Tefillah After Divine Assurance

בענין מ"ש רש"י ורז"ל אע"פ שיש לצדיקים לתלות במעשיהם הטובים אין מבקשין רק מתנת חנם

Regarding what Rashi and Chazal said: even though tzaddikim are entitled to lean upon their own good deeds, they request only a free gift.

Tzaddikim could rely on their good deeds, yet they choose instead to ask Hashem only for an undeserved gift.

ותמוה כי הלא לא נכנס מרע"ה באמת וא"כ לא הי' מדה"ד נותן שיכנוס

This is puzzling, for in truth Moshe Rabbeinu did not enter the Land, and if so, the attribute of strict justice would not have granted that he enter.

The Sfas Emes raises a difficulty: since Moshe never actually entered Eretz Yisrael, strict justice clearly would not have allowed it, so why does the language of merit apply at all?

וכבר כתבנו מזה כי בחי' א"י היא בחי' תפלה ומתנת חנם

We have already written about this, that the aspect of Eretz Yisrael is the aspect of tefillah and of a free gift.

He recalls his earlier teaching that Eretz Yisrael corresponds to the realm of tefillah, which is given as a free gift rather than earned.

ומרע"ה הי' בחי' התורה ואעפ"כ הכניס עצמו לבחי' תפלה כדי שיכנוס לא"י כמ"ש באורך במ"א

Moshe Rabbeinu was the aspect of the Torah, yet even so he entered into the aspect of tefillah in order to come into Eretz Yisrael, as we have explained at length elsewhere.

Although Moshe's own madreigah was that of Torah, he deliberately lowered himself into the realm of tefillah so as to be worthy of entering the Land.

והנה במדר' וישלח איתא ב' ב"א הבטיחן הקב"ה ונתיירא הבחור שבאבות והנה אנכי עמך וכתי' ויירא וייצר

Now, in the Midrash on Vayishlach it states: there were two men whom the Holy One, Blessed is He, gave assurance to, and yet they were afraid. The choicest of the Avos, regarding whom it is written, 'And behold, I am with you' (Bereishis 28:15), and yet it is written, 'And he was afraid, and it distressed him' (Bereishis 32:8).

The Midrash notes two men who received Hashem's explicit promise yet still grew afraid: Yaakov, the choicest of the Avos, who was told 'I am with you' and nevertheless 'was afraid.'

הבחור שבנביאים כי אהי' עמך ולבסוף נתיירא דכת' אל תירא אותו מכלל שנתיירא ע"ש

And the choicest of the Nevi'im, regarding whom it is written, 'For I will be with you' (Shemos 3:12), and in the end he was afraid, for it is written, 'Do not fear him' (Bamidbar 21:34) — from which we infer that he was afraid; see there.

The second was Moshe, the choicest of the Nevi'im, told 'I will be with you,' yet Hashem's words 'do not fear' imply that he too was afraid.

ובוודאי הוא דבר גדול לבא למדה זו לירא אחר הבטחת הבורא ית"ש

And surely it is a great thing to arrive at this level, to be in awe even after the assurance of the Creator, Yisborach Shemo.

The Sfas Emes stresses that reaching such a level — feeling genuine fear even after a divine assurance — is itself a lofty achievement.

ושמעתי מפי <b>מו"ז ז"ל</b> על מ"ש בזה"ק שם ע' וישלח כי אע"פ שהבטיחו הקב"ה ליעקב אע"ה עכ"ז לא בעא לאטריחא לקוב"ה בניסא

And I heard from the mouth of my grandfather, may his memory be a blessing, on what is written in the holy Zohar there, in parshas Vayishlach, that even though the Holy One, Blessed is He, gave assurance to Yaakov Avinu, peace upon him, nonetheless he did not wish to trouble the Holy One, Blessed is He, to perform a miracle.

He cites his grandfather on the Zohar: though Yaakov was promised protection, he did not want to obligate Hashem to perform an open miracle on his behalf.

וע"ש עוד שרצה להניח זכותא דילי' לבניו

And see there further, that he wished to leave over his own merit for his children.

The Zohar adds that Yaakov wished to preserve his merit intact to pass on to his children rather than spend it.

וביאר הוא ז"ל

And he, may his memory be a blessing, explained the matter.

His grandfather then explained the deeper idea behind this.

כי הוא ענין פלא מי שהבטיח לו השי"ת והאמין בו ואעפ"כ ע"י שראה עצמו בסכנה ע"פ דרך הטבע עשה את שלו והתפלל כמו שצריך להיות בעת צרה וכתיב וייצר לו כיון שע"פ דרך הטבע צריך הוא לישועה צריך הוא לעשות את שלו אך להיות באמת מיצר לו כל כך הוא דבר שאין מובן לכל רק לאיש אמיתי כיעקב אע"ה

For it is a wondrous thing: one to whom Hashem Yisborach gave assurance, and who believed in Him, and yet, because he saw himself in danger according to the natural order, he did what was incumbent upon him and prayed as one must in a time of trouble — and it is written, 'and it distressed him,' for since according to the natural order he requires deliverance, he must do what is incumbent upon him; yet to be truly so distressed is something not grasped by everyone, only by a true man like Yaakov Avinu, peace upon him.

The wonder is that a person who was promised deliverance and fully believed it, yet because nature placed him in real danger acted and davened as one must in distress — and was genuinely pained — for nature demands his own effort; such authentic distress despite faith is grasped only by a truly great person like Yaakov.

ולכן השאיר זכותו לדורות כשיהיו באמת בעת צרה כו'

And therefore he left over his merit for the generations, for when they would truly be in a time of trouble, and so forth.

Because Yaakov reached this true balance of faith and effort, he left this merit for later generations who would find themselves in genuine times of trouble.

