Pure intent elevates every mitzvah

בפסוק ועשו להם ציצית כו'.

On the posuk: "And they shall make for themselves tzitzis, etc."

The Sefas Emes opens with the mitzvah of tzitzis at the end of Parshas Shlach, which he will connect to the parsha's central episode of the meraglim (spies).

וראיתם אותו וזכרתם כו' ועשיתם אותם ולא תתורו אחרי לבבכם כו' למען תזכרו ועשיתם את כל מצותי והייתם קדושים לאלקיכם.

"And you shall see it and remember… and you shall do them, and you shall not stray after your hearts… so that you shall remember and do all My mitzvos and be holy to your Hashem."

He notes the structure of the parsha: seeing leads to remembering, remembering to doing, and the whole sequence culminates in becoming kadosh (holy).

מ"ש ב"פ זכירה ועשיה.

Note that "remembering" and "doing" are each mentioned twice.

This double mention of zechirah (remembering) and asiyah (doing) is the textual difficulty he sets out to resolve.

ע"פ מ"ש במ"א ביאור המד' בענין המרגלים שכ' שאין לך חביב לפני הקב"ה כשלוחי מצוה שנותן נפשו להצליח בשליחותו כו'.

This is understood through what was explained elsewhere on the Midrash about the meraglim: that there is nothing more beloved to the Kadosh Baruch Hu than a sheliach mitzvah (agent of a mitzvah) who gives over his very nefesh (soul) to succeed in his shlichus (mission).

A person sent to carry out a mitzvah is especially precious to Hashem when he devotes himself entirely to the mission.

והענין שהגם שלא טוב אמרו בנ"י נשלחה אנשים וזה הדרך הי' מסוכן מאוד אעפ"כ אם היו מקיימים השליחות לשם מצות ה' בלבד היו בכלל שלוחי מצוה אינן ניזוקין ולכן עשה הקב"ה מזה מצוה.

The point is that even though it was not good that Bnei Yisrael said "let us send men," and this path was very dangerous, nevertheless, had they fulfilled the shlichus solely for the sake of the mitzvah of Hashem, they would have been included among "agents of a mitzvah, who come to no harm" — and therefore the Kadosh Baruch Hu turned this into a mitzvah.

The mission of the spies could itself have been a holy shlichus had Bnei Yisrael undertaken it purely for the sake of Hashem; Hashem allowed it to become a mitzvah.

כענין שאמרו חז"ל רצה הקב"ה לזכות את ישראל הרבה להם תורה ומצות ופרש"י דקאי על מצות שקצים ורמשים שבלא"ה היו פורשין מהם ועשה מזה מצוה לזכות את ישראל.

This is like what Chazal said: "The Kadosh Baruch Hu wished to give merit to Yisrael, so He gave them abundant Torah and mitzvos," and Rashi explains that this refers to the mitzvos concerning forbidden creeping creatures — from which people would have kept away in any case — and Hashem turned this into a mitzvah to give merit to Yisrael.

Hashem takes things a person would naturally avoid anyway and elevates them into mitzvos, so that the avoidance earns reward.

וכעין זה היה במצוה זו דשלח לך.

Something similar occurred with this matter of "Shlach lecha" (send for yourself).

The very episode of sending the spies, despite its failure, was transformed by Hashem into an opportunity for mitzvah.

אך שלוחי מצוה דאין ניזוקין הוא כשאין לו שום כוונה רק לעשות המצוה כמ"ש שמא תאבד לו מחט ויחפש אחרי' לא יחשב.

However, the principle that "agents of a mitzvah come to no harm" applies only when one has no intention whatsoever other than performing the mitzvah, as Chazal said: perhaps he might lose a needle along the way and search for it — then he is no longer reckoned a sheliach mitzvah.

The protection of a mitzvah agent depends on absolute purity of intent; the slightest self-interest, like pausing to retrieve a lost needle, disrupts it.

שוב שליח מצוה.

He is no longer a sheliach mitzvah.

Any admixture of personal motive removes one from the category of a pure agent of the mitzvah.

ויש בזה כמה מדריגות כי המצות הם לתקן הנפש רמ"ח ושס"ה וזה כולל כל אדם.

And there are several levels in this, for the mitzvos serve to rectify the nefesh — the 248 positive and 365 negative commandments — and this applies to every person.

On the first level, mitzvos work a tikkun (rectification) on a person's own soul, corresponding to the limbs and sinews; this benefit is shared by all.

אבל צריכין לבוא למדריגה למעלה מזו לעשות המצוה רק לשם שמים ואף לא לתיקון עצמו.

But one must come to a level higher than this — to perform the mitzvah solely l'shem Shomayim (for the sake of Heaven), and not even for one's own rectification.

The higher madreigah (level) is to act purely for Hashem, without even the motive of self-improvement.

לכן מקודם כתיב וזכרתם כו' ועשיתם אותם.

