלקותו ית"ש.

That through the power of the Torah one can receive His Godliness (Elokuso), yisborach shemo.

The Torah gives a person the capacity to take in and contain the awareness of Hashem's presence.

ולכן כתיב מתנות.

Therefore it is written "mattanos" (gifts).

This is why the Torah and the soul that comes with it are called "gifts" — they are granted freely rather than earned by strict justice.

שזה ענין אמרם ז"ל עלה במחשבה לבראות במדה"ד.

For this is the matter of what they said, of blessed memory: it arose in thought to create [the world] with the attribute of strict justice (middas hadin).

Hashem initially intended to create the world purely through strict justice, where everything must be earned.

וראה שאין מתקיים שיתף מדת הרחמים.

And He saw that it could not endure, so He joined with it the attribute of mercy (middas harachamim).

Seeing that a world of pure justice could not survive, Hashem blended in mercy.

שבתורה יכולין להשיג במתנה מה שהי' מקודם נצרך להיות במדה"ד.

For through the Torah one can attain as a gift (b'mattanah) that which previously needed to come through strict justice.

The Torah operates through mercy, allowing a person to receive as a free gift what otherwise would have to be earned through the demands of strict justice.

ולכן לא הי' יכול אדם הראשון להתקיים באותו מדרגה.

And therefore Adam HaRishon could not endure at that level.

Because Adam stood under strict justice, he could not maintain his exalted level after sinning.

ובנ"י בכח התורה במדה"ר.

But Bnei Yisrael, through the power of the Torah, [stand] with the attribute of mercy.

Bnei Yisrael, having the Torah, are sustained by mercy rather than bare justice.

ניתן להם במתנה.

It was given to them as a gift.

The lofty soul and image are bestowed on Bnei Yisrael as a merciful gift, enabling them to retain it.

ולכן כ' ג"כ בשבת שנק' מתנה טובה בבית גנזיו.

Therefore it is also written regarding Shabbos, which is called "a good gift (mattanah tovah) in My treasure-house" (Shabbos 10b).

Shabbos too is described as a "good gift" from Hashem's treasury, paralleling the gift of the Torah.

כי התורה ניתנה בשבת כמ"ש ז"ל זכור כו' יום השבת.

For the Torah was given on Shabbos, as they said, of blessed memory, [from] "Remember... the day of Shabbos."

Chazal teach that the Torah was given on Shabbos, linking the two gifts.

עצומו של יום.

The very essence of the day (atzumo shel yom).

There is a unique power inherent in the essence of the Shabbos day itself.

בגז"ש דזכור את כו' הזה אשר יצאתם ממצרים כו'.

By the gezeirah shavah (verbal analogy) of "Remember (zachor)..." — "this [day] on which you went out of Mitzrayim..." (Shemos 13:3).

A verbal analogy on the word "zachor" links the remembrance of Shabbos with the remembrance of Yetzias Mitzrayim, connecting them.

והפי' שנשאר לעולם זכר בש"ק מאותו מעמד של הר סיני.

And the meaning is that there remains forever in Shabbos Kodesh a remembrance (zecher) of that standing at Har Sinai.

Every Shabbos permanently retains an echo and remembrance of the revelation at Sinai.

ולכן נשמה יתירה יורדת בש"ק.

Therefore an additional soul (neshamah yeseirah) descends on Shabbos Kodesh.

Because Shabbos carries the imprint of Sinai, it brings with it the extra soul each Shabbos.

ממשמע דכ' זכור כו' לקדשו.

From the implication of what is written, "Remember... to sanctify it (l'kadsho)."

The command to "remember" Shabbos "to sanctify it" implies that something is actively reawakened on the day.

בוודאי הוא זמן שמתעורר זה הכח בבנ"י:

Certainly it is a time when this power (ko'ach) is aroused within Bnei Yisrael.

Shabbos is assuredly a time when the elevated soul and divine image granted at Sinai are reawakened in Bnei Yisrael.

Summary: At Kabbalas HaTorah, Bnei Yisrael were transformed and regained the supernal "inner image" and lofty neshamah that Adam HaRishon lost through his sin — and not for a moment but for all generations, accessed through toil in Torah. Because Adam stood under strict justice he could not retain it, but the Torah, given through the attribute of mercy, bestows it as a free gift (mattanah). Shabbos, itself a "good gift" on which the Torah was given, permanently retains a remembrance of Har Sinai, so the extra neshamah descends and this power is reawakened in Bnei Yisrael each Shabbos.