Treasuring the Little Good

כי תצא מחנה כו' ונשמרת כו' ויד תהי' לך מחוץ כו'

"When you go out as a camp [against your enemies]" (Devarim 23:10) ... "and you shall guard yourself [from every evil thing]" ... "and you shall have a place [literally, a 'hand'] outside the camp" (Devarim 23:13).

The Sfas Emes opens with the pesukim about Bnei Yisrael going out as a camp against their enemies, guarding against every evil thing, and designating a place ('a hand') outside the camp.

י"ל שהוא עצה לאדם אף שא"י לתקן כל מעשיו

One may explain that this is a piece of counsel for a person, that even though he is unable to set right all of his deeds,

He reads these pesukim as guidance for someone who feels he cannot fix everything in his avodah at once.

מ"מ אין לך אדם מישראל שאין בו דברים טובים

nevertheless, there is no person from Bnei Yisrael who does not have good things within him.

His starting point is that every single Jew, no matter his level, has genuine points of good within him.

וצריך לאסוף המעט טוב שבו שלא לערב בו דבר רע

And he must gather together that little bit of good that is within him, so as not to mix any evil thing into it.

The avodah is to gather that small amount of good and keep it pure, not allowing anything bad to become mixed into it.

ועי"ז המעט יהי' לו כח ויד גם בדברים שמחוץ למחנה

And through this little bit, he will come to have strength and a 'hand' even in those matters that are outside the camp,

From holding fast to that pure bit of good, a person gains the strength and 'reach' to extend himself even into the areas still outside his spiritual 'camp.'

כי מצוה גוררת מצוה

for one mitzvah draws another mitzvah after it.

This works because of the principle that one mitzvah pulls another mitzvah along after it.

וכ' טוב מעט לצדיק כו' כי המון רשעים רבים שכל עצת היצה"ר ע"י הריבוי שמוסיף חטאים קלים כמ"ש דברים שדש בעקביו

And it is written, "Better is the little that the tzaddik has [than the abundance of many wicked ones]" (Tehillim 37:16), for the whole counsel of the yetzer hara works through abundance, by which it keeps adding light sins, as Chazal said regarding "matters that a person tramples with his heels" (Avodah Zarah 18a).

He brings the pasuk that the tzaddik's 'little' is better than the abundance of the wicked, because the yetzer hara's strategy is volume, piling up small sins that a person treats lightly, like the sins one tramples with his heels.

ותיקון הצדיק בבחי' מעט שיהי' חשוב אצלו מה שזוכה לקיים מצות בוראו אף שהוא מעט

And the rectification of the tzaddik is in the aspect of "the little," that it should be precious and significant in his eyes whatever he merits to fulfill of the mitzvos of his Creator, even though it is but a little.

The tzaddik's repair lies precisely in valuing the 'little' he holds, treating whatever mitzvos he does manage to keep as truly precious, even if they are few.

וכפי התדבקותו באותו המעט עץ חיים הוא להביאו לתקן הכל כראוי כנ"ל:

And according to the measure of his clinging to that little bit, "it is a tree of life" (Mishlei 3:18) to bring him to set everything right as is fitting, as explained above.

And in proportion to how tightly he clings to that small bit of good, it becomes a tree of life that draws him upward until he sets everything right.

Summary: The Sfas Emes reads the pesukim of "when you go out as a camp" and "you shall have a hand outside the camp" as counsel for someone who cannot yet repair all of his deeds. Since there is no Jew who lacks some good within him, his task is to gather that small amount of good and guard it from being mixed with anything evil. Holding fast to that pure bit gives him the strength and 'reach' to extend even into the territory still outside his camp, since one mitzvah draws another after it. He contrasts this with the yetzer hara, whose whole strategy is sheer abundance, piling up light sins that a person tramples underfoot. The tzaddik's rectification is the opposite: to treasure the 'little' he keeps of his Creator's mitzvos, and in the measure that he clings to it, that little becomes a tree of life that leads him to set everything right.