jump out of bed to face the day

The very first din in Shulchan Aruch, יתגבר כארי לעמוד בבוקר לעבודת בוראו, is based, according to GR"A on our parsha.  The Midrash writes on (23:24)  הֶן עָם כְּלָבִיא יָקוּם וְכַאֲרִי יִתְנַשָּׂא that  אֵין אֻמָּה בָּעוֹלָם כַּיּוֹצֵא בָהֶם, הֲרֵי הֵן יְשֵׁנִים מִן הַתּוֹרָה וּמִן הַמִּצְווֹת וְעוֹמְדִין מִשְּׁנָתָן כַּאֲרָיוֹת וְחוֹטְפִין קְרִיאַת שְׁמַע וּמַמְלִיכִין לְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, וְנַעֲשִׂין כַּאֲרָיוֹת וּמַפְלִיגִין לְדֶרֶךְ אֶרֶץ, לְמַשָּׂא וּמַתָּן, אִם נִתְקַל אֶחָד מֵהֶם בְּכֻלָּם אוֹ אִם מְחַבְּלִין בָּאִין לִגַּע בְּאֶחָד מֵהֶן, מַמְלִיךְ לְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא.  R' Berel Povarski in Bad Kodesh asks why it is that jumping out of bed in the morning is such a big deal.  If you do the same mitzvah without jumping out of bed, is it any worse? 

Before getting to his answer, I want to offer my wife's grandfather's (R' Dov Yehudah Shochet) explanation of what exactly Bilam did wrong.  After all, Hashem in the end did grant Bilam permission to go to meet Balak.  How then can the very next pasuk (22:22) tell us וַיִּחַר⁠ אַף אֱלֹקים כִּי⁠ הוֹלֵךְ הוּא?  Rishonim and Achronim alike have struggled with this issue.

The gemara Brachos (5a) provides us with advice on how to deal with the yetzer ha'ra:

אָמַר רַבִּי לֵוִי בַּר חָמָא, אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן לָקִישׁ: לְעוֹלָם יַרְגִּיז אָדָם יֵצֶר טוֹב עַל יֵצֶר הָרַע, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״רִגְזוּ וְאַל תֶּחֱטָאוּ״ אִם נִצְּחוֹ — מוּטָב, וְאִם לָאו — יַעֲסוֹק בַּתּוֹרָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״אִמְרוּ בִלְבַבְכֶם״. אִם נִצְּחוֹ  מוּטָב, וְאִם לָאו — יִקְרָא קְרִיאַת שְׁמַע, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״עַל מִשְׁכַּבְכֶם״. אִם נִצְּחוֹ — מוּטָב, וְאִם לָאו — יִזְכּוֹר לוֹ יוֹם הַמִּיתָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וְדֹמּוּ סֶלָה״.

The question everyone asks is if we have an ace in the whole, namely יִזְכּוֹר לוֹ יוֹם הַמִּיתָה, what's the point of going step by step through this whole exercise?

My grandfather-in-law asked a more basic question. If the point is וְאַל תֶּחֱטָאוּ, not to sin, then what do we need רִגְזוּ for?  Just tell me not to sin, period, full stop!  Why add לְעוֹלָם יַרְגִּיז אָדָם יֵצֶר טוֹב עַל יֵצֶר הָרַע?  

He explained (see this post that relates to the end of our parsha as well) that not sinning is not enough.  What Chazal are telling us is that our goal should be not to desire to sin. לְעוֹלָם יַרְגִּיז אָדָם יֵצֶר טוֹב עַל יֵצֶר הָרַע means you have to work so as to not have a ratzon for sin  If you fail and you have the desire to do wrong, then וְאַל תֶּחֱטָאוּ, but ideally a person should try to not get to that point.

That's why Chazal did not advise a person יִזְכּוֹר לוֹ יוֹם הַמִּיתָה from the get-go.  True, that will stop a person cold in their tracks and prevent them from succumbing to temptation, but וְאַל תֶּחֱטָאוּ is not the real goal -- the real goal is to avoid having the temptation to begin with.  That you accomplish by learning Torah and growing your desire for spiritual things, or by reading shema and increasing your love of Hashem so it supplants the love of physical things.  It's only when those prior steps fail, when the רִגְזוּ hasn't accomplished what it should, then you have no choice but to think about yom ha'misa to prevent wrong from being done.

What Bilam is blamed for is not the fact that he went with the messengers of Balak.  He did indeed have permission for that.  He succeeded in passing the test of וְאַל תֶּחֱטָאוּ.  What he failed at was the test of לְעוֹלָם יַרְגִּיז אָדָם יֵצֶר טוֹב עַל יֵצֶר הָרַע, of avoiding the desire to do wrong.  Chazal tell us that the permission to go with Balak's messengers came about because Bilam, so to speak, twisted Hashem's arm until he got it.  Chazal tell us that chutzpah works even when it comes to getting things from Heaven, and "b'derech she'adam rotzeh lei'lech molichin oso."  Bilam knew that what he desired was contrary to the ratzon Hashem, but that did not stop him from wanting it.  His ratzon, he felt, trumped G-d's ratzon.  That desire to do wrong is itself a sin.  

Now to flip from the negative to the positive.  R' Berel Povarski writes that a person has a capacity for ratzon, for desire, which can either be turned to good and used for torah and mitzvos, or it will lead a person stray to desiring things that should not be desired.  Ain hachi nami, if you roll out of bed late and put on tefillin you have fulfilled the mitzvah of tefillin just as well as the person who got up early to do so.  What you failed to do, however, is to demonstrate the ratzon to do good.  To achieve that, you have to jump out of bed like a lion, like going to davening or learning torah is your greatest desire from the moment you open your eyes,

And now for the icing on the cake.  The GR"A in Aderes Aliyahu comments on  הֶן⁠ עָם כְּלָבִיא יָקוּם:

על ד׳ מלחמו׳ שהיו במדבר כי זאת הפרש׳ הראשונה על מצרים. והשני׳ על המדב׳ כמ״ש כלביא יקום נגד מלחמ׳ עמלק כמ״ש מחר אנכי נצב על ראש הגבע׳ והוא תחיל׳ יציאתן וזהו יקום. וכארי יתנשא במלחמ׳ כנען שהיה בסוף מ׳ לא ישכב עד יאכל טרף. במלחמת סיחון ועוג. ודם חללים ישתה. הוא מלחמת מדין שהרגו על חלליהם שמלחמת סיחון ועוג היה העיקר על הארץ ועל השלל וכאן היה העיקר לנקום בדמם כמ״ש לתת נקמת ה׳ במדין ואמר כי צררים הם לכם וגו׳

Each phrase in the pasuk corresponds to a battle that Bn"Y fought, and  עָם כְּלָבִיא יָקוּם corresponds to the war against Amalek.  Amalek is "asher karcha ba'derech" -- they wanted to afflict us with k'rirus, with coldness, apathy, with lack of desire when it comes to mitzvos.   וַיַּרְא אֶת⁠ עֲמָלֵק וַיִּשָּׂא מְשָׁלוֹ וַיֹּאמַר רֵאשִׁית גּוֹיִם עֲמָלֵק Amalek was the first to jump in and attack us when no other nation would.  They exemplify using ratzon, desire, to provide motivation toward nefarious ends, while cooling off any positivity and desire for good.  We, on the other hand, are  הֶן⁠ עָם כְּלָבִיא יָקוּם, not only doing mitzvos, but doing them with zeal and alacrity and desire.