Man's inner light revealed through affliction

במד' אחור וקדם צרתני כו' זכה אומרים לו אתה קדמת וא"ל יתוש קדמך.

In the Midrash: "Back and front You have formed me" — if a person merits, they say to him, "You came first [in creation]," and if not, they say to him, "Even a gnat preceded you."

Adam was created last among all creatures. Depending on whether a person elevates himself, this can be a source of honor (the purpose of all creation) or of shame (the lowliest creature came first).

והנה צריך טעם למה נברא אחרון למעשה.

Now, this requires an explanation: why was man created last in the order of creation?

The Sefas Emes asks what the deeper reason is for placing man at the very end of the six days of creation.

והתירוץ כדי שיהי' קרוב ליום השבת כמ"ש במדרש ג"כ כדי שיכנוס לשבת מיד.

And the answer is so that he would be close to the day of Shabbos, as the Midrash also says — so that he would enter into Shabbos immediately.

Man was created right before Shabbos so that the very first thing he experiences is the holiness of Shabbos.

ופי' הענין כי הארת יום השבת הוא הארה בתוך הבריאה.

And the explanation of the matter is that the illumination of the day of Shabbos is a light placed within creation itself.

The light of Shabbos is not something distant — it is a holy radiance embedded inside the created world.

והוא ניתן רק להאדם.

And it was given only to man.

Only the human being is able to receive and perceive this inner light of Shabbos.

כי כל שאר הבריאה הם חומריים וכח חיותם ניתן להם בשעת הבריאה.

For all the rest of creation is physical, and the power of their life-force was given to them at the moment of their creation.

The rest of creation received a fixed measure of vitality once, at the start, and cannot grow beyond it.

אבל האדם שיש בו נשמת אלקים ניתן עמו ההארה כמו שהוא בעוה"ז וכל [*א'] יכול לתקן עצמו להרגיש הארת נשמתו העליונה.

But man, who has within him a soul from Hashem, was given along with himself this illumination even as he is in this world (olam hazeh), and each person can work on himself to feel the radiance of his higher neshamah.

Because man carries a Divine soul, the light of Shabbos lives within him here and now, and through avodah he can awaken himself to actually sense his elevated neshamah.

ולכן אין זה הרחקה לאדם במה שנברא באחרונה.

Therefore it is no diminishment of man that he was created last.

Being created last is not a mark of inferiority at all.

כי הוא לעולם דבוק באור העליון והוא באמצעיות השבת מעין עוה"ב.

For he is always attached to the supernal light, and this — by means of Shabbos — is a foretaste of the World to Come (olam haba).

Through his bond to the higher light, man already tastes on Shabbos something of the world to come.

והרמז לאדם במה שנברא באחרונה הוא להודיע כי א"י ליישר עצמו לבוא למקום הראוי לו עד שיקרב כל הנבראים שהם תלוין בו.

And the hint to man in being created last is to inform him that he cannot straighten himself and come to the place fitting for him until he draws near all the creatures that depend upon him.

Because all of creation hangs on man, he cannot reach his own true place until he first elevates everything beneath him.

והאדם יש בו נשמה גבוהה וניתן בשפל המדרגה.

Man has within him a lofty soul, yet he was placed at the lowest rung.

There is a deliberate paradox: a most exalted neshamah set down in the lowest position.

שיעלה הכל לשורש נשמתו.

So that he may raise everything up to the root of his soul.

His task is precisely to lift all of creation back up to its source through the root of his own neshamah.

וז"ש אחור וקדם צרתני: אדם כי יהי' בעור בשרו כו'.

And this is the meaning of "Back and front You have formed me": "A man, when there shall be on the skin of his flesh [a tzaraas affliction]…"

The Sefas Emes now connects man's dual nature — last yet first — to the parsha's discussion of tzaraas, which appears on the "skin," the outer layer.

כי אחר חטא האדם כ' ויעש כו' כתנות עור.

For after the sin of Adam it is written, "And He made… garments of skin."

After the first sin, man was clothed in "skin" — a covering that conceals his inner light.

והוא שניתן להם מסך והסתר בכל דבר כמ"ש בזוה"ק שהוא ממשכא דחויא.

This means that a screen and a concealment was placed in everything, as it says in the Zohar HaKadosh that it is "from the skin of the serpent."

The "garments of skin" symbolize the veil of concealment that the sin spread over all of reality, which the Zohar links to the serpent.

ועור מלשון עיור שאחר החטא א"י להכיר האור מתוך החושך רק בעבודה ויגיעה להסיר מסך המבדיל.

And "or" (skin) is from the word "iver" (blind), for after the sin one cannot recognize the light within the darkness except through avodah and toil to remove the dividing screen.

The same letters spell "skin" and "blindness": the concealment blinds us, and only through effort can we peel back the veil and perceive the hidden light.

והנגעים באים רק מכח עור הזה.

And the afflictions (nega'im) come only from the power of this "skin."

Tzaraas arises specifically from this outer layer of concealment.

וידוע כי יש בעור נקבים דקים.

And it is known that there are fine pores in the skin.

The skin is not fully sealed; it has tiny openings.

כי בכ"מ הקליפות יש נקודה גנוזה ג"כ.

For in every place, even within the kelipos (husks of concealment), there is a hidden point as well.

Even in the realm of concealment there remains a buried spark of holiness — a hidden inner point.

רק שע"י עונות נסתמו החלונות ובאים הנגעים.

Only that through sins the "windows" became blocked, and the afflictions come.

Sin seals up these openings, so the hidden light cannot shine through, and that blockage produces the nega'im.

כדאיתא מה נגע סגירו כו'.

