Avraham's Traits Transcending Nature

ואיתא במשנה מי שיש בו ג' דברים הללו מתלמידיו של אאע"ה כו'

And it is taught in the Mishnah: "Whoever has these three traits is among the disciples of Avraham Avinu..." (Avos 5:19).

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

שאאע"ה נטע אלה הג' מדות בבנ"י כמ"ש אשר יצוה כו' בניו כו' וע"י ג"ד הללו יוצאין מהנהגת הטבע כנ"ל להיות נמשך אחר הנהגה עליונה

For Avraham Avinu planted these three middos (character traits) within Bnei Yisrael, as it is written, "For I have known him, that he will command his children..." (Bereishis 18:19); and through these three traits one departs from the conduct of nature, as explained above, to be drawn after the higher conduct.

Avraham implanted these three middos into Bnei Yisrael as a spiritual inheritance, and they are the means by which a Jew breaks free of natural, this-worldly conduct and attaches himself to Hashem's higher Divine governance.

כי האדם כולל רוחניות וגשמיות וכמו כן סדר הבריאה דכתי' אתה עשית כו' השמים כו' ואתה מחי' את כולם הם ב' הנהגות הנ"ל

For a person is composed of both spiritual and physical, and so too is the order of creation, as it is written, "You have made the heavens... and You give life to them all" (Nechemiah 9:6) — these are the two modes of conduct mentioned above.

Just as man is a blend of the spiritual neshamah and the physical body, so the whole of creation has two layers: the fixed natural order Hashem made, and the constant life-flow with which He animates everything at every moment.

וכמו כן האדם עפר מן האדמה כו' ויהי כו' לנפש חי' כו'

And so too the person himself: "dust from the ground..." and "he became... a living soul" (Bereishis 2:7).

He brings the verse describing the creation of Adam as proof: man is formed from physical dust yet enlivened by a living soul, mirroring these two modes.

וכפי הכנת האדם לקבל הארת הנשמה ולבטל הגופניות כך נמשך אחר ההנהגה העליונה כנ"ל

And according to the person's preparation to receive the illumination of the neshamah and to nullify the physical, so is he drawn after the higher conduct, as explained above.

The degree to which a person readies himself to absorb the light of his neshamah and subdue his physical drives determines how fully he is drawn after Hashem's higher conduct rather than nature.

ולכן אברהם אע"ה שהי' בו ג' דברים הללו הי' הוא עצמו שורש הברכות כמ"ש והי' ברכה

Therefore Avraham Avinu, who possessed these three traits, was himself the root of the blessings, as it is written, "and you shall be a blessing" (Bereishis 12:2).

Because Avraham fully embodied these three traits, he became the very wellspring of blessing, as Hashem told him he himself would be a blessing.

ובלעם הרשע שיש בו ג' דברים אחרים הוא באמת שורש הקללה

And Bilaam the wicked, who possesses three opposite traits, is in truth the root of the curse.

Bilaam, who is described in the Mishnah as possessing the three opposite traits — an evil eye, a haughty spirit, and a greedy soul — is correspondingly the source of curse.

כי עיקר הברכה בהתדבקות אל השורש

For the essence of the blessing lies in cleaving to the root.

The Sfas Emes states the underlying principle: real blessing flows only through staying attached to one's spiritual root, namely Hashem.

וכל רצון אותו הרשע לבטל ג"ד הנ"ל כדי להתמשך אחר הטבע ועוה"ז

And the entire desire of that wicked one was to nullify these three traits, in order to be drawn after nature and this world.

Bilaam's whole aim was to strip Bnei Yisrael of these three traits so they would sink back into being governed by nature and the lures of this world.

ואיתא שביקש לעקור אומה החוגגת ג' רגלים

And it is taught that he sought to uproot a nation that celebrates the three festivals.

The Midrash teaches that Bilaam specifically sought to uproot the nation that keeps the three regalim, since those festivals embody the very three traits he opposed.

ונראה כי בכח ג' דברים הללו זכו ישראל להיראות פני ה' ג' פעמים בשנה

And it appears that through the power of these three traits Bnei Yisrael merited to appear before the presence of Hashem three times a year.

It was precisely by the merit of these three middos that Bnei Yisrael were granted the privilege of appearing before Hashem three times a year at the Beis HaMikdash.

והרמז חג המצות נפש שפילה לחם עוני כי החמץ מתעלה ומצה שפילה בחי' נפש

And the allusion is: Chag HaMatzos corresponds to "a lowly soul," the bread of affliction — for chametz rises up, while matzah is lowly, the aspect of the soul.

Pesach embodies the trait of a lowly soul: chametz puffs up and rises, while the flat matzah, the bread of affliction, represents the humble, lowered self.

וחג השבועות זמן מתן תורה רוח נמוכה לכן קבלו התורה כמים שיורד למקום נמוך לכן ניתנה תורה בהר סיני נמוך מכל ההרים

And Chag HaShavuos, the time of the giving of the Torah, corresponds to "a humble spirit"; therefore they received the Torah like water that descends to a low place, and therefore the Torah was given on Mount Sinai, the lowest of all the mountains.

Shavuos embodies a humble spirit, for the Torah, like water, settles into the lowest place — which is why it was given specifically on Sinai, the most modest of mountains.

וחג הסוכות בחי' עין טובה לכן הקריבו בנ"י ע' פרים מול השבעים אומות בעין טובה שלהם

And Chag HaSukkos is the aspect of "a good eye"; therefore Bnei Yisrael offered seventy bulls corresponding to the seventy nations, out of their good eye.

Sukkos embodies a good eye, expressed in the seventy bulls offered over the festival on behalf of the seventy nations of the world, a gesture of generous goodwill toward all.

וקבלו ג' ברכות בג' רגלים ע"י הג' מדות טובות שהי' בהם

And they received three blessings on the three festivals through the three good middos that were in them.

Through these three good middos, Bnei Yisrael drew down three corresponding blessings at the three festivals.

ואותו רשע בלעם רצה לקללם ג"פ ולבטל מהם הג' מדות הנ"ל

And that wicked Bilaam wanted to curse them three times and to nullify from them the three traits mentioned above.

Bilaam set out to curse them three times, aiming to undo these three traits one by one.

והקב"ה הפך הקללה לברכה ובירך אותם ג"פ:

But the Holy One, Blessed is He, turned the curse into a blessing and blessed them three times.

But Hashem overturned his scheme entirely, transforming each intended curse into a blessing, so that Bilaam ended up blessing Bnei Yisrael three times over.

Summary: In this piece the Sfas Emes builds on the Mishnah in Avos that distinguishes the disciples of Avraham Avinu — marked by a good eye, a humble spirit, and a lowly soul — from the disciples of Bilaam, who bear the three opposite traits. He explains that Avraham planted these three middos within Bnei Yisrael as the very means of rising above the conduct of nature and cleaving to Hashem's higher Divine governance, for both man and all of creation are woven from a physical layer and a spiritual life-flow, and blessing flows precisely through staying attached to that spiritual root. These same three traits are embodied in the shalosh regalim: Pesach and its lowly matzah express the lowly soul, Shavuos and the Torah descending like water to Sinai express the humble spirit, and Sukkos with its seventy bulls for the nations expresses the good eye. Bilaam, the root of curse, sought to uproot this nation and nullify its three middos by cursing it three times so it would sink back into nature and this world. But the Holy One, Blessed is He, overturned every curse into blessing, so that Bnei Yisrael instead received three blessings corresponding to the three good middos that are their inheritance from Avraham Avinu.