Land Drawn From Heaven
בפסוק כי הארץ אשר אתה בא כו' לא כארץ מצרים היא כו' אשר תזרע את זרעך כו'
On the pasuk, "For the land into which you are coming... is not like the land of Mitzrayim... where you would sow your seed... and water it by foot like a vegetable garden" (Devarim 11:10).
The Sfas Emes opens with the pasuk that contrasts Eretz Yisrael with Mitzrayim, where the Egyptians irrigated their crops by foot from the Nile rather than relying on rain.
ואין מובן דהא בזה לא מסיים דבא"י א"צ לזרוע
This is difficult to understand, for the pasuk does not conclude here that in Eretz Yisrael there is no need to sow at all.
He raises a question: the pasuk only contrasts the manner of watering, but does not say that no sowing is required in Eretz Yisrael, so what is the deeper point being made?
וי"ל דבא לומר להם כי א"י היא נמשך אחר הנהגה שלמעלה למטר השמים תשתה ולא הי' הכוונה בא"י על זרע הגשמיי בלבד
One may explain that the Torah comes to tell Bnei Yisrael that Eretz Yisrael is drawn after the governance from Above, as it says, "From the rain of the heavens it drinks water" (Devarim 11:11), and the intent was never that the produce of Eretz Yisrael depends on the physical sowing alone.
He answers that the Torah is teaching that Eretz Yisrael follows the governance of Above and drinks from heaven's rain, so its yield was never meant to rest on physical farming alone.
כדמסיים ארץ אשר ה"א דורש אותה כו' והי' א"ש כו' ונתתי מטר
This is as the pasuk concludes, "A land that Hashem your God constantly seeks out... and it will be, if you hearken... I shall give the rain of your land in its proper time" (Devarim 11:12-14).
He brings proof from the continuation of the pasuk, which says the land is one that Hashem constantly watches over and waters with rain in response to obedience.
והיינו כי זרע הארץ תלוי כפי עבודת בנ"י להש"י הרים ובקעות הם בחי' האבות והשבטים שהם השערים המשפיעים שפע משמים כמ"ש עינות ותהומות יוצאים כו'
That is to say, the produce of the land hangs upon the avodah of Bnei Yisrael to Hashem; "the mountains and the valleys" (Devarim 11:11) are the aspect of the Avos and the Shevatim, who are the gateways that draw down shefa from the heavens, as it is written, "springs and depths issuing forth" (Devarim 8:7).
The land's produce therefore depends on the avodah of Bnei Yisrael; the mountains and valleys correspond to the Avos and Shevatim, the channels through which shefa flows down from Shamayim.
ובספרי דורש י"ב פ' ארץ בפרשה זו שהי' י"ב מיני ארצות
And in the Sifri it expounds the twelve times the word "land" appears in this parsha, that there were twelve kinds of lands.
He cites the Sifri that the word "land" appears twelve times in the parsha, alluding to twelve distinct types of land.
לכל שבט ושבט נחלה בפ"ע ע"ש
For each and every Shevet there was its own separate portion of inheritance; see there.
Each Shevet received its own unique portion in Eretz Yisrael, suited to its particular character.
ועמ"ש בפ' חוקת מענין זה:
And see what is written in Parshas Chukas concerning this matter.
He concludes by referring the reader to his words in Parshas Chukas on this same theme.
Summary: The Sfas Emes examines the pasuk in Eikev that contrasts Eretz Yisrael with Mitzrayim, where crops were watered by foot rather than by rain from heaven. He asks what is gained by this contrast, since the pasuk does not say sowing is unnecessary in Eretz Yisrael, and answers that the Torah is teaching that the Holy Land is drawn after the governance from Above and drinks from the rain of the heavens, so its yield never rested on physical labor alone. Rather, the produce of the land hangs upon the avodah of Bnei Yisrael to Hashem, with the mountains and valleys corresponding to the Avos and Shevatim, who serve as the gateways that draw shefa down from Shamayim. He further brings the Sifri that the word "land" appears twelve times in the parsha, alluding to twelve distinct kinds of land, one unique portion for each Shevet according to its character.