Earning Merit Versus Gift

בפסוק לא בצדקתך

On the verse, "Not because of your righteousness" (Devarim 9:5).

The Sfas Emes opens with the verse in which Moshe Rabbeinu tells Bnei Yisrael they are not entering the land because of their own righteousness.

אמו"ז מו"ר ז"ל אמר כי מרע"ה רצה לברר זאת לחזק דורות השפלים שאין בכח מעשיהם לרשת את ארצם

My grandfather and teacher, of blessed memory, said that Moshe Rabbeinu wished to make this point clear in order to strengthen the lowly generations of the future, whose own deeds do not have the power to merit inheriting their land.

He cites his grandfather, who explained that Moshe stressed this in order to reassure later, weaker generations whose own deeds cannot suffice to merit the land.

אעפ"כ הכל בזכות האבות כו'

Even so, it is all in the merit of the Avos, and so forth.

The point is that the land is inherited in the merit of the Avos rather than one's own worthiness.

כי באמת בוודאי הי' לדור המדבר מעלות רמות ונשגבות שקיבלו התורה מן השמים והקדימו נעשה לנשמע

For in truth, the generation of the Midbar certainly possessed lofty and exalted madreigos, for they received the Torah from Heaven and placed "Naaseh" before "Nishma" ("we will do" before "we will hear").

Yet the generation that received the Torah was genuinely on a very high madreigah, having accepted the Torah and declared "Naaseh" before "Nishma."

ומכלל שנאמר א"ת בלבבך כו' בצדקתי הביאני כו' מוכח שהי' להם בוודאי במה לתלות רק שהיו בהם ג"כ קילקולים כמו שנדרש עליהם שחורה אני ונאוה

And from the very fact that it is said, "Do not say in your heart... it was because of my righteousness that Hashem brought me in" (Devarim 9:4), it is evident that they certainly did have something upon which to rely; it was only that there were also blemishes among them, as is expounded upon the verse "I am black yet comely" (Shir HaShirim 1:5).

From the warning itself not to attribute the entry to their righteousness, it is clear they did have real merit; they simply also carried blemishes, like the "black yet comely" of Shir HaShirim.

ואם היו מתקנים הכל והיו באין לא"י בכח צדקתם

And had they corrected everything and come into Eretz Yisrael by the power of their own righteousness,

Had they fully corrected those blemishes, they would have entered the land purely by their own righteousness.

לא הי' גלות שוב

there would never again have been any galus,

In that case, galus would never have recurred, because their merit would have been complete and permanent.

והי' מרע"ה נכנס עמהם

and Moshe Rabbeinu would have entered together with them.

And Moshe Rabbeinu himself would then have entered the land along with them.

רק ע"י החטאים הוצרכו לכנוס רק בזכות האבות

It was only on account of the sins that they had to enter solely in the merit of the Avos,

Because of their sins, however, they could only enter in the merit of the Avos rather than their own.

ולא נכנס עמהם מרע"ה מה"ט שלא הי' הכניסה בזכות מעשיהם רק במתנה ומרע"ה הי' בבחי' גדולה מזו

and for this reason Moshe Rabbeinu did not enter with them, since the entry was not in the merit of their own deeds but rather as a gift, whereas Moshe Rabbeinu was on a level greater than this,

Since the entry came as a gift and not through their own deeds, Moshe could not enter with them, for Moshe stood on a higher plane than entry-by-gift.

שהי' לו הכל בזכות עצמו

for he had everything in his own merit.

Moshe's level was that he earned everything entirely through his own merit.

וז"ש על בחי' האחרונה ועתה ישראל מה ה' כו' שואל מעמך

And this is what is said regarding this latter level, "And now, Yisrael, what does Hashem... ask of you" (Devarim 10:12) — that He asks of you.

The verse "And now, Yisrael, what does Hashem ask of you" speaks to this higher level of what is demanded of a person.

כי בדברות הראשונות הי' המכוון להיות כולם כמלאכי השרת אשר על כן אמרו חז"ל כי מילתא זוטרתי היא לגבי משה

For at the time of the first Luchos, the intent was that they all be like the malachei hashareis (the ministering angels), which is why Chazal said that it is "a small matter" with respect to Moshe.

At the first Luchos, the aim was for everyone to reach an angelic level, which is why Chazal could call yiras Shamayim "a small matter" relative to Moshe.

פי' למה שהיו מוכנים בדברות הראשונות

That is to say, in relation to what they were prepared for at the time of the first Luchos.

That "small matter" is measured against the exalted state Bnei Yisrael were prepared to attain at the first Luchos.

ואח"כ הכל בסיוע מהש"י כמ"ש הכל בידי שמים חוץ מיראת שמים שאין מבקשין רק הפתיחה כחודה של מחט שהוא יראת שמים ואח"כ בעזר ה' יכולין לתקן הכל ומדרגה הראשונה הי' לזכות במעשה עצמו כאבות הראשונים שהיו מתחזקים בצדקתם מעצמם:

And afterward, everything is with the assistance of Hashem Yisbarach, as it is written, "Everything is in the hands of Heaven except for yiras Shamayim" (Berachos 33b) — for one is asked only to provide the opening the size of the eye of a needle, which is yiras Shamayim, and afterward, with Hashem's help, one is able to rectify everything. And the first madreigah was to merit through one's own deed, like the early Avos, who strengthened themselves in their righteousness on their own.

After the sin, a person must rely on Hashem's help: one need only open an opening like a needle's eye of yiras Shamayim, and with Hashem's aid he can repair everything — whereas the original, higher madreigah was to merit through one's own deeds, as the Avos strengthened themselves in their righteousness on their own.

Summary: The Sfas Emes explains why Moshe Rabbeinu insisted that Bnei Yisrael were entering Eretz Yisrael not through their own righteousness but in the merit of the Avos. The generation of the Midbar was genuinely lofty, having received the Torah and placed "Naaseh" before "Nishma," yet because they still carried blemishes and did not fully rectify them, they could enter only as a gift in the Avos' merit rather than by their own deeds. Had they perfected themselves, they would have entered by their own righteousness, galus would never have recurred, and Moshe Rabbeinu — who attained everything in his own merit — would have entered with them. This corresponds to the level of the first Luchos, when Bnei Yisrael were meant to become like malachei hashareis, such that yiras Shamayim was "a small matter." After the sin, however, a person need only open the opening of yiras Shamayim like the eye of a needle, and with Hashem's help he can rectify everything, even if he no longer reaches the original madreigah of meriting entirely on his own like the Avos.