Nowadays, so many people are drowning in Western culture, where physical beauty takes the front seat – or the only seat – in life. But to fully understand the present-day challenge of beauty, we must understand the spiritual concept of beauty in all of its depth. To do so, let us review the spiritual concept of beauty, tracing it back to the creation of Man before Adam HaRishon’s sin.
Adam HaRishon
Before Adam sinned, he looked nothing like you or I do today. When we look at one another, all we see is flesh and bone, but if you looked at Adam before he sinned, his appearance was angelic, transcendent, and luminescent. The Midrash says that he wore kosnos or (skin of light). When you looked at Adam, you didn’t see his body; you saw Adam himself: his neshamah, his soul. When you look at a light bulb, all you see is radiant luminescence; only if you look closely can you make out the surface of the bulb. The same was true regarding Adam: He was luminescent; only if you looked very closely could you just make out his physical body. His body was transparent, with the outside loyally and fully reflecting his inner self. This is true beauty, where the inner and outer melt into a oneness, where the physical perfectly reflects the inner spirituality, where the physical projects something much deeper than itself. Beauty is the harmony and synthesis of different components, resulting in something infinitely greater than the sum of its parts.
When Adam sinned, however, the world fell, and Adam’s body fell, as well. The physical no longer revealed the spiritual; it now hid it instead. Now, when we look at each other, we don’t see our true selves; all we see is a physical body. What was once light is now darkness. People can’t see your inner world – your thoughts, your consciousness, your emotions, your soul; all they see is your external body. Now, in order to reveal yourself to other people, you must actively use the physical to reveal the spiritual; only through your words, actions, facial expressions, and body language can people gain a glimpse into who you truly are. The body used to be incandescent and reveal; now it only hides. It is up to us to reveal what lies inside.
Sarah Imeinu
After the sin of Adam HaRishon, genuine beauty became elusive, found only in a select few individuals. Sarah Imeinu was one of the few who achieved this lofty feat. We know Sarah was physically beautiful, i.e., that her beauty was not just of an ethereal, spiritual nature. When Sarah and Avraham descended to Mitzrayim, the Mitzrim, and even Pharaoh himself, desired her (B’reishis 12:14-15; see Rashi). The Egyptians were steeped in immorality, interested only in beauty that ran skin deep. However, we know that Sarah Imeinu was immensely spiritual, as well – that she reached the loftiest of spiritual levels. (See Rashi, B’reishis 23:1.)
At the end of Parshas Noach, Rashi (B’reishis 11:29) explains that Sarah was also called “Yiskah.” A name always reflects essence, so we must ponder the meaning of this name and what it reveals about Sarah Imeinu. (The Hebrew word for name (sheim) shares the same root as the word for soul (neshamah), because a person’s name reflects his or her very essence.) “Yiskah” means transparent, and Sarah’s true beauty lay in her transparency. Her inner beauty completely permeated and was loyally reflected through her physical body. Genuine beauty is embodied in transparency, where the physical body reflects the inner, spiritual beauty, something infinitely greater than anything external. True beauty is oneness, where the physical and spiritual melt into a oneness, where the physical doesn’t hide the inner self but reveals it.
Tz’nius
One of the most misunderstood ideas in Judaism is the concept of tz’nius (modesty), especially in regards to women. Many think that tz’nius means to hide, that the ideal is not to be seen. However, there is an infinitely deeper approach to tz’nius. In this age, beauty has been corrupted. The term “beauty” generally refers to outer beauty, a surface beauty that distracts from and hides the inner self. Physical beauty is neither good nor bad; it is merely a vessel with the potential to be used for good or bad. While our physical body is immensely valuable, our true self is our neshamah – our mind and consciousness. Our inner world, thoughts, ideas, choices, beliefs, midos, and emotions are the deepest and most genuine parts of our “self.” True beauty is when the physical serves as a vessel that expresses one’s true self, his or her inner essence, into the world.
The focus must always be on the inner beauty as the ikar – the essence. The purpose of tz’nius is not to hide you, but to reveal you! The true you. Tz’nius shifts the focus from the external trappings to the actual self, the neshamah, which lies beneath the surface and illuminates the physical vessel. True beauty requires a beautiful root and core, and the physical must then be used to project that inner beauty outwards.
Ideal Marriage
When the Torah discusses the prohibition against illicit relationships, these relationships are generally referred to as gilui arayos, literally translated as “revealing one’s nakedness.” What does this mean? Why does the Torah refer to a forbidden relationship in such a manner?
An ideal marriage consists of two people who endlessly break down the barriers and walls between them, creating ever deeper levels of existential and spiritual connection and oneness. Physical connection is part of a spiritual relationship, and when used correctly, it is uplifted to something transcendent. While a true marriage relationship creates a transcendent bond, an animalistic relationship consists only of a physical, surface connection, devoid of anything deeper. It has no purpose or meaning, no direction, and no transcendent element. When one commits an act of gilui arayos, he or she proclaims that the intimate realm is nothing more than a means for physical pleasure. In doing so, one reveals that he is merely an animal, a physical being, lacking connection to the spiritual and to that which is higher. By entering into an illicit relationship, one expresses his view that he is purely a physical being – that his body is all that he is. As a result, by revealing his or her body to the world, they are revealing their “nakedness,” i.e., that they are merely a piece of flesh and nothing more. They have self-identified as animals, physical casings that do not reflect their neshamos, who do not wish to use their bodis to reflect anything higher. This is the ultimate shame, which is why the Torah repeatedly refers to gilui arayos as an act of shame (See Vayikra 18:8,10).
A Journey of Ascension
There are always two levels of reality: the surface level and the deeper, spiritual level. The surface is meant to reflect the spiritual, reveal it, and emanate its truth and beauty. But often we struggle, we forget, and we get caught up in the deception that the surface is all that there is. But even when we fail and even when we fall, there is always hope and there is always a path back to our true selves. This is the message of life. To strive to see more, feel more, learn more, and become more.
May we all be inspired to not only see past the surface, but to then reveal that truth through the surface – to live holistic lives of truth, spiritual beauty, and true oneness.
Rabbi Shmuel Reichman is the author of the bestselling book, The Journey to Your Ultimate Self, which serves as an inspiring gateway into deeper Jewish thought. He is an international speaker, educator, and the CEO of Self-Mastery Academy. After obtaining his BA from Yeshiva University, he received s’micha from RIETS, a master’s degree in education, a master’s degree in Jewish Thought, and then spent a year studying at Harvard. He is currently pursuing a PhD at UChicago. To invite Rabbi Reichman to speak in your community or to enjoy more of his deep and inspiring content, visit his website: ShmuelReichman.com.
