Renewal as revealing hidden inner vitality

בגמ' מעשה דר"א בן ערך כו' חרש הי' לבם כו'.

In the Gemara, the incident of Rabbi Elazar ben Arach… "their heart was deaf [sealed]…"

The Sefas Emes alludes to a teaching connected with Rabbi Elazar ben Arach, drawing on the image of a "deaf" or sealed heart — a heart that does not perceive.

יש לפרש כי אמר שאין הפי' התחדשות שלא הי' מקודם שאין כל חדש כו'.

One may explain that he meant that "renewal" (hischadshus) does not mean something that did not exist before, for "there is nothing new [under the sun]" (Koheles 1:9).

The Sefas Emes clarifies the meaning of "renewal": it does not refer to creating something entirely new that never existed, since as Koheles teaches, nothing is truly new in the world.

רק להיות הלב סתום.

Rather, [it means] that the heart had been sealed.

True renewal means that the inner vitality was always present, but the heart was closed and blocked, unable to feel it.

לא נרגש עד עתה ע"י הגלות.

It was not felt until now, because of the galus.

The exile dulled the heart so that the inner Divine life-force, though present, went unfelt — concealed beneath the darkness of galus.

ובא התחדשות להרגיש חיות הפנימיות שהיה נסתר מקודם כנ"ל:

And the renewal comes to make one feel the inner vitality that had been hidden beforehand, as above.

Hischadshus, then, is the reawakening of perception — coming to sense the penimiyus, the inner chiyus (life-force), that was always there but had been concealed. Renewal is revelation of the hidden, not invention of the new.

Summary: "Renewal" (hischadshus) does not mean creating something that never existed — for there is nothing truly new under the sun. Rather, the inner Divine vitality is always present, but galus seals the heart so it goes unfelt. True renewal is the reawakening of the heart to perceive the penimiyus that was hidden all along.