Avraham Versus Bilam Daily

ובמשנה כל שיש בו ג' דברים הללו מתלמידיו של אברהם אבינו עין טובה נפש שפילה רוח נמוכה כו'

And in the Mishnah it is taught: Whoever possesses these three traits is among the disciples of Avraham Avinu — a good eye (a generous spirit), a humble soul, and a lowly spirit, and so forth.

The Sfas Emes opens with the Mishnah in Avos describing the three traits — a generous eye, a humble soul, and a lowly spirit — that mark a person as a disciple of Avraham Avinu.

וכבר כתבנו מזה כי הצדיק מעורר חסד אל כל היום

And we have already written about this, that the tzaddik awakens chesed (Divine kindness) for the entire day.

He references his earlier teaching that the tzaddik, like Avraham, draws down Hashem's chesed that lasts throughout the entire day.

והרשע ידע לכוין שעה שהקב"ה כועס וזועם כו'

And the rasha (the wicked one) knew how to focus precisely upon the moment when the Holy One, Blessed is He, is angered and enraged, and so forth.

In contrast, the wicked Bilam had the power to detect the precise instant of Hashem's anger and to direct his curse at that moment.

והענין הוא עפ"י המד' צדקתך כו' משפטיך תהום רבה

And the matter is understood according to the Midrash on the verse, "Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains; Your judgments are like the great deep" (Tehillim 36:7).

He grounds this in the Midrash that pairs Hashem's tzedakah (likened to towering mountains, the realm of tzaddikim) with His judgments (likened to the great deep, the hidden realm).

משל הצדיקים בדירתן כו' כי הצדיקים מקיימין העולם שנברא בעשרה מאמרות

The tzaddikim are compared to those who dwell in the heights, for the tzaddikim sustain the world that was created with ten utterances.

Tzaddikim are like dwellers in the heights because they uphold the very world that Hashem created through ten utterances of speech.

פי' עי"ז שמבטלין אליו ית' ומיחלים לחסדו לכן נתגלה להם אור חדש בכל יום

The meaning is that through this — through nullifying themselves to Him, Yisbarach (may He be blessed), and yearning for His chesed — therefore a new light is revealed to them each and every day.

Their self-nullification and yearning for Hashem's kindness is precisely what draws a fresh spiritual light into the world every day.

ואיתא אהבה מקלקלת השורה כמ"ש וישכם אברהם בבוקר

And it is taught that love upends the natural order, as it is written, "And Avraham arose early in the morning" (Bereishis 22:3).

He cites the principle that intense love disrupts normal conduct, proven by Avraham rushing to rise early for the Akeidah.

פי' ע"י אהבה גדולה שהי' לאאע"ה זכה להמשיך חסד עליון יותר מכפי השורה והיינו לפנים משורת הדין לכן נק' חסיד והחסד מתגלגל בעולם בשבילו כדאיתא במד' חיי שרה

The meaning is that through the great love that Avraham Avinu possessed, he merited to draw down a higher chesed beyond the ordinary measure — that is, beyond the strict letter of the law (lifnim mishuras hadin); therefore he is called a chassid (one devoted in loving-kindness), and the chesed revolves through the world on his account, as is brought in the Midrash of Chayei Sarah.

Avraham's overwhelming love let him pull down a chesed surpassing the strict order — going beyond the letter of the law — which earns him the title chassid, and the chesed continues to circulate through the world in his merit.

ולכן מבקשים כשם שכבש אברהם כו' יגולו רחמיך על מדתך

And therefore we plead: "Just as Avraham suppressed his compassion to do Your will with a whole heart, so may Your mercy overcome Your other attributes."

This is why we daven that just as Avraham overrode his natural mercy to fulfill Hashem's will, so should Hashem's mercy override His stricter attributes.

וז"ש וישכם כו' השכמה הוא הארה למעלה מהטבע

And this is the meaning of "And he arose early" — for rising early (hashkamah) is an illumination above nature.

The word "arose early" itself signals an illumination that transcends the natural order.

וכ"ז ע"י שמבטלין הטבע במס"נ עבור השי"ת נגלה להם האור

And all of this comes about through the fact that they nullify nature with mesirus nefesh (self-sacrifice) for the sake of Hashem Yisbarach, and so the light is revealed to them.

All of this supernatural light is unlocked specifically when tzaddikim nullify nature through self-sacrifice for Hashem's sake.

