One Who Guards His Speech, Guards His Life:
Rav Yaakov Yosef of Ostroha (Rav Yeivi) zy”a explains this pasuk by quoting the Zohar Hakadosh (Mishpatim 122A) on the verse (Tehillim 34:14): “Guard your tongue from evil.” The Zohar states that this refers to lashon hara, which brings evil to the world. If one speaks lashon hara, he causes bad things to happen to himself, but if one guards his tongue, he is protected from any bad coming to him.
He thus explains the pasuk as follows: “Vayar” (and he saw) – a person must use his sense of sight properly. “Balak” – this word can be read as “ba lak” (a hit “likusa” will come.”) A person will be struck and hit if he is ‘ben tzipor” – if he acts like a bird that chatters by speaking lashon hara. A bird is symbolic of lashon hara, as Rashi explains (Vayikroh 14:4) that a metzorah – who was punished for speaking lashon hara – brings birds as a korban to atone for chattering like a bird.
The pasuk continues with the words “es kol asher asa Hashem l’Yisroel l’Emori” (all that Hashem did for Yisroel to the Emorites). This can translated to mean that everything Hashem did for Klal Yisroel was because of “their saying” (emor) of “yud” – the Torah, which is represented by the number 10. This means that the mouth is only meant to be used for Torah and holy matters, and not for lashon hara.
The Essence of a Jew is in His Mouth:
Rav Meir of Premishlan zy”a said that the word “l’emori” can be read as two words: “Lo emor” (do not say), with an extra letter “yud” at the end, which is symbolic of a Jewish person (Yid). Thus, the pasuk is a hint that the essence of a Yid is to “not say”, meaning that he knows how to shut his mouth and not to say anything inappropriate.
The Power to Say “No”:
Other Sefarim Hakedoshim explain slightly differently. They also say that the word “l’emori” can be read as “lo emor”, but they translate these words to mean “to say ‘no’.” This indicates that the power of a Jew over all other creations is that he can choose to say “no” when the yeitzer hara attempts to lure him to sin. Despite the temptation, he can firmly say that he will not do anything against Hashem.
This is as is seen from the verse (Koheles 3:19): “And the superiority of a man over an animal is ‘ayin’ (nothing).” The Ateres Tzvi of Ziditchoiv zy”a explains the word “ayin” to mean “no”. Thus, the pasuk is saying that the way that a man is superior to an animal is that he has the ability to say “no” when faced with temptation, whereas an animal always follows its desires.
Balak Was Afraid of The Jews’ Prayers:
The Magid of Trisk zy”a (Sefer Magen Avrohom) also understands this pasuk to be referring to the power of speech. He writes that the reason Balak was so afraid of Klal Yisroel is hinted to in the pasuk itself. It states: “And Balak saw?” What did he see? “All that Yisroel did to ‘the emori.” “L’emori” is a reference to speech. Thus, the pasuk is saying that he saw how much Klal Yisroel can do with their words when they use them for Torah and tefillah. Because of this, “Moav trembled before the ‘am’ (nation).” The word “am” symbolizes coldness (as in “gachelim omemim”, coals that are burning out and getting cold). This means that he saw that even those who were “cold” and distanced from the ways of Hashem had this power, and he was very afraid of them.
He goes on to quote his father, the Magid of Chernobyl zy”a, who said that even if an individual is busy all day at work, and he has no time to even think about Hashem besides for when he realizes that it is time to daven Minchah, and he then sighs and wonders how he frittered away the entire day with work, if he then hurries to a private corner to daven without even paying much attention to what he is saying he is still very precious to Hashem. The sigh of this man breaks through the Heavens and is extremely powerful.
The Trisker Magid concludes by saying, “Therefore, Balak was even afraid of these people because they possess extreme strength!”
Do Not Open Your Mouth to the Satan:
We also see from this Parshah how much one inappropriate word can harm a person from the pasuk that tells us that when Balak sent for Bilaam in order to ask him to curse Klal Yisroel, he told the messengers to tell him (ibid:6): “And now, please come and curse the people for me (‘arah li’).” The words “arah li” can also mean “curse me”, and, in fact, he ended up being cursed.
The Shlah Hakadosh says that we learn from this that one should never “open his mouth for the Satan”, as even if one says something without intention, it could come to hurt him. This is seen from the fact that Balak did not mean for the curse to go on him, but he actually did bring the curse upon himself.
Every Word Makes an Impression:
The underlying lesson is that words are extremely powerful. Every word one says makes a big impression in Shomayim.
The Ye’aros Devash (Chelek 1, Drush 15) writes: “Due to our many sins, people chatter all day and don’t realize that every word makes an impression, as Chazal say (Sanhedrin 102B and Moed Koton 18A): ‘A covenant is enacted with the mouth.’ So how can one not guard his lips from uttering all sorts of bad things?”
