Refining the animal soul before the pure

במד' אחור וקדם צרתני.

In the Midrash: "Back and front You have formed me" (Tehillim 139:5).

The Sefas Emes opens with the verse describing how Hashem "formed" man from both behind and before, which the Midrash and Chazal use to express man's dual nature.

יש בצרתני ב' פי' לשון יצירה ולשון צרה.

The word "tzartani" has two meanings: an expression of "formation" (yetzirah), and an expression of "distress" (tzarah).

The single word carries a double sense — both "You formed me" and "You constrained / pained me" — hinting that man's very formation contains an element of distress.

כענין מאמר חז"ל אוי לי מיוצרי ואוי לי מיצרי.

Like the teaching of Chazal: "Woe to me from my Creator (yotzri), and woe to me from my evil inclination (yitzri)" (Berachos 61a).

This parallels the saying that a person is caught between two demands — the accounting owed to his Maker and the pull of his yetzer hara — the very tension built into his formation.

ז"ש המד' זכה נוחל ב' עולמות עוה"ז ועוה"ב.

This is the meaning of the Midrash: if one merits, he inherits two worlds — this world and the World to Come.

The "back and front" of man's formation correspond to two worlds; one who is worthy gains both Olam Hazeh and Olam Haba.

וכבר דברנו בזה כי הם ב' מיני העלמות.

And we have already spoken of this, that they are two kinds of concealment.

Both worlds present a form of hiddenness — each conceals Hashem's presence in its own way.

העוה"ז מרוב חומריות נסתר דרך האמת כי החושך יכסה.

This world, due to its abundance of physicality, hides the path of truth, for "darkness shall cover [the earth]" (Yeshayahu 60:2).

Olam Hazeh conceals Hashem because its dense materiality covers over the truth, like a darkness that veils the light.

ועוה"ב מצד עומק הרוחניות קשה להשיגו.

And the World to Come, by reason of the depth of its spirituality, is difficult to attain.

Olam Haba is concealed for the opposite reason: it is so intensely spiritual and lofty that it is hard to grasp.

ואמנם ע"י שמתקן אדם עצמו בפרוזדור בזה העולם ומשבר כל הגשמיות.

However, through a person rectifying himself in the "antechamber" of this world, and breaking all physicality…

This world is the prozdor, the entrance hall before the palace (Avos 4:16). By refining himself here and subduing his physical drives, a person prepares himself.

כמו כן הוא מוכן לקבל העלם עליון.

So too he becomes prepared to receive the higher concealment.

By overcoming the lower concealment of materiality, a person makes himself fit to receive the higher, lofty concealment of the spiritual world.

וזהו אחור וקדם כמ"ש רש"י ר' שמלאי אומר כשם שיצירתו של אדם כו'.

And this is "back and front," as Rashi cites: Rabbi Simlai says, just as man's formation [was after all of creation]… (Vayikra Rabbah; Berachos 61a).

The "back and front" reflects the teaching of Rabbi Simlai that man was formed last in the order of creation, corresponding to the two ends of "back and front."

פי' שאדם נברא באחרונה ע"י שהוא למעלה מכולם.

That is to say, man was created last because he is higher than all of them.

Man came last not as an afterthought but because he is the loftiest of creatures, the purpose for which everything else was made.

כמו כן באדם עצמו יש בו נפש הבהמיות ונשמה טהורה.

Likewise, within man himself there is the animal soul (nefesh ha-behamis) and the pure neshamah.

The same duality of "back and front" exists inside each person: a lower, animal soul and a higher, pure soul.

וצריכין מקודם לתקן תורת בהמה כו' אח"כ זוכין למצוא כל א' תורתו ועל מה נברא.

And one must first rectify the "Torah of the animal," and afterward each person merits to find his own Torah and the purpose for which he was created.

The order of avodah is to first refine the animal soul ("the Torah of the animal"). Only then does a person merit to discover his unique portion in Torah and the very purpose of his creation.

ובגמ' רמזו אסור לאדם לאכול עד שיתן לבהמתו דכ' עשב בשדך לבהמתך והדר ואכלת ושבעת כו'.

And in the Gemara they hinted: it is forbidden for a person to eat before he feeds his animal, as it is written, "[I will give] grass in your field for your cattle" — and only afterward, "and you shall eat and be satisfied" (Devarim 11:15; Berachos 40a).

The Gemara's law that one feeds his animal first is read as a hint to this very order: the "animal" within must be tended and rectified before the higher soul can be properly nourished.

שא"י לתקן תורת אדם עד שמתקנים תורת בהמה כנ"ל.

For one cannot rectify the "Torah of man" until he has rectified the "Torah of the animal," as above.

The higher, human level of Torah is unreachable until the lower, animal level has first been set in order.

והוא בחי' ימי המעשה.

And this is the aspect of the weekdays (yemei ha-ma'aseh).

The work of refining the animal soul corresponds to the six weekdays of labor and effort.

הכנה אח"כ לשבת.

A preparation afterward for Shabbos.

Just as the weekdays prepare for Shabbos, refining the lower self prepares a person to attain the higher, Shabbos-like level of his own Torah.

וזהו אחור וקדם:

And this is "back and front."

The whole sequence — lower before higher, weekday before Shabbos, animal soul before pure soul — is the meaning of being formed "back and front."

Summary: The word "tzartani" hints that man's formation contains both creation and constraint, between his Creator and his yetzer hara. Both this world and the World to Come are forms of concealment — one through dense materiality, the other through overwhelming spirituality. By refining himself in the "antechamber" of this world and subduing his physical drives ("the Torah of the animal"), a person becomes fit to receive the higher concealment and to discover his own Torah and purpose — just as the weekdays prepare for Shabbos.