Nullifying The Body In War
בפסוק כ"ת למלחמה כו' סוס ורכב עם רב כו' ה"א עמך המעלך מא"מ
Regarding the verse, "When you go out to war against your enemy and you see horse and chariot, a people more numerous than you, do not fear them, for Hashem your God is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt" (Devarim 20:1).
The Sfas Emes opens with the Torah's instruction not to fear an enemy's overwhelming cavalry, because Hashem, who took Bnei Yisrael out of Mitzrayim, is with them.
ואמרו חז"ל כשבנ"י עושין רש"מ נחשבי' כולם כסוס א' כו'
And Chazal said: when Bnei Yisrael carry out the will of the Omnipresent, they are all reckoned as a single horse, and so forth.
Chazal teach that when Bnei Yisrael do Hashem's will, their entire army is counted as merely a single horse before Him.
דכתי' אלה ברכב ואלה בסוסים ואנחנו בשם ה"א נזכיר
As it is written, "These with chariots and these with horses, but we invoke the Name of Hashem our God" (Tehillim 20:8).
He cites the verse that contrasts the nations who rely on chariots and horses with Bnei Yisrael, who rely on invoking Hashem's Name.
כי כוחן של ישראל בפה בתורה
For the strength of Yisrael lies in the mouth, in Torah.
The true might of Bnei Yisrael is not physical but lies in the power of the mouth — in Torah and tefillah.
ואתם נק' אדם
And "you are called Adam" (a human being).
Bnei Yisrael earn the title "Adam," the distinctly human designation.
וכ"כ כי תרכב על סוסיך מ' ישועה
And so it is written, "You mounted upon Your horses, Your chariots of salvation" (Chavakkuk 3:8).
He brings a further verse depicting Hashem as riding upon horses, His chariots being salvation.
פי' הגופים כסוסים
The explanation: the bodies are like horses.
The Sfas Emes interprets the "horses" of that verse as referring to physical bodies.
והנשמה הרוכב
And the neshamah is the rider.
The "rider" represents the neshamah that is meant to direct the body.
וצריכין לבטל הגוף אל הנשמה וממילא בא הישועה כי עיקר כיבוש בנ"י הי' בשורש האומות למעלה
And one must nullify the body to the neshamah, and through this the salvation comes of itself, for the essential conquest of Bnei Yisrael was at the root of the nations Above.
A person must subordinate the body to the neshamah; when he does, salvation follows automatically, since Bnei Yisrael's real conquest takes place at the spiritual root of the nations Above.
ושם הוא סוס
And there, it is a horse.
At that supernal root, the nation's power is itself merely a "horse" — raw physical force.
וכוחן של בנ"י להיפוך מן האומות שכפי כח גבורת גופם המה נוצחים
And the strength of Bnei Yisrael is the opposite of the nations, for they prevail according to the strength of their bodily might.
The nations triumph in proportion to their bodily strength, the very opposite of Bnei Yisrael.
ובנ"י אדרבא כפי ביטול הכח שלהם הם נוצחים
But Bnei Yisrael, on the contrary, prevail according to the nullification of their own strength.
Bnei Yisrael, by contrast, triumph precisely in proportion to how much they nullify their own strength before Hashem.
וביצ"מ ניתן הנהגה זו לבנ"י כמ"ש ה' ילחם לכם
And at the Exodus from Mitzrayim, this mode of conduct was given to Bnei Yisrael, as it is written, "Hashem will fight for you" (Shemos 14:14).
This mode of conduct was granted to Bnei Yisrael at the Exodus, expressed in the promise that Hashem Himself will fight for them.
וז"ש המעלך מא"מ כי כשכח הנשמה נאסר במאסר הגוף טפל הרוכב אל הסוס
And this is the meaning of "who brought you up from the land of Egypt," for when the strength of the neshamah is bound in the prison of the body, the rider is subordinate to the horse.
The phrase "who brought you up from Mitzrayim" alludes to the earlier state, when the neshamah was imprisoned in the body and the rider was subjugated to the horse.
אבל ביצ"מ נתעלו בנ"י להיות נק' אדם כנ"ל
But at the Exodus from Mitzrayim, Bnei Yisrael were elevated to be called Adam, as above.
Through the Exodus, Bnei Yisrael rose to the elevated status of "Adam," with the neshamah ruling over the body.
ולכן הקדימו שמע ישראל שבזכות הק"ש שמתבטלין אל הש"י נוצחין
And therefore they placed "Shema Yisrael" first, for through the merit of Krias Shema, in which they nullify themselves to Hashem Yisborach, they prevail.
Shema Yisrael was placed first because the self-nullification of Krias Shema is what enables Bnei Yisrael to prevail.
ומה"ט הקדימו ק"ש קודם התפלה כי נק' עבודה שבלב א"כ הוא מלחמה בלבו של אדם והק"ש מסייע למלחמה זו
And for this reason they placed Krias Shema before the tefillah, for it is called the service of the heart; thus there is a war in the heart of a person, and Krias Shema assists in this war.
Krias Shema is recited before the Shemoneh Esrei because tefillah is the "service of the heart," an inner battle, and Krias Shema strengthens a person for that battle.
כמ"ש והיו הדברים האלה כו' על לבבך ב' לבבות
As it is written, "And these words shall be... upon your heart" (Devarim 6:6) — two hearts.
The doubled letter in "levavecha" (your heart) hints at the two inclinations, the two hearts contending within a person.
ולכן צריכין לסמוך גאולה לתפלה
And therefore one must juxtapose geulah to tefillah.
From all this, one must connect the theme of geulah directly to tefillah, reciting them without interruption.
כמ"ש המעלך מא"מ כנ"ל:
As it is written, "who brought you up from the land of Egypt," as above.
This is rooted in "who brought you up from the land of Egypt," as explained above — the redemption that empowers our tefillah and victory.
Summary: The Sfas Emes explains why Bnei Yisrael need not fear an enemy's superior cavalry: their strength lies not in physical might but in the mouth, in Torah and tefillah, by which they nullify themselves before Hashem. Drawing on the image of the body as a "horse" and the neshamah as its "rider," he teaches that whereas the nations prevail in proportion to their bodily force, Bnei Yisrael prevail precisely in proportion to the nullification of their own strength. This avodah was granted at the Exodus from Mitzrayim, when the neshamah was freed from the prison of the body and Bnei Yisrael were elevated to the title "Adam." Krias Shema, the self-nullification to Hashem, is therefore placed before tefillah, the inner service of the heart and its battle. For this reason one juxtaposes geulah to tefillah, rooting our victory in the redemption from Mitzrayim.