Clinging Above The Knowledge
איתא בגמ' ויודע דעת עליון השתא דעת בהמתו לא ידע כו' אלא שהי' יודע לכוין השעה שהקב"ה כועס וקשה אכתי השתא דעת בהמתו לא ידע איך הי' יודע לכוין השעה
The Gemara teaches regarding the verse "and he knows the knowledge of the Most High" (Bamidbar 24:16): Now, Bilaam did not even know the mind of his own animal, etc.; rather, he was able to calculate the precise moment when the Holy One, Blessed is He, becomes angry. But this still requires explanation: if now he did not even know the mind of his own animal, how was he able to calculate that precise moment?
The Gemara says Bilaam's unique power was knowing the exact instant Hashem becomes angry. The Sfas Emes raises a difficulty: how could a man so ignorant that he did not even understand his own donkey grasp such a hidden, precise moment in time?
אך הרמז כמו שיש בזמן רגע מיוחד שכועס בה כן יש בנפשות נפש מיוחד לכעס והוא בחי' דעת רע שהי' לבלעם מבחי' עץ הדעת טוב ורע
Rather, the hidden meaning is that just as there exists within time one particular instant in which Hashem becomes angry, so too among the souls there is one particular soul attuned to anger; this is the aspect of evil daas (knowledge) that Bilaam possessed, drawn from the aspect of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil.
He answers that this is not literal calendar timing but a spiritual reality. Just as there is a moment of anger within time, there is a soul-root attuned to anger, and Bilaam was rooted in the evil side of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil.
ולכן הי' מכוון לעומת משה שהי' יודע טוב ועליו נאמר גמלתהו טוב ולא רע
For this reason he stood precisely opposite Moshe Rabbeinu, who possessed the knowledge of good, and of whom it is said "she repaid him good and not evil" (Mishlei 31:12).
Bilaam was therefore the exact counterpart of Moshe Rabbeinu, who was rooted in the good side of that knowledge. The verse in Mishlei testifies that Moshe's knowledge produced only good and never evil.
ובלעם רק רע כל היום וכתיב רגע באפו חיים ברצונו הם בחי' עה"ד ועה"ח
Bilaam, however, was nothing but evil the entire day, while it is written "for His anger lasts but a moment, but His favor is for a lifetime" (Tehillim 30:6) — these correspond to the aspect of the Tree of Knowledge and the aspect of the Tree of Life.
Bilaam, by contrast, was entirely evil all day long. The verse from Tehillim contrasts Hashem's fleeting moment of anger with His enduring favor, paralleling the Tree of Knowledge versus the Tree of Life.
וראה אותו הרשע עתה כי בנ"י דבקים בעץ החיים למעלה מעץ הדעת ולא יכול לשלוט בהם
That wicked one saw now that Bnei Yisrael cleave to the Tree of Life, which is above the Tree of Knowledge, and therefore he was unable to gain any dominion over them.
Bilaam saw that Bnei Yisrael are attached to the Tree of Life, a level higher than the Tree of Knowledge where his power lay. Since his anger-rooted daas could not reach that higher level, he had no ability to harm them.
ובמעשה זו נתברר הדעת כמ"ש למען דעת צדקות ה' ובמשה כתיב צדקת ה' עשה:
Through this very episode the true daas was clarified, as it is written "in order to know the righteous acts of Hashem" (Michah 6:5); and concerning Moshe Rabbeinu it is written "he performed the righteousness of Hashem" (Devarim 33:21).
The whole episode ended up clarifying the true daas of holiness, as the navi instructs us to recall it in order to know Hashem's righteous acts. Moshe Rabbeinu embodied this, for the Torah testifies that he performed the righteousness of Hashem.
Summary: The Sfas Emes examines the Gemara's statement that Bilaam's power was knowing the precise instant when Hashem becomes angry, and asks how a man too ignorant to know his own donkey's mind could grasp such a thing. He explains that this anger is not a point on the clock but a soul-root: Bilaam was drawn from the evil side of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil, making him the exact counterpart of Moshe Rabbeinu, who was rooted in its good side. Whereas Moshe produced only good, Bilaam was evil all day, paralleling the contrast in Tehillim between Hashem's brief moment of anger and His enduring favor — the Tree of Knowledge versus the Tree of Life. Bilaam saw that Bnei Yisrael cleave to the Tree of Life, a level above his own root, and so he was powerless against them. In the end the episode itself clarified the true daas of holiness, which Moshe Rabbeinu embodied through performing the righteousness of Hashem.