Eretz Yisrael As Gift
ואתחנן ברש"י ומדרש חז"ל מתנות חנם
"Va'eschanan" ("And I pleaded") — as Rashi and the Midrash of Chazal explain, it is a term denoting "gifts of grace," something given freely as an undeserved gift.
The very word that opens the parsha, "Va'eschanan," signals the theme: Moshe Rabbeinu is asking not for earned reward but for an undeserved gift of Hashem's grace.
הענין דא"י הוא דבר הניתן במתנה שנשבע הקב"ה להורישו לבנ"י והוא זה האוצר הגדול דאי' במדרש בפסוק וחנותי כו' אשר אחון מי שאין לו אני נותן לו
The matter is that Eretz Yisrael is something given as a gift, for the Holy One, Blessed is He, swore to give it as an inheritance to Bnei Yisrael; and it is that great treasure, as is brought in the Midrash on the pasuk "Va'chanosi" ("And I will show grace," Shemos 33:19), "whom I will favor" — the one who has nothing, to him do I give.
Eretz Yisrael was sworn to Bnei Yisrael as a free gift, the great treasure that Hashem bestows specifically upon the one who has no claim of his own.
ולהודיע כי אין דמיון בין שכר המגיע לפי עבודת האדם למתנת המלך הקב"ה
And this comes to make known that there is no comparison between the reward that comes to a person according to his avodah and the gift of the King, the Holy One, Blessed is He.
There is no proportion at all between wages earned by a person's avodah and a freely given gift from the King, the Holy One, Blessed is He.
אכן כל עבודת האדם להגיע למתנת עליון אח"כ
Indeed, the whole avodah of a person is in order to reach the supernal gift afterward.
Nevertheless, all of a person's avodah serves a purpose: it prepares him to receive the far greater supernal gift that follows.
וכבר כ' במ"א שזה המכוין במ"ש ז"ל שיש לצדיקים לתלות במעשיהם הטובים
And I have already written elsewhere that this is what is intended in what Chazal said, that tzaddikim have the option to lean upon their good deeds.
Chazal teach that tzaddikim may rely on their good deeds; the Sfas Emes references his own earlier writing on this idea.
פי' לזכות להמתנה ע"פ מדה במדה והם ביקשו מתנת חנם דייקא
The meaning is to merit the gift through the measure of "middah k'neged middah" (measure for measure); yet they specifically requested a gift of pure grace.
Leaning on one's deeds means earning reward by middah k'neged middah, but the tzaddikim davka asked for a gift of pure grace, beyond what their deeds could earn.
שזה ענין א"י ומלכות ב"ד דלית לי' מגרמי' כלום
For this is the matter of Eretz Yisrael and of malchus Beis Dovid, which has nothing of its own.
Eretz Yisrael and the kingship of the House of Dovid share this quality of having nothing of their own, receiving everything as a gift from Above.
דמרע"ה ביקש לעשות עצמו עני לכנוס לא"י כענין שכ' בזוה"ק על דהע"ה תפלה לעני כו' רק בדוד כולא הוי בי' ע"ש פ' בלק
For Moshe Rabbeinu requested to make himself like a pauper in order to enter Eretz Yisrael, in the manner of what is written in the Zohar HaKadosh regarding Dovid HaMelech, "A tefillah for the pauper" (Tehillim 102:1) — only that in Dovid all was already within him; see there in Parshas Balak.
Moshe Rabbeinu wanted to enter the Land precisely by making himself a pauper with no claim of his own, like Dovid HaMelech in the Zohar's reading of "A tefillah for the pauper," though in Dovid that level was already fully present.
אבל מרע"ה השיב לו השי"ת רב לך כי הוא אינו באותו בחי' ולכן לא נכנס לא"י:
But to Moshe Rabbeinu, Hashem Yisbarach answered him, "Rav lach" ("It is enough for you," Devarim 3:26), for he was not in that very madreigah, and therefore he did not enter Eretz Yisrael.
Hashem answered Moshe with "Rav lach" because Moshe Rabbeinu's madreigah was not that of the empty pauper but of one filled with his own attainment, and so he was not granted entry.
Summary: The Sfas Emes opens Parshas Va'eschanan by reading the word itself, with Rashi and the Midrash, as a term of "gifts of grace" — undeserved free gifts. On this basis he explains that Eretz Yisrael is precisely such a gift, the great treasure that Hashem sworn to Bnei Yisrael and bestows specifically upon the one who has nothing of his own, for there is no comparison between earned reward and a gift of the King. A person's entire avodah is in truth only a preparation to receive this supernal gift afterward; and although tzaddikim may lean on their good deeds to earn reward middah k'neged middah, they davka request a gift of pure grace. This emptiness and total dependence is the very quality of Eretz Yisrael and of malchus Beis Dovid, which have nothing of their own. Moshe Rabbeinu sought to make himself a pauper in this way, like Dovid HaMelech, but Hashem answered "Rav lach," for Moshe Rabbeinu stood in a different madreigah — full of his own attainment rather than empty — and therefore did not enter the Land.