Daas as both cleaving and refining

במד' אשא דעי משמש ב' לשונות לשון שירה ולשון שבר.

In the Midrash: "I will lift up my knowledge from afar" (Iyov 36:3) — the word "esa" serves two meanings, a language of song and a language of breaking.

The Sefas Emes notes that the very same word can carry opposite tones — uplift and shattering — and this duality is the theme of the piece: knowledge (daas) both elevates and breaks down.

מפלתן של רשעים ושבחן של צדיקים משבחין לשמו של א"א ע"ה שבא מרחוק משבחין לשמו של הקב"ה שהיינו רחוקים וקרבנו לו כו'.

The downfall of the resha'im and the praise of the tzaddikim — they praise the name of Avraham Avinu, alav hashalom, who came from afar; they praise the name of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, that we were far and He drew us near to Him, etc.

Both the falling away of the wicked and the rising of the righteous serve to glorify Hashem; Avraham's coming "from afar" models how Bnei Yisrael, though once distant, were brought close.

הענין הוא כמ"ש מתחלה עע"ז היו אבותינו ועכשיו קרבנו המקום ב"ה לעבודתו.

The matter is as we say: "At first our forefathers were idol-worshippers, and now the Omnipresent, blessed is He, has drawn us near to His service."

This is the movement from distance to closeness — the Haggadah's account of how our origins were in avodah zarah yet we were drawn into avodas Hashem.

וכ"כ ואבדיל אתכם מן העמים להיות לי.

And so it is written: "And I have separated you from the nations to be Mine" (Vayikra 20:26).

The drawing-near is also a separation — Bnei Yisrael are set apart from the nations specifically in order to belong to Hashem.

והבדלה זו מקוים גם בכל נפש מישראל.

And this separation is fulfilled also in every individual soul of Yisrael.

What is true of the nation as a whole is realized in each Jew — every neshamah undergoes its own havdalah (separation) to Hashem.

שע"י המילה נבדל מן כלל הנפשות להיות מיוחד לשמו ית'.

For through the milah (circumcision) one is separated from the general body of souls to be designated for His name, may He be blessed.

The bris milah is the concrete act of separation that sets a Jew apart and dedicates him to Hashem.

וכמ"ש מי יתן טהור מטמא אברהם מתרח ישראל מאומות עו"ג.

As it is written: "Who can produce a pure thing from an impure?" (Iyov 14:4) — Avraham from Terach, Yisrael from the idol-worshipping nations.

The pasuk hints at how purity is drawn out of impurity: Avraham emerged from his idolatrous father, and Yisrael emerged from the nations.

והוא בכח המילה שהראשון הי' א"א ע"ה.

And this is through the power of the milah, for the first to receive it was Avraham Avinu, alav hashalom.

The capacity to draw the pure out of the impure flows from the bris milah, which began with Avraham.

שנתברר ונבדל מן האומות.

For he was refined and separated from the nations.

Avraham's milah was the moment of his clarification (berur) and separation, becoming the prototype for all his descendants.

וכל איש ישראל צריך לומר מתי יגיעו מעשי למעשי אבותי.

And every Jew must say: "When will my deeds reach the deeds of my forefathers?"

Each person is meant to aspire to the level of the Avos, striving to bring his own avodah up to theirs.

וזה אשא דעי למרחוק.

And this is "I will lift up my knowledge from afar."

That aspiration — reaching back toward the distant heights of the Avos — is the meaning of lifting one's daas "from afar."

והדעת כולל ב' ענינים אלו כמ"ש ז"ל אם אין דעת הבדלה מנין.

And daas (knowledge) includes these two matters, as Chazal said: "If there is no daas, from where comes havdalah (the separation in prayer)?"

Daas itself contains both aspects — it is what enables one to distinguish and separate, the very faculty Chazal link to havdalah.

ובמשנה איתא אם אין דעת.

And in the Mishnah it is taught: "If there is no daas..."

The Sefas Emes brings the parallel teaching of the Mishnah on the centrality of daas.

אין בינה שהדעת מבדיל ומסיר הערלה.

"...there is no binah (understanding)" — for daas separates and removes the orlah (the foreskin/spiritual barrier).

