Hidden Light Above Curse
בפסוק כי ברוך הוא פי' שהם בעצמם הברכה כמ"ש והי' ברכה ולכן א"ל אינם צריכים לברכתך כי אין ארור מתדבק בברוך
Regarding the verse "for he whom you bless is blessed" (Bamidbar 22:6), the explanation is that they themselves are the blessing, as it is written "and you shall be a blessing" (Bereishis 12:2); therefore Hashem said to Bilaam that they have no need of his blessing, for that which is cursed cannot cling to that which is blessed.
Bilaam was told that Bnei Yisrael need no blessing from him because they are themselves the embodiment of blessing, and a curse cannot attach itself to one who is intrinsically blessed.
והענין הוא כי כל כח הקללה בא רק מחטא הראשון שכ' ארורה האדמה בעבורך
The matter is that all the power of the curse comes only from the original sin, regarding which it is written "cursed is the ground because of you" (Bereishis 3:17).
Every power that a curse possesses traces back to the original sin of Adam, when the ground was cursed.
כי קודם החטא לא הי' נמצא כלל הקללה
For before the sin, the curse was not found at all.
Before that first sin, no curse existed anywhere in creation.
רק ע"י אכילת עה"ד טוב ורע נתערב הרע בכל דבר ולכן נמצא ארור בעולם
Only through eating from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil did the evil become intermingled in everything, and therefore that which is cursed is found in the world.
Eating from the Tree of Knowledge mixed evil into everything, which is why cursedness now exists in the world.
ואפילו הברכות בטבע העולם יש בהם קצת תערובות
And even the blessings within the nature of the world have within them a slight admixture.
Even things that appear to be natural blessings now carry a small trace of that admixture of evil.
ומכח זה הי' בלעם מקלל למי שרצה כמ"ש חז"ל שידע לכוין השעה שהקב"ה כועס דכתיב ואל זועם בכל יום
And through this power Bilaam was able to curse whomever he wished, as Chazal said that he knew how to aim for the moment when the Holy One, Blessed is He, is angry, as it is written "and Hashem is wrathful every day" (Tehillim 7:12).
Bilaam exploited this by timing his curses to the brief daily moment of Hashem's wrath.
וגם זה הזעם בכל יום נולד אחר התערובות טוב
And this wrath of every day also came into being only after the intermingling of good and evil.
Even this daily moment of wrath only became possible once good and evil were intermingled through the sin.
ואמר יודע דעת עליון מצד בחי' הדעת טוב ורע וברע הי' לו אחיזה
And it is said that he "knew the knowledge of the Most High" (Bamidbar 24:16) from the aspect of the knowledge of good and evil, and in the evil he had a grip.
Bilaam's "knowledge of the Most High" was rooted in the knowledge of good and evil, and it was specifically through the evil that he gained a foothold.
אכן בנ"י זכו לברכה השלימה בלי תערובות מצד התורה עץ החיים כמ"ש עוז לעמו יתן כו' יברך את עמו בשלום הוא ברכה הבאה בכח התורה שקדמה לעולם וכמו כן בנ"י קדמו לעולם
However, Bnei Yisrael merited the complete blessing without any admixture, by virtue of the Torah which is the Tree of Life, as it is written "Hashem will give strength to His people; Hashem will bless His people with peace" (Tehillim 29:11) -- this is a blessing that comes through the power of the Torah which preceded the world, and likewise Bnei Yisrael preceded the world.
Bnei Yisrael, through the Torah which is the Tree of Life, received a perfect blessing with no admixture; both Torah and Bnei Yisrael preceded the world.
ואיתא וירא כו' את האור כי טוב שהי' מאיר מסוף העולם ועד סופו וראה שאין העולם כדאי להשתמש בו וגנזו לצדיקים
And it is brought down "and He saw the light, that it was good" (Bereishis 1:4), that it was shining from one end of the world to the other, and He saw that the world was not worthy to make use of it, and He concealed it for the tzaddikim.
