Concealing Kedushah Through Yisrael

במדרש וירא בלק נוח לרשעים להיות סומין שראייתם מביא רעה לעולם כו'

In the Midrash: "And Balak saw" — it is better for the wicked to be blind, for their seeing brings evil into the world, etc.

The Midrash on "And Balak saw" teaches that for wicked people like Balak, blindness would be better, because the very thing they perceive becomes a source of harm to the world.

עוד שם מפני מה השרה הקב"ה שכינתו על בלעם כו' כדי שלא לתת פתחון פה לאומות לומר שאתה ריחקתנו כו'

Further there: Why did the Holy One, Blessed is He, rest His Shechinah upon Bilam, etc.? In order not to give the nations of the world an opening to claim, "You distanced us," etc.

The Midrash asks why Hashem allowed prophecy to rest on a wicked man like Bilam, and answers that it was so the nations could never claim Hashem had unfairly rejected them by withholding any prophet of their own.

דהנה יש להבין האיך עלה על דעת אותו רשע לקלל את בנ"י והלא ידע כי הם חלק ה' ונחלתו

For one must understand how it entered the mind of that wicked man to curse Bnei Yisrael — did he not know that they are the portion of Hashem and His inheritance?

The Sfas Emes raises a difficulty: Bilam knew that Bnei Yisrael are Hashem's cherished portion, so how could he imagine he could successfully curse them?

וביאור הענין כי הי' מקטרג על בנ"י באמרו העם היוצא ממצרים ויכס כו' עין הארץ כו'

The explanation of the matter is that he was prosecuting against Bnei Yisrael, saying, "The people that came out of Mitzrayim — behold, it has covered the eye of the land," etc.

Bilam's strategy was to act as a prosecutor, pointing to the nation that left Mitzrayim and charging that it "covered the eye of the land."

כי באמת בנ"י אשר הוציאנו השי"ת ממצרים ובחר בנו להיות לו לעם נחלה הי' המכוון כדי שבנ"י יסתירו כח הקדושה שיוכל הקב"ה להשפיע טוב הגנוז לצדיקים דכ' וימנע מרשעים אורם כו'

For in truth, Bnei Yisrael, whom Hashem brought out of Mitzrayim and chose to be His treasured people and inheritance — the intent was that Bnei Yisrael should conceal the power of kedushah, so that the Holy One, Blessed is He, could bestow the good that is hidden away for the tzaddikim, as it is written, "And from the wicked their light is withheld," etc.

The deeper purpose of Hashem choosing Bnei Yisrael was that they would conceal the hidden power of kedushah, allowing Hashem to store up a special good reserved for tzaddikim, which is kept away from the wicked.

ולכן גנז הקב"ה טוב הצפון לצדיקים

Therefore the Holy One, Blessed is He, hid away the good that is stored up for the tzaddikim.

Because of this design, Hashem concealed and reserved this special good for the righteous rather than leaving it openly available.

אבל בנ"י הם המחיצה שלא יוכלו עיניהם של הרשעים להסתכל בשפע זו

But Bnei Yisrael are the partition, so that the eyes of the wicked cannot gaze upon this flow of abundance.

Bnei Yisrael function as a protective screen that blocks the wicked from gazing directly at this hidden flow of holiness.

ובאמת זה עצמו הוא טובה גדולה גם לרשעים מה שיכולין לקבל עכ"פ מתמצית הקדושה

And in truth, this itself is a great benefit even for the wicked — that they are able at least to receive from the residue of the kedushah.

Paradoxically, this concealment is itself a great kindness even to the wicked, since it allows them to receive at least some leftover share of the kedushah.

שלולא בנ"י לא הי' נמצא טוב ההוא כלל בעולם

For were it not for Bnei Yisrael, that good would not be found in the world at all.

Without Bnei Yisrael serving as this screen, that good would have no place in the world at all and would be entirely absent.

וזהו ענין השבת שניתן לבנ"י אות הוא לעולם כו' כמו שדרשו חז"ל זה שמי לעלם העלימהו כו'

And this is the matter of Shabbos, which was given to Bnei Yisrael — "it is a sign forever," etc. — as Chazal expounded, "This is My Name forever (le'olam)" — conceal it (ha'alimehu), etc.