Therefore it is first written: "And you shall remember… and you shall do them."

The first "remember and do" corresponds to the lower level of mitzvos that rectify the self.

ודרשו חז"ל כאלו עשיתם עצמכם אח"כ ולא תתורו אחרי לבבכם הוא ב' לבבות יצ"ט ויצה"ר וגם על יצ"ט נאמר ולא תתורו אשר אתם זונים אחריהם והוא לבטל כל רצונו ונפשו רק לעשות מצות ה' והייתם קדושים לאלקיכם בלי שום נגיעה עצמית.

And Chazal expounded "you shall do them" as if you made yourselves. Afterward, "and you shall not stray after your hearts" — these are the two inclinations, the yetzer tov and the yetzer hara, and even regarding the yetzer tov it is said "do not stray… after which you go astray." This means to nullify one's entire will and nefesh, to do only the mitzvos of Hashem — "and you shall be holy to your Hashem," without any personal interest.

"Not straying after your heart" includes even the good inclination, because the highest service is total bittul (self-nullification): serving Hashem with no personal angle at all, which is what makes a person kadosh.

וזה הכח קיבלו בנ"י ביצ"מ להיות בני חורין שלא להיות מקושר בנגיעת עצמו רק לבטל לגמרי לעשות רצון המקום כמ"ש זכרתי לך כו' לכתך אחרי כו'.

This power Bnei Yisrael received at Yetzias Mitzrayim (the Exodus) — to be bnei chorin (free people), not bound to any self-interest, but to nullify themselves completely to do the ratzon HaMakom (will of Hashem), as it is written: "I remember for you… your following after Me."

True freedom, granted at the Exodus, means liberation from self-interest, so that one can follow Hashem with complete devotion.

ומרגלים נכשלו אך בזה ששתפו את רצונם ותיקון עצמותם לכן כתיב ולא תתורו כמ"ש בילקוט אל יהי לבך אלילך ע"ש.

And the meraglim failed only in this — that they mixed in their own will and their own self-rectification; therefore it is written "do not stray," as the Yalkut says: "let not your heart be your idol," see there.

The spies' sole failure was injecting personal motives into their mission; "do not stray after your heart" warns against making one's own desires into a god.

ואיתא ועשו להם ציצית משלהם.

And it is taught: "And they shall make for themselves tzitzis" — from their own.

The tzitzis must come "from their own," hinting that a person's avodah begins with what he himself contributes.

ובמד' אור זרוע לצדיק כו' כי מקודם צריך אדם להסתכל בדעת שנתן בו השי"ת כפי מה שידו מגעת וזהו נר מצוה עשיות האדם והוא כלי לתורה אור.

And in the Midrash: "Light is sown for the tzaddik," for first a person must look with the daas (understanding) that Hashem placed within him, as far as his reach extends — and this is "the mitzvah is a lamp," the deeds of a person, which are a vessel for "Torah is light."

A person begins with his own efforts and the understanding Hashem gave him; these "deeds" are the lamp, the vessel that holds the light of Torah.

לכן אח"כ ונתנו כו' פתיל תכלת שהוא מתנה שנותנים משמים.

Therefore afterward "and they shall place… a thread of techeiles (blue)," which is a gift given from Shomayim.

After a person makes his own vessel, the techeiles thread is added — representing the higher illumination bestowed from Heaven as a gift.

וברשעים כתיב וימנע מרשעים אורם אפילו האור שכבר נטבע בהם מאבדין ולצדיק מוסיפין אור זרוע בכח המצות שמקיים מתחלה כפשטן.

And of the wicked it is written: "And from the wicked their light is withheld" — even the light already implanted in them they lose; whereas for the tzaddik light is added — "light is sown" — through the power of the mitzvos he first fulfills in their plain sense.

The resha'im forfeit even the light they were given, while the tzaddik, who fulfills the mitzvos simply at first, has more and more light "sown" into him.

וזה ענין מצוה גוררת מצוה שכר מצוה מצוה כי בכל מצוה יש כמה מדריגות זו למעלה מזו עד והייתם קדושים לאלקיכם:

And this is the meaning of "one mitzvah draws another," and "the reward of a mitzvah is a mitzvah" — for in every mitzvah there are several levels, one above the other, until "and you shall be holy to your Hashem."

Each mitzvah done purely opens the way to a higher level, ascending step by step until one reaches genuine kedushah.

Summary: The double language of "remember and do" in the parsha of tzitzis marks two ascending levels of avodah — first fulfilling mitzvos to rectify one's own soul, and then rising to perform them with pure bittul, solely for Hashem with no self-interest. This was exactly where the meraglim stumbled, by mixing personal motives into their mission, and it is exactly what Bnei Yisrael gained their freedom at the Exodus in order to overcome — climbing from the lamp of one's own deeds to the added light of Heaven, until one becomes truly kadosh.