Faith Below the Level of Truth
ודברתם אל הסלע לעיניהם כו' דיבור הוא לשון הנהגה כמו ידבר עמים
"And you shall speak to the rock before their eyes" etc. — the term "speech" (dibbur) here connotes leadership and guidance, as in the verse "He guides (yadber) peoples beneath us."
The Sfas Emes opens by noting that "speaking" to the rock is not mere talk but a mode of Divine leadership and guidance, drawing on the verse where dibbur means to lead nations.
ואמר להם שנתינת המים מהסלע יהי' בהנהגה שישיגו העדה זה הדרך והוא דרך אמונה כמ"ש במ"א דמשה רבינו ע"ה הי' בחי' אמת
Hashem told Moshe Rabbeinu that the drawing forth of water from the rock should come about through a mode of guidance, that the assembly should grasp this path — and it is the path of emunah (faith), as we have explained elsewhere that Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, was the aspect of emes (truth).
Hashem wanted the water to emerge through guidance, so that Bnei Yisrael would grasp the path of emunah — for Moshe Rabbeinu embodied the higher level of emes.
וכאן התחיל בחי' אמונה והוא מדריגה שלמטה מבחי' משה
And here there began the aspect of emunah, which is a level beneath the aspect of Moshe Rabbeinu.
With this episode a new aspect, emunah, began to be drawn into the world, a rung lower than the lofty level that Moshe Rabbeinu himself represented.
וז"ש לא האמנתם בי להקדישני לעיני בנ"י וז"ש וירם משה את ידו כו' שהי' מדריגה שלמעלה מהשגת בנ"י
And this is the meaning of "you did not believe in Me to sanctify Me before the eyes of Bnei Yisrael," and this is the meaning of "and Moshe raised his hand" etc. — for this was a level above the grasp of Bnei Yisrael.
Because the task called for the lower path of emunah, Moshe's raising his hand reflected his own level of emes, which was above what Bnei Yisrael could grasp at that moment.
במטהו דייקא
"With his staff" — precisely so.
The phrase "with his staff" is emphasized to underscore that Moshe acted from his own elevated aspect rather than the path of emunah that was being asked for.
דור המדבר היו היסוד שכל הדורות עומדין עליהם כדאיתא בעל הקורה נכנס בעובי הקורה
The generation of the wilderness were the foundation upon which all the generations stand, as it is found regarding the owner of the beam, who enters into the thickness of the beam.
The desert generation serves as the bedrock for every later generation, like the man who shoulders the whole beam by grasping its thickest part — they bear the weight of all who follow.
וזה הדור שקיבלו התורה היו הקיום לכל הדורות שלפניהם ושלאחריהם
And this generation, who received the Torah, were the sustaining force for all the generations that came before them and that came after them.
Having received the Torah, this generation became the source that sustains all generations both earlier and later, for the Torah is the foundation of all time.
ואיתא בגמ' והב בסופה מקיש נחלי ארנון לניסי ים סוף
And it is found in the Gemara: "and Vahev in its end" — Scripture compares the streams of Arnon to the miracles of the Yam Suf.
The Gemara links the well's song at the streams of Arnon to the splitting of the Yam Suf, teaching that both miracles share one root.
כי בנ"י זכו אל השירה אחר יציאת מצרים
For Bnei Yisrael merited to the Shirah (song) after the exodus from Mitzrayim.
Bnei Yisrael earned the first Shirah at the sea only after leaving Mitzrayim, showing that song follows a prior struggle.
והמלחמה שהי' להם במצרים הי' הכנה להיות והב בסופה כמ"ש מלחמות ה' אהבה בסופה שכל מחלוקת שהיא לש"ש סופה להתקיים וזוכין אל השלום שזהו בחי' השירה
And the war that they had in Mitzrayim was a preparation for "Vahev in its end," as it is written "the wars of Hashem, love in its end" — for every dispute that is for the sake of Heaven is destined in its end to endure, and they merit to peace, which is the aspect of the Shirah.
The hardship and conflict in Mitzrayim was itself a preparation, for a machlokes le'shem Shamayim ends in endurance and peace — and that resolution into peace is the essence of Shirah.
