Refining nature before supernal light

במד' ע"פ ביום השמיני קרא חכמות בנתה ביתה חצבה עמודי' ז' ימי המילואים נערותי' תקרא ביום השמיני קרא כו' ושאר הדרשות שם.

In the Midrash on the pasuk "On the eighth day [Moshe] called" (Vayikra 9:1): "Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn her seven pillars" (Mishlei 9:1) — the seven days of inauguration; "she has sent forth her maidens, she calls" — "on the eighth day he called," etc., and the other expositions there.

The Sefas Emes opens with the Midrash that reads "Wisdom built her house" as the seven days of the Mishkan's milu'im (inauguration), with the "calling on the eighth day" as its climax.

והענין כי בכל עת צריכין לתקן מקודם ז' ימי הבנין של הטבע.

And the matter is that at every juncture one must first rectify the seven days of the construction of nature.

Before any higher revelation, a person must first set in order the natural world — the seven days of creation that form the foundation of existence.

שלכן נק' עמודים שכל התקרה סומכת עליהם.

That is why they are called "pillars," for the entire ceiling rests upon them.

The seven days are "pillars" because everything higher is supported by the foundation of the refined natural order.

ובהר סיני שזכו להמשיך הדיברות הי' מקודם תיקון כל העשי' כמ"ש במ"א פי' העשוי' בהר סיני.

And at Har Sinai, where they merited to draw down the Dibros (the Commandments), there was first a rectification of all action, as I explained elsewhere the meaning of "[the work] made at Har Sinai."

Even the giving of the Torah was preceded by a rectification of the realm of deeds, as alluded to in the phrase about the work "made at Har Sinai."

אח"כ אחר החטא הי' התיקון ע"י המשכן.

Afterward, following the sin [of the Golden Calf], the rectification came through the Mishkan.

When the cheit ha'egel damaged that rectification, the Mishkan became the means of repairing it.

ונק' ימי המילואים שמילאו את החסרון שהי' ע"י החטא.

And they are called the days of milu'im (filling/inauguration), for they filled the deficiency that had come about through the sin.

The very name "milu'im" expresses that these inauguration days filled in the void created by the Golden Calf.

ואז זכו להמשיך הארה מיום השמיני שהוא למעלה מהטבע כנודע.

And then they merited to draw down an illumination from the "eighth day," which is above nature, as is known.

Once the seven-day foundation of nature was repaired, they could access the light of the "eighth" — the supernatural dimension that transcends the natural order.

וכן הי' מיצ"מ עד קבלת התורה.

And so it was from the exodus from Egypt until the receiving of the Torah.

The same pattern unfolded between Yetzias Mitzrayim and Matan Torah — a period of refinement leading to a transcendent revelation.

וכן גם עתה וספרתם לכם כו' ז' שבתות תמימות הוא תיקון המדות זוכין אח"כ בחג השבועות להארה מעולם העליון.

And so too now: "And you shall count for yourselves… seven complete weeks" (Vayikra 23:15) — this is the rectification of the middos (character traits); afterward, on Chag HaShavuos, one merits an illumination from the supernal world.

Sefiras HaOmer is our annual version of this process — seven weeks of refining our character traits, climaxing in the supernal light of Shavuos.

ומו"ז ז"ל אמר כי זאת הוא ענין מושבע ועומד מהר סיני השבע השביע אלה ז' השבועות כי שבוע' היא התאספות כל המדות כו' ע"ש במס' שבועות בחי' הרי"מ ז"ל.

And my grandfather, of blessed memory, said that this is the matter of being "sworn from Har Sinai" — the oath (shevuah) [imposes] these seven weeks (shavuos), for a "week" (shavua) is the gathering together of all the middos — see there in Maseches Shevuos, in the approach of the [Chiddushei Ha] Rim, of blessed memory.

The Chiddushei HaRim (his grandfather) connected the words shevuah (oath), shavua (week), and Shavuos: the "oath from Sinai" alludes to these seven weeks, each "week" being a complete gathering of the character traits.

והענין שיש התפעלות ע"י שאהבת הבורא ית' מעורר האדם לבטל ע"י האהבה הכל אליו ית'.

And the matter is that there is an arousal whereby the love of the Creator, may He be blessed, stirs a person to nullify everything to Him through love.

One mode of refining the middos is through ahavah — the love of Hashem moves a person to bittul, surrendering everything to Him out of love.

ויש ע"י היראה.

And there is [an arousal] through fear (yirah).

Another mode is through yiras Shomayim — awe and reverence that bring a person to the same surrender.

ויש ע"י הכרת האמת כו'.

And there is [an arousal] through the recognition of truth.

And a third mode is through clear intellectual recognition of the truth of Hashem's reality.

והם שבע שבתות כנ"ל.

And these are the seven weeks, as above.

The various avenues of refining one's traits make up the spiritual content of the seven weeks of Sefirah.

ואז חל על זה הארה עליונה.

And then a supernal illumination rests upon this.

Once the middos are fully refined, a light from Above comes to rest upon the person.

דכ' עיניו כיונים כו' יושבות על מלאת.

For it is written: "His eyes are like doves… set upon fullness" (Shir HaShirim 5:12).

The verse describes the divine "eyes" — Hashem's providence — as resting "upon fullness," upon that which is complete.

היינו שמקודם צריכין לבוא לשלימות ואז חל ע"ז השגחת הבורא ית'.

That is to say, first one must come to completeness, and then the providence of the Creator, may He be blessed, rests upon it.

Divine hashgachah settles upon a person only once he has attained wholeness — "set upon fullness."

לכן יש מקודם ימי המילואים אח"כ בחי' יום השמיני.

Therefore there are first the days of milu'im, and afterward the aspect of the eighth day.

This is the order: the seven days of "filling" and completion must precede the transcendent light of the eighth day.

[והוא כעין בחי' ממלא וסובב]

[And this is akin to the aspect of "filling" (memale) and "encompassing" (sovev).]

He notes a parallel to the Kabbalistic concepts of the divine light that fills the worlds from within (memale) versus the light that transcends and encompasses them (sovev) — the seven days correspond to the former, the eighth to the latter.

ולכן מקודם ימלא את ידכם הכח שיכולין להשיג.

Therefore, first "He will fill your hands" (i.e., empower you) — the strength that one is able to attain on his own.

The "filling of the hands" (milu'im) represents the power a person can achieve through his own effort within the natural order.

ואח"כ כתיב וישא אהרן את ידיו והוא מתנה המשכת ברכת כהנים מעולם העליון:

And afterward it is written "And Aharon lifted his hands" (Vayikra 9:22) — and this is a gift, the drawing down of Birkas Kohanim from the supernal world.

The lifting of Aharon's hands in the priestly blessing represents the higher gift that descends from Above — Birkas Kohanim drawn from the supernal "eighth-day" light, granted only after the self-generated effort of the milu'im.

Summary: The Sefas Emes teaches a universal pattern: before any supernatural revelation, one must first rectify the "seven days" — the foundation of nature and one's own character traits. This played out at Har Sinai, in the Mishkan's seven inauguration days that "filled" the void of the Golden Calf, and annually in Sefiras HaOmer's seven weeks of refining the middos through love, fear, and recognition of truth. Only upon such completeness does the transcendent "eighth-day" light rest — the difference between the power a person attains by his own effort (milu'im, "filling the hands") and the heavenly gift drawn down through Birkas Kohanim.