Earning the Land's Blessing

במדרש מרע"ה תיקן ברכת הזן כשנכנסו לארץ תיקנו על הארץ ועל המזון שאין לך חביב לפני הקב"ה כא"י כו'

In the Midrash: Moshe Rabbeinu instituted the berachah of HaZan; when Bnei Yisrael entered the Land, they instituted the berachos 'for the Land and for the sustenance,' for there is nothing more beloved before the Holy One, Blessed is He, than Eretz Yisrael.

The Midrash teaches that Moshe Rabbeinu instituted the first berachah of Birchas HaMazon, while the next two berachos, for the Land and the sustenance, were added upon entering Eretz Yisrael, because the Land is uniquely beloved to the Holy One, Blessed is He.

הענין הוא כי המן הי' לחם מן השמים וכן מדריגת מרע"ה שהוריד לנו התורה משמים והוא המשכת השפע מהשי"ת והוא ברכת הזן

The matter is this: the mann was bread from the heavens, and so too the level of Moshe Rabbeinu, who brought down the Torah to us from the heavens; this is the drawing down of the shefa (Divine bounty) from Hashem Yisborach, and this is the berachah of HaZan.

The mann corresponds to the level of Moshe Rabbeinu and the Torah — both are bounty drawn down to us directly from the heavens, which is what the berachah of HaZan expresses.

אבל א"י הוא בחי' הקבלה שבנ"י מקבלים השפע הבאה משמים והיא ברכת הארץ שהוא כלי מחזיק ברכה

But Eretz Yisrael is the aspect of receiving, whereby Bnei Yisrael receive the shefa that comes from the heavens; this is the berachah of the Land, which is a vessel that holds blessing.

Eretz Yisrael represents the receiving side: Bnei Yisrael acting as the vessel that takes in the heavenly shefa, which is what the berachah of the Land expresses.

וז"ש כי אתם באים אל הארץ בה' כי ארץ ישראל היא כלל הארץ

And this is the meaning of 'For you are coming to the Land' with the letter hei (ha'aretz, 'the Land'), for Eretz Yisrael is the all-encompassing klal of the land.

The pasuk's wording 'the Land' with the hei hints that Eretz Yisrael is the encompassing root of all land.

כי השי"ת ברא השמים והארץ א"כ באמת הקדושה נמצאת בארץ כמו בשמים

For Hashem Yisborach created the heavens and the earth; if so, then in truth the kedushah is found in the earth just as it is in the heavens.

Since Hashem Yisborach created both heaven and earth, the same kedushah is truly present in the earth as in the heavens.

רק והארץ היתה תהו כו' והחושך מכסה

Only that 'the earth was tohu (formless)' and 'the darkness covered' it.

At first, however, the earth was formless and covered in darkness, its inner kedushah hidden.

אבל כשנכנסו בנ"י לא"י נתחדש המקום בקדושה הראוי' כמ"ש אשר ה' אלקיך דורש אותה תמיד

But when Bnei Yisrael entered Eretz Yisrael, the place was renewed with the fitting kedushah, as it is written, 'a Land that Hashem your God seeks out always' (Devarim 11:12).

When Bnei Yisrael entered the Land, the place was renewed with its proper revealed kedushah, the Land that Hashem constantly seeks out.

שבנ"י וא"י הם כלי מחזיק ברכה כנ"ל

For Bnei Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael are a vessel that holds blessing, as above.

Bnei Yisrael together with Eretz Yisrael form the vessel that holds and contains blessing.

ויכולין לקבל השפע הבאה משמים

And they are able to receive the shefa that comes from the heavens.

Because they are such a vessel, they have the capacity to receive the bounty that descends from the heavens.

וזהו החילוק כי מן הי' מתנה למעלה מהכנת בנ"י לכן כתיב כי לא ידעו מה הוא

And this is the distinction: the mann was a gift from above, beyond the preparation of Bnei Yisrael, and therefore it is written 'for they did not know what it was' (Shemos 16:15).

The mann came purely as a gift from above, unearned by Bnei Yisrael's own efforts, which is why they did not even know what it was.

כענין שכתבו מאן דאכיל דלאו דילי' בהית לאסתכולי בי'

This is along the lines of what the Sages wrote: one who eats that which is not his own is ashamed to look upon it.

The Sages teach that bread received as an unearned handout brings a measure of shame, since one did not labor for it.

אבל א"י הוא השפע שזוכין בנ"י להיות בא בהכנת מעשיהם וזה חביב לפניו ית' יותר מהכל

But Eretz Yisrael is the shefa that Bnei Yisrael merit to have come through the preparation of their own deeds, and this is more beloved before Him, Yisborach, than everything.

Eretz Yisrael, by contrast, is bounty earned through Bnei Yisrael's own deeds and preparation, and this is the most beloved thing of all before Hashem.

וז"ש תפול לכם ראוי' היא לכם כנ"ל שיהי' בזכותם שיהיו מוכנים לקבל כנ"ל:

And this is the meaning of 'it shall fall to you' (Bamidbar 34:2) — it is fitting for you, as above, that it should come through their merit, that they be prepared to receive, as above.

The pasuk 'it shall fall to you' means the Land is fitting for them precisely because it comes through their own merit and their readiness to receive it.

Summary: The Sfas Emes contrasts two channels of Divine bounty through the berachos of Birchas HaMazon. The berachah of HaZan, instituted by Moshe Rabbeinu, parallels the mann and the Torah — pure shefa drawn down from the heavens as an unearned gift from above. The berachos of the Land, added upon entering Eretz Yisrael, parallel the receiving side: Bnei Yisrael together with the Land form a vessel that holds blessing and draws in that heavenly bounty. Although the kedushah of Hashem fills the earth just as it fills the heavens, it lay hidden until Bnei Yisrael entered and renewed the Land with its fitting kedushah. Bounty that is earned and received through the preparation of Bnei Yisrael's own deeds is more beloved before Hashem than a gift received from above, which is why Eretz Yisrael is described as 'falling to you' — fitting for them by their own merit.