Eyes

Adam and Chava were born with inside eyes that saw the G-dly essence of everything in creation, the seichel and chiyus sheb’chol davar. They had the ability to contemplate the Divine intelligence and vital energy in all phenomena. They saw an inside world, olam p’nimi, with einayim p’nimiyim. They were living the life of shleimus. Until they listened to the atzas hanachash — the first outside message in history. They listened… sinned… and lost their gifted ability to see life in its original intended form, with it’s pure and G-dly essence.

Then the pasuk says: vatipakachnah einei sh’neihem — they experienced a reopening of their eyes, seeing a new world on the outside. They were now seeing an external world of body and concealment. No longer were they able to see the world with pure eyes and transparent clarity, as they once did, before they listened to the messages and twisted advice of the atzas hanachash.

We have all heard these types of messages throughout life. By identifying the messages in our life and removing them, we bring a tikkun, fixing, to the cheit of Adam Harishon, which will allow us to experience a taste of clear vision.

We find that Adam was warned not to eat from the eitz hadaas. The question begs to be asked: Why does the pasuk proclaim that the day they will eat from the forbidden fruit they will die? “Bayom acholcho mimenu mos tamus — the day you eat from the eitz hadaas, you will surely die.” Yet, we don’t see that Adam and Chava died after they ate from the eitz hadaas.

The Baal Shem Tov explains that indeed, an aspect of their life did die. They lost their chiyus, the clear sense of mission they experienced before the cheit. Their ability to see the p’nimiyus of the bri’ah with inside eyes was now gone.

Life on the outside is bland, lacking real meaning and inside purpose. Adam and Chava were left in confusion as the deeper Emes became concealed and hidden. This carries on until today; people feel a searching and longing for a higher purpose, to see real meaning in their lives.

Our goal is to live a life of passion, full of chiyus and alive with meaning. This takes special avodah p’nimis, inner work. Our tikkun of the cheit of Adam Harishon is to “vatipakachnah eineinu — reopen our eyes.” To see with einayim p’nimiyim a world of chiyus, passion, and excitement, and how Hashem conducts our every moment, with hashgachah shleimah miduyekes.

Everything has an outside level and an inside level, a body and soul, the guf hadavar and the actual chiyus that’s m’haveh and m’chayeh it. Everyone is trying to find their place in life, both on an outside level as well as on an inside level. The steps to the Chaim Toivim will guide you to see your deeper dimension, your inner essence, chiyus, and the real life force in yourself and the world. For as deep as you can see into yourself, that is as deep as you can see into the world around you.