Awakening the First Generation

בפסוק ותקצר נפש העם בדרך

On the verse "And the soul of the people grew short on the way" (Bamidbar 21:4).

The Sfas Emes opens by citing the verse describing how Bnei Yisrael's souls grew "short" along the way, which serves as the starting point for the entire piece.

כי מו"ז ז"ל אמר על אמרם ונפשנו קצה בלחם הקלוקל לא היו דברי שקר רק כי המן הי' מוכן לדור המדבר מאכל שמלאכים אוכלים אותו ועתה ירדו ממדריגה זו והתחיל דור באי ארץ כו' וזה מאמר ותקצר נפש

For my grandfather and teacher, his memory is a blessing, said regarding their saying "and our soul loathes this insubstantial bread" (Bamidbar 21:5), that these were not words of falsehood; rather, the mann had been prepared for the generation of the wilderness as a food that the angels eat, and now they had descended from this lofty madreigah, and the generation that was to enter the Land had begun, and so on — and this is the meaning of "And the soul grew short."

He brings his grandfather's teaching: the people's complaint about the mann was not ingratitude or falsehood. The mann was angelic food suited to the wilderness generation, and as that generation gave way to the one entering the Land, they genuinely sensed a spiritual descent — and that loss is what "the soul grew short" expresses.

כי יש נפש ארוך וקצר כידוע למבינים

For there is a "long soul" and a "short soul," as is known to those who understand.

He introduces a distinction known to those who understand, between a "long" neshamah that is expansive and reaches on high, and a "short" one that is constricted; the wilderness generation possessed the long, expansive soul.

ודור המדבר היו למעלה מהטבע כדכתיב (כי) עין בעין נראה כו'

And the generation of the wilderness were above nature, as it is written, "for eye to eye they were seen" (Bamidbar 14:14), and so on.

The wilderness generation lived on a plane above nature, with such direct perception that Hashem was, as it were, seen "eye to eye."

ובאמת כך הסדר שכל דור ודור נתלה זה בזה

And in truth, such is the order: that each and every generation is suspended one upon the other.

He states the underlying principle: generations are spiritually bound to one another, each one depending upon and drawing from the one before it.

וע"י שדור הראשון היו מתקדשים עד לשמים לכן נשאר אחיזה לכל דורות אחרונים שיוכלו לפרקים לעורר התלהבות

And because the first generation sanctified themselves up to the heavens, therefore a grasp remained for all the later generations, so that they could, from time to time, awaken a fervor.

Because the first generation reached such towering kedushah, they left a permanent hold that later generations can grasp, so that even diminished generations can, at certain moments, kindle a fervor toward Hashem.

וזה ענין עשה לך שרף כו' והביט כו' ודרשו חז"ל שמסתכלין כלפי מעלה כו' שניתן להם שיוכלו עכ"פ לפרקים להתדבק במדריגות דור הראשון כמ"ש בספרים שרף רמז להתלהבות

And this is the matter of "Make for yourself a fiery serpent" (Bamidbar 21:8), and so on, "and he would gaze," and so on; and Chazal expounded that they would look upward, and so on — that it was granted to them that they could at least, from time to time, cleave to the madreigos of the first generation, as is written in the sefarim that the saraf (fiery serpent) alludes to fervor.

The copper saraf that Moshe Rabbeinu made, upon which Bnei Yisrael gazed to be healed, symbolizes this: by looking upward they connected on high. It represents the gift that later generations can momentarily cleave to the lofty madreigah of the first generation, since the saraf alludes to fiery fervor of the heart.

ואמת כל זה גרמו להם הרשעים כמ"ש לסבוב כו' ארץ אדום ובנ"י שלחו להם כמ"ש במ"א שרצו לקרבם להקדושה

And in truth, all of this was brought about for them by the wicked, as it is written, "to circle the land of Edom" (Bamidbar 21:4), and Bnei Yisrael sent to them, as is explained elsewhere, that they wished to draw them near to the kedushah.

This whole opportunity for awakening came about through the confrontation with the wicked, namely Edom. Bnei Yisrael reached out to Edom wishing to draw them toward kedushah, turning even the encounter with enemies into a spiritual opening.

