Drawing Holiness into Conquered Lands
לסיחון מלך האמורי כל"ח ולעוג מלך הבשן כל"ח
"To Sichon king of the Emori, for His kindness endures forever; and to Og king of the Bashan, for His kindness endures forever" (Tehillim 136:19-20).
The piece opens by citing the verses in Hallel HaGadol (Tehillim 136) that praise Hashem for defeating Sichon and Og, with the recurring refrain that His kindness endures forever.
פי' אא"ז מו"ר ז"ל שנקבעו לדורות שבחים אלו כי הם מתנגדים
My grandfather, my teacher and master, of blessed memory, explained that these praises were fixed for all generations because they stand in opposition
The Sfas Emes quotes his grandfather: these two victories were enshrined permanently in our praise because Sichon and Og represent forces that oppose Bnei Yisrael in their avodas Hashem.
לבנ"י בעבודת הבורא וסיחון מלך חשבון הוא נגד תפילין ש"ר מקום המחשבה ועוג באדרעי תש"י הכח כו' ודפח"ח
to Bnei Yisrael in the service of the Creator. And Sichon, king of Cheshbon (which shares the root of machshavah, thought), corresponds to the tefillin shel rosh, which is the place of thought, while Og at Edrei corresponds to the tefillin shel yad, which is power, etc. And these are words of the living Hashem.
Each enemy corresponds to a part of the tefillin and a faculty of avodah: Sichon (linked through his city Cheshbon, which echoes machshavah, thought) to the tefillin shel rosh and thought, and Og (at Edrei) to the tefillin shel yad and active power.
וכתיב עוד ונתן ארצם לנחלה כל"ח נחלה לישראל כו' כל"ח
And it is further written, "And He gave their land as an inheritance, for His kindness endures forever; an inheritance to Yisrael, etc., for His kindness endures forever" (Tehillim 136:21-22).
He notes a second set of verses in the same kapitel that praises Hashem again for giving these lands as an inheritance to Bnei Yisrael.
וקשה למה נחלק זה לב' שבחים
And it is difficult: why is this divided into two separate praises?
He raises a difficulty: if it is one matter, why does the verse split the defeat and the inheritance into two distinct praises, each with its own refrain?
אך זה עצמו מה שהמשיכו הקדושה לאותן הארצות הוא דבר גדול
But this itself — the fact that Bnei Yisrael drew down kedushah (holiness) into those lands — is a great matter in its own right.
His answer: the act of drawing kedushah into formerly hostile territory is itself a separate and great achievement, warranting a praise of its own.
כמ"ש מלך קשה ומדינה קשה כו' פי' שהמקומות עצמם היו מקום הסט"א ובנ"י המשיכום לנחלתם
As Chazal said, "a harsh king and a harsh province, etc." (Bava Basra 9b) — the explanation being that these places were themselves the dwelling place of the sitra achra (the side of impurity), and Bnei Yisrael drew them into their own inheritance.
He supports this with the teaching of Chazal about "a harsh king and a harsh province": these lands were strongholds of the sitra achra, yet Bnei Yisrael succeeded in absorbing them into their holy inheritance.
וע"ז היו כל מסעות בנ"י להמשיך נחל נובע מקור הקדושה לכל המקומות
And it was for this purpose that all the journeys of Bnei Yisrael took place: to draw a flowing stream from the wellspring, the source of kedushah, into every place.
The deeper purpose of all the journeys of Bnei Yisrael through the midbar was this same mission — to channel the wellspring of kedushah into every place they passed through.
ובאמת ע"י שהם המשיכו הקדושה לאותן המקומות לכן נחלה לישראל וזכו המה להם
And in truth, it was precisely because they drew kedushah into those places that they became an inheritance to Yisrael, and they merited to have them as their own.
Because Bnei Yisrael actively infused those places with kedushah, the lands rightfully became theirs; their zechus to possess them flowed from the spiritual avodah they did.
וכ"כ כח מעשיו הגיד כו' לתת להם נחלת גוים כי הקב"ה בעבור זה ברא כל ההתנגדות
And so it is written, "The power of His works He told to His people, to give them the inheritance of nations" (Tehillim 111:6) — for the Holy One, Blessed is He, created all this opposition for this very reason,
Citing Tehillim 111:6, he explains that Hashem deliberately created all this opposition and gave Bnei Yisrael the inheritance of the nations for a purpose.
כדי שעי"ז שבנ"י בעבודתם יבררו הקדושה בכל המקומות (ויזכו) [*יזכו] להיות שלהם והבן:
so that through it, when Bnei Yisrael through their avodah (service) clarify and refine the kedushah in every place, they should merit that those places become their own. And understand this.
That purpose is for Bnei Yisrael, through their avodah, to extract and elevate the kedushah hidden in every place, thereby meriting those places as their own possession.
Summary: This piece reflects on Hallel HaGadol's repeated praise of Hashem for the defeats of Sichon and Og and the gift of their lands as an inheritance. Drawing on his grandfather, the Sfas Emes explains that these two kings represent forces opposing the avodas Hashem of Bnei Yisrael, paralleling the tefillin shel rosh and tefillin shel yad (thought and power). He asks why the verse separates the military victory and the inheritance into two distinct praises, and answers that drawing kedushah into formerly impure territory is itself a great, independent accomplishment. The lands of Sichon and Og were strongholds of the sitra achra, and the journeys and conquests of Bnei Yisrael served to channel the wellspring of kedushah into them. Ultimately, the Ribono shel Olam created this very opposition so that Bnei Yisrael, by refining and elevating the kedushah hidden in every place through their avodah, would merit those places as their rightful inheritance.