Man completes creation through deed, speech, and thought

במד' יצירתו אחר יצירת בהמה חי' כו' תורתו נתפרשה אחר תורת בהמה כו' קילוסו עולה באחרונה ע"ש.

In the Midrash: "his formation (man's) is after the formation of beast and animal… his Torah is set forth after the Torah of the beast… his praise rises up last" — see there.

The Midrash on "Adam ki sazria" notes three ways man comes "last": his creation, the laws of his purity, and his praise. The Sefas Emes will explain why man, the tachlis (purpose), comes at the end.

ענין אלו הג'.

The meaning of these three.

He sets out to explain the deeper significance of these three "lasts" — creation, Torah, and praise.

כי הש"י ברא העולם בבחי' מעשה דיבור מחשבה.

For Hashem created the world through the dimensions of maaseh (deed), dibbur (speech), and machshavah (thought).

Creation contains three ascending levels — action, speech, and thought — and the three "lasts" of man correspond to these.

ויש בכל בריאה אותיות התורה המיוחדים.

And within every created thing there are the particular letters of the Torah.

Every creation was formed through specific osiyos (letters) of the Torah, which are its hidden inner essence.

כמ"ש חז"ל יודע הי' בצלאל לצרף אותיות שנברא בהם שמים וארץ כו'.

As Chazal said: Betzalel knew how to combine the letters with which heaven and earth were created.

Betzalel could build the Mishkan because he grasped the very letters of creation — proof that the Torah's osiyos are embedded in every created thing.

אכן הכל בכוחן של בנ"י שהם עדים על הבורא ית' וצריכין לברר זאת.

However, all of this rests on the power of Bnei Yisrael, who are witnesses to the Creator, and they must clarify and reveal this.

The hidden Torah-letters in creation remain concealed until Bnei Yisrael, as eidim (witnesses) to Hashem, do the avodah of birur — drawing out and revealing the kedushah within everything.

לכן האדם כלול מעליונים ותחתונים.

Therefore man is composed of both upper and lower worlds.

Because man's task is to reveal the Divine within the physical, he was made as a composite of the spiritual and the material, bridging the upper and lower realms.

כמ"ש רש"י פ' בראשית שלא לעשות קנאה ע"ש.

As Rashi writes in Parshas Bereishis, so as not to cause jealousy — see there.

Man was deliberately made of both higher and lower elements so that neither the upper beings nor the lower would feel slighted — he unites them both within himself.

ועיקר אדם ישראל.

And the essential "Adam" is Yisrael.

The true fulfillment of "Adam" — the being who unites all worlds and reveals Hashem — is Bnei Yisrael.

ונק' השולמית מטעם הנ"ל כמ"ש במד' חזית.

And she is called "the Shulamis" for the aforementioned reason, as is brought in the Midrash (on Shir HaShirim).

Knesses Yisrael is called "Shulamis" — from "shalom/shleimus" — because she perfects and unifies all worlds, joining upper and lower into one whole.

וע"י בנ"י ניתקן הבריאה בכל אלה הג' בחינות.

And through Bnei Yisrael the creation is repaired in all these three dimensions.

Bnei Yisrael complete creation on all three levels — maaseh, dibbur, and machshavah — and the three festivals correspond to these.

ביצ"מ נשתנה כל מ"ב והיא בחי' עשי'.

At Yetzias Mitzrayim all of nature was changed, and that is the dimension of asiyah (action/deed).

The Exodus, with its miracles overturning the natural order, was the repair of the realm of maaseh — the level of action.

ונפשות בנ"י נעשו כברי' חדשה כענין גר כקטן שנולד.

And the souls of Bnei Yisrael became like a new creation, like the matter of a convert who is "like a newborn child."

At Yetzias Mitzrayim the neshamos of Bnei Yisrael were reborn entirely, like a ger (convert) who is considered a newly born infant.

וכמ"ש כעובר בבטן אמו היו במצרים.

As it is said, in Mitzrayim they were like a fetus in its mother's womb.

Their state in Egypt was like a fetus awaiting birth; the Exodus was the moment of their "birth" as a people.

והוא גמר היצירה לבנ"י בפרט.

And this was the completion of the formation, specifically for Bnei Yisrael.

Just as man's "formation comes last," the Exodus completed the spiritual formation of Bnei Yisrael as a nation — the realm of maaseh.

וזה חג המצות.

And this is Chag HaMatzos (Pesach).

Pesach, which celebrates the Exodus, is the festival of the dimension of maaseh — the completion of Bnei Yisrael's formation.

אח"כ בשבועות הוא בחי' תורתו נתפרשה.

Afterward, on Shavuos, is the dimension of "his Torah is set forth."

Shavuos, the time of Matan Torah, corresponds to dibbur (speech) and to the second "last" — "his Torah is set forth."

ובסוכות זמן שמחתנו הוא התכלית.

And on Sukkos, "the time of our rejoicing," is the ultimate purpose.

Sukkos, zman simchaseinu, is the final tachlis — corresponding to machshavah and to "his praise rises up last."

הקילוס והשמחה שהוא במחשבה.

The praise and the joy, which are in the dimension of machshavah (thought).

Simchah and shevach (praise) belong to the innermost level of thought — the highest and final dimension, reached on Sukkos.

ואלה הג' בחי' הם נ"ר נשמה.

And these three dimensions are nefesh, ruach, and neshamah.

The three levels — maaseh, dibbur, machshavah — also map onto the soul's three levels: nefesh, ruach, and neshamah.

וגם בכל שבת הג' סעודות דכ' ג"פ היום.

And also on every Shabbos there are the three seudos, regarding which "hayom" (today) is written three times.

The three Shabbos meals, hinted by the threefold "hayom" in the posuk, likewise correspond to these three dimensions.

וגם הג' תפלות ניתקנו ע"ז.

And also the three tefillos were instituted corresponding to this.

The three daily prayers, and the three Amidah formulations of Shabbos, were arranged according to these same three levels.

אתה קדשת כו' תכלית מעשה כו'.

"Atah kidashta…" is the culmination of maaseh (the work of creation).

The Friday-night tefillah "Atah kidashta," which speaks of the completion of creation, corresponds to the level of maaseh.

ישמח משה הוא התורה.

"Yismach Moshe" is the Torah.

The Shabbos-morning tefillah "Yismach Moshe," which speaks of Moshe receiving the Torah, corresponds to the level of dibbur/Torah.

ואתה אחד הוא תכלית הדביקות.

"V'Atah Echad" is the ultimate dveikus (cleaving to Hashem).

The Minchah tefillah "Atah Echad," expressing oneness with Hashem, corresponds to machshavah — the deepest dveikus, the tachlis.

אברהם יגל יצחק ירנן הוא הקילוס כנ"ל.

"Avraham will rejoice, Yitzchak will sing" is the praise, as above.

This phrase of joyous praise corresponds to the highest dimension — the kilus (praise) of machshavah that "rises up last."

[ומעין זה ביאר החסיד יעבץ בתהלים סי' מ"א ע"ש]:

[And along similar lines the Chasid Yaavetz explained in Tehillim, chapter 41 — see there.]

The Sefas Emes notes that the Chasid Yaavetz offers a comparable explanation on Tehillim 41.

Summary: Man — and ultimately Bnei Yisrael — "comes last" in creation, Torah, and praise because his task is to complete creation by revealing the hidden Torah-letters within everything, ascending through the three levels of maaseh, dibbur, and machshavah; these correspond to Pesach, Shavuos, and Sukkos, to nefesh-ruach-neshamah, and to the three Shabbos meals and tefillos.