Shabbos illustrates this same idea: it is a "sign forever" given to Bnei Yisrael, and Chazal read "le'olam" as a hint to concealment, that Hashem's Name is to be hidden.

כמו כן ביני ובין בני ישראל אות הוא לעולם פי' שבנ"י יעלימו הארת השבת וזה ענין אמרם כנ"י יהי' בן זוגך והבן היטב

So too, "Between Me and Bnei Yisrael it is a sign forever" — the meaning is that Bnei Yisrael conceal the illumination of Shabbos. And this is the matter of their saying, "Knesses Yisrael shall be your partner" — understand this well.

Just as Hashem's Name is concealed, Bnei Yisrael's role is to conceal the light of Shabbos; this is why Chazal said Knesses Yisrael would be Shabbos's partner, since both share the task of guarding this hidden illumination.

והרשעים הללו קטרגו באמרם ויכס את עין הארץ

And these wicked ones prosecuted, saying, "It has covered the eye of the land."

The wicked leveled their accusation by claiming that the nation leaving Mitzrayim had "covered the eye of the land."

פי' שביציאתם ממצרים וקבלו התורה הי' להם להאיר לכל העולם ולא להעלים השגחת השי"ת שזה עין הארץ כמ"ש עיני ה' אלקיך בה כו'

The meaning is: through their going out of Mitzrayim and receiving the Torah, it was upon them to illuminate the entire world, and not to conceal the hashgachah of Hashem — which is the "eye of the land," as it is written, "The eyes of Hashem your God are upon it," etc.

Their charge was that since Bnei Yisrael received the Torah, they should have openly lit up the world and revealed Hashem's watchful providence — the "eye of the land" — rather than concealing it.

אבל לא ידעו כי בנפשם דברו כי הם מונעים שלא יוכלו לגלות הקדושה כמאמר נוח להם להיות סומין כו'

But they did not realize that they spoke against their own souls, for they are the ones who prevent the kedushah from being revealed — in accordance with the saying, "It is better for them to be blind," etc.

What the accusers failed to grasp is that they were condemning themselves, because it is precisely their own unworthiness that forces the kedushah to stay hidden — matching the teaching that it is better for them to be blind.

וזה עצמו רצה הקב"ה לברר ע"י בלעם שלא יאמרו שאתה ריחקתנו

And this itself the Holy One, Blessed is He, wished to clarify by means of Bilam, so that they would not say, "You distanced us."

Hashem specifically wanted to demonstrate this truth through Bilam, so that the nations could never complain that they had been unfairly pushed away.

רק אדרבה זה שנבחרו בנ"י הוא להם טובה גדולה והעמיד להם נביא שהי' לו קצת השגה ורוה"ק וגרם בזה הפסד להם ולבנ"י ג"כ בחטא שטים:

Rather, on the contrary, this very fact that Bnei Yisrael were chosen is a great benefit for them; and He set up for them a prophet who had some measure of perception and ruach hakodesh, and through this he brought about a loss to them and to Bnei Yisrael as well, through the sin of Shittim.

On the contrary, the choosing of Bnei Yisrael is itself a benefit to the nations; yet when Hashem granted them a prophet with genuine perception and ruach hakodesh, Bilam used it to cause harm both to the nations and to Bnei Yisrael through the sin at Shittim.

Summary: The Sfas Emes confronts the puzzle of how Bilam, knowing Bnei Yisrael are Hashem's beloved portion, could dare to curse them. He explains that Hashem's purpose in choosing Bnei Yisrael was that they serve as a concealing screen for the power of kedushah, hiding away a treasured good reserved for the tzaddikim and shielding the wicked from gazing upon it directly. This concealment is in fact a kindness even to the nations, for it allows the good to exist in the world at all and lets them receive at least its residue — the same idea expressed by Shabbos, which Bnei Yisrael are charged to keep hidden. Bilam and Balak prosecuted by charging that Bnei Yisrael "covered the eye of the land" by concealing rather than revealing Hashem's providence, but they failed to see that this concealment stems from their own unworthiness, so that "it is better for the wicked to be blind." Hashem deliberately let prophecy rest on Bilam to prove that the nations were never unfairly rejected, yet Bilam turned this gift into harm for all through the sin at Shittim.