וכמ"ש ביעקב וישלח מלאכים

And as it is written concerning Yaakov, "And Yaakov sent messengers" (Bereishis 32:4).

He links this to Yaakov Avinu, who likewise sent messengers ahead to his estranged brother Eisav, seeking engagement.

ושם אמר עשו נסעה ונלכה כו' והשיב לו יעקב אתנהלה לאטי כו' עד כו' אבוא אל אדוני שעירה

And there Eisav said, "Travel onward and let us go," and so on (Bereishis 33:12), and Yaakov answered him, "Let me proceed at my own slow pace," and so on, until "I will come to my master, to Seir" (Bereishis 33:14).

Eisav proposed they travel together, but Yaakov deferred, saying he would proceed slowly at his own pace and eventually come to Eisav at Seir — a promise of a meeting in the distant future rather than at that moment.

ועתה שתיקנו את עצמם הי' יכול להתקיים זה המאמר ואפשר אם הי' כופף עצמו הי' תיקון הכולל אך הרשעים מלאים עון ולא רצה להתקרב ויתקיים הפסוק לעתיד כמ"ש רש"י שם

And now that they had set themselves aright, this declaration could have been fulfilled; and it is possible that, had Eisav bent himself low, there would have been an all-encompassing tikkun — but the wicked are full of sin, and he did not wish to draw near; so the verse will be fulfilled in the future, as Rashi explains there.

Now that Bnei Yisrael had rectified themselves, Yaakov's deferred promise could in principle have been realized; had Eisav humbled himself, an all-encompassing tikkun might have come about. But the wicked are steeped in sin and he refused, so the promised meeting is postponed to the future, as Rashi notes there.

והכלל כמ"ש בספרים ע"פ הצילני כו' מיד אחי מיד עשו כי יש ב' הבחי' לפעמים עת הכושר לקרב גם הרשעים ואז הם מלאים שנאה דוקא

And the general principle is, as is written in the sefarim on the verse "Save me, please, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Eisav" (Bereishis 32:12), that there are two aspects: at times there is a fit opportunity to draw even the wicked near, and precisely then they are full of hatred.

The governing rule, drawn from Yaakov's tefillah to be saved "from my brother, from Eisav," is that there are two modes: when the time is ripe to bring even the wicked closer to kedushah, davka then they show open hatred and resist.

ולפעמים צריכים להתרחק מהם ואז הם מראים עצמן כאחים

And at times one must distance oneself from them, and then they present themselves as brothers.

Conversely, when the proper course is to keep one's distance from them, davka then they deceptively act friendly and present themselves as "brothers."

ועל כל זה צריכין הבחנה גדולה שצריכין ללמוד מתורה הקדושה כל אלה ההנהגות עם היצה"ר כי מה שנזכר בתורה נמצא מעין זה בפרטות כל איש ישראל:

And concerning all of this one requires great discernment, for one must learn from the holy Torah all of these modes of conduct with the yetzer hara; for whatever is mentioned in the Torah, something akin to it is found in detail within each and every individual Jew.

All of this demands great discernment, which one acquires by learning from the holy Torah how to handle one's own yetzer hara — for every matter recorded in the Torah has a parallel playing out in detail within the inner life of each individual Jew.

Summary: Opening from the verse "the soul of the people grew short," the Sfas Emes explains, in the name of his grandfather, that Bnei Yisrael's complaint about the mann reflected a real spiritual descent: the wilderness generation lived above nature on angelic food, and entering the Land meant losing that exalted, expansive "long soul." Yet because that first generation sanctified itself so completely, it left a lasting grasp by which later, diminished generations can momentarily reignite their fervor toward Hashem — symbolized by gazing upward at the copper saraf, which hints at fiery dveikus. He ties this to the encounter with Edom and to Yaakov's dealings with Eisav, deriving a principle of two opposite modes in avodah: when it is the right moment to draw the wicked toward kedushah they davka show open hatred, and when one should keep distance they davka feign brotherhood. The reconciliation Yaakov deferred with Eisav awaits the future, since the wicked refuse to humble themselves. The piece concludes that navigating these dynamics requires great discernment, learned from the holy Torah, whose narratives each mirror the inner battle every individual Jew wages against his yetzer hara.