Gathering For Heaven's Sake
בפסוק אתם נצבים כו' לעברך פרש"י להיותך עובר כו' דהול"ל להעבירך כו' ע"ש
On the verse "You are standing... to bring you across" (Devarim 29:11-12), Rashi explains that it means "so that you should pass over," rather than the expected phrasing "to cause you to pass over."
Rashi notes that the verse uses a word meaning "so that you should pass over" instead of the grammatically expected "to cause you to pass over." The Sfas Emes opens by flagging this textual oddity.
ואמאי לא כ' באמת כן
And why, in truth, did the Torah not write it in that latter way?
He asks the simple question: if the meaning is really the second form, why didn't the Torah just write it that way explicitly?
רק הרמז שלא נאמר כי כל תועלת הכניסה בעבור הברית
Rather, the hint contained here is that it was not stated this way [openly], because the entire benefit of entering [into the covenant] is for the sake of the bris.
The answer is that the unusual wording hints at a deeper point: the purpose of entering into the covenant is the bris itself.
אם כי אמת כן מ"מ עי"ז שמתכנסין בעבור קבלת הברית הכינוס עצמו הוא מעלה עצומה כמ"ש כל כנסי' שהיא לשם שמים כו'
Although it is indeed true [that the entry is for the sake of the covenant], nevertheless, through the very fact that they gather together for the sake of accepting the bris, the gathering itself is a tremendous level, as Chazal said, "Any gathering that is for the sake of Heaven [will endure]" (Avos 4:11).
Even so, the very act of Bnei Yisrael assembling together to accept the bris carries enormous spiritual worth, since any gathering for the sake of Heaven has lasting value.
ושיבח להם מרע"ה הכניסה לצורך הברית שעי"ז עוררו כל שורש כללות ישראל עד האבות כמ"ש ראשיכם שבטיכם זקניכם שוטריכם
And Moshe Rabbeinu praised for them this gathering for the need of the bris, for through it they aroused the entire root of the whole of Klal Yisrael, reaching back to the Avos, as it is written, "your heads, your tribes, your elders, your officers" (Devarim 29:9).
Moshe Rabbeinu praised this assembly because by gathering for the bris, Bnei Yisrael aroused the deepest root of the entire nation, all the way back to the Avos, as reflected in the verse listing heads, tribes, elders, and officers.
והם מדרגות אבות שבטים ע' נפש אח"כ שוטרים
And these correspond to the levels of the Avos, the Shevatim, the seventy souls, and afterward the officers.
Each group named in the verse corresponds to a spiritual tier: the Avos, the Shevatim, the seventy souls who went down to Mitzrayim, and then the officers.
ועמ"ש בפרשה הקודמת מזה שהשבטים עמדו בשעת קבלת הברכות וקללות ע"ש
And see what was written in the previous parsha concerning this, that the Shevatim stood at the time of the receiving of the blessings and the curses; see there.
He refers back to a point made in the previous parsha, that the Shevatim stood present when the blessings and curses were given.
כולכם הוא כלל אח"כ חושב הפרטים
"All of you" (Devarim 29:9) is the general category; afterward it enumerates the particulars.
The phrase "all of you" functions as the broad, all-encompassing category, and the verse then breaks it down into specific groups.
אח"כ כל איש ישראל והוא כלל הצריך לפרט ופרט הצריך לכלל
Afterward it says "every man of Yisrael" (Devarim 29:9), and this is the principle of a general statement that requires a particular and a particular that requires a general statement.
The continued phrase "every man of Yisrael" expresses the principle that the general and the particular each depend upon and complete one another.
וכולכם הוא כולל הכלל והפרט:
And "all of you" includes both the general category and the particular together.
The opening words "all of you" embrace both dimensions at once, the collective whole and every individual within it.
Summary: The Sfas Emes builds on Rashi's observation that the verse "You are standing... to bring you across" uses an unusual form meaning "so that you should pass over." He explains that this wording hints that although the purpose of the assembly was to accept the bris, the very act of Bnei Yisrael gathering together for the sake of Heaven is itself a tremendous spiritual achievement that endures. Through this gathering they aroused the deepest root of the entire Klal Yisrael, reaching back to the Avos, which is why the verse enumerates heads, tribes, elders, and officers, each corresponding to a distinct spiritual tier. The phrasing moves from the all-inclusive "all of you" to the individual "every man of Yisrael," teaching that the general and the particular each require and complete the other. Ultimately the words "all of you" embrace both the collective whole and every single individual at once.