Repairing the Sacred Letter

בענין המנין שחתם עליהם שם י"ה כמ"ש רש"י ז"ל

Regarding the count of Bnei Yisrael, upon which Hashem affixed His Name Yud-Heh, as Rashi explains.

When Bnei Yisrael were counted, Hashem placed His Name (the letters Yud and Heh) upon them, as Rashi notes from the spelling of the families in the Torah. This signifies that His Name rests upon them and testifies to their purity.

כבר כתבתי במ"א כי ע"י החטא בשיטים נעשה פגם בזה האות

I have already written elsewhere that through the sin at Shittim a blemish was created in this letter.

The Sfas Emes recalls a point he made elsewhere: the immorality at Shittim damaged this letter of kedushah, the sign of the holy bris that Hashem affixed to Bnei Yisrael.

וזה הי' עצה של בלעם הרשע כי ידע כי כניסת בנ"י לא"י בכח זה האות ברית מילה כמ"ש ששם עלו שבטים שבטי יה עדות לישראל

This was the scheme of Bilam the wicked, for he knew that the entry of Bnei Yisrael into Eretz Yisrael is through the power of this letter, the bris milah, as it is written, "For there the tribes ascended, the tribes of Hashem, a testimony for Yisrael" (Tehillim 122:4).

Bilam understood that Bnei Yisrael merit entering Eretz Yisrael specifically through the power of this letter, which is the bris milah, the sign through which the tribes are called "the tribes of Hashem."

וזה הי' ראי' ג"פ יראה כל זכורך

And this was the meaning of "three times a year shall all your males appear" (Shemos 23:17).

This is also the deeper sense of the mitzvah that all males appear before Hashem three times a year, which is bound up with the sign of the bris.

ולכן החטיא אותם שלא יוכלו לכנוס לארץ ישראל וע"י פינחס שזיכה את בני ישראל נתקן זה האות וכן כתיב ועמך כולם צדיקים לעולם יירשו ארץ:

Therefore he caused them to sin, so that they would not be able to enter Eretz Yisrael; but through Pinchas, who brought merit to Bnei Yisrael, this letter was repaired, and so it is written, "And your people are all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever" (Yeshayahu 60:21).

Bilam therefore plotted to make them sin and forfeit their entry into the land; but Pinchas, by zealously restoring their merit, repaired this letter, so that Bnei Yisrael remain righteous and inherit the land forever.

Summary: The Sfas Emes explains that when Hashem counted Bnei Yisrael, He affixed His Name, the letters Yud-Heh, upon them, signifying the kedushah of the bris milah that rests on them. The sin at Shittim blemished this holy letter, and this was precisely Bilam's scheme, for he understood that Bnei Yisrael's entry into Eretz Yisrael depends on the power of this sign, by which they are called "the tribes of Hashem." Bilam therefore caused them to stumble so that they would lose their right to the land. Through Pinchas, who zealously brought merit back to Bnei Yisrael, this letter was repaired, fulfilling the verse that Hashem's people are all righteous and shall inherit the land forever.