The original primordial light shone across all of creation, but Hashem saw the world was unworthy of it and stored it away for the tzaddikim.
פי' שראה שע"י החטא יהי' אח"כ תערובות טוב ורע
The explanation is that He saw that through the sin there would afterward be an intermingling of good and evil.
What He foresaw was that the sin would later cause good and evil to become intermingled.
לכן גנז אותו האור שלא יהי' בו שום תערובות והוכן לבנ"י כדכתי' אור זרוע לצדיק וכ' ועמך כולם צדיקים
Therefore He concealed that light, so that there would be no admixture in it at all, and it was prepared for Bnei Yisrael, as it is written "light is sown for the tzaddik" (Tehillim 97:11), and it is written "and your people are all tzaddikim" (Yeshayahu 60:21).
He therefore hid that pure light, free of any admixture, reserving it for Bnei Yisrael who are all tzaddikim.
ומזה האור הוא ג"כ ברכת השבת וזהו בחי' נשמה יתירה שאינה באה בחול שלא יתערב בה תערובות רק ביום השבת ולכן דרשו ע"ז ברכת ה' כו' תעשיר ולא יוסף עצב עמה פי' שאין בברכה זו שום תערובות מן העצב והקללה שנעשה ע"י החטא
And from this light is also the blessing of Shabbos, and this is the aspect of the neshamah yeseirah, which does not come during the weekday so that no admixture should intermingle in it, but only on the day of Shabbos; and therefore they expounded on this "the blessing of Hashem, it makes rich, and He adds no sorrow with it" (Mishlei 10:22) -- the explanation being that in this blessing there is no admixture whatsoever of the sorrow and the curse that came about through the sin.
The blessing of Shabbos draws from this hidden light, and the neshamah yeseirah comes only on Shabbos so it stays free of admixture; hence the verse that Hashem's blessing brings no sorrow.
וז"ש מראש צורים אראנו שהם קודמים לעולם ויש להם מאור הגנוז שאין בו שליטת סט"א כלל
And this is the meaning of "from the top of the rocks I see him" (Bamidbar 23:9), that they precede the world and have the hidden light in which the Sitra Achra has no dominion at all.
Bilaam's words that they come "from the top of the rocks" allude to their preceding the world and possessing the hidden light, beyond the reach of the Sitra Achra.
וז"ש לא קבה אל פי' שלא הי' בכלל הקללה והארור שבא לעולם ע"י החטא אין נשמת בנ"י בכלל זה
And this is the meaning of "that the Almighty did not curse" (Bamidbar 23:8), the explanation being that they were not included in the curse and the accursedness that came into the world through the sin -- the neshamah of Bnei Yisrael is not included in this.
"The Almighty did not curse" means the neshamah of Bnei Yisrael was never included in the curse that entered the world through the sin.
וכ' רגע באפו חיים ברצונו
And it is written "for a moment is in His anger, life is in His favor" (Tehillim 30:6).
The verse contrasts a fleeting moment of anger with the life found in Hashem's favor.
פי' זה הרגע שהקב"ה כועס הוא במקרה ובזמן כי הרגע שורש הזמן
The explanation is that this moment when the Holy One, Blessed is He, is angry is something incidental and bound to time, for the moment is the root of time.
The moment of wrath is merely incidental and tied to time, since a moment is the very root of time.
אבל חיים ברצונו שרצונו ית"ש אין בו חרון אף כלל
But "life is in His favor" -- that in His blessed will there is no fierce anger at all.
By contrast, Hashem's essential will contains no fierce anger whatsoever.
ובנ"י יש להם חלק בזה הרצון כמ"ש ותרועת מלך בו והוא למעלה מן האף
And Bnei Yisrael have a portion in this will, as it is written "and the trumpet-blast of the King is in him" (Bamidbar 23:21), and this is above anger.
