Soul rises, body refined through eating

בפסוק זאת החי' אשר תאכלו כו' אני ה' המעלה אתכם כו'.

On the pasuk "This is the animal (chayah) that you may eat... I am Hashem who brings you up (ha'maaleh eschem)..."

The Sefas Emes notes the Torah's wording about kosher animals closes with "I am Hashem who brings you up" — hinting that the laws of eating are about elevation, not just diet.

דכתיב מי יודע רוח בני האדם העולה כו' למעלה ורוח הבהמה היורדת כו' למטה כו'.

As it is written: "Who knows the spirit of man, which ascends upward, and the spirit of the animal, which descends downward?" (Koheles 3:21).

There are two opposite pulls in creation: the human spirit naturally rises toward its Source above, while the animal spirit is drawn downward to the earth.

וכתי' וייצר כו' האדם עפר מן האדמה ויפח באפיו נשמת כו' ויהי כו' לנפש חי'.

And it is written: "And He formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils a soul of life, and man became a living being (nefesh chayah)."

Man was created from two elements at once — dust of the earth below, and a Divine breath from Above — joined together into a single living being.

פי' שיש באדם נשמה העולה למעלה ומושכת לעולם לעלות אל השורש.

This means that within man there is a neshamah that ascends upward and constantly draws him to rise toward the Source.

The Divine soul within a person is forever pulling him heavenward, back toward its root in Hashem.

אבל מצד התקשרות הנפש בגוף שהוא מלמטה שהוא נפש חי' לכן המלחמה באדם.

But because of the binding of the soul to the body, which is from below — the "nefesh chayah" (animal life-force) — there is therefore a constant battle within man.

Since the soul is bound up with a physical body rooted below, the human being is a battleground between the upward pull of the neshamah and the downward pull of the body.

שמצד א' נמשך למעלה ומצד א' למטה.

For from one side he is drawn upward, and from the other side downward.

Every person feels these two opposing forces tugging at him at once.

לכן איתא בגמ' דיש בו השוה למלאכי השרת ויש בו השוה לבהמה.

Therefore the Gemara says that in man there is something like the ministering angels and something like the animal.

Chazal describe man as a hybrid: in some ways he resembles the malachim above, and in some ways the behemah below.

וכ"כ וירדו בדגת הים כו' אחז"ל זכה רודה בהם ואם לאו נעשה ירוד לפניהם.

And so it is written: "And they shall rule (v'yirdu) over the fish of the sea..." — Chazal expound: if he merits, he rules (rodeh) over them; and if not, he becomes lowered (yarud) before them.

The same Hebrew root means both "rule" and "descend." If a person elevates himself, he masters the lower forces; if not, the very same word turns against him and he sinks below them.

ומתחלה שם הקב"ה את האדם בג"ע והי' כולו בחי' נשמה שגם הגוף הי' מזוכך כמלאך.

And at first Hakadosh Baruch Hu placed Adam in Gan Eden, and he was entirely in the aspect of neshamah, for even his body was refined like an angel.

Before the sin, Adam was wholly spiritual — his very body was so purified that it was like that of a malach.

ואחר החטא נתערב בו פסולת ונעשה בחי' אדם ובהמה.

But after the cheit (sin), waste matter (p'soles) became mixed into him, and he became the aspect of "man and animal."

Through the sin, coarseness and impurity entered the human being, splitting him into the mixed nature of man-plus-animal that we now inherit.

ואח"כ ע"י יצ"מ נתבררו בנ"י להיות נקראים אדם כמ"ש אדם אתם אתם קרוין אדם.

And afterward, through Yetzias Mitzrayim, Bnei Yisrael were refined (nisbareru) to be called "Adam," as it says: "You are 'Adam'" — you are called Adam.

The Exodus refined Bnei Yisrael back toward the pure state of "Adam," reclaiming the elevated human identity that was clouded by the sin.

וז"ש המעלה אתכם להיות בבחי' העולה היא למעלה שזה כח יצ"מ שלא להיות הנפש נאסר בגוף שלא יוכל להתעלות.

And this is the meaning of "who brings you up" — to be in the aspect of that which "ascends upward"; for this is the power of Yetzias Mitzrayim, that the soul not be imprisoned in the body so that it cannot be elevated.

"Hashem who brings you up" means the liberation of the soul. The power of the Exodus frees the neshamah from being trapped and stifled by the body, so it can once again rise to its source.

ולכן הבדילנו הקב"ה מאלה מאכלות אסורות שהם מיוחדים לאומות שהם בהמה המה להם היורדין למטה.

And therefore Hakadosh Baruch Hu separated us from these forbidden foods, which are designated for the nations, who are "animal" — they are the ones who descend downward.

The non-kosher foods belong to the downward, animal nature of the nations. Hashem set Bnei Yisrael apart from them so we would not be dragged down.

ובנ"י הם בני עלי'.

And Bnei Yisrael are "children of ascent" (bnei aliyah).

Yisrael's essential identity is to rise — they are people of elevation, not descent.

וזה שרמז במד' שהד' מינים הם בחי' ד' מלכיות.

