Tefillin Conquering Sichon and Og

בשם <b>מו"ז ז"ל</b> על פסוק אחרי הכותו שקודם זה לא הי' יכול להכניס הדברים בלבם של ישראל

In the name of my grandfather and teacher, of blessed memory, on the verse "after he had smitten" (Devarim 1:4) — that prior to this Moshe Rabbeinu was not able to implant the words of Torah within the hearts of Bnei Yisrael.

Citing the Chiddushei HaRim, the Sfas Emes opens on the words "after he had smitten": only once Moshe Rabbeinu defeated Sichon and Og could the words of Torah take hold in the hearts of Bnei Yisrael.

שהמה היו קליפות גדולות

For these kings were mighty kelipos (forces of impurity that conceal holiness).

The reason these defeats were a prerequisite is that Sichon and Og were enormous forces of impurity that blocked kedushah from entering.

סיחון מלך חשבון שורש המחשבות רעות ונגד זה תפילין של ראש

Sichon, king of Cheshbon, is the root of evil thoughts, and corresponding to overcoming him is the tefillin of the head.

Sichon represents corrupt thinking at its source, and conquering him parallels the tefillin worn on the head, which sanctifies the mind.

עוג בעשתרות באדרעי המעשה ונגד זה תש"י כו' עכ"ד

Og, in Ashteros and in Edrei, is the root of evil deeds, and corresponding to overcoming him is the tefillin of the hand — and so on; these are his words.

Og represents corrupt action, and conquering him parallels the tefillin of the hand, which sanctifies deed; this completes the cited teaching.

וכן כתיב בתפילין למען תהי' תורת ה' בפיך

And so too it is written regarding tefillin, "so that the Torah of Hashem shall be in your mouth" (Shemos 13:9).

The Torah itself ties tefillin to Torah taking root, as the verse says the Torah of Hashem should be in one's mouth.

לכן אחר הנחת תפילין והתקשרות מחשבה ומעשה יכולין לקרות ק"ש כמ"ש במ"א

Therefore, after the donning of tefillin and the binding together of thought and deed, one is able to recite Krias Shema, as I have written elsewhere.

Once a person has bound thought and deed through tefillin, his head and hand are aligned, and he is then ready to accept the yoke of Heaven by reciting Shema.

וכן הי' בכללות ישראל כמו שנוהג בפרטות

And so it was with the entirety of Bnei Yisrael, just as it functions on the level of each individual.

What is true for the individual was true for the nation as a whole: defeating these kings cleared the way for Torah to be implanted in all of Bnei Yisrael.

ואמת כי זה רמז לתפילין דמרי עלמא כמו שבנ"י משעבדין לבם ומבטלין כל מחשבות ומעשים רעים בעבור רצון הבורא ית'

And it is true that this alludes to the tefillin of the Master of the world — that just as Bnei Yisrael subjugate their hearts and nullify all evil thoughts and deeds for the sake of the will of the Creator, may He be blessed,

On a deeper level, this points to Hashem's own "tefillin": just as Bnei Yisrael subdue their hearts and cancel out every evil thought and deed for His will,

כן הקב"ה כביכול מבטל כל כוחות סט"א ונותן כל השפעות רק לבנ"י וזה מלחמות סיחון ועוג כנ"ל:

so too the Holy One, Blessed is He, as it were, nullifies all the powers of the sitra achra (the "other side," the forces of impurity) and grants all the bounty solely to Bnei Yisrael — and this is the meaning of the wars of Sichon and Og, as explained above.

so Hashem in turn nullifies all the powers of the sitra achra and directs all shefa exclusively to Bnei Yisrael — and that is the inner meaning of the wars against Sichon and Og.

Summary: The Sfas Emes, quoting the Chiddushei HaRim, explains why the Torah notes that Moshe Rabbeinu taught the Torah only "after he had smitten" Sichon and Og: until these two mighty kelipos were defeated, the words of Torah could not be implanted in the hearts of Bnei Yisrael. Sichon, the root of evil thoughts, corresponds to the tefillin of the head, while Og, the root of evil deeds, corresponds to the tefillin of the hand; binding the two together sanctifies both mind and action and readies a person to accept the yoke of Heaven through Krias Shema. What holds for the individual held for the nation as a whole. On the deepest level, this reflects the "tefillin of the Master of the world": just as Bnei Yisrael subjugate their hearts and nullify every evil thought and deed for the will of the Creator, so too Hashem nullifies all the powers of the sitra achra and channels all the bounty solely to Bnei Yisrael — and this is the inner meaning of the wars of Sichon and Og.