Prophecy And Israels Wholeness

במדרש הצור תמים פעלו כו' שלא יהי' להם פתחון פה כו'

In the Midrash on the verse, "The Rock, His work is perfect" (Devarim 32:4) and so forth — so that they should have no opening to complain, and so forth.

The piece opens by citing two verses the Midrash draws together — "The Rock, His work is perfect," used to show Bnei Yisrael have no grounds to complain against Hashem.

עוד שם טוב פת חריבה ושלוה בה כו'

Further, there it cites, "Better is a dry crust with tranquility in it" (Mishlei 17:1) and so forth.

The second cited verse praises a dry crust eaten in tranquility over a fine meal eaten amid strife, which the Sfas Emes will explain.

הענין הוא שהקב"ה רצה להראות כי בנ"י הם מיוחדים להנבואה

The matter is that the Holy One, Blessed is He, wished to demonstrate that Bnei Yisrael are uniquely suited to prophecy.

The Holy One, Blessed is He, wanted to make clear that Bnei Yisrael are uniquely fit to receive prophecy.

כי הנביא הוא להוציא מכח אל הפועל כל עבודת הציבור להעלות מעשיהם עד השורש לעשות פירות

For the navi exists to bring forth from potential into actuality all the avodah of the community, to elevate their deeds up to their root, so that they bear fruit.

A navi's role is to take the latent avodah of the community and bring it into actuality, raising their deeds back to their source so they produce spiritual fruit.

והוא מלשון ניב שפתים וכמ"ש נביא מקרבך כו'

And the word navi is from the expression "the fruit (niv) of the lips" (Yeshayahu 57:19), and as it is written, "A navi from your midst" (Devarim 18:15) and so forth.

The very word navi is rooted in 'fruit of the lips,' showing that prophecy is the flowering of speech that emerges from the people.

וכמו שבאדם בפרט שלימות הדיבור תלוי בתיקון כל המעשים כך יוכל להוציא מפיו דברי אלקים חיים כל אחד לפי מה שהוא

Just as with an individual person, the wholeness of speech depends upon the proper rectification of all his deeds — so that he is then able to bring forth from his mouth the words of the living Hashem, each one according to what he is —

For a single person, true and complete speech flows only when his deeds are set right, and then he can utter words of the living Hashem at his own level.

כן בכלל הנביא הוא הבל פיהן של כלל ישראל

so too, in the collective sense, the navi is the very breath of the mouths of the whole of Klal Yisrael.

On a national scale, the navi is the collective exhalation of all of Klal Yisrael — the voice that rises out of their combined avodah.

ובאמת חסר לנו כח הנבואה בגלות כי בנ"י צריכין אל הנביאים וע"ז מתאוננים אותותינו לא ראינו אין עוד נביא כו'

And in truth, we lack the power of prophecy in galus, for Bnei Yisrael have need of the nevi'im, and over this we lament, "We have not seen our signs, there is no longer any navi" (Tehillim 74:9) and so forth.

In galus we lack this prophetic power, and Bnei Yisrael feel its absence keenly, mourning it in the words of Tehillim.

אבל לאוה"ע אדרבא אינם ראוים אל השלימות וכשהי' להם נביא היו מעשיהם פגומים הרבה יותר

But as for the nations of the world, on the contrary — they are not fit for this wholeness, and when they did have a navi, their deeds became far more flawed.

By contrast, the nations are not suited to this lofty wholeness; when they were given a navi, it only exposed and worsened their flaws.

והיו רוצין לעקור את הכל

And they wished to uproot everything.

Their response to prophecy was a desire to tear everything down rather than build it up.

וכשאין מעשיהם מתעלין כ"כ נוח להם ונוח לעולם כמ"ש במד' נוח להם להיות סומין ע"ש

And when their deeds are not elevated, it is more comfortable for them and better for the world, as it is stated in the Midrash, "It is better for them to be blind" — see there.

So when their deeds are not elevated to a high spiritual plane, it is actually better for them and for the world, as the Midrash says it is better for them to be 'blind.'

ובנ"י הם בעצם שייכים אל השלימות

But Bnei Yisrael are intrinsically bound up with this wholeness.

Bnei Yisrael, however, are bound to this wholeness in their very essence, not merely by circumstance.

והרמז פת חריבה הוא בגלות שאין לנו נביאים וביהמ"ק

And the allusion of the "dry crust" is to galus, in which we have neither nevi'im nor the Beis HaMikdash.

The 'dry crust' hints at galus, a state stripped of both prophecy and the Beis HaMikdash.

ואעפ"י כן האמונה מאירה בישראל וצדיק באמונתו יחי' ויש להם דביקות בשורש אפלו כשנחסר להם הנבואה השייכה להם

And even so, the emunah shines within Yisrael, and "a tzaddik shall live by his emunah" (Chavakuk 2:4), and they possess dveikus to the root even when the prophecy that belongs to them is lacking.

Yet even in that lack, emunah continues to shine in Yisrael, and through that emunah a tzaddik lives and clings to the root despite the missing prophecy.

והאומות להיפוך

And the nations are the opposite.

The nations stand in complete reverse to this.

אפילו שהי' להם הנבואה שהיא יתירה למעלה מהשייך להם לא היו באין אל השלימות ואדרבא הוסיפו להרע

Even though they had prophecy — which was more than what was fitting for them, beyond their measure — they did not come to wholeness, and on the contrary, they only added to do evil.

Even when granted prophecy beyond their true measure, they failed to reach wholeness and only intensified their evil.

וזהו טוב פת חריבה ושלוה בה מבית מלא זבחי ריב:

And this is the meaning of, "Better is a dry crust with tranquility in it than a house full of feasting with strife" (Mishlei 17:1).

This is the deeper meaning of the verse: a dry crust with tranquility — galus with its quiet emunah — is better than a house full of feasting with strife, the nations' fuller but corrupt portion.

Summary: The Sfas Emes explains that Bnei Yisrael are uniquely fit for prophecy, because the navi's role is to draw the community's avodah from potential into actuality, raising their deeds to their root so they bear fruit — the navi being the very breath of Klal Yisrael. In galus we sorely lack this power, and we mourn its absence. The nations of the world, by contrast, are not suited to this wholeness; when prophecy was given to them it only exposed and worsened their flaws, so that it is better for them and for the world that their deeds not be elevated. Bnei Yisrael, though, are intrinsically bound to this wholeness, and even in galus their emunah still shines, granting them dveikus to the root despite the missing prophecy. This is the meaning of "a dry crust with tranquility" — the quiet emunah of galus — being better than "a house full of feasting with strife," the nations' fuller yet corrupt portion.