Wholehearted Surrender To Hashem

תמים תהי' כו' כי כו' ואתה לא כן נתן לך ה' כו' ככל אשר שאלת כו' בחורב כו'

"You shall be wholehearted [with Hashem your God]... For [these nations that you are to dispossess listen to soothsayers and diviners], but as for you, Hashem your God has not given you so... according to all that you asked [of Hashem your God] at Chorev" (Devarim 18:13-16).

The Sfas Emes opens with the pasuk commanding us to be wholehearted with Hashem, contrasting Bnei Yisrael with the surrounding nations who turn to soothsayers, and linking this to what we requested at Chorev.

פי' תמים להיות רצון האדם להמשך אחר הנהגות הבו'

The meaning of "tamim," wholehearted, is that a person's will should be to be drawn after the conduct directed by the Creator.

Being "tamim" means orienting one's deepest will toward following the path of conduct that Hashem directs, rather than one's own reasoning.

ולא ירצה להיות בהנהגות עצמו

And he should not wish to follow his own self-directed conduct.

A wholehearted person does not insist on charting his own course of behavior.

כי זה יותר טוב ממה שמשיג בעצמו איך לנהוג עצמו

For this is far better than whatever he grasps on his own as to how he ought to conduct himself.

Following Hashem's direction is superior to any self-derived conclusion a person might reach about how to live.

וזה הי' כוונת בנ"י באמרם לא אוסיף לשמוע כו'

And this was the intent of Bnei Yisrael when they said, "Let me not continue to hear [the voice of Hashem my God]" (Devarim 18:16).

When Bnei Yisrael asked not to hear Hashem's voice directly, they were expressing this very desire to be guided rather than to figure things out alone.

כי לא היו רוצין להיות סומכין על בינתם

For they did not wish to rely upon their own understanding,

They specifically did not want to lean on their own intellect.

רק להיות נמשך אחר נביא אמת

but rather to be drawn after a true prophet.

Instead, they wanted to be led by a true navi who conveys Hashem's word.

וזה שאמר להם מרע"ה כי כשהייתם במעמד הר סיני ראיתם בעצמכם כי זהו טובה השלימה

And this is what Moshe Rabbeinu said to them: that when you stood at the assembly of Har Sinai, you saw for yourselves that this is the complete good.

Moshe Rabbeinu told them that the experience at Har Sinai itself proved to them that being led this way is the ultimate good.

כי באמת רצון איש הישראלי הוא זאת להיות נמשך אחר הש"י וחקותיו שלא לחפש טעמים והשגות

For in truth, the will of a Jew is precisely this—to be drawn after Hashem Yisborach and His statutes, without searching for reasons and intellectual comprehensions.

The authentic will of every Jew is to follow Hashem and His chukim without demanding to first understand the reasons.

וז"ש לא כן נתן לך ה' פי' שהקב"ה שם בטבע נפשות בנ"י שלא ירצו לחקור בשכלם רק להיות תמים עם ה' כו'

And this is the meaning of "Hashem your God has not given you so"—that the Holy One, Blessed is He, implanted within the very nature of the neshamos of Bnei Yisrael that they should not wish to investigate with their own intellect, but rather to be wholehearted with Hashem.

The phrase "has not given you so" teaches that Hashem built into the nature of every Jewish neshamah the disposition to be wholehearted rather than to probe everything with intellect.

ומי שאינו מרגיש רצון זה צריך לבטל עצמו לכלל ישראל:

And whoever does not feel this will within himself must nullify himself to Klal Yisrael.

If someone does not sense this will inside himself, the remedy is to nullify himself before the collective of Klal Yisrael, whose nature does possess it.

Summary: The Sfas Emes explains that the mitzvah to be "tamim," wholehearted, with Hashem means orienting one's deepest will toward following the conduct that Hashem directs, rather than relying on one's own reasoning about how to live. This was precisely the request of Bnei Yisrael at Chorev when they asked not to hear Hashem's voice directly—not out of fear alone, but out of a desire to be led by a true navi rather than to depend on their own understanding, and the revelation at Har Sinai showed them this is the complete good. The authentic will of every Jew is to be drawn after Hashem and His chukim without first searching for reasons and intellectual comprehensions. The pasuk "Hashem your God has not given you so" teaches that the Holy One, Blessed is He, implanted this very disposition within the nature of every Jewish neshamah. And whoever does not feel this will within himself can attain it by nullifying himself to Klal Yisrael.