Sifting good from evil after the sin

במד' אשא דעי כו'.

In the Midrash: "I will carry my knowledge afar [and to my Maker I will ascribe righteousness]" (Iyov 36:3).

The Sefas Emes opens with the Midrash on this verse from Iyov, which it reads as Elihu's resolve to justify Hashem's ways.

לשון שבח על שבחן של צדיקים לשון שבר על מפלתן של רשעים כו'.

[The Midrash explains:] an expression of praise (shevach) for the praiseworthiness of the tzaddikim, and an expression of breaking (shever) for the downfall of the resha'im.

The Midrash hears two meanings in the word "dei/dai": "shevach" (praise) for the righteous and "shever" (breakage) for the wicked — two opposite outcomes within one word.

כי הנה ע"י חטא אכילת עה"ד טו"ר נתערב פסולת בדעת שצריך בירור.

For behold, through the sin of eating from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil (eitz ha-da'as tov va-ra), waste (pesoles) became mixed into da'as (knowledge/awareness), which requires sifting (berur).

Adam's sin intermingled good and evil within human da'as itself, so that now every perception contains a mixture of truth and "pesoles" that must be sorted and clarified.

שלולי החטא לא הי' בלידה טומאה.

For were it not for the sin, there would be no impurity (tumah) associated with birth.

This explains the parsha's theme: the tumah of childbirth (Tazria) is itself a consequence of the original mixing of good and evil introduced by the sin.

אכן לבנ"י ניתן התורה ומצות שידעו להבדיל בין טוב לרע ולהעלות הדעת טוב.

However, to Bnei Yisrael the Torah and mitzvos were given, so that they would know how to distinguish between good and evil, and to elevate the good da'as.

The remedy for the mixture is Torah and mitzvos, which empower Bnei Yisrael to separate good from evil and lift up the good portion of knowledge.

ולשבר דיעה רעה.

And to break the evil perception (dei'ah ra'ah).

The flip side of elevating the good is shattering the evil — the "shever" mentioned in the Midrash regarding the resha'im.

בבחי' מ"ע ול"ת.

This corresponds to the aspects of mitzvos asei (positive commandments) and mitzvos lo sa'aseh (prohibitions).

Elevating the good corresponds to the active mitzvos; breaking the evil corresponds to the prohibitions — the two arms of avodah.

סור מרע ועשה טוב.

"Turn away from evil and do good" (Tehillim 34:15).

The two correspond to the verse's two clauses: "sur me-ra" (turn from evil) is breaking the evil, "asei tov" (do good) is elevating the good.

ז"ש לפועלי אתן צדק שלא להרהר על הרע שנמצא בעולם.

This is the meaning of "to my Maker I will ascribe righteousness" — not to harbor doubts about the evil found in the world.

Elihu's declaration teaches that one must justify Hashem and not question the presence of evil in the world, since that evil is a product of the sin, not a flaw in creation.

כי הכל בא ע"י החטא.

For it all came about through the sin.

All the evil and impurity in the world trace back to the original sin, not to Hashem's design.

ואדרבא יש לנו לשבח איתו ית' כמו שסיים המדרש שהיינו רחוקים וקירבנו אליו.

On the contrary, we have cause to praise Him, may He be blessed, as the Midrash concludes — that we were far and He drew us close to Him.

Rather than complain, we should offer praise: Hashem took us from distance and brought us near, the "shevach" aspect of the verse.

כמ"ש מתחילה עע"ז היו אבותינו כו'.

As it is said, "In the beginning our forefathers were worshippers of idolatry (avodah zarah)…" (Haggadah / Yehoshua 24:2).

The Haggadah's account that our ancestors began as idolaters illustrates how far we once were before Hashem drew us close.

וכן בגלות מצרים שהוציאנו הש"י ובירר אוכל מתוך פסולת.

And so too in the galus of Mitzrayim, that Hashem brought us out and sifted the food from the waste.

Yetzias Mitzrayim was an act of "berur" — separating the precious (Bnei Yisrael) from the dross of Egypt, a refinement parallel to separating good from evil within da'as.

כמ"ש במד' בפסוק ואבדיל אתכם מן העמים.

As it is said in the Midrash on the verse "and I have set you apart from the nations" (Vayikra 20:26).

This verse, expounded by the Midrash, expresses that very act of separation by which Hashem distinguished Bnei Yisrael from the nations.

בורר וחוזר ובורר.

[Hashem] sifts, and sifts again.

The Midrash describes a repeated process of refinement — a first sorting followed by a further sorting, since clarification is gradual.

ומכח זה שבאנו מרחוק נמצא עוד פסולת שצריך בירור.

And because we came from afar, there still remains waste (pesoles) that requires sifting.

Having originated in a state of distance and mixture, some residue of "pesoles" clings to us still and must be continually refined.

ולכן וטמאה ז' ימים.

And therefore, "she shall be impure seven days" (Vayikra 12:2).

The seven days of impurity after birth express this lingering residue that needs to be sifted out before purity is restored.

ומקודם כ' והתקדשתם כו'.

And beforehand it is written, "and you shall sanctify yourselves [and be holy]" (Vayikra 11:44).

The end of the previous parsha calls us to sanctify ourselves first, which the Sefas Emes will tie to the dynamic of human initiative below drawing holiness from above.

פי' כמ"ש רש"י ז"ל אדם מקדש עצמו מלמטה מקדשין אותו מלמעלה.

The meaning, as Rashi explains: when a person sanctifies himself from below, they sanctify him from above.