זה תוכן דבריו

This is the substance of his words.

This concludes the teaching the Sfas Emes received from his grandfather.

וכדברים האלה הי' ג"כ בבחור שבנביאים במלחמת עוג שבוודאי בדרך הטבע הי' מלחמה כבדה מאוד כמ"ש לעוג מלך הבשן כל"ח א"כ צריך הי' להתיירא אע"פ שהי' בטוח כנ"ל

And matters such as these were found also in the choicest of the Nevi'im, in the war against Og, for surely according to the natural order it was an exceedingly difficult war, as Scripture says of Og, king of the Bashan, that he alone remained of the remnant of the Refa'im — so he needed to be afraid even though he was assured, as above.

The same was true of Moshe in the war with Og, which by natural standards was a formidable battle, so Moshe rightly felt fear even though Hashem had assured him.

וזה ענין גדול שנמצא רק בשני ב"א אלו בחור שבאבות ושבנביאים

And this is a great matter that is found only in these two men, the choicest of the Avos and the choicest of the Nevi'im.

This rare quality — fearing even after a divine promise — is found only in these two outstanding figures, Yaakov and Moshe.

ולכן כתי' ואתחנן כו' בעת ההוא כשהגיע למדרגה זו שיוכל להיות מתיירא אחר הבטחון וסבר שיוכל לכנוס לא"י הגם כי מדרגה שלו בחי' התורה עכ"ז יכול להיות בבחי' התפלה ג"כ כנ"ל

And therefore it is written, 'And I implored' (Vaeschanan), and so forth, 'at that time' — when he reached this level, that he was able to be in awe even after the assurance, and he reasoned that he might be able to enter Eretz Yisrael, for even though his level was the aspect of the Torah, nonetheless he could be in the aspect of tefillah as well, as above.

This is why the parsha opens with 'I implored... at that time': Moshe, having reached this level, reasoned that since he could enter the realm of tefillah despite being rooted in Torah, he might yet enter the Land.

וזה השבח שאע"פ שיש להם לתלות כו' מבקשין מתנת חנם

And this is the praise: that even though they are entitled to lean upon their deeds, and so forth, they request a free gift.

Herein lies the praise of tzaddikim: though entitled to claim their merits, they ask only for an undeserved gift.

וזה עצמו ענין סמיכות גאולה לתפלה שכ' במד' בפסוק כי מי גוי גדול כו' ופרשנו כי ב' אלו בכל קראנו אליו הוא תפלה

And this itself is the matter of placing geulah adjacent to tefillah, as is written in the Midrash on the verse 'For what great nation is there,' and so forth (Devarim 4:7), and we explained that these two — 'whenever we call out to Him' is tefillah,

This is the meaning of juxtaposing geulah to tefillah: the Midrash on 'what great nation is there' identifies 'whenever we call out to Him' as tefillah.

ולו חקים ומשפטים צדיקים הוא התורה

and 'and who has righteous statutes and ordinances' (Devarim 4:8) is the Torah.

The continuation, 'who has righteous statutes and ordinances,' corresponds to the Torah.

והתורה הוא שטר חירות שיש בב"י

And the Torah is the document of freedom that Bnei Yisrael possess.

The Torah is described as the document that grants Bnei Yisrael their freedom.

וזה ענין סמיכות ק"ש שהיא התורה והגאולה לתפלה

And this is the matter of placing Krias Shema, which is the Torah and the geulah, adjacent to tefillah.

This explains why Krias Shema — representing Torah and redemption — is placed immediately before the Shemoneh Esrei.

שבוודאי נמצא מזה בכל איש ישראל בפרט ובכלל רק הכלל לעולם נענים כמ"ש במד'

For surely something of this is found in every man of Yisrael, in the particular and in the general — only that the general is always answered, as is written in the Midrash.

Each Jew contains a measure of this, both communally and individually, but the community's tefillah is always answered, as the Midrash states.

ולפרט נמצא עתים מיוחדים שנפתח להם איזה הארות בבחי' התורה

And in the particular, there are special times that are found, when some illuminations are opened for them in the aspect of the Torah.

For the individual, there are special moments when illuminations of Torah are opened to him.

והוא מה שמצוון בכל יום לזכור מעמד הר סיני

And this is what we are commanded each day, to remember the standing at Har Sinai.

This is reflected in the daily obligation to remember the revelation at Har Sinai.

וכשזוכין להתפלל מתוך אותו הדביקות של זכירת מתן תורה זה סמיכות גאולה לתפלה

And when one merits to pray out of that dveikus of remembering the giving of the Torah — this is the placing of geulah adjacent to tefillah.

When a person merits to daven while still attached to the dveikus of recalling Mattan Torah, that is the true joining of geulah to tefillah.

כמ"ש לעיל ודו"ק:

As written above; understand this well.

He closes by referring back to his earlier words and urging careful study of the point.

Summary: The Sfas Emes opens with the teaching of Chazal that tzaddikim, though entitled to lean on their own good deeds, ask Hashem only for a free gift, and asks why Moshe Rabbeinu — who never entered Eretz Yisrael — is described this way. He answers that Eretz Yisrael corresponds to the realm of tefillah and undeserved kindness, into which Moshe, though rooted in the madreigah of Torah, deliberately lowered himself. Citing the Midrash and the Zohar through his grandfather, he highlights the rare greatness of Yaakov and Moshe, who experienced genuine fear and davened in distress even after receiving Hashem's explicit assurance, because nature still demanded their effort — and Yaakov thereby left this merit for future generations in times of trouble. This is the inner meaning of placing geulah adjacent to tefillah and of Krias Shema preceding Shemoneh Esrei: the Torah is Bnei Yisrael's document of freedom, and true tefillah flows from the dveikus of remembering Mattan Torah at Har Sinai.