Man as the purpose and completion of creation

במד' אחור וקדם צרתני כו'.

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

The piece opens on the verse about man being formed "back and front," which the Midrash connects to man's place as both last and first in creation.

עיקר היצירה הוא האדם היינו בנ"י אתם קרוים אדם ולא שאר עמין עעכו"ם י) דכ' עם זו יצרתי.

The essence of the creation (yetzirah) is man — that is, Bnei Yisrael, "you are called 'adam' and not the other nations" — as it is written, "this people I formed" (Yeshayahu 43:21).

The true purpose of creation is "adam," which Chazal apply specifically to Bnei Yisrael. The pasuk "this people I formed for Myself" marks Israel as the formed center of creation.

הגם כי הכל פעל ועשה.

Even though He made and fashioned everything.

Hashem of course created the entire world — but the Sefas Emes distinguishes between general creating and the essential "yetzirah."

אבל עיקר היצירה הוא עם זו.

But the essence of the yetzirah is this people.

While all was created, the central act of "forming" was aimed at Bnei Yisrael — they are the goal toward which the rest is oriented.

כי כל היצירה של השאר הי' בעבורו כמ"ש כל העולם לא נברא אלא לצוות לזה.

For all the forming of the rest was for his sake, as it says, "the whole world was created only to accompany this one" (cf. Berachos 6b).

Everything else was formed to serve and accompany man; the rest of creation exists for his sake.

ולכן נברא באחרונה שהי' הכל הכנה אליו.

And therefore he was created last, since everything was a preparation for him.

Man's being created last reflects that all the prior creation was groundwork laid in advance for his arrival.

וכדי שיכנס לשבת מיד.

And so that he would enter into Shabbos immediately.

Man was created at the close of the sixth day so that he could step straight into Shabbos — the goal and rest of creation.

פי' דכ' וירא אלקים כו' כל אשר עשה והנה טוב מאוד דרשו טוב מאוד זה אדם.

Meaning, as it is written, "And Hashem saw… all that He had made, and behold it was very good" (Bereishis 1:31) — Chazal expounded "very good" — this is man.

The "very good" that completed creation refers to adam; man is the element that made the whole "very good" rather than merely "good."

פי' שהשגחתו ית' על כלל הבריאה הוא האדם שנק' עולם קטן ומזה נעשה השבת שהיא הנייחא שיש לו ית' כביכול ע"י האדם שיש בו דעת להכיר את בוראו.

Meaning, His hashgachah (providence) over the entirety of creation is man, who is called a "small world" (olam katan); and from this Shabbos comes about, which is the "rest" that He, as it were, has — through man, who possesses da'as (understanding) to recognize his Creator.

Hashem's providence focuses on man, the microcosm who contains all of creation. Shabbos is the "rest" or satisfaction Hashem has, so to speak, through man — the one being with the da'as to recognize his Creator and give creation its purpose.

והוא הצורה והשלימות של הבריאה.

And he is the form (tzurah) and the completion of creation.

Man is the "form" — the defining shape and perfection — that brings all of creation to completion.

ובאמת שמאחר שכולן נבראו בשבילו ממילא כל זכותם הולכין עמו.

And in truth, since they were all created for his sake, consequently all their merit goes along with him.

Because the whole world was made for man, all the worth of creation is credited to him and accompanies him.

לכן נמצא ג"כ במד' אדם ובהמה תושיע ה'.

Therefore we also find in the Midrash, "man and beast You save, Hashem" (Tehillim 36:7).

The Midrash on this verse links the saving of man and beast together, which the Sefas Emes now explains.

אדם בזכות בהמה.

Man is saved in the merit of the beast.

The Midrash reads it that man may be saved through the merit of the animals — a seemingly puzzling idea that he addresses next.

וז"ש לא זכה אומרים לו יתוש קדמך.

And this is the meaning of "if he did not merit, they say to him: the gnat preceded you" (Sanhedrin 38a).

If a person fails to live up to his purpose, he is told that even a gnat was created before him — a humbling reminder that, unrealized, he ranks below the lowest creature.

וי"ל דהכל אמת כי בודאי קודם שמוציא אדם השלימות שלו מכח אל הפועל.

And it can be said that both are true: certainly, before a person brings his perfection (sheleimus) from potential into actuality.

The two statements — that all is for man, yet a gnat precedes him — are both true depending on the stage. The first stage is before a person actualizes his potential perfection.

הרי כל הברואים ראוין לחסד יותר ממנו שמוטל עליו לעשות רצון בוראו וניזון בכלל כל הבריאה ואח"כ כשבא אל השלימות איגלאי מילתא למפרע שאדרבא הכל הכנה אליו:

then all the creatures are more deserving of kindness than he, for upon him rests the obligation to do the will of his Creator, while he is sustained along with all of creation; and afterward, when he reaches his perfection, the matter becomes revealed retroactively that, on the contrary, everything was a preparation for him.

Until a person fulfills his duty to do ratzon Hashem, the other creatures — who already fulfill their purpose — are more deserving, and he merely lives off creation like the rest. But once he actualizes his sheleimus, it becomes clear in retrospect that all along everything had been prepared for his sake.

Summary: The essence of creation is "adam" — Bnei Yisrael — for whom the entire world was formed as preparation, which is why man was created last and stepped straight into Shabbos. As the microcosm with the da'as to recognize his Creator, man is the "very good" and the very form and completion of creation, and all its merit accompanies him. Yet this is conditional: before a person actualizes his potential perfection, even a gnat "precedes" him and the other creatures are more deserving, since he has not yet done ratzon Hashem. Only once he reaches his sheleimus does it become revealed, retroactively, that everything was indeed prepared for his sake.