Rashi teaches the principle of reciprocity: human effort to become holy "below" elicits a corresponding sanctification granted from Heaven "above."

והוא כמ"ש ז"ל אשה מזרעת תחלה יולדת זכר.

And this is like the teaching of Chazal: when the woman "sows seed" first, she gives birth to a male.

The Gemara's statement about conception (linked to the parsha's opening words "ishah ki sazria") becomes a symbol: the "lower" initiative produces an elevated result.

ואיתא בספרים הרמז שצריך להיות מקודם אתערותא דלתתא ע"ש.

And it is brought in the sefarim that the hint is: there must first be an "awakening from below" (is'arusa di'letata) — see there.

The seforim read the verse as alluding to the necessity of human-initiated arousal "from below" as the precondition for the Divine response from above.

וז"ש במד' אחור וקדם כו' זכה נוחל עוה"ז ועוה"ב כו'.

This is what the Midrash means: "Back and front You have formed me" (Tehillim 139:5) — if one merits, he inherits this world and the World to Come.

The Midrash on "achor va-kedem" (back and front) teaches that a person spans two dimensions, and by meriting he inherits both this world and the next.

פי' או"ק הוא בחי' סור מרע ועשה טוב.

The explanation: "achor" and "kedem" (back and front) correspond to the aspects of "turn away from evil" and "do good."

"Back" (achor) maps to turning from evil and "front" (kedem) to doing good — the same dual avodah introduced earlier.

שצריכין לברר הפסולת והוא בחי' אחור והוא עבודת ימי המעשה.

For one must sift out the waste, which is the aspect of "back" (achor), and this is the avodah of the weekdays.

The task of separating out the pesoles — turning from evil — is the "achor" dimension, the gritty work of the ordinary weekdays.

ואח"כ להעלות הטוב בחי' קדם.

And afterward, to elevate the good — the aspect of "front" (kedem).

Once the evil is cleared away, one ascends to the positive work of elevating the good, the "kedem" dimension.

ומ"ש במדרש אתה קדמת לכל מ"ב אין הפי' שהוא בלבד מתעלה רק שהאדם צריך להעלות כל הברואים ולהביא מעשה בראשית לבחי' קדם.

And what the Midrash says, "You preceded all the works of Creation" — the meaning is not that he alone is elevated, but rather that the person must elevate all the creatures and bring the whole of Creation (ma'aseh bereishis) to the aspect of "kedem."

Man's primacy is not for his own sake; his mission is to lift up all of creation and bring the entire world to its "front"/forward state of fulfilled good.

ובנ"י מוכנים לזה בכח מצות התורה להבדיל ולזכך הכל מן הפסולת כדאיתא במשנה רצה הקב"ה לזכות את ישראל כו' הרבה להם תורה ומצות פירשנו במ"א שזה הזכי' להעלות ולתקן הכל באמצעיות האדם.

And Bnei Yisrael are equipped for this through the power of the mitzvos of the Torah — to distinguish and to refine everything from the waste — as it is taught in the Mishnah: "The Holy One wished to grant merit to Yisrael, therefore He gave them abundant Torah and mitzvos" (Makkos 3:16). We have explained elsewhere that this "granting of merit" means to elevate and rectify everything by means of the person.

The abundance of mitzvos is precisely the tool given to Bnei Yisrael for this refining mission. "Granting merit" (le'zakos) is reread as "to purify" — the means by which a Jew uplifts and rectifies all of creation.

[וכמ"ש במ"א פי' דבריהם ז"ל שנתפרשה תורתו של אדם אחר תורת בהמה.

[As we explained elsewhere the meaning of Chazal's words, that "the Torah of man was set forth after the Torah of the animal."

He cites Chazal's observation that the laws of human purity (Tazria) follow the laws of animals (the end of Shemini), and offers a deeper reading of why.

שעבודת ימי המעשה בבירור התערובות היא נק' תורת בהמה חי'.

For the avodah of the weekdays — in sifting the mixtures — is called the "Torah of the animal/beast."

The lower work of sorting good from evil amid the mundane week is termed the "Torah of the beast," the necessary groundwork done within the physical, animal realm.

וע"ז אמרו פתח בבראשית משום כח מעשיו הגיד כו'.

And concerning this they said [the Torah] "opened with Bereishis because of 'the power of His deeds He declared [to His people]'" (Tehillim 111:6).

Rashi's reason that the Torah begins with creation — to establish Hashem's "power of His deeds" — is invoked to support that Bnei Yisrael are entrusted with refining the created, natural world.

נחלת גוים שהם בהמה המה להם.

"The inheritance of nations" — for they (the nations) are "beasts" with respect to them.

The verse "to give them the inheritance of nations" reflects that the lower, "animal" world is given over to Bnei Yisrael to refine and elevate.

אבל בשבת הוא בחי' תורת האדם אתם קרוין אדם]:

But on Shabbos it is the aspect of the "Torah of man" — "you are called adam."

While the weekday work of sifting is the "Torah of the beast," Shabbos is the elevated "Torah of man" — the realm of pure good already uplifted, fitting the title "adam" reserved for Bnei Yisrael.

Summary: Since Adam's sin mixed good and evil into human da'as, all impurity — including that of childbirth — stems from that intermingling, not from any flaw in Hashem's world. The Torah and mitzvos empower Bnei Yisrael to "turn from evil and do good": to sift out the pesoles (the "back"/weekday avodah, the "Torah of the beast") and then elevate the good (the "front"/Shabbos avodah, the "Torah of man"). This refining mission, begun through an awakening from below, lets a Jew lift all of creation and bring the world to its rectified, forward state.