ובכאן שירה זו של הבאר הי' הכנה לכיבוש ז' אומות שנתקשרו במדריגת דור המדבר לקבל כח להלחם עם ז' אומות
And here, this Shirah of the well was a preparation for the conquest of the seven nations, for they bound themselves to the level of the generation of the wilderness in order to receive strength to wage war against the seven nations.
The Shirah of the well prepared Bnei Yisrael for the wars of conquest, since by attaching themselves to the desert generation's level they drew the strength needed to defeat the seven nations.
לכן לא נזכר מרע"ה בשירה זו שהי' הכנה לביאת הארץ
Therefore Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, is not mentioned in this Shirah, for it was a preparation for the entry into the Land.
Moshe Rabbeinu is absent from this Shirah because it was geared toward entering Eretz Yisrael, a task that belonged to the era after him.
ושירה זו הי' התנוצצות משירה הראשונה וכן נרמז בשירה הראשונה אז ישיר כו' ויאמרו לאמר פי' לאמר אח"כ שירה אחרונה
And this Shirah was a glimmering radiance of the first Shirah, and so it is hinted at in the first Shirah, "Then Moshe sang" etc., "and they spoke, saying" — the meaning of "saying" is to say afterward the final Shirah.
This later song was a reflected spark of the Shirah at the sea, already hinted in the words "and they spoke, saying," which the Sfas Emes reads as pointing ahead to the final song.
והי' כחותם המתהפך מתחלה מלחמה ואח"כ שירה ונתהפך להיות שירה ואחר כך מלחמה
And it was like a seal that reverses itself: first war and afterward Shirah, and then it reversed to be Shirah and afterward war.
Like a signet that produces a reversed impression, the pattern flipped: at the sea it was war then song, while now it became song then war.
ואיתא וישמע הכנעני מה שמע שמת אהרן ונסתלקו ענני הכבוד וסבר שניתן רשות להלחם בישראל
And it is found: "And the Canaanite heard" — what did he hear? That Aharon had died and the Clouds of Glory had departed, and he reasoned that permission had been granted to wage war against Yisrael.
The Midrash explains that the Canaanite "heard" of Aharon's death and the departure of the Clouds of Glory, and concluded that he was now free to attack Yisrael.
והכוונה שדור המדבר הי' פריסת סוכת שלום עלינו ולא הוצרכו למלחמה ועכשיו התחיל דרך מלחמות לכבוש ארץ ישראל
And the intent is that the generation of the wilderness was a spreading over us of the Sukkah of peace, and they had no need for war; but now there began the way of wars to conquer Eretz Yisrael.
The deeper meaning is that the desert generation lived under the protective Sukkah of peace and needed no war, but now the era of waging war to conquer Eretz Yisrael had begun.
והם סברו שניתן רשות להלחם בישראל ונהפוך הוא שניתן רשות להלחם עמהם:
And they reasoned that permission had been granted to wage war against Yisrael, but the very opposite is true — that permission had been granted to wage war against them.
The enemy assumed the change meant they could attack Yisrael, but in truth the reverse was so — the new era empowered Yisrael to wage war against them.
Summary: In this piece the Sfas Emes reads the command to "speak to the rock" as a call to the path of emunah, a rung below the aspect of emes that Moshe Rabbeinu himself embodied, which is why his raising his hand with the staff reflected a level above what Bnei Yisrael could then grasp. He then turns to the generation of the wilderness, who, by receiving the Torah, became the foundation and sustaining force of every generation before and after them. Building on the Gemara that links the well's song to the Yam Suf, he shows that the war in Mitzrayim prepared the Shirah at the sea, for every machlokes le'shem Shamayim ends in peace, which is the essence of song. The Shirah of the well, in turn, prepared Bnei Yisrael to draw strength from the desert generation for the conquest of the seven nations, and so the earlier pattern of war-then-song reversed into song-then-war like a signet's reversed impression. Finally, when the Canaanite reasoned that Aharon's death and the lifting of the Clouds of Glory permitted an attack on Yisrael, the truth was the very opposite: the new era of conquest had granted Yisrael the strength and the license to wage war against them.