Leaders Open Hidden Wellsprings
בפסוק אז ישיר ישראל הקשו כי השירה הי' צריך להיות בתחלת הבאר שניתן להם
On the verse "Then Bnei Yisrael sang" (Bamidbar 21:17), they raised a difficulty: that the shirah (song) should rightly have been said at the very beginning, when the well was first given to them.
The Sfas Emes opens with the question of why the shirah of the well was said only here, at the end of the journey, rather than back when the well was first given to Bnei Yisrael.
אבל הענין הוא עפ"י ביאור הפ' באר חפרוה שרים פי' שהתחלת פתיחת מקור הקדושה הי' ע"י אנשים גדולים כמ"ש דחפרוה אבהן
But the matter can be understood according to the explanation of the verse "A well that princes dug" (Bamidbar 21:18) - meaning that the initial opening of the wellspring of kedushah came about through great men, as Chazal expound that "the Avos dug it."
He answers that the well represents the wellspring of kedushah, whose opening required the spiritual greatness of the Avos to first break through, as the verse credits 'princes' with the digging.
<b>ואא"ז מו"ר ז"ל</b> פי' שרים שמושלים ביצרם ולבם ברשותם
And my grandfather, my teacher and master, of blessed memory, explained "princes" (sarim) as those who rule over their yetzer and whose heart is in their own control.
His grandfather defined the 'princes' (sarim) as those great ones who rule over their yetzer hara and whose hearts are fully under their own command.
כרוה נדיבי עם הם גם אנשים פשוטים שיש בהם רק הנדיבות ורצון התשוקה לעבודת הבורא ית'
"That the nobles of the people hollowed out" (Bamidbar 21:18) - these are even simple people, who possess only the nedivus (generosity of heart) and the will and yearning for the avodah of the Creator, Blessed is He.
The 'nobles of the people' are simple Jews who lack such mastery but possess only sincere nedivus and a burning yearning to serve Hashem.
וע"י שנפתח בגדולים יכולין הפשוטים ג"כ למצוא אח"כ השייך להם
And by virtue of its being opened by the great ones, the simple people too are afterward able to find what belongs to them.
Once the great ones pierce the wellspring, the path is opened so that even simple people can afterward find their own portion in avodas Hashem.
לכן נק' כרוה שהיא החפירה יותר עמוקה כמו שדרשו כי יכרה איש בור להביא כורה אחר כורה כו'
Therefore it is called "karuhah" (they hollowed out), for that digging is deeper, as Chazal expounded on "If a man shall dig a pit" (Shemos 21:33) - to include one digger after another digger, and so on.
The word 'karuhah' implies a deeper digging, which the Sfas Emes connects to the teaching of Chazal about one digger going deeper after another.
ויוכל להיות שהפשוטים חופרים ביותר עמוק פי' שממשיכין ההארה גם לעולמות התחתונים ומדריגות התחתונות שאין הצדיקים יכולין לירד כ"כ
And it may be that the simple ones dig even deeper - meaning that they draw the illumination down even to the lower worlds and the lower levels, to which the tzaddikim are not able to descend so far.
He offers a striking insight: the simple Jews can reach even deeper than the tzaddikim, drawing Hashem's illumination down into lower realms that the tzaddikim, being so elevated, cannot themselves descend to.
ולכן לא נזכר מרע"ה בשירה זו כי באמת דכאן התחיל דור אחר אשר לא נתמשכו אחר מדריגת מרע"ה לכן נאמר יען לא האמנתם בי להקדישני כו' לא תביאו כו'
And therefore Moshe Rabbeinu is not mentioned in this shirah, for in truth here a different generation began, which did not draw itself after the level of Moshe Rabbeinu; therefore it was said "Because you did not believe in Me to sanctify Me... you shall not bring..." (Bamidbar 20:12).
This explains why Moshe Rabbeinu is absent from the shirah: a new generation had arisen that did not follow in his lofty path, which is connected to the decree that he would not enter Eretz Yisrael.
וחלילה לומר כי הי' זה עונש בלבד למרע"ה
And chalilah to say that this was merely a punishment for Moshe Rabbeinu.
He cautions us, chalilah, never to think that Moshe's exclusion from the Land was merely a punishment for his conduct.
אבל הי' זה ראי' והוכחה שאינם המנהיגים של דור הנכנס לא"י
Rather, it was a sign and a proof that they were not the leaders of the generation that was to enter Eretz Yisrael.
Rather it served as a clear sign and proof that Moshe was not destined to be the leader of the generation entering Eretz Yisrael.
