Man as the bridge who rectifies all creation

במד' אחור וקדם צרתני כו'.

In the Midrash: "Back and front You have formed me…"

The Sefas Emes opens with the verse from Tehillim describing man as formed "back and front," which he will explain as two dimensions of man's role in creation.

כי כל הבריאה צריכה תיקון כמאמר אשר ברא כו' לעשות כו'.

For all of creation requires tikkun (rectification), as it says, "that He created… to do…"

The phrase "which He created to do" teaches that Hashem left the world unfinished, requiring man to complete and rectify it.

והאדם נברא אחרון למעשה וראשון להתיקון.

And man was created last in the order of creation but first in the order of rectification.

Though man came last in the six days of creation, he stands first in the work of tikkun — he is the one who brings the world to its completion.

כי ע"י האדם מתחברין הבריאה והתיקון.

For through man, the creation and the rectification are joined together.

Man is the bridge that unites the raw, created world with its intended state of repair.

וזה שכ' חז"ל שנברא באחרונה שיכנוס לשבת מיד כי שבת הוא בחי' התיקון.

And this is what Chazal wrote, that he was created last so that he would enter into Shabbos immediately — for Shabbos is the aspect of tikkun.

Man was made on erev Shabbos so as to step straight into Shabbos, which represents the world's perfected, rectified state.

ואחור הוא בחי' ימי המעשה שנק' ימי עבודה לברר דברי עוה"ז אשר אינם מתוקנים.

And "back" is the aspect of the weekdays, which are called the days of labor — to sift out the matters of this world that are not yet rectified.

The "back" dimension corresponds to the six weekdays of avodah, the time for birur — refining and sorting the unrectified things of this world.

ועי"ז זוכין אח"כ לשבת בחי' קדם שהוא עולם המחשבה והתיקון כנ"ל.

And through this one afterward merits Shabbos, the aspect of "front," which is the world of thought and rectification, as above.

The labor of the weekdays earns Shabbos, the "front" dimension — the higher realm of machshavah (thought) and completed tikkun.

והאדם הוא מבריח ומחבר כל הבריאה.

And man is the "bolt" that runs through and joins together all of creation.

Like the central bar of the Mishkan that runs through all the beams, man connects and binds the entire span of creation into one.

לכן יש בו גשמיות היותר מוגשם מכל וגם רוחניות היותר עליון מכל.

Therefore he contains the most material physicality of all, and also the loftiest spirituality of all.

Because man spans the whole of creation, he embodies both its lowest physical extreme and its highest spiritual extreme.

וכ' בצלם אלקים עשה כו' האדם.

And it is written, "in the image of Elokim He made… man."

Man's being created "in the image of Elokim" is the key to his all-encompassing nature.

א"כ כמו שידענו שהש"י כולל כל ההויות כמאמר ואתה מחי' את כולם.

If so, just as we know that Hashem Yisbarach encompasses all existences, as it says, "and You give life to them all,"

Hashem encompasses and sustains every existence; "You give life to them all" expresses His all-inclusive vitality.

כמו כן ממש האדם כולל כל הנבראים אשר תחתיו.

so too, in exactly the same way, man encompasses all the creatures that are beneath him.

As a being made in Hashem's image, man parallels Him by containing within himself all the lower creations.

וכשהוא מתקן כל התלוים בו אז זוכה למקומו המוכן לו למעלה מכולם.

And when he rectifies all that depend upon him, then he merits his place that is prepared for him, above them all.

By bringing tikkun to all the creations bound up with him, man attains his destined place at the summit of creation.

לכן אם זכה אומרים לו כו' ואם לאו שלא בא לכלל התיקון כו'.

Therefore, if he merited, they say to him… and if not — that he did not come into the realm of rectification…

Chazal's teaching that the worthy man is told "you preceded all of creation" while the unworthy is told even the gnat preceded him hinges on whether he achieved his task of tikkun.

והקדים אחור לקדם כדברי רש"י אף תורתו נתפרשה כו'.

And "back" precedes "front," in line with Rashi's words, "even his Torah was set forth…"

The verse places "back" before "front" to teach an order: as Rashi indicates, even the way a person's Torah unfolds follows this sequence of lower before higher.

פי' שח"י להשיג דעת התורה המוכן לתהלוכת האדם באמת עד שמתקן מקודם תורת נפש הבהמיות שבאדם ומתקן הגשמיות.

The explanation: that one is obligated to attain the understanding of Torah prepared for man's true progression — only after he first rectifies the "Torah" of the animal soul within man and rectifies the physical.

A person cannot grasp the higher Torah meant for his ascent until he has first refined the nefesh habahamis (the animal soul) and put his physical self in order.

אח"כ בא תורת האדם כנ"ל:

Afterward comes the "Torah of man," as above.

Only once the lower, physical self is rectified does a person reach the elevated "Torah of man" — the higher level of Divine wisdom.

Summary: All creation requires tikkun, and man — created last in deed but first in rectification — is the "bolt" that joins the whole of creation, containing both its lowest physicality and its loftiest spirituality, in the image of Hashem who encompasses all. "Back" is the weekdays of avodah and birur; "front" is Shabbos, the world of thought and completion. Man must first rectify his animal soul and his physical self ("back") before he can attain the higher "Torah of man" ("front"), thereby earning his destined place above all creation.