Two covenants: refining body and soul

במד' אחור וקדם צרתני ותשת עלי כפכה כו'.

In the Midrash: "Back and front You have formed me, and You have laid Your hand (kapecha) upon me," etc. (Tehillim 139:5).

The Sefas Emes opens with the pasuk that describes a person as fashioned from two directions, and he will read deep meaning into the word "kapecha" (Your hand).

כדאיתא וייצר בשני יודין יצירה בעוה"ז ולעוה"ב וזה כפכה כי כ' היא ב' יודין.

As Chazal teach, "vayyitzer" (and He formed) is written with two yuds, alluding to a creation for olam hazeh (this world) and for olam haba (the world to come); and this is "kapecha," for the letter kaf (whose numerical value is twenty) is two yuds (ten plus ten).

Man was fashioned with a double creation — a body fit for this world and a soul fit for the next — and the doubled yud hints to these two dimensions.

ויש עשרה מלמעלה למטה ועשרה מלמטה למעלה.

There is a "ten" that runs from above to below, and a "ten" that rises from below to above.

One avodah draws holiness downward from Hashem into the person, while the other elevates the person upward toward Hashem.

והם הב' בריתות שיש לאיש ישראל מילה ושבת ומילה ותפילין כדאיתא בהקדמת התקוני זוהר דרמז לב' יודין.

These are the two covenants (brisos) of a Yid — milah and Shabbos, milah and tefillin — as brought in the introduction to the Tikkunei Zohar, which hints to the two yuds.

The mitzvos given as a "bris" come in pairs that correspond to these two movements of holiness, downward and upward.

והם בחי' הגוף והנשמה שצריך איש ישראל לתקן הגוף לזכות להעלותו עד מעלה העשירית והוא בכח ברית מילה החתום בגוף.

They correspond to the body and the neshamah: a Yid must refine the body in order to merit raising it up to the tenth rung, and this is accomplished through the power of bris milah which is sealed in the body itself.

Bris milah is the avodah of refining the physical body so that it too can ascend to holiness from below.

והוא עדות שבני ישראל הם בני עוה"ב שגם הגוף עתיד להיות מתוקן.

This is the testimony that Bnei Yisrael are children of olam haba — that even the body is destined to be perfected.

The sign of milah engraved in the flesh testifies that ultimately the body itself will be elevated and rectified.

ולכן רמזו עליו מי יעלה לנו השמימה ר"ת מילה.

Therefore they hinted to it in "Who will ascend for us to heaven (mi ya'aleh lanu ha-shamaymah)" — whose initial letters spell milah.

The very word for ascending to heaven is encoded in milah, showing that milah is the means of elevating the body heavenward.

והרמז שצריכין להתעלות להיות בבחי' השמים שעתידין הגופים להזדכך כמו הנשמ"ה גי' השמימ"ה.

The hint is that we must elevate ourselves to the aspect of "shamayim" (heaven), for the bodies are destined to become refined like the neshamah — and indeed "ha-neshamah" has the same numerical value as "ha-shamaymah."

In the future even the physical body will become as pure and transparent as the soul, fully fit for the World to Come.

ויש עשרה מלמעלה למטה והיא ברית שבת שבו יורדת הנשמה יתירה שצריך איש ישראל לזכות להמשיך הארת הנשמה מלמעלה למטה.

And there is a "ten" from above to below — this is the bris of Shabbos, on which the neshamah yeseirah (the extra soul) descends, for a Yid must merit to draw down the radiance of the neshamah from above to below.

Shabbos is the opposite movement: rather than ascending from below, an extra holiness descends from Above as a gift.

והוא באמת מתנה טובה שאינו בכח המעשה.

And it is truly a precious gift, one that does not come through the power of human action.

The neshamah yeseirah of Shabbos is not earned by one's deeds but is given freely from Above.

ולכן כל המעשים בטלים בשבת והוא יומא דנשמתין.

That is why all melachah (creative work) ceases on Shabbos, for it is the "day of souls" (yoma di-neshamtin).

Since Shabbos holiness comes from Above and not through action, doing is set aside and the day belongs to the soul.

וכמו כן התפילין הארת הנשמה הנמשכת על האדם ע"י מצות תפילין.

Similarly, tefillin are the radiance of the neshamah drawn down upon a person through the mitzvah of tefillin.

Like Shabbos, tefillin draw an illumination of the soul from Above onto the person.

ועל ב' אלו נאמר והתקדשתם מצד מעשיכם בחי' ברית מילה מלמטה למעלה.

Concerning these two it is said, "And you shall sanctify yourselves" — from the side of your deeds, the aspect of bris milah, from below to above.

"Sanctify yourselves" refers to the avodah we do from below, like milah, working our way upward.

והייתם קדושים מלמעלה למטה כנ"ל.

"And you shall be holy" — from above to below, as explained above.

"You shall be holy" refers to the holiness that descends upon us from Above, as with Shabbos and tefillin.

ובאמת מוכן לכל איש ישראל חלק בקדושה שלמעלה רק שא"י להמשיך עליו עד שמתקדש מלמטה וכפי מה שמקדש עצמו כך נמשך עליו חלק הקדושה המיוחד אליו.

In truth, a portion in the higher holiness is prepared for every Yid; he simply cannot draw it down upon himself until he sanctifies himself from below — and according to the measure that he sanctifies himself, so is drawn down upon him his own designated portion of holiness.

The heavenly holiness is already reserved for each person, but it descends only in proportion to the self-sanctification one achieves from below.

זה פי' אחור וקדם צרתני.

This is the meaning of "Back and front You have formed me."

The "two formations" of the pasuk are precisely these two avodos — drawing down from Above and rising up from below.

ונוחל ב' עולמות כו':

And thereby one inherits both worlds, etc.

By uniting both movements, a Yid takes his portion in both this world and the World to Come.

Summary: Man is fashioned with a doubled creation — body and soul, this world and the next — hinted in the two yuds of "vayyitzer." Through milah a Yid refines the body and ascends from below, while through Shabbos and tefillin the radiance of the neshamah descends from Above. Holiness from Above is prepared for everyone, but it is drawn down only in proportion to how one sanctifies himself from below, and by joining the two a Yid inherits both worlds.