ומרע"ה כפי מדריגה גבוהה שלו לא הי' רואה שיהי' כ"כ התפעלות לבות בנ"י לומר שירה עתה כענין לגבי משה מילתא זוטרתא היא
And Moshe Rabbeinu, according to his lofty level, did not perceive that there would be such a stirring of the hearts of Bnei Yisrael to say shirah at this time, in the manner of "With regard to Moshe, this is a small matter" (Berachos 33b).
Because Moshe stood on such a lofty level, he could not perceive the great stirring of heart that would move this generation to say shirah now, just as Chazal say that what is a small matter for Moshe may be great for others.
וענין שירה הזאת הי' ע"ז שגם אחר החטא זכו להתקרב ונפתח להם הבאר שהוא רמז לתורה שבע"פ על ידי הנדיבות כנ"ל
And the matter of this shirah was over this: that even after the cheit (sin) they merited to draw close, and the well was opened to them - which alludes to Torah she'b'al peh (the Oral Torah) - through the nedivus, as above.
The shirah celebrated that even after the cheit, Bnei Yisrael still merited closeness to Hashem and the opening of the well of Torah she'b'al peh, achieved through their nedivus.
וע"י הבטחון בהבורא ית' כמ"ש במשענותם
And through the bitachon (trust) in the Creator, Blessed is He, as it is written "with their staffs" (Bamidbar 21:18).
This drawing close also came through their bitachon in Hashem, alluded to by the word 'mishanosam' (their staffs), upon which one leans in trust.
שיש לעולם קצת רשימה בכל איש ישראל
For there always remains some small reshimu (trace) within every individual of Bnei Yisrael.
The Sfas Emes teaches that every Jew, no matter his level, always retains some small reshimu, an indelible trace of kedushah, within him.
וע"י הרצון והבטחון להתחזק בזו הרשימה יכול לתקן הכל
And through the will and the bitachon to strengthen oneself through this reshimu, a person is able to rectify everything.
By exercising the will and the bitachon to grab hold of and strengthen that reshimu, a person has the power to rectify everything in his avodah.
וזהו במחוקק במשענותם
And this is the meaning of "with the lawgiver's staff, with their staffs" (Bamidbar 21:18).
This is the inner meaning of the verse's 'mechokek' (lawgiver) and 'mishanosam' - leaning upon that inner trace through bitachon in Hashem.
וממדבר מתנה אף שא"י כלל איך
"And from the wilderness to Mattanah" (Bamidbar 21:18) - even though one does not know at all how;
The phrase 'from the wilderness to Mattanah (a gift)' captures the stage where a person cannot comprehend at all how he could possibly attain such a spiritual gift.
רק ע"י הביטול להבורא ית' שעושה עצמו הפקר כמדבר זוכה במתנה ואח"כ זוכה עוד לתקן עצמו שיהי' לו ג"כ השגה ושייכות למתנה זו וז"ש וממתנה נחליאל
rather, through bittul (self-nullification) before the Creator, Blessed is He, whereby a person makes himself ownerless like the wilderness, he merits the gift (mattanah); and afterward he merits further to rectify himself, so that he too has comprehension of and connection to this gift, and this is the meaning of "and from Mattanah to Nachaliel" (Bamidbar 21:19).
The answer is bittul: by making himself ownerless and humble like an open wilderness, he merits the gift, and then in a second stage labors to internalize and grasp it, which is the ascent 'from Mattanah to Nachaliel.'
וכל אלה המדריגות היו למטה ממדריגת מרע"ה כנ"ל:
And all of these levels were below the level of Moshe Rabbeinu, as above.
He concludes that all these stages of avodah, accessible even to the simple Jew, stood on a level below that of Moshe Rabbeinu, which is precisely why he had no part in this shirah.
Summary: This piece resolves why the shirah of the well comes only late in the wilderness narrative and why Moshe Rabbeinu is conspicuously absent from it. The Sfas Emes reads the well's diggers in two tiers: the 'princes,' great ones who rule over their yetzer and first open the wellspring of kedushah, and the 'nobles of the people,' simple Jews who possess only sincere nedivus and yearning, yet who, precisely because of their lowliness, can draw Hashem's light down into realms the lofty tzaddikim cannot reach. Moshe's exclusion is therefore not mere punishment but a sign that a new generation, drawing from a different and lower path of avodah, was now ascendant. The well, alluding to Torah she'b'al peh, is opened through this generation's nedivus, their bitachon, and the indestructible reshimu of kedushah within every Jew. The culminating teaching is the progression 'from the wilderness to Mattanah to Nachaliel': through bittul one becomes ownerless like the wilderness and merits the divine gift, and then labors to internalize and comprehend it - all stages situated, as the piece stresses throughout, below the level of Moshe Rabbeinu.