והרשעים במחשך מעשיהם כי הגשמיות והטבע הוא החושך והרשעים גורמים חשכות בעולם ומאבדין העולם שנברא בעשרה מאמרות

But the resha'im are in the darkness of their deeds, for physicality and nature are the darkness, and the resha'im cause darkness in the world and destroy the world that was created with ten utterances.

The resha'im are the opposite: mired in the darkness of materiality and nature, they spread darkness and seek to destroy the same world created with ten utterances.

ואיתא עליהם שנאה מקלקלת השורה כענין שכ' מהפכין מדת רחמים למדה"ד וכ' בו ג"כ וישכם כו' שהמשיך דינין לעולם וז"ש כבר קדמך אברהם ובודאי זו המחלוקת היא לעולם ומעשה בלעם שכתוב בתורה אינו במקרה דכתי' זכור נא כו'

And it is taught regarding them that hatred too upends the natural order, in the manner of what is written that they overturn the attribute of mercy into the attribute of strict judgment; and regarding him too it is written, "And he arose early," for he drew down judgments upon the world. And this is the meaning of "Avraham already preceded you," and surely this dispute exists for all generations, and the episode of Bilam that is written in the Torah is not by chance, for it is written, "Remember now" (Michah 6:5).

Just as love upends order for good, hatred upends it for evil — Bilam too "arose early," turning mercy into judgment and drawing harsh dins into the world; this clash between Avraham and Bilam endures in every generation, which is why the Torah records it deliberately.

דכמו שבכל יום מתעורר חסד ה' ע"י הצדיקים ומתעורר בחירה חדשה בבנ"י כמ"ש במ"א

For just as each day the chesed of Hashem is awakened through the tzaddikim, and a new power of free choice is awakened within Bnei Yisrael, as we have written elsewhere,

Each day brings a renewed awakening of Hashem's chesed through the tzaddikim and a fresh capacity for free choice within Bnei Yisrael.

כן מתעורר תלמידיו של אותו רשע בכל יום כמאמר זועם בכל יום

so too the disciples of that rasha are awakened each and every day, in accordance with the teaching that He is angered every single day.

But correspondingly, the disciples of that rasha are also stirred up daily, matching the teaching that Hashem's anger flares each day.

והקב"ה מצילנו מידם ולכן בקשו חז"ל לקבוע פ' בלעם בק"ש

And the Holy One, Blessed is He, saves us from their hand; and therefore Chazal sought to fix the portion of Bilam within the recitation of Krias Shema.

Hashem rescues us from this daily onslaught, which is why Chazal wished to include the parsha of Bilam within Krias Shema.

וכ' לולי ה' שהי' לנו בקום עלינו אדם כו' ויתכן שקאי על בלעם ברוך כו' שלא נתננו טרף לשיניהם של אותן הרשעים והקדים לנו זכותו של אאע"ה:

And it is written, "Were it not for Hashem who was for us... when men rose up against us" (Tehillim 124:2), and it is fitting that this refers to Bilam — "Blessed is Hashem who did not give us as prey to their teeth" (Tehillim 124:6), to the teeth of those resha'im; and the merit of Avraham Avinu came ahead of us to protect us.

The verse "Were it not for Hashem... when men rose up against us" may allude to Bilam, and we are saved from the teeth of such resha'im because the protective merit of Avraham Avinu went before us.

Summary: The Sfas Emes contrasts the disciples of Avraham Avinu with the disciples of Bilam HaRasha as two opposing forces that operate in the world every single day. Tzaddikim, marked by a generous eye, a humble soul, and a lowly spirit, nullify themselves to Hashem and draw down a renewed light of chesed each day, going beyond the strict letter of the law just as Avraham did when he "arose early" for the Akeidah out of overwhelming love. The resha'im, by contrast, are sunk in the darkness of physicality and nature; like Bilam, who also "arose early" to detect Hashem's moment of anger, they overturn mercy into harsh judgment and seek to destroy the world created with ten utterances. Because this dispute between the followers of Avraham and the followers of Bilam recurs in every generation, the Torah records the Bilam episode deliberately, and Chazal even wished to fix it within Krias Shema. Ultimately Hashem saves Bnei Yisrael from their teeth, and it is the protective merit of Avraham Avinu, who came ahead of us, that overcomes the forces of judgment.