Inner form precedes physical matter

אתה יצרת עולמך מקדם.

"You formed Your world of old (mikedem)" (from the Rosh Hashanah Mussaf).

The Sefas Emes opens with this liturgical phrase, focusing on the word kedem ("of old / prior"), which he will tie to the concept of the inner form that precedes matter.

כמ"ש המהר"ל בכל דבר יש חומר וצורה.

As the Maharal wrote: in everything there is matter (chomer) and form (tzurah).

Drawing on the Maharal, the Sefas Emes notes that every created thing consists of two layers: its raw material and its inner, defining form.

והצורה הוא הפנימיות.

And the form is the inner dimension (penimiyus).

The tzurah is not the outer substance but the inner essence — the penimiyus that gives a thing its true identity.

והוא בחי' קדם שכ' במד' זכה אומרים אתה קדמת למ"ב.

And this is the aspect of "kedem" (priority), as the Midrash says: if a person is worthy, they say to him, "You preceded the work of Creation (maaseh bereishis)" (Sanhedrin 38a).

The inner form corresponds to "kedem" — that which is prior to creation. A person who is worthy is told he "preceded" creation, because at the level of his inner form he is rooted before the physical world.

כשנגמר המכוון ואיננו דבוק רק בפנימיות הצורה שיש תוך החומריות.

This is when the [Divine] intent is fulfilled and he is attached only to the inner form that lies within the materiality.

The goal is reached when a person attaches himself solely to the inner tzurah hidden inside the physical, rather than to the matter itself.

וזה זכה.

And this is [the meaning of] "if he is worthy (zachah)."

To "be worthy" means to have refined oneself to the point of clinging to the inner form — and then one truly "precedes" creation.

כי באמת האדם למעלה מכולן בהצורה.

For in truth, with respect to the form, man is above all [of creation].

At the level of tzurah — inner form — the human being stands higher than every other creature, since man bears the highest spiritual form.

רק בהחומר שהוא (הנבראים) [*הגשמיות] שם האדם אחרון.

Only with respect to the matter — that is, the physicality — there man is last.

But on the plane of pure chomer, the physical, man was created last and is in that sense the lowest, as Chazal note that the gnat preceded him.

כי החומר מהופך מהצורה.

For the matter is the inverse of the form.

Matter and form stand in inverse relation: what is highest in form appears lowest in material terms.

כדמיון חותם על הנייר שמקבל צורת החותם מהופך.

Like a seal upon paper, which receives the form of the seal in reverse.

Just as an imprint receives the image of a signet inverted, so the physical world reflects the spiritual form in a reversed manner: the highest in essence appears lowest in matter.

וכשאדם דבוק בחומר וגשמיות הוא אחרון באמת.

And when a person is attached to the matter and physicality, he is truly last.

If a person identifies with his physical, material side, he indeed occupies the lowest rung — "last" among the creations.

ויתוש קדמך.

"[Even] a gnat preceded you" (Sanhedrin 38a).

Chazal's rebuke to the arrogant — "a gnat came before you" — applies precisely to the person mired in his materiality, for on that plane even a gnat outranks him.

כי נברא להיות דבוק בצורה.

For he was created to be attached to the form.

Man's very purpose is to cling to his inner form, not his matter. When he forgets this and clings to the physical, he forfeits his true priority.

והרי האדם ממשיך נשמה לבנו והיא מעולם העליון.

For indeed, a person draws down a neshamah to his child, and it is from the upper world.

A person has the power to draw a soul — from the highest world — into a child. This shows the immense reach of the inner form within man.

והרי שיש בו התקשרות בפנימיות ע"י שמכניס כל הרצון והדעת באמת. יש בכחו להדבק בשורש עליון להביא התחדשות.

This shows that there is within him a bond to the inner dimension, so that when he invests his entire ratzon and daas truthfully, he has the power to cleave to the upper root and to bring renewal (hischadshus).

Because man is connected at his core to the upper realm, by putting his whole will and understanding into truth he can attach to the supernal root and draw down genuine renewal into the world.

וזה פי' המד' אחור וקדם כו' אשא דעי למרחוק כו'.

And this is the meaning of the Midrash on "Back and front [You have formed me]" (Tehillim 139:5)… "I will carry my knowledge afar" (Iyov 36:3), etc.

"Back and front" expresses man's two dimensions — last in matter ("back") yet first in form ("front"). "I will carry my knowledge from afar" hints that man's daas reaches all the way back to the distant supernal root.

איך שיש דביקות לאדם בשורש הנעלם.

[Showing] how a person has an attachment to the hidden root.

The verses together reveal that man, despite his physical lowliness, retains a living bond to the concealed Source.

והנה בחודש ושבת שנמשך התחדשות להנבראים כי בשבת יש ג"כ עלי' והתקשרות לכל דבר בפנימיות.

Now, on Rosh Chodesh and Shabbos, when renewal is drawn down to the creations — for on Shabbos too there is an ascent and a bond for everything to the inner dimension —

At the renewal-points of time, Rosh Chodesh and Shabbos, fresh vitality flows into creation; on Shabbos especially, all things rise and reconnect to their penimiyus.

ע"כ נפתח בחי' הצורה. כי משם נמשך חיות לכל ע"י פתיחת השורש כנ"ל.

therefore the aspect of the "form" is opened, for from there life-force is drawn to everything through the opening of the root, as above.

On these times the channel of the inner form is opened, and through that opening of the root, chiyus flows anew into all of creation.

ולכך יכולין בימים אלו להתדבק יותר בהצורה שהוא שורש חיות הפנימיות כנ"ל:

And therefore on these days one is able to cleave more to the form, which is the root of the inner life-force, as above.

Because the channel of the inner form is open on Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh, these are the most opportune times to attach oneself to the tzurah — the root of one's inner vitality — and rise above mere materiality.

Summary: Following the Maharal, the Sefas Emes distinguishes matter from inner form (penimiyus): in matter man is "last," but in form he is highest of all and "precedes" creation, bearing a living bond to the hidden supernal root through which he can draw down renewal. On Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh, when the channel of the inner form is opened and fresh chiyus flows into all creation, one can cleave most fully to that inner form and rise above the physical.