Bittul as the shliach's protection

במדרש חביב לפני הקב"ה שלוחי מצוה שדוחה השבת כו'.

In the Midrash: Beloved before the Holy One are those sent on a mitzvah, for [such a mission] overrides the Shabbos...

The Sefas Emes opens with the Midrash that those engaged in a shlichus (mission) for a mitzvah are so precious that their mission can even set aside certain Shabbos restrictions — a sign of how exalted being a shliach mitzvah is.

בא לומר כי מצות שליחות מרגלים הי' עצת השי"ת לפי שחטאו בני ישראל באמרם נשלחה הי' זו עצה טובה אם היו מבטלין רצון עצמם לרצון המקום ב"ה לא היו מוציאין דיבה.

This comes to teach that the sending of the meraglim (spies) was, in its essence, Hashem's counsel; since Bnei Yisrael had erred in saying "let us send men," it would have been good counsel — had they nullified their own will to the will of the Omnipresent, blessed be He, they would not have brought forth an evil report.

The spies were sent by Hashem's command, but only after the people requested it. Had the spies gone purely as Hashem's shlichim, subordinating their own will to His, the mission would have been a beneficial one and they never would have spoken slander about the Land.

ובאמת מצוה כזו שהאדם משיג טעם המצוה קשה ביותר לקיים המצוה לשם שמים כראוי כמו חוקה שאדם עושה לשם שמים בלבד.

And in truth, a mitzvah such as this — where a person grasps the reason of the mitzvah — is much harder to perform properly purely lesheim Shomayim than a chok, which a person does solely for the sake of Heaven.

When a mitzvah's rationale is understood, the mind gets involved and self-interest creeps in, making it harder to act with pure intent. A chok (a decree without an apparent reason) is paradoxically easier to do purely for Hashem, since there is nothing for the ego to latch onto.

ומכש"כ זה שהי' עומד השליחות לחטא כי הי' חיסור אמונה בדבר.

And all the more so here, where the mission stood at the brink of sin, for there was a lack of emunah in the matter.

The spying mission was especially perilous because it stemmed from a deficiency in emunah — the very request to scout the Land betrayed a weakness of faith, making pure performance even harder.

אך לפי מדריגת הדור ההוא הי' דרכם להבטל לרצון המקום כאשר הקדימו נעשה לנשמע לכן הי' ראוי שכששמעו שנשתלחו בציווי המקום ב"ה היו צריכין לבטל כל דעתם לגמרי ולילך רק לשם שמים.

But according to the level of that generation, whose way was to nullify themselves to the will of the Omnipresent — as they had placed "we will do" before "we will hear" — it was therefore fitting that when they heard they were being sent by the command of the Omnipresent, blessed be He, they should have nullified their entire da'as completely and gone solely lesheim Shomayim.

That generation had reached the lofty madreigah of na'aseh v'nishma — accepting Hashem's will before even understanding it. Given that level, the spies should have suspended their own reasoning entirely upon hearing it was Hashem's command, and gone purely for His sake.

וז"ש ונותן נפשו בשליחותו.

And this is the meaning of "and he gives his soul over to his mission."

A true shliach surrenders his very nefesh — his whole self and will — to the one who sent him, leaving no room for personal agenda.

והוא כמאמר בטל רצונך מפני רצונו פי' אף בקיום מצוה.

This is like the saying "Nullify your will before His will" — meaning, even in the fulfillment of a mitzvah.

"Nullify your will before His will" applies not only when refraining from sin, but even while doing a mitzvah: one must let go of one's own ratzon entirely, even the will to perform the mitzvah for one's own reasons.

רק החשק והשתוקקות לקיים ציווי הבורא ב"ה וב"ש צריך להיות כל כך עד שיתבטלו כל רצונותיו לרצון זה.

Rather, the desire and yearning to fulfill the command of the Creator, blessed and exalted be He, must be so intense that all of one's [other] wills are nullified before this single will.

The only ratzon that should remain is the burning desire to carry out Hashem's command — so consuming that every other personal wish dissolves into it.

ואז היו ניצולין בכח המצוה.

And then they would have been saved by the power of the mitzvah.

Had the spies achieved this total bittul, the protective power of the mitzvah itself would have shielded them from stumbling into the sin of the evil report.

ובאמת כלל המצות הם ג"כ תיקון הבריאה באופן זה שאין לך דבר שאין בו מצוה וצריך להיות בטל כל התאות והרצונות של האדם בחשבו שנמצא בכל דבר איך לעשות רצון המקום ב"ה כמאמר הכל לכבודו ברא וע"י הכנה זו ניצל האדם שלא להתדבק בגשמיות הבלי עו"ז.

And in truth, the whole body of mitzvos likewise serves to rectify creation in this very manner — for there is nothing that does not contain a mitzvah, and all of a person's cravings and wills must be nullified, as he reflects that in every single thing there is a way to do the will of the Omnipresent, blessed be He, as in the saying "He created everything for His glory"; and through this preparation a person is saved from becoming attached to the physicality and vanities of this world.

This is the broad principle: every object and act contains a mitzvah, a way to serve Hashem. By nullifying one's desires and seeking in each thing how to fulfill ratzon Hashem — since "everything was created for His glory" — a person is rescued from being ensnared by the empty materialism of this world.

וכן בג' ימים קודם שבת שאסור לילך בדרך שישכח השבת.

So too regarding the three days before Shabbos, when it is forbidden to set out on a journey lest one forget the Shabbos.

Chazal forbade embarking on a long, taxing trip in the three days before Shabbos, because the toil of travel could cause a person to lose his focus on Shabbos and fail to honor it.

ושליח מצוה מציל אותו שלא להיות מוטרד בדרך לשכוח השבת והוא רמז לכל הנהגת העוה"ז כנ"ל:

But one sent on a mitzvah is saved from being so preoccupied on the road that he forgets the Shabbos — and this is a hint to the whole conduct of this world, as explained above.

A shliach mitzvah is permitted to travel even then, because the mitzvah itself protects him from being so consumed by the journey that he forgets Shabbos. This is a paradigm for all of worldly life: when one moves through the world as Hashem's shliach, with bittul, the "journey" of this world cannot make one forget the inner point (the "Shabbos") and become mired in materialism.

Summary: The sending of the spies was Hashem's own counsel, but it demanded total bittul — surrendering one's da'as and will entirely to Hashem's command, going purely lesheim Shomayim. The deeper a mitzvah's reason is understood, the harder pure intent becomes, and this mission, rooted in a lapse of emunah, was especially perilous. The principle extends to all of life: every thing holds a mitzvah and a way to do Hashem's will, and one who travels through this world as a shliach mitzvah, with his desires nullified, is protected from being swallowed by its materialism and from forgetting the inner "Shabbos."