Speech and Deed Defenses

וירא בלק במד' נוחל רשעים שיהיו סומין שעיניהם מביאי' רעות כו'

"And Balak saw" (Bamidbar 22:2) — the Midrash explains that he saw with the same vision by which the wicked inherit their portion, for their eyes bring evil upon them, etc.

The Midrash reads Balak's "seeing" as a flawed vision, like that of the wicked whose own eyes draw evil and harm down upon them.

כי הנה איתא בזוהר כי כחו של בלק הי' בעובדא ובלעם בפומא

For behold, it is brought down in the Zohar that the power of Balak lay in deed and action, while the power of Bilaam lay in the mouth, in speech.

The Zohar teaches that Balak's strength was rooted in action and deed, whereas Bilaam's strength was rooted in the power of speech.

ונראה שהיו מכוונים זה לעומת זה מול משה רבינו ע"ה ואהרן

And it appears that these two were aligned, each one set directly opposite his counterpart, standing against Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, and Aharon.

Balak and Bilaam were positioned as exact opposites and counterforces to Moshe Rabbeinu and Aharon.

כי בחי' משה בפה ואהרן בעובדא

For the aspect of Moshe was in the mouth, in speech, while the aspect of Aharon was in deed and action.

Moshe's avodah operated through speech, while Aharon's avodah operated through action and deed.

ולפי שנסתלק אהרן ראה בלק שהי' לו כח להלחם עם ישראל

And because Aharon had passed away, Balak saw that he now had the power to wage war against Bnei Yisrael.

Once Aharon, the source of holy action, had passed away, Balak felt he finally had an opening to battle Bnei Yisrael on that front.

אבל הקב"ה סיכל עצתו במה ששם ללבו לשלוח אל בלעם שהי' כחו בפה

But the Holy One, Blessed is He, foiled his counsel through that which He placed in his heart — to send to Bilaam, whose power was in the mouth, in speech.

Yet the Holy One, Blessed is He, undid Balak's plan by prompting him to turn to Bilaam, whose strength lay specifically in speech.

ובפה עדיין הי' כחו של משה רבינו ע"ה בשלימות וז"ש זכר נא מה יעץ בלק כו' שהי' הכל עצה מן השמים לטובת בנ"י:

For in the realm of the mouth and speech the power of Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, still remained in its completeness; and this is the meaning of "Remember now what Balak counseled" (Michah 6:5), etc. — that the whole thing was a counsel sent from Heaven for the good of Bnei Yisrael.

But in the domain of speech, Moshe Rabbeinu's power was still fully intact, so the plan was doomed — and the navi reveals it was really a Heavenly counsel arranged for the benefit of Bnei Yisrael.

Summary: The Sfas Emes builds on the Zohar's teaching that Balak's power lay in action and deed, while Bilaam's power lay in speech, and that the two were set up as exact counterforces to Aharon and Moshe Rabbeinu respectively. Since Aharon, whose avodah was in action, had just passed away, Balak imagined he now had an opening to wage war against Bnei Yisrael. But the Holy One, Blessed is He, foiled his counsel by leading him to send for Bilaam, whose strength was in speech — precisely the domain where Moshe Rabbeinu's power remained fully intact. Thus the very plot that seemed like Balak's own clever scheme was in truth a counsel from Heaven, orchestrated for the good of Bnei Yisrael.