Bnei Yisrael share in this will, as the verse speaks of the King's presence among them, a level that stands above anger.
וז"ש בשבת קודש ורצה בנו שהשבת עדות שיש לבנ"י דביקות בזה הרצון והוא מצד עץ החיים
And this is the meaning of what we say on the holy Shabbos, "and He desired us" -- that the Shabbos is testimony that Bnei Yisrael have dveikus in this will, and it is from the aspect of the Tree of Life.
The Shabbos prayer "and He desired us" testifies that Bnei Yisrael are bound in dveikus to this will, which stems from the Tree of Life.
וזהו ג"כ שרמזו לו שביקש לעקור אומה החוגגת שלש רגלים
And this too is what was hinted to him, that he sought to uproot a nation that celebrates the three pilgrimage festivals.
Bilaam was hinting that he wished to uproot the very nation that celebrates the three pilgrimage festivals.
כי כשעלו בנ"י לראות פני ה' ג"פ בשנה בודאי הי' נתגלה ראי' הנסתרת והוא מאור הגנוז מבחי' עץ החיים דכ' באור פני מלך חיים ולכן נקראו ימים טובים שיש בהם מאור הגנוז כמ"ש בזוה"ק אמור
For when Bnei Yisrael went up to behold the face of Hashem three times a year, certainly the hidden vision was revealed, which is from the hidden light, from the aspect of the Tree of Life, as it is written "in the light of the King's face is life" (Mishlei 16:15); and therefore they are called Yamim Tovim, for they contain the hidden light, as is written in the Zohar HaKadosh on Emor.
When Bnei Yisrael ascended for the festivals three times yearly, the hidden vision and hidden light of the Tree of Life were revealed, which is why these days are called Yamim Tovim.
ולכן ניתן להם קביעות המועדים שהם למעלה מן הזמן
And therefore the fixing of the festivals was given to them, for they are above time.
Because of this, the authority to fix the festivals was entrusted to Bnei Yisrael, since the festivals stand above time.
ונשתנה הזמן לפי קביעות הב"ד שלמטה
And the time changes according to the determination of the beis din below.
Time itself bends to conform to the ruling of the earthly beis din.
והלא גם באותן הימים לא זעם ה' לפי שדביקות בנ"י למעלה מן הזעם בבחי' חיים ברצונו כמ"ש לעיל והיה זה עדות לבנ"י שהזעם נדחה בפניהם בכח הרצון שהוא דוחה הזעם:
And indeed, even on those days Hashem did not show wrath, because the dveikus of Bnei Yisrael is above the wrath, in the aspect of "life is in His favor" as was said above; and this was a testimony for Bnei Yisrael that the wrath is pushed aside before them through the power of the will, which pushes aside the wrath.
Even during those festival days Hashem showed no wrath, because the dveikus of Bnei Yisrael rises above wrath through the power of His will, testifying that the wrath is pushed aside before them.
Summary: The Sfas Emes explains why Bilaam was unable to curse Bnei Yisrael: all the power of a curse derives from the original sin, which mixed evil into creation, whereas Bnei Yisrael are rooted in the Torah, the Tree of Life, and possess the hidden primordial light that Hashem concealed for the tzaddikim -- a light with no admixture of evil or sorrow in which the Sitra Achra has no grip. Bilaam could only operate through the fleeting daily moment of wrath, which itself is merely incidental and bound to time, but Bnei Yisrael cling to Hashem's essential will, which is entirely above anger. This dveikus is expressed in Shabbos, with its neshamah yeseirah drawn from the hidden light, and in the will of "and He desired us." It is likewise expressed in the three pilgrimage festivals, when the hidden light of the Tree of Life is revealed, which is why the authority to fix the festivals was given to Bnei Yisrael, placing them above time. Ultimately, the wrath that Bilaam sought to exploit is pushed aside before Bnei Yisrael by the power of Hashem's favor.