Love at Battle's End

בענין השירה עלי באר ענו לה דחז"ל דרשו את והב בסופה אהבה בסופה

Regarding the song "Rise up, O well — sing to it" (Bamidbar 21:17), our Sages of blessed memory expounded "the Vahev in the storm" (Bamidbar 21:14) to mean "love (ahavah) at its end."

The opening verse of the song of the well carries the Sages' derashah: the war-term "Vahev in the storm" hints at "love at its end" — teaching that the struggle l'shem Shamayim culminates in love and closeness to Hashem.

כי בכל מלחמות ה' שהאדם לוחם עם הסט"א לשם שמים זוכה אח"כ למנוחה

For in all the wars of Hashem, when a person wages war against the Sitra Achra (the "other side," the forces of impurity) for the sake of Heaven, he afterward merits rest.

When a person battles the Sitra Achra with pure motives, the reward that comes at the end of that struggle is a state of menuchah (rest).

והוא ענין מנוחת השבת אחר ימי המעשה שהם בחי' עבודה ומלחמה לברר האמת מתערובות הסט"א ובשבת אהבה בסופה

And this is the matter of the rest of Shabbos that comes after the days of labor — which are an aspect of avodah (service) and war, to clarify the truth out of its admixture with the Sitra Achra — and on Shabbos there is "love at its end."

Shabbos is precisely this rest: it follows the weekday struggle of clarifying truth from the falsehood mixed into the world, and so Shabbos embodies the "love at its end."

וכן הי' במצרים מלחמת ה' הכנה לקבלת התורה כדאיתא במד' שמות ג' מתנות טובות נתן הקב"ה לבנ"י וכולם ע"י יסורים

And so it was in Mitzrayim: the war of Hashem was a preparation for receiving the Torah, as it is brought in the Midrash (Shemos), that the Holy One, Blessed is He, gave three good gifts to Bnei Yisrael, and all of them came by way of suffering.

The bondage in Mitzrayim shows this pattern — the hardship was a necessary preparation for Kabbalas HaTorah, and the Midrash teaches that the three great gifts to Bnei Yisrael all came only through suffering.

ויסורי המדבר היו הכנה לארץ ישראל ונתקיים אהבה בסופה בזו השירה כמו שהי' השירה בקריעת י"ס אחר גלות מצרים

And the sufferings of the wilderness were a preparation for Eretz Yisrael, and "love at its end" was fulfilled through this song — just as there was the song at the splitting of the Yam Suf after the galus of Mitzrayim.

Likewise the suffering of the midbar prepared Bnei Yisrael for Eretz Yisrael, and the song of the well expresses the love that emerges at the end — parallel to the Shirah at the Yam Suf that followed the galus of Mitzrayim.

ושירת הים הי' הכנה לתורה שבכתב בחי' משה רבינו ע"ה תורה ולחם מן השמים

And the Song at the Yam was a preparation for the Written Torah, the aspect of Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him — Torah and bread from Heaven.

The Shirah at the Yam readied Bnei Yisrael for the Written Torah, the level of Moshe Rabbeinu, bound up with what descends from Heaven — Torah and the bread of the man.

ושירה זו הכנה לתורה שבע"פ שנקראת באר והיא בחי' התורה שנמצא בתחתונים

And this song (of the well) was a preparation for the Oral Torah, which is called a "well," and it is the aspect of the Torah that is found among those below.

By contrast, the song of the well prepared Bnei Yisrael for the Oral Torah, called a "well," because it is the Torah uncovered from within the lower, earthly realm.

שיש תורה שזוכין להמשיך מן השמים ויש שזוכין למצוא תורה הגנוזה למטה וזה חפירת הבאר ע"י יגיעה ומלחמה עם הסט"א ובסופה כתיב עלי באר אחר שנתעורר בחי' הקדושה הגנוזה

For there is a Torah that one merits to draw down from Heaven, and there is a Torah that one merits to find — Torah hidden below; and this is the digging of the well, through toil and war against the Sitra Achra, and at its end it is written "Rise up, O well" (Bamidbar 21:17), after the aspect of the hidden kedushah has been aroused.

There are two modes of Torah: one drawn down ready-made from Heaven, and one that must be dug out from below; the latter demands toil and battle with the Sitra Achra, and only after the hidden kedushah is aroused can one call "Rise up, O well."

