Chasidut for Pirkei Avot 5:6
עֲשָׂרָה דְבָרִים נִבְרְאוּ בְּעֶרֶב שַׁבָּת בֵּין הַשְּׁמָשׁוֹת, וְאֵלּוּ הֵן, פִּי הָאָרֶץ, וּפִי הַבְּאֵר, וּפִי הָאָתוֹן, וְהַקֶּשֶׁת, וְהַמָּן, וְהַמַּטֶּה, וְהַשָּׁמִיר, וְהַכְּתָב, וְהַמִּכְתָּב, וְהַלּוּחוֹת. וְיֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים, אַף הַמַּזִּיקִין, וּקְבוּרָתוֹ שֶׁל משֶׁה, וְאֵילוֹ שֶׁל אַבְרָהָם אָבִינוּ. וְיֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים, אַף צְבָת בִּצְבָת עֲשׂוּיָה:
Ten things were created on the eve of Sabbath at twilight, [i.e., on the eve of the Sabbath of the creation, before its completion]: the mouth of the earth [to swallow up Korach and his congregation], the mouth of the well [of Miriam, which accompanied Israel in the desert in all of its journeyings. (Some say that it opened its mouth and sang (Numbers 21:17): "Arise, O, Well, sing to her!"], the mouth of [Bilam's] ass, [At twilight it was decreed that it speak with Bilam], the rainbow, [as a sign of the covenant that a second flood would not occur], the manna [that descended for Israel forty years in the desert], the [sapphire] staff, [with which the signs were performed], the shamir [a type of worm the size of a barley grain. When they held it over the stones figured with ink, they split of themselves. With it they formed the stones of the ephod and the choshen, viz. (Exodus 28:20): "With their (exact) fillings"], the writing, [the form of the letters carved on the tablets], the inscription, [their being read from all four sides], and the tablets. [They were of sapphire. Their length was six (ells); their breadth was six, and their thickness was three, like one stone, whose length and breadth and thickness are uniform. It was divided into two. And they were rolled and hewn from the solar orb.] Some say, also the mazikkin, [the demons. After the Holy One Blessed be He created Adam and Eve, He was preoccupied with their creation, and when He created their spirits, He had not created their bodies by the advent of the Sabbath, so that they remained spirits without bodies], and the grave of Moses, and the ram of our father Abraham. [It was decreed at twilight that it be caught in the thicket by its horns]. Some say: Also the tongs, made from a tongs. [The tongs is made only from another tongs. And who made the first tongs? Perforce we must say that it was made by itself (i.e., by Heaven); and it was created at twilight. This is rejected by the Gemara (Pesachim 54a), which states that the first tongs could have been cast in a mold and forged at once.]
Sha'ar HaEmunah VeYesod HaChasidut
Kedushat Levi
We have a rule that “awakening, initiative,” can start either in the celestial regions or in the terrestrial regions. Every person can be the cause of G’d relating to him with the attribute of Mercy by simply improving the number of credits he accumulates through his good deeds. Based on this he may appeal to G’d to use His attribute of mercy in dealing with him. Invoking the merits of the patriarchs, however, in other words, mobilizing forces of mercy whose sources are in the “higher world,” is something only members of the Jewish people are able to do.
[Very doubtful, as King Chiskiyah, invoking his merits when asking G’d to let him live longer, was told by G’d that he was granted this extension only due to the merits of his ancestor David. Compare Kings II 20,1-5. Ed.]
This is what the wicked Bileam referred to when he said to G’d הנה העם יצא ממצרים, “here we have this nation that departed from Egypt, etc.” When crediting the Exodus to the Jewish people themselves, Bileam meant that this people by dint of their own merits aroused sufficient forces of the attribute of Mercy to bring about their redemption.
In order to show how wrong Bileam was, our sages in Avot chapter 5, list 10 “trials that the Jewish people had subjected G’d to, i.e. 10 collective sins, instead of ten collective merits which had resulted in their redemption. G’d indicated to Bileam that the attribute of Mercy which after being “awakened” by our patriarchs reminded G’d of His promise to them, that the Exodus was put in motion. It was the accumulated merits of the patriarchs which were the major factor in the redemption of the Jewish people from their cruel fate in Egypt. This is a factor that may come to the aid of the Jewish people, but never to the aid of the gentiles.