Oral Torah Through Gathering

בענין שירת הבאר שלא נזכר מרע"ה כי כאן התחיל בחי' תורה שבע"פ כמ"ש אסוף את העם ואתנה להם מים דכתיב תורה צוה לנו משה והיא בחי' תורה שבכתב

Regarding the Song of the Well, in which Moshe Rabbeinu is not mentioned: here is where the aspect of the Oral Torah began, as it is written, "Gather the people and I will give them water" (Numbers 21:16) — for it is written, "Moshe commanded us the Torah" (Deuteronomy 33:4), and that is the aspect of the Written Torah.

The Song of the Well is striking because Moshe is absent from it; the Sfas Emes reads this as the moment the Oral Torah emerges, since the well of water symbolizes Torah drawn out by the people, while Moshe represents the Written Torah given from Above.

מורשה קהלת יעקב הוא תורה שבע"פ בכח התאספות בנ"י

The continuation, "an inheritance for the congregation of Yaakov" (Deuteronomy 33:4), is the Oral Torah, which comes through the power of the gathering together of Bnei Yisrael.

The verse's phrase about Torah being Yaakov's inheritance points to the Oral Torah, which is activated specifically when Bnei Yisrael come together as a community.

ואמת כי בכח התורה שצוה לנו משה זכינו למצוא באר תורה שבע"פ שנטע הקב"ה בתוכינו בירושת האבות

And it is true that through the power of the Torah that Moshe commanded us, we merited to find the well of the Oral Torah that the Holy One blessed be He planted within us as part of the inheritance of the Avos (Patriarchs).

It was the foundation of the Written Torah given through Moshe that enabled the people to access the Oral Torah, an inner wellspring Hashem implanted in them as a legacy from the Avos.

וכן היא המדה ע"י יגיעה בתורה שבכתב יוכל האדם למצוא חלק התורה שנמצא גנוז בלבו

And so is the measure: through laboring in the Written Torah, a person is able to find the portion of Torah that lies hidden within his own heart.

This sets a general principle: by exerting effort in the received Written Torah, a person uncovers his own personal portion of Torah hidden inside his heart.

והנה דור המדבר הי' הכל בחי' תורה שבכתב וכל הנהגתם הי' על פי ה' ממש כמ"ש עפ"י ה' יחנו כו' יסעו כו'

Now, the generation of the wilderness was entirely the aspect of the Written Torah, and all their conduct was literally according to the word of Hashem, as it is written, "At the word of Hashem they encamped... and at the word of Hashem they journeyed" (Numbers 9:20).

The wilderness generation lived entirely under the Written Torah, guided directly and explicitly by Hashem's word for when to camp and travel.

אבל כאן התחיל להיות הכנה לכניסת הארץ שיהי' התפשטות הקדושה גם בהיותם בארצות האומות ולהלחם ולכבוש את ארצם

But here began the preparation for entering the Land — that the holiness should spread out even while they would dwell among the lands of the nations, and that they would wage war and conquer their land.

At this point the people begin preparing to enter the Land, where holiness must persist even amid foreign nations and where they must fight and conquer on their own.

ואיתא במד' שה"ש בפסוק הגידה לי כו' איכה תרביץ בצהרים כו' כי משה רבינו אמרו ע"ש והרמז כנ"ל כי הנהגתם הי' במדבר להיות תחת צל ענני הכבוד אבל כשיהיו בין האומות איכה תרביץ כדפרש"י שם בשיה"ש

And it is brought in the Midrash on Shir HaShirim, on the verse "Tell me... where do you rest at midday" (Song of Songs 1:7), that Moshe Rabbeinu said it; and the hint is as stated above, for their conduct in the wilderness was to be under the shade of the Clouds of Glory, but when they would be among the nations — "where do you rest?" — as Rashi explains there on Shir HaShirim.

A Midrash has Moshe asking how Bnei Yisrael will fare once they leave the protective Clouds of Glory and live exposed among the nations — "where will you find rest?"

והשיבו צאי לך בעקבי הצאן

And the answer given was, "Go forth in the footsteps of the flock" (Song of Songs 1:8).

Hashem's reply, "follow the footsteps of the flock," is the answer to that worry.

פי' שזו ההנהגה ירושה היא בבנ"י מאבותיהם והמה בעצמם ילכו בדרך הראוי

The meaning is that this mode of conduct is an inheritance among Bnei Yisrael from their forefathers, and they themselves are to walk in the fitting path.

It means the proper way of life is an inherited path from the forefathers, which the people must now walk by their own initiative rather than by constant miraculous guidance.

ולכן הראה הקב"ה למרע"ה קודם הסתלקותו הדרך שהתחילו בנ"י בכח עצמותם שכן כתיב וידר ישראל נדר ישיר ישראל כו'

Therefore the Holy One blessed be He showed Moshe Rabbeinu, before his passing, the path by which Bnei Yisrael began to act through their own power, as it is written, "And Yisrael vowed a vow" (Numbers 21:2), and "Then Yisrael sang" (Numbers 21:17).

