Nullifying Wisdom For Dveikus

בפסוק תמים תהי' כו' כי הגוים האלה כו' ואתה לא כן כו'

On the pasuk "You shall be wholehearted [with Hashem your God]... for these nations [that you are about to dispossess heed soothsayers and diviners]... but as for you, Hashem your God has not given you so" (Devarim 18:13-14).

The Sfas Emes opens with the pasuk that commands Bnei Yisrael to be wholehearted with Hashem, contrasting them with the surrounding nations who turn to soothsayers and diviners.

הענין דאיתא מקומות שהכניס הקב"ה אותנו לשם היו גרועים ביותר

The matter is, as is brought, that the places into which the Holy One, Blessed is He, brought us were the most corrupt of all.

He cites the teaching that the lands Hashem settled us in were specifically the most spiritually corrupt places.

ע"ש בפ' אחרי בת"כ

See there, in Parashas Acharei in the Toras Kohanim.

He directs us to the source for this in the Toras Kohanim on Parashas Acharei.

וכל הע"ז וכשפים היו שביח בשם כי המקום הוא מסייע לפעולות החכמה שיש בעבט

And all forms of avodah zarah and sorcery were most prevalent there, for that place itself lends assistance to the workings of the wisdom that resides in such practices.

In those lands avodah zarah and sorcery flourished, because the very place itself empowers the dark wisdom embedded in such practices.

ומזה עצמו הכניסנו הקב"ה לשם שהגם שנדע כל זה נבטל כל החכמות והפעולות כדי להתדבק בהשי"ת כמ"ש רש"י תצפה לו ולא תחקור אחר העתידות ואז תהי' עמו ולחלקו

And it is precisely for this reason that the Holy One, Blessed is He, brought us into there: so that, even though we would come to know all of this, we would nullify all those wisdoms and workings in order to cleave to Hashem Yisbarach, as Rashi writes, "Look to Him in expectation, and do not inquire after the future, and then you shall be with Him and counted as His portion."

Hashem placed us there davka so that, even with full knowledge of these arts, we would set them all aside to cleave to Him — looking only to Him rather than probing the future.

וזה הדביקות צריך להיות יקר אצל האדם יותר מכל החכמות

And this dveikus must be more precious in a person's eyes than all the wisdoms.

Such dveikus to Hashem must be valued by a person above every form of wisdom and knowledge.

לכן אחז"ל ל"ת לעשות אבל אתה למד להבין ולהורות שזה הי' המכוון שבנ"י אחר שידעו כ"ז מבטלים הע"ז והכשפים

Therefore Chazal said: "It is a negative commandment to practice [these arts], but you may study them in order to understand and to issue rulings" — for this was the intent: that Bnei Yisrael, after they would come to know all of this, would nullify the avodah zarah and the sorcery.

Chazal forbade practicing these arts yet permitted studying them to understand and rule on them, because the whole point is that Bnei Yisrael, knowing them fully, choose to nullify them.

וזה העדות שמע דין בנ"י על ה' אחד כמ"ש עם זו יצרתי לי כו' אתם עדי

And this is the testimony — "Hear, O Yisrael" — the judgment of Bnei Yisrael upon Hashem being One, as it is written, "This people I formed for Myself [that they may relate My praise]... you are My witnesses" (Yeshayah 43:21, 43:10).

By rejecting them, Bnei Yisrael become living witnesses, through Krias Shema, that Hashem is One — the people formed to proclaim His praise.

ז"ש ואתה לא כן נתן פי' לברר שכל זה מעשה תעתועים ולעזוב הכל רק להיות תמים לה'

This is what is meant by "but as for you, Hashem has not given you so" — it was given to clarify that all of this is the work of delusions, and to forsake it all, only to be wholehearted with Hashem.

The phrase "but as for you, Hashem has not given you so" teaches us to recognize these arts as mere delusion and to abandon them entirely in favor of wholehearted devotion to Hashem.

ובמד' תנחומא כמו שהרים הקב"ה לאברהם למעלה מהמזל ע"ש צא מאיצטגנינות שלך כו'

And in the Midrash Tanchuma it is brought, just as the Holy One, Blessed is He, lifted Avraham above the mazal — see there, "Go out from your astrology..."

He brings the Tanchuma that Hashem raised Avraham above the influence of the mazalos, telling him to leave his astrology behind.

פי' דאיתא בזוה"ק פ' לך לך שאחר שאאע"ה עסק בחכמת הטבע והשתוקק להשיג אמיתת הבורא אמר לו לך לך כו'

The explanation is as is brought in the Zohar HaKadosh, Parashas Lech Lecha, that after Avraham Avinu, alav hashalom, had occupied himself with the wisdom of nature and longed to attain the truth of the Creator, Hashem said to him, "Lech lecha — go forth..."

Drawing on the Zohar, he explains that only after Avraham had thoroughly investigated the natural world and yearned to grasp the true Creator did Hashem tell him "Lech lecha."

שכן הסדר לחפש בדעת כפי היכולת ואח"כ לבטל כל הדעת כדי להשיג אמיתות דבר ה' ואז זוכין לנבואה כמ"ש אח"ז נביא מקרבך כו' עי"ז שתהי' תמים כנ"ל:

For such is the order: to search with the intellect to the extent of one's ability, and afterward to nullify all that intellect in order to attain the truth of the word of Hashem; and then one merits prophecy, as it is written afterward, "A prophet from your midst [shall Hashem your God raise up for you]" — through this, that you will be wholehearted, as explained above.

This is the pattern: one investigates with the mind as far as it can reach, then nullifies that intellect to grasp the truth of Hashem's word, thereby meriting prophecy through becoming wholehearted with Hashem.

Summary: The Sfas Emes explains why Hashem settled Bnei Yisrael specifically in lands saturated with avodah zarah and sorcery: davka so that, after coming to fully know these wisdoms, they would nullify them all and cleave to Hashem alone. The command "Tamim tihyeh" — to be wholehearted — means to recognize all such arts as delusion and to look only to Hashem rather than probe the future, valuing dveikus above every wisdom. This is precisely why Chazal permitted studying these matters in order to rule on them, for the very act of rejecting them makes Bnei Yisrael witnesses to Hashem's Oneness. The Sfas Emes anchors this in the path of Avraham Avinu, who first investigated the natural world and only afterward was lifted above the mazalos with "Lech lecha." This is the eternal order: to search with the intellect as far as it reaches, then to nullify that intellect entirely in order to attain the truth of Hashem's word and merit prophecy.