Returning the Rashas Portion

לא תראה כו' השב תשיבם כו' תאבד ממנו ומצאתה כו'

"You shall not see... you shall surely return them... it becomes lost from him and you find it..." (Devarim 22:1-3).

The piece opens with the pesukim of hashavas aveidah - the mitzvah to return a lost object - which the Sfas Emes will read on a deeper spiritual plane.

דהנה חז"ל כתבו כי זכה הצדיק נוטל חלקו וחלק חבירו בג"ע

For behold, Chazal wrote that when a tzaddik merits, he takes his own portion and the portion of his fellow in Gan Eden.

Chazal teach that a tzaddik who is worthy receives both his own share in Gan Eden and the share that a rasha forfeited.

ומסתמא כן הוא גם בעוה"ז שהרשע בעונותיו מאבד זכיותיו

And presumably this is so in this world as well: that the rasha, through his sins, loses his merits.

The Sfas Emes suggests this dynamic operates already in this world, where a rasha forfeits his merits through his sins.

וכל המעש"ט שעשה הכל נוטל הצדיק

And all the good deeds that he did the tzaddik takes.

Those forfeited good deeds do not vanish but are taken up by the tzaddik.

ולכן יש כמה פעמים שהצדיק מוצא סיוע במעשיו הטובים שלא ע"פ עבודתו

Therefore there are many times that the tzaddik finds assistance in his good deeds that is not in accordance with his own avodah,

This explains why a tzaddik sometimes experiences siyata diShmaya in his good deeds beyond what his own efforts would warrant.

והוא שזכה לחלק הרשע

and this is because he has merited the portion of the rasha.

That extra assistance flows from his having received the rasha's forfeited portion.

אך האדם צריך להשים לב ע"ז ולחזור החלק לבעליו והי' עמך עד דרוש אחיך כי כששב הרשע בתשובה יחזירנו לו

But a person must pay attention to this and return the portion to its owner, "and it shall be with you until your brother seeks it" (Devarim 22:2) - for when the rasha returns in teshuvah, he should give it back to him.

Yet just as a found object must be returned, the tzaddik must recognize this is not truly his and hold it for the rasha until he does teshuvah and reclaims it.

וכ' השב תשיבם פי' שע"י שהצדיק מרגיש שאין זה ע"פ עבודתו

And it is written, "you shall surely return them" - the explanation is that through the tzaddik sensing that this is not in accordance with his own avodah,

The doubled language "return them" hints that the tzaddik first becomes aware that this spiritual gain is not the fruit of his own avodah.

עי"ז חוזר בתשובה

through this he himself does teshuvah.

That very awareness humbles him and moves him to do teshuvah himself.

וע"י התשובה זו מתעורר גם הרשע לבוא להירהור תשובה

And through this teshuvah, the rasha too is awakened to come to a stirring of teshuvah,

His teshuvah then radiates outward and awakens even the rasha to a first stirring of return.

כי נמצא שגרמו מעשיו זכות להצדיק ויש לו עי"ז עלי' לטוב

for it turns out that his deeds caused a merit for the tzaddik, and through this he has an ascent toward the good.

It emerges that the rasha's own deeds, though forfeited, became a source of merit for the tzaddik, and this itself lifts the rasha toward the good.

ויוכל להיות כי גם בעוה"ב כשהצדיק בעין טובה שלו רוצה להחזיר החלק לבעליו טוב הוא לשניהם:

And it could be that even in Olam Haba, when the tzaddik, out of his good eye, wishes to return the portion to its owner, it is good for both of them.

Finally, even in the World to Come, when the tzaddik with a generous eye returns the forfeited portion, both the tzaddik and the rasha are elevated together.

Summary: Reading the mitzvah of returning a lost object as a spiritual teaching, the Sfas Emes explains that when a rasha forfeits his merits through sin, those good deeds are taken up by the tzaddik - which accounts for the siyata diShmaya a tzaddik sometimes finds beyond his own avodah. But like any found object, this portion is not truly his to keep; he must hold it for its owner until the rasha returns in teshuvah. The doubled language "you shall surely return them" teaches that the tzaddik, sensing this gain is not the product of his own labor, is moved to do teshuvah himself, and his teshuvah in turn awakens the rasha to his own stirring of return. Thus the rasha's deeds become a merit that elevates the tzaddik, and that very dynamic lifts the rasha back toward the good. In the end, even in Olam Haba, the tzaddik's generous-eyed return of the portion to its owner is good for both of them.