Arousing Daily Divine Kindness

במשנה כל שיש בו שלשה דברים הללו מתלמידיו של אברהם אע"ה וג' דברים אחרים מתלמידיו של בלעם הרשע כו'

The Mishnah teaches: whoever possesses these three qualities is among the disciples of Avraham Avinu, and whoever possesses three other qualities is among the disciples of the wicked Bilaam.

Avos contrasts two sets of three character traits: one set marks a person as a disciple of Avraham, the other as a disciple of Bilaam. The Sfas Emes uses this as his starting point.

גילו לנו חז"ל כי אותו הרשע הי' היפוך מצדקת אבינו אברהם ע"ה

Chazal revealed to us that this wicked one was the very opposite of the righteousness of our father Avraham Avinu.

Chazal are teaching that Bilaam was not merely wicked, but the exact mirror-opposite of everything Avraham represented.

והענין הוא עפ"י מ"ש חז"ל בפסוק מה אקוב לא קבה אל כו'

The matter is to be understood according to what Chazal said on the pasuk, "How can I curse one whom Hashem has not cursed?" (Bamidbar 23:8).

The key lies in how Chazal explain Bilaam's failed attempt to curse Bnei Yisrael in the pasuk.

כי הרשע הי' מכוין רגע זעמו של הקב"ה דכ' ואל זועם בכל יום וכמה זעמו רגע

For the wicked one would aim to catch that moment of the Holy One, Blessed is He's, wrath, as it is written, "Hashem is wrathful every day" (Tehillim 7:12), and how long is His wrath? A mere moment.

Bilaam's specialty was to pinpoint the single fleeting instant each day when Hashem's attribute of wrath is present, and to launch his curse precisely then.

וכ' חסד אל כל היום

And it is written, "The kindness of Hashem fills the entire day" (cf. Tehillim 52:3).

In contrast, Hashem's kindness is not momentary but extends across the whole day.

וכל זה למעלה זעמו רגע

All of this is on high: His wrath lasts but a moment.

On the heavenly plane, then, the wrath occupies only a momentary instant against a backdrop of constant kindness.

והרשע כל מגמתו למצוא אותו הזעם

And the wicked one directed his entire effort toward finding that moment of wrath.

Bilaam's whole pursuit was to locate and exploit that one moment of wrath.

אבל הצדיקים מכוונים למצוא עת רצון בשמים

But the tzaddikim direct their effort toward finding a moment of favor in Shamayim.

The tzaddikim work in the opposite direction, seeking out the moment when Heaven is favorably disposed.

כמ"ש ואני תפלתי כו' עת רצון

As it is written, "And as for me, may my tefillah... be at a time of favor" (Tehillim 69:14).

Dovid HaMelech expresses this when he prays that his tefillah should land at a time of Divine favor.

ולא עוד אלא שזוכין למצוא החוט של חסד בעוה"ז שבעוה"ז אדרבא על דינא מתקיים עלמא רק שנמצא בכל יום חוט של חסד

And not only that, but they merit to find the thread of kindness even in this world, for in this world the opposite is true: the world endures by the measure of din, except that each day a thread of kindness is to be found.

Beyond finding the heavenly moment of favor, tzaddikim draw down kindness into this world, which by default runs on strict justice yet always contains a daily thread of kindness to be grasped.

והצדיקים מגמתם למצוא אותו הנקודה של חסד ועת הרצון

And the aim of the tzaddikim is to find that point of kindness and the moment of favor.

Their entire avodah is aimed at locating that point of kindness and that moment of favor.

ובאמת כל הזעם רגע שיש למעלה היא ע"י הרשעים כדאיתא כשעובדין לחמה הקב"ה כועס כו'

And in truth, all the momentary wrath that exists on high comes about through the wicked, as Chazal say: when they worship the sun, the Holy One, Blessed is He, grows angry.

The brief moment of heavenly wrath is itself triggered by the deeds of the wicked, such as sun-worship, which provoke Hashem's anger.

וכמו כן החוט של חסד שנמצא בעוה"ז הוא ע"י הצדיקים ואאע"ה זכה להוציא מכח אל הפועל החוט של חסד להיות נמצא בעולם

And likewise, the thread of kindness that is found in this world comes about through the tzaddikim, and Avraham Avinu merited to draw forth from the potential into the actual the thread of kindness, so that it should be present in the world.

Conversely, the thread of kindness present in this world was brought from potential into actuality by Avraham, who first established it in the world.

כמ"ש ע"י שאמר אם מחוט כו'

As Chazal said, this was on account of his saying, "I will not take so much as a thread..." (Bereishis 14:23).