And this is what the Midrash hints, that the four signs (of kosher animals) correspond to the four kingdoms (arba malchuyos).

The Midrash links the categories of non-kosher animals to the four exiling empires — the forces that drag the world downward through history.

וגם רמז הד' מלכיות בפסוק ומשם יפרד כו' לרמוז כי אדם מוכן לנהר היוצא מעדן כו'.

And the four kingdoms are also hinted in the pasuk "and from there it separated [into four rivers]," to allude that man is destined for the river that flows out of Eden.

Man's true source is the single, unified river of holiness flowing from Eden — the undivided Divine flow.

אך משם יפרד לד' נהרות ששם יש תערובות פסולת שלכן נגרש האדם אחר החטא לברר אלה התערובות.

But "from there it separates" into four rivers, where there is a mixture of waste; and therefore man was expelled after the sin, to refine these mixtures.

Below the pure source, the flow divides and becomes mixed with p'soles. After the sin man was sent into the world precisely to do the work of birur — sorting and refining good from the admixture of evil.

ואחר החטא הוצרך להתקיים ב' הפירושים וירדו שמקודם נעשה ירוד לפניהם וזה הי' במצרים כמ"ש אנכי ארד עמך כו' ואח"כ אנכי אעלך גם עלה שזכו לברר הנפשות ויצאו לחירות להיות שליט ורודה בהם.

And after the sin, both meanings of "v'yirdu" had to be fulfilled: first he became "lowered before them" — and this was in Mitzrayim, as it says "I will go down with you" — and afterward "I will surely bring you up as well," when they merited to refine the souls and went out to freedom, to rule and master over them.

Both senses of the word played out in history: in Egypt Yisrael first descended into bondage, sharing the descent — Hashem said "I will go down with you." Then came "I will bring you up," when through the Exodus they refined the holy sparks and rose to freedom, mastering the lower forces instead of being mastered.

ולכן כל מי שיש בו כח הנשמה ביותר צריך לברר אלה המינים.

Therefore, anyone who has greater power of neshamah within him must refine these categories.

The greater a person's spiritual capacity, the more he is charged with the avodah of birur — elevating and clarifying the physical world around him.

ולכן בשבת שיש בו נשמה יתירה מצוה לענגו בבשר ויין שכח השבת מעלה אלה הדברים.

And therefore on Shabbos, which has a neshamah yeseirah, it is a mitzvah to delight in it with meat and wine, for the power of Shabbos elevates these very things.

Because the extra soul of Shabbos magnifies one's spiritual power, the physical foods of oneg Shabbos are not a lowering but an elevation — Shabbos lifts the meat and wine themselves up to kedushah.

ז"ש אנכי כו' המעלך מארץ מצרים הרחב פיך כו'.

This is the meaning of "I am [Hashem] who brought you up from the land of Mitzrayim; open wide your mouth [and I will fill it]" (Tehillim 81:11).

The same God who "brought you up" from Egypt invites you to "open your mouth wide" — to eat and partake physically, because that very eating, done in holiness, becomes an act of elevation.

דאיתא בזוה"ק בפ' ויוצר רוח אדם בקרבו כי כפי התפשטות הגוף כך מתרחב הרוח והנשמה ביותר וזו המדה לבנ"י שנק' אדם לכן התחיל הכתוב וידבר אל משה ואל אהרן שבחי' משה רבינו ע"ה הנשמה שהוריד התורה מן השמים.

For it is brought in the Zohar HaKadosh on "and He forms the spirit of man within him," that according to the expansion of the body, so the spirit and soul expand all the more; and this is the trait of Bnei Yisrael, who are called "Adam." Therefore the verse begins "And He spoke to Moshe and to Aharon" — for the aspect of Moshe Rabbeinu is the neshamah, who brought the Torah down from heaven.

The Zohar teaches that when the body is properly engaged and "expanded" in holiness, the soul too expands — body and soul grow together. This is uniquely the avodah of Yisrael, the true "Adam." The parshah opens addressing both Moshe and Aharon: Moshe represents the neshamah dimension that drew the Torah down from Above.

ובחי' אהרן לתקן הגוף לכן הוא מקריב את הקרבנות מן הבהמה כו':

And the aspect of Aharon is to repair the body; therefore he offers the korbanos from the animal.

Aharon represents the tikkun (rectification) of the physical. His avodah of bringing animal korbanos symbolizes elevating the bodily, "animal" side of man and raising it up to Hashem — completing the work begun by Moshe's Torah from Above.

Summary: Man is a battlefield between a neshamah that rises toward its Source and a body that pulls downward like an animal. The same root means both "to rule" and "to be lowered" — if a person elevates himself he masters the physical, and if not he sinks below it. Through Yetzias Mitzrayim, Bnei Yisrael were refined to be "Adam," people of ascent, whose mission is birur — refining the physical world. This is why kosher laws separate us from the downward nations, why Shabbos elevates even meat and wine through the neshamah yeseirah, and why Moshe (the soul, drawing Torah down) and Aharon (rectifying the body through korbanos) together teach that the body, engaged in holiness, becomes a vessel for the soul's elevation.