Daas does the work of the milah on a spiritual plane: it strips away the orlah, the coarse covering that blocks the inner light.

ואח"כ מעלה את האדם לדביקות עליון והכל בכח המילה בשמיני.

And afterward it raises the person to a supernal deveikus (cleaving) — and all this is through the power of the milah on the eighth day.

After removing the barrier, daas lifts a person to cleave to Hashem; this whole process is rooted in the bris on the eighth day (the theme of parshas Tazria).

וע"ז רמז מי יתן טהור מטמא.

And to this alludes "Who can produce a pure thing from an impure?"

The pasuk hints at this two-stage work — removing impurity and then elevating to purity.

ומי יעלה לנו השמימה.

And: "Who will ascend for us to the heavens?" (Devarim 30:12).

The continuation hints at the second stage — the elevation to deveikus, the ascent heavenward that daas makes possible.

וכן בש"ק שהוא נותן דעת באיש ישראל כמ"ש לדעת כי אני ה' מקדישכם.

And so too on Shabbos Kodesh, which gives daas to a Jew, as it is written: "to know that I am Hashem who sanctifies you" (Shemos 31:13).

Shabbos itself is a wellspring of daas, instilling in each Jew the awareness that Hashem sanctifies him.

יש בו קידוש והבדלה זכור ושמור.

It contains kiddush and havdalah, "Zachor" (remember) and "Shamor" (guard).

Shabbos embodies the same two movements of daas — sanctification and separation — mirrored in its two commands, Zachor and Shamor.

השבתת מלאכה.

The cessation of melachah (forbidden labor).

One aspect of Shabbos is the negative — desisting from work, which corresponds to "Shamor" and to separation.

ושביתה ומנוחה ודביקות אל השורש.

And rest and tranquility and deveikus to the root.

The positive aspect is the menuchah of Shabbos, which brings one to cleave to one's spiritual source — corresponding to "Zachor" and to elevation.

ולכן כ' הדעת טוב ורע על ב' בחי' הנ"ל.

Therefore it is written "the daas of good and evil" — corresponding to the two aspects mentioned above.

The Torah's phrase "knowledge of good and evil" reflects the dual nature of daas: it can bind one to the good or break down toward the bad.

כי דעת לשון דביקות.

For "daas" connotes cleaving.

The word daas, as in "Adam knew Chava," denotes intimate connection and bonding — this is its uplifting sense.

וגם לשון שבירה כמו ויודע בהם כו' אנשי סוכות.

And it also connotes breaking, as in "and he broke (vayoda) with them... the men of Sukkos" (Shoftim 8:16).

The same root can mean shattering — recalling the opening point that "esa de'i" is both song and breaking; daas carries both forces.

[ולכן יש בו חסדים וגבורות]

[Therefore it contains both chassadim (kindnesses) and gevuros (severities).]

Because daas spans cleaving and breaking, it holds within it both the merciful and the severe spiritual forces.

וכשהנשמה באה לעולם הזה ומתלבשת בטבע הגוף מתערב באדם פסולת.

And when the neshamah comes into this world and clothes itself in the nature of the body, dross becomes mixed into the person.

Descending into the physical body introduces an admixture of waste — the impurity that must later be refined away.

כמ"ש א"א לפתיחת הקבר בלי דם וצריך להתברר אח"כ שיוכל לקבל הארת הנשמה:

As they said: "It is impossible for the opening of the womb (lit. the grave) without blood" — and one must afterward be refined so that he can receive the illumination of the neshamah.

Just as birth necessarily involves blood and impurity (the theme of Tazria's laws), the soul's entry into the body brings impurity that must be clarified through avodah so the inner light of the neshamah can shine through.

Summary: Daas is a double-edged force — it both cleaves a person to Hashem and breaks down impurity. Beginning with Avraham's milah, the Jew is separated from the nations and dedicated to Hashem; the bris on the eighth day, and Shabbos with its Zachor and Shamor, both work to strip away the orlah and elevate the soul. Because the neshamah descends into a body mixed with dross, the lifelong avodah is to refine that impurity so the inner light of the neshamah can shine.