Bnei Yisrael Above Time

איתא שרמזו לו אתה מבקש לעקור אומה החוגגת ג' רגלים בשנה

It is brought down that they hinted to him: You seek to uproot a nation that celebrates three Festivals each year.

The Midrash teaches that Bnei Yisrael's keeping of the three Yamim Tovim was itself a defense against Bilam, who came to uproot them.

והענין הוא כי קידוש הזמנים שנמסר לבנ"י הוא עדות כי בנ"י למעלה מן הזמן

The matter is that the sanctification of the appointed times, which was entrusted to Bnei Yisrael, is testimony that Bnei Yisrael stand above time.

Being given the power to sanctify the calendar shows that Bnei Yisrael are not bound by time but rule over it from above.

וכל ניחוש של אותו רשע הוא במזל האדם שאם רואה עליו איזה חטא מה שעתיד לחטוא או שחטא יכול לחול עליו קללה כענין שאמרו גבי חרטומי פרעה שאין השד שולט בפחות מכשעורה

All the sorcery of that wicked one (Bilam) operates through a person's mazal, for if he perceives upon a person some sin — whether one he is destined to commit or one he has already committed — a curse is able to take hold of him, similar to what they said regarding the necromancers of Pharaoh, that the harmful spirit does not have dominion over anything smaller than a barleycorn.

Bilam's curses worked only by latching onto a flaw in a person's mazal — a sin already done or yet to come — just as a demon can only seize something at least the size of a barleycorn.

דהאי לא מכניף לי' ע"ש

As in 'this one cannot gather it' (referring to that which is too small for the demon to seize).

This phrase illustrates that what is too small or has no foothold cannot be grasped by the destructive spiritual force.

שכל הכח שלהם לקרב הדברים ממקום למקום

For all their power lies in drawing things near, from one place to another.

Their entire power is merely to shift and bring things together from place to place, not to create anything new.

וכן הוא בזמן שיכולין לקרב הזמן לזמן

And so it is with time: they are able to draw one time near to another time.

The same applies to time: their ability extends only to drawing one moment close to another.

אבל בנ"י שהם למעלה מן הזמן אין הקללה שולט בהם:

But Bnei Yisrael, who are above time, no curse can take dominion over them.

Since Bnei Yisrael transcend time itself, Bilam's curse finds no grip on them and cannot rule over them.

Summary: The Sfas Emes explains that the very fact Bnei Yisrael were entrusted with sanctifying the appointed times, celebrating the three Yamim Tovim, testifies that they stand above time. Bilam's power of sorcery was limited: it could only operate by seizing upon some flaw or sin within a person's mazal, just as a harmful spirit cannot take hold of anything smaller than a barleycorn. All that such forces can do is draw things near from one place to another, and likewise draw one time close to another time. But because Bnei Yisrael transcend the realm of time, Bilam's curse could find no foothold in them and held no dominion over them.