ויש לכל בנ"י חלק בבאר זו כמ"ש חפרוה כו' כרוה כו'

And every one of Bnei Yisrael has a portion in this well, as it is written, "the princes dug it... the nobles of the people delved it..." (Bamidbar 21:18).

Every single Jew has a share in this well of Oral Torah, as the verse describes the princes and nobles of the people who dug and delved it together.

במשענותם הוא דורות השפלים כדאיתא בגמ' בא חבקוק והעמידן על א' וצדיק באמונתו יחי'

"With their staffs" (b'mish'anosam) refers to the lowly generations, as is brought in the Gemara (Makkos 24a): Chavakuk came and stood them all upon one principle — "and the tzaddik shall live by his emunah (faith)" (Chavakuk 2:4).

Even the lowliest later generations have their portion, for Chavakuk reduced all the mitzvos to a single foundation: living by emunah.

ובש"ק מתעורר כל הג' מתנות

And on Shabbos Kodesh all three gifts are aroused.

On Shabbos all three of Bnei Yisrael's gifts are reawakened together.

מן באר ענני הכבוד

The man, the well, and the Ananei HaKavod (Clouds of Glory).

The Sfas Emes names the three gifts: the man, the well, and the Ananei HaKavod.

והם ג' סעודות בשבת

And they correspond to the three meals of Shabbos.

These three gifts also align with the three seudos eaten on Shabbos.

כי בליל שבת קודש הוא חקל תפוחין וכתי' והנה באר בשדה כמ"ש חז"ל פי הבאר נברא בע"ש ביה"ש

For on the night of Shabbos Kodesh it is chakal tapuchin (the field of apples), and it is written "and behold, a well in the field" (Bereishis 29:2) — as our Sages of blessed memory said, the mouth of the well was created on Erev Shabbos at twilight.

The Friday-night seudah corresponds to chakal tapuchin and to the "well in the field" of Yaakov, since the Sages teach the mouth of the well was created at the very edge of creation, Erev Shabbos at twilight.

וביומא דשבתא ישמח משה הוא בחי' לחם מן השמים ובמנחה בחי' ענני כבוד שהם כוללים כל הששה קצוות שהיו עננים מקיפין אותם

And on the day of Shabbos, "Yismach Moshe" (Moshe shall rejoice), which is the aspect of bread from Heaven; and at Minchah it is the aspect of the Ananei HaKavod, which encompass all six directions, for the clouds surrounded them on every side.

The Shabbos-day seudah, "Yismach Moshe," corresponds to the heavenly bread of the man, while the Minchah seudah corresponds to the Ananei HaKavod that encompassed Bnei Yisrael from all six directions.

המן מן השמים ובאר מן הארץ ועננים באמצע:

The man comes from Heaven, and the well from the earth, and the clouds in between.

The piece closes with the spatial image: the man comes from Heaven above, the well rises from the earth below, and the clouds stand in between — the three gifts spanning Heaven, earth, and the space that unites them.

Summary: This piece reads the song of the well in Chukas through the Sages' derashah that "the Vahev in the storm" means "love at its end" — teaching that every war of Hashem waged l'shem Shamayim against the Sitra Achra culminates in menuchah and love, the very essence of Shabbos that follows the weekday labor of clarifying truth. The Sfas Emes maps this pattern onto the history of Bnei Yisrael: the bondage of Mitzrayim prepared them for the Written Torah (the Shirah at the Yam, Torah and the man drawn down from Heaven), while the struggle of the midbar prepared them for the Oral Torah — the "well" that must be dug out of the lower world through toil, in which every Jew, down to the lowliest generations, has a share by living through emunah. He then aligns Bnei Yisrael's three gifts in the midbar — the man, the well, and the Ananei HaKavod — with the three seudos of Shabbos, since on Shabbos all three are reawakened: Friday night the well in the field, the Shabbos day the heavenly bread of "Yismach Moshe," and Minchah the encompassing Clouds of Glory. The closing image frames the whole: the man from Heaven above, the well from the earth below, and the clouds uniting them in between, so that Shabbos gathers the fruits of the entire week's avodah into love and shleimus.