Mitzvos As Heavenly Channels

בפסוק כי הארץ כו' לא כארץ מצרים כו' א' תזרע את זרעך כו'

The pasuk states, "For the land... is not like the land of Mitzrayim... where you would sow your seed... and water it with your foot like a vegetable garden" (Devarim 11:10), implying that Eretz Yisrael is different.

The Sfas Emes opens with the Torah's contrast between Eretz Yisrael and Mitzrayim, where Egypt needed to be irrigated by foot while Eretz Yisrael drinks from rain.

וקשה הא זריעה צריך והל"ל רק אשר השקית ברגליך

There is a difficulty here, for sowing is in fact necessary even in Eretz Yisrael; the pasuk should rather have said only that it differs in that there 'you would water it with your foot.'

He raises a question: since seeds must still be planted in Eretz Yisrael too, why does the pasuk single out the watering as the point of difference rather than the labor of sowing?

וי"ל הכוונה ע"פ מ"ש ארץ אשר ה"א דורש אותה ואחז"ל הלא כל הארצות דורש ה' רק בזכות שדורש אותה כולן נדרשות

It can be answered based on what is written, "a land that Hashem your God seeks out" (Devarim 11:12), upon which our Chachamim, of blessed memory, expounded: does Hashem not seek out all the lands? Rather, it is only in the merit of His seeking out this land that all of them are sought out.

He answers from the pasuk that Hashem 'seeks out' Eretz Yisrael; Chazal teach that Hashem provides for all lands only through His attention to this one land.

והיינו שניתן לבנ"י נחלת ה' שהיא הקרובה אליו ית' וזה למטר השמים תשתה ואח"כ ממנה נשפעת לשאר ארצות וכולן תלוין בה

That is to say, there was given to Bnei Yisrael the inheritance of Hashem, which is the land closest to Him, may He be blessed, and this is the meaning of "from the rain of the heavens it drinks water" (Devarim 11:11), and afterward from it the shefa flows to all the other lands, and they all depend upon it.

Eretz Yisrael is the inheritance closest to Hashem; it drinks directly from the heavens, and only then does the shefa flow from it to the rest of the world, so all lands are dependent on it.

וז"ש שאינה ארץ פרטי אשר ת' זרעך בפרט

And this is what the pasuk means, that it is not a particular, private land where specifically 'you would sow your seed.'

Therefore the pasuk's point is that Eretz Yisrael is not merely a private plot where a person sows for his own private produce.

רק היא כוללת כל השפע הבאה משמים ובנ"י במעשיהם הטובים מושכין הברכה לכל העולם

Rather, it encompasses all the shefa that comes from the heavens, and Bnei Yisrael through their good deeds draw down the blessing to the entire world.

Rather it is the channel that gathers all heavenly shefa, and through the good deeds of Bnei Yisrael blessing is drawn down to the whole world.

וזה ענין פרשת והי' א"ש קבלת עול מצות היינו תיקון כל המעשים לדבקם בשורשם ע"י התרי"ג מצות

And this is the matter of the parsha of "And it shall be, if you hearken" (Devarim 11:13) — the acceptance of the yoke of mitzvos, which is the rectification of all one's actions, to attach them to their root by means of the taryag mitzvos.

This is the meaning of the second parsha of Shema: accepting the yoke of mitzvos rectifies all of one's actions and binds them to their spiritual root through the taryag mitzvos.

ז"ש חז"ל ואספת דגנך הנהג בהם מנהג ד"א

This is what Chazal said on "and you shall gather in your grain" (Devarim 11:14) — "conduct yourself with them in the way of the world," namely combining Torah with derech eretz.

Chazal read 'and you shall gather in your grain' as teaching that one combines Torah study with worldly activity, conducting oneself in the way of the world.

ואמרו עוד הרבה עשו כרשב"י ולא עלתה בידם וכר"י ועלתה בידם

And they further said: many acted as Rabi Shimon bar Yochai did and it did not succeed for them, and as Rabi Yishmael did and it did succeed for them.

The Gemara notes that many tried Rabi Shimon bar Yochai's path of pure Torah without earning a living and failed, while those who followed Rabi Yishmael's path of combining Torah with work succeeded.

והיינו שהגם שמעלת רשב"י מאוד נעלה והיא בחי' התורה ודור המדבר

That is to say, although the level of Rabi Shimon bar Yochai is exceedingly lofty, and it is the aspect of pure Torah and the generation of the midbar,

Rabi Shimon bar Yochai's level is extraordinarily elevated, corresponding to pure Torah and to the generation of the midbar that lived on the mann.

אבל בחי' א"י הוא תיקון המעשים בחי' המצות כנ"ל

nevertheless the aspect of Eretz Yisrael is the rectification of one's actions, the aspect of the mitzvos, as explained above.

But the avodah of Eretz Yisrael is the rectification of physical actions through the mitzvos, not the detached level of pure Torah.

וכתי' אם שמוע תשמעו כו'

And it is written, "if you will surely hearken" (Devarim 11:13).

He cites the doubled language of the pasuk, 'im shamoa tishme'u,' as a hint to a deeper point.

כי נר מצוה ותורה אור ויש בכח בנ"י כשמקיימין המצות כראוי המה מעוררין השורש למעלה ומתמלאים המצות באור התורה ויכולין לשמוע מכל מצוה דבר ה'

For "a mitzvah is a candle and the Torah is light" (Mishlei 6:23), and there is power in Bnei Yisrael, when they fulfill the mitzvos as is fitting, to arouse the root above, and the mitzvos become filled with the light of the Torah, and they are then able to hear from every mitzvah the word of Hashem.

A mitzvah is a candle and the Torah is its light; when Bnei Yisrael perform mitzvos properly they arouse the spiritual root above, the mitzvos fill with the Torah's light, and one can then hear Hashem's word within each mitzvah.

וזה שמוע תשמעו

And this is the meaning of "if you will surely hearken" — the doubled expression of hearing.

This is why the verb 'to hear' is doubled — the proper performance of the mitzvah brings one to hear Hashem speaking through it.

ובמדרש העושה מצוה כאילו מדליק נר לפני ה' ע"ש כנ"ל שע"י המצוה מדליק הנר מצוה באור התורה:

And in the Midrash: one who performs a mitzvah is as though he kindles a candle before Hashem — see there — in accordance with what was explained above, that through the mitzvah one kindles the candle of the mitzvah with the light of the Torah.

The Midrash that performing a mitzvah is like kindling a candle before Hashem fits this idea exactly: the deed is the candle, and it becomes illuminated by the light of the Torah.

Summary: The Sfas Emes explains why the Torah distinguishes Eretz Yisrael from Mitzrayim specifically through its watering rather than its sowing. Eretz Yisrael is the land Hashem 'seeks out' and which drinks directly from the heavens; it is the central channel through which shefa flows to every other land, so that the good deeds of Bnei Yisrael draw blessing into the entire world. This is the avodah of accepting the yoke of mitzvos in the second parsha of Shema: rectifying one's physical actions and binding them to their root through the taryag mitzvos, which is why Chazal taught to combine Torah with derech eretz and why Rabi Yishmael's path succeeded where Rabi Shimon bar Yochai's lofty path of pure Torah did not for most. Since a mitzvah is a candle and the Torah is its light, when Bnei Yisrael fulfill mitzvos properly they arouse the root above, fill the mitzvos with the Torah's light, and merit to hear Hashem's word within every mitzvah — the doubled 'shamoa tishme'u' of one who kindles the candle of the mitzvah before Hashem.