Uniting Neshamah And Body

ולא נתן ה'

"But Hashem did not give"

The Sfas Emes opens by citing Moshe Rabbeinu's words that Hashem did not give the people something.

לכם לב לדעת ועינים כו' ואזנים לשמוע כו'

"to you a heart to know, and eyes [to see], and ears to hear" (Devarim 29:3).

He completes the verse: a heart to know, eyes to see, and ears to hear — the faculties of perception.

וקשה כי דור המדבר הוא דור דיעה שעמדו על הר סיני

This is difficult, for the generation of the wilderness was a generation of knowledge, since they stood at Har Sinai.

He raises a difficulty: how could the wilderness generation lack a heart to know, when they were a generation of deep knowledge who stood at Har Sinai?

אך לא כתיב לא נתן לכם דעת כו'

However, the verse does not say that Hashem did not give them knowledge,

He resolves it by noting the precise wording: the verse does not say Hashem withheld knowledge itself.

רק הכלים לב ועינים ואזנים

but rather only the vessels — a heart, and eyes, and ears.

Rather, it says only that they lacked the vessels — the heart, eyes, and ears that house and channel that knowledge in the body.

כי בוודאי כשעמדו על הר סיני היו כמו בלי גוף כמ"ש נפשי יצאה בדברו והם ממש דור דיעה בלי גוף ותיקון הגוף ניתן לבנ"י כשנכנסו לא"י

For certainly, when they stood at Har Sinai they were as though without a body, as Chazal said, "My soul departed as He spoke" (Shir HaShirim Rabbah 5:6), and they were literally a generation of knowledge without a body; and the rectification of the body was given to Bnei Yisrael when they entered Eretz Yisrael.

At Har Sinai their souls so transcended the physical that they were like bodiless beings, as Chazal describe; only upon entering Eretz Yisrael did they receive the means to sanctify the body itself.

והכלל שהקב"ה נתן לבנ"י ב' אלו הדברים תורה הקדושה שמלמדת לאדם דעת איך לצאת מחומר הגוף והגשמיות

And the principle is that the Holy One, Blessed is He, gave Bnei Yisrael these two things: the holy Torah, which teaches a person knowledge of how to emerge from the coarseness of the body and from physicality,

He lays out the principle: Hashem gave two gifts — the Torah, which teaches a person how to rise above the coarseness and physicality of the body.

וא"י ובהמ"ק היא לקרב הגשמיות וחומר הגוף ג"כ אל הקדושה להיות חיבור הנשמה והגוף ביחד

and Eretz Yisrael and the Beis HaMikdash, which serve to draw the physical and the coarseness of the body close to kedushah as well, so that there be a joining of the neshamah and the body together.

And Eretz Yisrael with the Beis HaMikdash, whose role is the opposite movement — to draw even the physical body into kedushah and unite neshamah and body.

כמ"ש כי תבאו ונטעתם כו' וזה תיקון הגוף הי' חסר להם קודם ביאת הארץ

As it is written, "When you come [into the land] and you plant" (Vayikra 19:23) — and this rectification of the body was lacking for them before they entered the land.

He grounds this in the verse about planting upon entering the land; this avenue of sanctifying the body was unavailable to them in the wilderness.

וכן עתה בגלות שהשאיר לנו הקב"ה התורה הקדושה

And so too now in galus, the Holy One, Blessed is He, has left us the holy Torah,

He applies it to our times: in galus, Hashem has left us the Torah, the gift of knowledge.

ובהמ"ק אין לנו

but the Beis HaMikdash we do not have.

But the second gift, the Beis HaMikdash, is absent from us today.

לכן א"א להתקיים בקדושה רק כפי ביטול הגוף לצאת מהגשמיות ע"י הדעת מהתורה ותיקון הגוף הוא בגלות כנ"ל

Therefore it is impossible to endure in kedushah except according to the degree of the bittul of the body — to emerge from physicality by means of the knowledge that comes from the Torah; and the rectification of the body remains in galus, as above.

Therefore in galus we can only hold onto kedushah through bittul of the body via Torah's knowledge; the full rectification of the body still awaits us and is, as it were, held in galus.

ועל ב' אלו הבחי' מבקשין שיבנה בהמ"ק כו' ותן חלקינו בתורתך

And it is upon these two aspects that we plead that the Beis HaMikdash be rebuilt, and "grant us our portion in Your Torah."

Corresponding to these two aspects, our tefillah asks both that the Beis HaMikdash be rebuilt and for our portion in the Torah.

והם ב' האותות שצריך להיות בכל איש ישראל ברית מילה ותפילין ובש"ק מילה ושבת כמ"ש חז"ל

And these are the two signs that must be present within every Jew — bris milah and tefillin; and on Shabbos Kodesh, milah and Shabbos, as Chazal said.

These two gifts correspond to the two signs upon every Jew: tefillin and milah on weekdays, and on Shabbos, milah together with Shabbos itself, as Chazal teach.

והם ב' ענינים הנ"ל והם תורה שבכתב ושבע"פ

And these are the two matters mentioned above, and they are the Torah she'bichsav and the Torah she'be'al peh.

These two signs map onto the two matters above and onto the Written Torah and the Oral Torah.

ושבת הוא בחי' א"י ובהמ"ק ויש בו תיקון הגוף

And Shabbos is the aspect of Eretz Yisrael and the Beis HaMikdash, and within it there is the rectification of the body.

Shabbos itself stands in the place of Eretz Yisrael and the Beis HaMikdash, carrying within it the rectification of the body.

לכן יכולין לקבל בחי' נשמה יתירה והיא הארת הנשמה בגוף כנ"ל:

Therefore one is able to receive the aspect of the neshamah yeseirah, which is the illumination of the neshamah within the body, as above.

That is why on Shabbos one can receive the neshamah yeseirah — the shining of the neshamah into the body, the very union of soul and body described throughout.

Summary: The Sfas Emes asks how Moshe Rabbeinu could say Hashem did not give Bnei Yisrael a heart to know, eyes, and ears, when the wilderness generation was a generation of knowledge who stood at Har Sinai. He answers that the verse withholds not knowledge itself but the vessels of the body, for at Sinai the people transcended their bodies entirely; the rectification of the body came only upon entering Eretz Yisrael. Hashem thus gave two complementary gifts: the holy Torah, which lifts a person above physicality, and Eretz Yisrael with the Beis HaMikdash, which draws the body itself into kedushah and unites neshamah with body. In galus we retain the Torah but lack the Beis HaMikdash, so we hold onto kedushah chiefly through bittul of the body, while its full rectification still awaits us. These two aspects correspond to milah and tefillin, to the Written and Oral Torah, and on Shabbos Kodesh to milah and Shabbos, where Shabbos itself stands in for Eretz Yisrael and the Beis HaMikdash and enables the neshamah yeseirah — the illumination of the neshamah within the body.