Parting Gift After Service
בפסוק העניק תעניק לו כו' וזכרת כי עבד היית כו'
On the verse, "You shall surely bestow a gift upon him... and you shall remember that you were a slave..." (Devarim 15:14-15).
The Sfas Emes opens with the Torah's command to give a parting gift to a freed servant, coupled with the reminder that Bnei Yisrael themselves were once slaves.
איתא במדרשים ומה רשעים שנמכרו בגנבתם אמר הקב"ה העניק תעניק צדיקים שעושין רצונו של מקום עאכו"כ שיפרע להם הקב"ה שכר טוב
It is brought in the Medrashim: And if regarding wicked people who were sold on account of their theft, the Holy One, Blessed is He, said, "You shall surely bestow a gift upon him," then with the tzaddikim who carry out the will of the Omnipresent, how much more so will the Holy One, Blessed is He, pay them a good reward.
The Medrash reasons from the lesser to the greater: if even a thief sold into servitude gets a generous gift upon his release, surely Hashem will lavishly reward tzaddikim who do His will.
כי זאת משפט התורה כאשר משלים עבודתו צריכין להעניקו ומכ"ש כשמשלים האדם שליחותו בעוה"ז יש לו הענקה
For this is the law of the Torah: when one completes his service, one must bestow a parting gift upon him; and how much more so, when a person completes his mission in this world, he receives a bestowal of a gift.
He distills the principle: completing one's term of service entitles one to a parting gift, and all the more so completing one's life-mission in this world earns a reward from Hashem.
ויש פלוגתא בגמ' חד אמר אם נתברך הבית בגללו מעניקין לו וח"א אפי' לא נתברך
And there is a dispute in the Gemara: one opinion holds that only if the household was blessed on his account do they bestow a gift upon him, and the other opinion holds that one bestows a gift even if it was not blessed.
He cites the Gemara's machlokes about whether the gift is owed only when the master's household prospered through the servant, or even when it did not.
ומסתמא הם ב' מיני הענקה למי שנתברך ולמי שלא נתברך אעפ"כ כל אדם עושה שליחות הבורא ית' שמו בעולם
And presumably these are two distinct types of bestowal — one for the one on whose account there was a blessing, and one for the one on whose account there was no blessing; yet even so, every person carries out the mission of the Creator, Blessed be His Name, in the world.
He resolves it by saying both views are correct as two different forms of reward, since in either case every person is fulfilling the Creator's mission in the world.
והגם כי היגיעה בעוה"ז השפל בא ע"י חטא הראשון שמקום אדה"ר הי' בג"ע
And although the toil in this lowly world came about through the sin of the first man, Adam HaRishon, for the place of Adam HaRishon was in Gan Eden,
Even though the hard labor of this lowly world stems from Adam HaRishon's sin — his original place having been the ease of Gan Eden —
ומ"מ הרי אפי' מי שנמכר בגניבתו יש לו הענקה
nevertheless, behold, even one who was sold on account of his theft receives a bestowal of a gift.
the parting gift is still owed, just as it is owed even to a thief who was sold into servitude; the toil does not cancel the reward.
והנה שבת הוא מעין עוה"ב ולכן יש בו בחי' הענקה לבנ"י והוא בחי' הנשמה יתירה לכל א' כפי עבודתו בימי המעשה
And behold, Shabbos is a semblance of Olam Haba, and therefore it contains the aspect of a bestowal of a gift to Bnei Yisrael, and this is the aspect of the neshamah yeseirah given to each one according to his avodah during the weekdays.
Shabbos, being a taste of Olam Haba, is itself such a parting gift, conferring the neshamah yeseirah upon each person in proportion to his avodah during the workweek.
וכמו שזכו בנ"י אחר העבודה במצרים לקבלת התורה שהיא ג"כ הענקה כמו כן בכל גלות הגם שבא ע"י החטאים מ"מ דין הענקה להם:
And just as Bnei Yisrael merited, after the avodah in Mitzrayim, to receive the Torah — which is likewise a bestowal of a gift — so too in every galus, although it comes about through the sins, nevertheless the law of bestowing a gift applies to them.
Just as the servitude in Mitzrayim was rewarded with the gift of the Torah, every galus — though brought on by sin — likewise earns Bnei Yisrael a parting gift at its conclusion.
Summary: The Sfas Emes builds on the mitzvah of ha'anakah — the parting gift given to a freed Hebrew servant — to teach that completing any term of service, and ultimately one's mission in this world, earns a gift from Hashem. Reasoning from the Medrash's kal vachomer, if even a thief sold into servitude receives a generous gift, surely those who do the Ribono shel Olam's will are rewarded. He resolves the Gemara's dispute over when the gift is owed by explaining that every person, in any case, is carrying out the Creator's mission, so a reward is due even though the toil of this world flows from Adam HaRishon's sin. Shabbos is itself such a bestowal, a taste of Olam Haba granting each Jew a neshamah yeseirah measured by his weekday avodah. So too every galus, though it comes through sin, concludes with a parting gift — just as the servitude in Mitzrayim was crowned with the gift of the Torah.