As it is brought, "What is a nega? A shutting-up…"

The very word for the affliction connotes being closed and sealed off.

אך גוף הנגע הוא לרפואה.

However, the affliction itself is for healing.

The nega is ultimately not a punishment but a remedy.

והנה גזה"כ שטומאתן וטהרתן ע"י כהן.

Now, it is a decree of Scripture (gezeiras hakasuv) that their declaration of impurity and their purification are through a kohen.

The Torah decrees that only a kohen can declare the metzora tamei or tahor.

ובשלמא הטהרה ניתן במתנה לאהרן.

Now, it is understandable that the [power of] purification was given as a gift to Aharon.

It makes sense that Aharon, the man of peace, was granted the role of purifying.

על כי הנגעים באים על לה"ר ואהרן הי' אוהב ורודף שלום.

Since the afflictions come on account of lashon hara (evil speech), and Aharon was one who loved and pursued peace.

Tzaraas is the consequence of divisive speech, so it fits that the great peacemaker is the one empowered to heal it.

אך מה טעם שיהי' הטומאה בראיית הכהן.

But what is the reason that the impurity, too, should take effect through the kohen's seeing it?

Why should the kindly kohen be the one to declare a person impure?

והלא טוב עין הוא יבורך.

And surely "one of good eye shall be blessed."

The kohen is meant to look upon people with a good, generous eye — so why give him the role of pronouncing tumah?

רק כנ"ל שהנגע רפואה הוא.

Rather, as above, the affliction is itself a healing.

The resolution is that declaring the impurity is actually an act of healing.

כדאיתא מצורע מוציא רע.

As it is brought: "metzora" — one who "brings out the evil" (motzi ra).

The word metzora itself hints that the process draws the evil out of the person.

פי' שע"י הנגע נמשך הרע מפנימיות האדם לחוץ.

Meaning that through the affliction the evil is drawn out from the inwardness of the person to the outside.

The nega serves to extract the hidden inner evil and bring it to the surface where it can be removed.

כ"פ בס' כלי יקר ע"ש.

So explains the sefer Kli Yakar; see there.

The Sefas Emes cites the Kli Yakar as the source for this idea.

ובוודאי אדם השלם ראוי לו לשמוח בזה שרואה שפלותו.

And certainly the complete person ought to rejoice in this, that he sees his own lowliness.

A spiritually whole person welcomes the chance to confront his flaws rather than hide them.

ושעי"ז יזכה להתטהר מלהיות הטומאה טמונה בפנימיותו.

And that through this he will merit to become purified, rather than have the impurity remain hidden within his innermost self.

Better that the impurity be exposed and cleansed than that it stay buried and corrupting from within.

ולכן ע"י ראיית הכהן נמשך הטומאה לחוץ.

Therefore, through the kohen's seeing, the impurity is drawn outward.

The kohen's declaration is precisely what pulls the hidden evil out into the open.

ובזוה"ק פי' והובא אל הכהן.

And in the Zohar HaKadosh it explains the verse "and he shall be brought to the kohen."

The Zohar reads the metzora's being "brought" to the kohen as something positive.

הוא חסד אל.

It is the chesed (kindness) of Hashem.

Being brought to the kohen is an act of Divine kindness.

מה שהקב"ה חפץ לטהר אותו.

That the Holy One, blessed be He, desires to purify him.

Hashem's whole intent is to cleanse the person, not to condemn him.

לכן מביא הטומאה לחוץ.

Therefore He brings the impurity outward.

Out of love, Hashem surfaces the hidden tumah so it can be cleared away.

וצריך האדם לקבל זאת באהבה ועי"ז בא לטהרה.

And a person must accept this with love, and through that he comes to purity.

Accepting the affliction with love is itself the path to becoming tahor.

וז"ש והובא אל הכהן.

And this is the meaning of "and he shall be brought to the kohen."

The passive "shall be brought" hints at Hashem's loving hand bringing the person toward purification.

ומ"ש לעיל כי צרעת הוא בעור הקליפה והוא בא על לה"ר.

And as was said above, that tzaraas is in the "skin" — the kelipah — and it comes on account of lashon hara.

Returning to the earlier theme: the affliction lives in the outer husk and stems from corrupt speech.

רמז שכפי שמירות רוח הפנימיות שבאדם.

This hints that according to how one guards the inner spirit within him.

The measure of one's protection of his inner, spiritual core is decisive.

כן מבטל כח החיצוניות.

So correspondingly he nullifies the power of the external (chitzoniyus).

The stronger one's inner penimiyus, the more the outer husk of concealment loses its grip.

כי הכלל כפי עומק הפנימיות מתרחב הקדושה ומגרש החיצוניות כמ"ש במ"א שיש עומק רום ותחת ותלוין זה בזה וכמו כן פנימיות וחיצוניות והבן:

For the principle is that according to the depth of the penimiyus (inwardness), holiness expands and drives out the chitzoniyus (externality) — as said elsewhere, that there is "depth of height" and "depth of below" and they are dependent on one another, and likewise inwardness and externality; understand this.

Just as in creation higher and lower depths correspond to each other, so the deeper a person's inner holiness reaches, the further its light expands outward and banishes the surrounding concealment.

Summary: Man was created last so as to enter directly into the light of Shabbos, which lives within creation and which only the Divine soul of man can perceive. The "skin" given after the first sin is a veil of concealment that blinds us to the inner light; tzaraas arises from it. Yet the affliction is really a healing — the kohen's declaration lovingly draws the hidden evil outward so it can be cleansed. The deeper one guards and deepens his penimiyus, the more holiness expands and drives out the external husk of concealment.