This stems from Avraham's refusal to take even a thread from the king of Sedom, an act of selflessness that brought the thread of kindness into being.

וזה שאמר התנא שע"י אותן הג' מדות טובות מתלמידיו של אאע"ה זוכין למצוא החסד בכל יום בעוה"ז להמיחלים לחסדו

And this is what the Tanna said: that through those three good qualities of the disciples of Avraham Avinu, one merits to find the kindness each and every day in this world, for those who hope for His kindness.

The Tanna's point is that the three Avraham-like traits enable a person to draw down that daily kindness for all who place their hope in Hashem's kindness.

והרשע ע"י מדות הרעות הוציא מכח אל הפועל זעמו של הקב"ה למעלה

And the wicked one, through his evil qualities, drew forth from the potential into the actual the wrath of the Holy One, Blessed is He, on high.

Bilaam, by contrast, used his three evil traits to actualize and intensify the heavenly attribute of wrath.

ומ"מ מצינו כי מדה טובה מרובה והצדיקים שזוכין למצוא חסד ה' בעולם אין כל הרשעים יכולין לבטל מהם כמ"ש מים רבים לא יוכלו לכבות כו' האהבה כו' אם יתן כו' כל הון ביתו כו'

Even so, we find that the measure of good is greater, and the tzaddikim who merit to find the kindness of Hashem in the world cannot be nullified by all the wicked, as it is written, "Many waters cannot quench... the love..., should a man offer... all the wealth of his house..." (Shir HaShirim 8:7).

Nevertheless, good is the stronger force: once tzaddikim secure Hashem's kindness in the world, no amount of wickedness can extinguish it, just as many waters cannot quench love.

וכן העיד אותו הרשע אם יתן לי בלק מלא ביתו כו'

And so too did that wicked one himself testify, "Even if Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold..." (Bamidbar 22:18).

Bilaam himself unwittingly confirmed this when he admitted he could not override Hashem's will even for a houseful of wealth.

אבל הזעם רגע בשמים כשהרשעים רוצים להתגבר בו מונע הקב"ה הזעם כדאיתא שלא הי' כועס כל אותן הימים כדכ' למען דעת צדקות ה'

But the moment of wrath in Shamayim, when the wicked wish to seize upon it and prevail through it, the Holy One, Blessed is He, withholds the wrath, as Chazal say that He was not wrathful during all those days, as it is written, "so that you may know the righteous acts of Hashem" (Michah 6:5).

And when the wicked try to seize the moment of wrath to gain the upper hand, Hashem simply suspends that wrath, as He did during Bilaam's attempts, to reveal His righteous acts.

והנה מלחמה זו היא בכל יום

And behold, this battle takes place every single day.

This entire struggle between wrath and kindness is not a one-time event but recurs daily.

וגם בפרט כל נפש מישראל שצריכין לעורר מדת החסד בכל יום

And it is so as well within each individual neshamah of Bnei Yisrael, who must arouse the measure of kindness each and every day.

It also plays out within each Jew's neshamah, which is charged with arousing the attribute of kindness every day.

וכמו כן הרשעים ויצה"ר מתגברי' בכל יום לעורר הדינין

And likewise the wicked and the yetzer hara grow stronger each day to arouse the harsh judgments.

Correspondingly, the wicked and the yetzer hara renew their efforts each day to awaken the forces of harsh judgment.

וז"ש חז"ל שרצו לקבוע פרשת בלק בק"ש:

And this is what Chazal said, that they wished to fix the parsha of Balak within the recitation of Krias Shema.

This daily relevance is why Chazal considered incorporating the parsha of Balak into the daily Krias Shema.

Summary: The Sfas Emes contrasts the disciples of Avraham Avinu with those of the wicked Bilaam by drawing on Chazal's teaching about the fleeting daily moment of Hashem's wrath set against His constant, day-long kindness. Bilaam's entire avodah was to pinpoint and exploit that momentary wrath, while the tzaddikim, following Avraham, seek out the moment of favor and draw down the thread of kindness into a world that otherwise runs on strict din. Avraham first actualized this thread of kindness through his selfless refusal to take even a thread from the king of Sedom, and the good he established is the stronger force, which no wickedness can extinguish, just as many waters cannot quench love. When the wicked try to seize the moment of wrath, Hashem withholds it entirely. This battle between arousing kindness and arousing din repeats every day, both in the cosmos and within every Jewish neshamah, which is why Chazal wished to fix the parsha of Balak within Krias Shema.