Before Moshe died, Hashem let him see this transition, where Bnei Yisrael began acting through their own power, evidenced by their vow and their singing the Song of the Well.

שהי' הכל בכח מעשיהם

For all of this was through the power of their own deeds.

These episodes were accomplished through the people's own actions, not solely divine command.

ועמ"ש במ"א מענין מי מריבה דכתיב לעיניהם שהי' ג"כ הרצון כפי הכנת בנ"י

And see what is written elsewhere concerning the matter of the Waters of Strife (mei merivah), where it is written "before their eyes" (Numbers 20:8) — for there too the [divine] will was according to the preparation of Bnei Yisrael.

The Waters of Strife episode, where Hashem told Moshe to act "before their eyes," likewise shows the divine response being calibrated to the people's own readiness and effort.

וזהו ענין בעקבי הצאן הנ"ל

And this is the meaning of "in the footsteps of the flock" mentioned above.

This human-driven mode is precisely what the image of "following the footsteps of the flock" expresses.

ומ"מ דרגא זו הוא אחר הכנת מרע"ה

Nevertheless, this level comes only after the preparation made by Moshe Rabbeinu.

Still, this stage of independent action only becomes possible because Moshe first laid the groundwork.

ושירה הראשונה היה כולל כל אלה המדריגות והי' הכנה לכל הדורות כמ"ש שם עד יעבור כו' ית ארנונא ית ירדנא

And the first song (the Song of the Sea) included all of these levels and was a preparation for all the generations, as it is written there, "until [Your people] pass over... over the Arnon, over the Jordan" (alluded to in the Song of the Sea, "until Your people pass over," Exodus 15:16).

The earlier Song of the Sea, sung by Moshe, already contained all these later levels in seed form and served as preparation for every future generation, even alluding to the future crossings of the Arnon and Jordan.

רק בכאן שרו ישראל לפי הזמן והמקום

Only that here Yisrael sang in accordance with the particular time and place.

By contrast, the Song of the Well was a response fitted to its specific moment and place rather than an all-encompassing song.

ומדריגת מרע"ה הוא בכלל לא בפרט

And the level of Moshe Rabbeinu is in the general (klal), not in the particular (prat).

Moshe's spiritual rank operates at the level of the whole collective, not at the level of each individual's particular situation.

והנה בזו הבאר יש חלק לכל בני ישראל כמ"ש חפרוה שרים כו' נדיבי כו' מהתאספות כל המדריגות שנמצאו בבנ"י אם הוא כנסי' לש"ש נפתח הבאר מים חיים וכמ"ש ונאספו שמה כל העדרים

Now in this well there is a portion for every one of Bnei Yisrael, as it is written, "the princes dug it... the nobles of the people" (Numbers 21:18) — from the gathering together of all the levels found among Bnei Yisrael; if it is an assembly for the sake of Heaven, the well of living waters is opened, as it is written, "and there all the flocks were gathered" (Genesis 29:3).

The well belongs to all of Bnei Yisrael; when the diverse spiritual levels of Bnei Yisrael unite as an assembly dedicated to Heaven, the wellspring of living waters opens, just as the stone was rolled off the well when all the flocks gathered.

אך שצריך להיות לשם שמים כמ"ש ענו לה

Only that it must be for the sake of Heaven, as it is written, "sing to it" (Numbers 21:17).

But the gathering only works if it is genuinely for the sake of Heaven, as hinted by the call to "sing to it."

לה לשמה

"To it" means for its own sake (lishmah).

The word "to it" is read as "for its own sake" — the assembly and the Torah must be pursued with pure motivation.

ואז זוכה כל אחד לשאוב חלק השייך לו:

And then each and every person merits to draw the portion that belongs to him.

When that condition is met, every individual is able to draw out from the shared well the unique portion of Torah that is his alone.

Summary: This piece explains why Moshe Rabbeinu is conspicuously absent from the Song of the Well: that song marks the birth of Torah Shebe'al Peh, Bnei Yisrael's own active drawing-forth of Torah, as opposed to Torah Shebichsav given through Moshe from Above. As Bnei Yisrael prepare to leave the wilderness — where they lived passively under Hashem's explicit word and the Clouds of Glory — they must now live and wage war among the nations through their own initiative, walking the inherited path of the Avos ("the footsteps of the flock"). The Sfas Emes shows that this independent avodah, expressed in their vow and their song, nonetheless rests on the foundation Moshe Rabbeinu laid; Moshe's level belongs to the collective whole, while the well yields a distinct portion to each individual. The well of living waters opens only when all the varied levels of Bnei Yisrael gather as a unified assembly for the sake of Heaven. Under that condition of pure intent, every member of Bnei Yisrael can draw from the shared wellspring the personal share of Torah that Hashem hid within his own heart.