Earning Prophecy Through Wholeheartedness
בפסוק תמים תהי' כו' כי הגוים האלה כו' נביא מקרבך כו' פי' שאיש ישראל צריך להשיג הכל מעצמו
On the verse "You shall be wholehearted [tamim] with Hashem your God ... for these nations ... a prophet from your midst [Hashem will raise up for you]" (Devarim 18:13-15) — the meaning is that a person of Bnei Yisrael must attain everything from within himself.
The Sfas Emes opens by reading the command to be tamim together with the promise of a prophet: a Jew is meant to reach his attainments through his own inner avodah rather than from outside sources.
כענין מעשיך יקרבוך
This is along the lines of "your deeds draw you near" (Eduyos 5:7).
He grounds this in the principle that a person's own actions are what draw him close to spiritual attainment.
לכן אין לחפוץ לידע נסתרות ומופתים כתאוות הגוים לדרוש מעוננים וקוסמים
Therefore one should not crave to know hidden matters and wonders in the manner of the desire of the nations, who seek out soothsayers and diviners.
Because of this, a Jew should not hanker after hidden knowledge and wonders the way the nations do, who turn to soothsayers and diviners outside themselves.
אבל בכח איש ישראל ע"י העבודה בתמימות להשוות הגוף עם שורש נשמתו
Rather, it lies within the power of a person of Bnei Yisrael, through serving Hashem with wholeheartedness [temimus], to bring the body into alignment with the root of his neshamah.
Instead, the proper path is serving Hashem with wholehearted simplicity, so that the body becomes aligned with the source of one's neshamah.
וממילא יהי' לו השגה בנסתרות וכן היו באמת הנביאים ע"י עבודת כללות בנ"י
And as a natural consequence he will have attainment in hidden matters — and so, in truth, were the prophets, through the avodah of the collective whole of Bnei Yisrael.
Once that alignment is achieved, insight into hidden matters follows on its own — which is exactly how the prophets reached their level, drawing on the collective avodah of all Bnei Yisrael.
לכן בעונותינו אבדנו הנביאים
Therefore, because of our sins, we have lost the prophets.
Since prophecy flows from that collective avodah, our sins caused us to lose the prophets.
כי המה תלוים במעשי הדור
For they depend upon the deeds of the generation.
This explains the loss: prophecy is bound up with and dependent on the deeds of each generation.
ולעתיד נא' אשפוך את רוחי כו' ונבאו בניכם ובנותיכם כו'
And regarding the future it is said, "I will pour out My spirit ... and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy" (Yoel 3:1).
In the future, when the deeds of the generation are fit, Hashem will pour out His spirit and even ordinary sons and daughters will prophesy.
וזה הי' טענת בנ"י לא אוסף כו' עוד כו'
And this was the claim of Bnei Yisrael, "Let me not continue [to hear the voice of Hashem my God]" (Devarim 18:16) — that they would no longer [receive in this way].
The Sfas Emes connects this to Bnei Yisrael's own request at Sinai not to keep receiving prophecy directly in that overwhelming way.
כי לא רצו להשיג בדרך נס רק ע"פ זכות מעשיהם
For they did not wish to attain through the way of a miracle, but only through the merit of their deeds.
Their reason was that they preferred not to attain through an outright miracle but through the merit they earned by their own deeds.
ולכן הוטב בעיני ה' דבריהם
And therefore their words were pleasing in the eyes of Hashem, [as it says, "They have done well in all that they have spoken"] (Devarim 5:25).
Because of this sincere desire to earn it themselves, Hashem found their words pleasing and praised them.
ודו"ק כי קצרתי בענין זה:
And contemplate this well, for I have been brief in this matter.
He closes by inviting the reader to ponder the idea further, noting that he kept his treatment of it brief.
Summary: The Sfas Emes teaches that a Jew is meant to attain everything — including knowledge of hidden matters — from within himself, through wholehearted avodah, and not by chasing wonders the way the nations turn to soothsayers and diviners. When a person serves Hashem with temimus, his body comes into alignment with the root of his neshamah, and prophetic insight follows naturally; this is precisely how the prophets reached their level, drawing on the collective avodah of all Bnei Yisrael. Because prophecy depends on the deeds of the generation, our sins caused us to lose it, yet in the future Hashem will pour out His spirit so that even sons and daughters will prophesy. He links this to Bnei Yisrael's request at Sinai not to keep receiving prophecy in that direct, miraculous way, for they wished to earn their attainments through the merit of their own deeds rather than through a miracle. For this very desire, Hashem found their words pleasing.