Sinai Rest Empowering Conquest

בפסוק רב לכם שבת כו'

Regarding the pasuk "You have dwelled long enough at this mountain" (Devarim 1:6), and so forth.

The Sfas Emes opens with the pasuk in which Hashem tells Bnei Yisrael that their stay at Har Sinai has been long enough, signaling it is time to move toward Eretz Yisrael.

כי ישיבתם במדבר הי' הכנה לכיבוש הארץ

For the dwelling of Bnei Yisrael in the midbar was a preparation for the conquest of the Land.

Their entire encampment in the wilderness was not merely a delay but a deliberate preparation for taking possession of the Land.

וכמו שמנוחת השבת מאיר לאדם לימי המעשה כמו כן המנוחה שהי' לבנ"י במדבר סיני נאמר להם רב לכם הרבה זכות יש לכם כו' והי' בכוחם לירש את הארץ

And just as the rest of Shabbos sheds light for a person upon the weekdays, so too the rest that Bnei Yisrael had in the Midbar Sinai — to them it was said "You have dwelled long enough," meaning: you have great merit, and so forth, and it was within their power to inherit the Land.

He draws the parallel to Shabbos: as Shabbos illuminates and empowers the weekdays that follow, the rest Bnei Yisrael experienced at Sinai built up the merit and strength that would have enabled them to enter the Land directly.

שבת כמו שבת יום מנוחה כן הי' מקום המנוחה להם בהר הזה

"Sheves" (your dwelling) is like "Shabbos," a day of rest; so too this place at this mountain was their place of rest.

He reads the word "sheves" (dwelling) as echoing "Shabbos," teaching that Har Sinai was a place of rest from which the avodah of conquering the Land was meant to flow.

ואח"כ ע"י החטא נתקלקל הדבר והיו צריכים עוד להתעכב ארבעים שנה במדבר להיות ראוים לירש הארץ:

And afterward, through the sin, the matter was ruined, and they had to tarry yet another forty years in the midbar in order to become worthy to inherit the Land.

Because of the sin of the meraglim, this readiness was spoiled, and Bnei Yisrael were forced to remain forty years in the midbar to regain the worthiness needed to inherit Eretz Yisrael.

Summary: The Sfas Emes explains that the stay of Bnei Yisrael at Har Sinai in the midbar was a preparation for conquering Eretz Yisrael, comparing it to Shabbos. Just as the rest and kedushah of Shabbos illuminate and give strength to the weekdays that follow, so the rest at Sinai built up the merit and power of Bnei Yisrael to inherit the Land. The very word "sheves," their dwelling at the mountain, hints at "Shabbos," a place and time of rest from which their further avodah was meant to flow. Had they remained worthy, they could have entered the Land directly from that rest. But through the sin of the meraglim this readiness was ruined, and they were forced to tarry another forty years in the wilderness until they once again became fit to inherit Eretz Yisrael.