Balak – Peninim on the Torah

מראש צרים אראנו ומגבעות אשורנו

Sruly Schnair In Balak, 5782

From its origins, I see rock-like, and from hills do I see it. (23:9)

Bilaam was looking for every way to render Klal Yisrael a death blow. His power was in his tongue, his ability to deliver a curse that would be effective and lethal. He begins his litany by acknowledging that it is difficult to curse a nation whose origins are likened to craggy rocks (Patriarchs) and hills (Matriarchs). He intimated that when he looked back at the roots of the Jews, he saw them as firmly established as rocks and hills. The loyalty to their forebears is what distinguishes them and makes them that more difficult to curse. I would like to…

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ויאמר בלעם אל בלק... היכל אוכל דבר מאמה הדבר אשר אלקים ישים בפי אתו אדבר

Sruly Schnair In Balak, 5782

Bilaam said to Balak… “Am I empowered to say anything? Whatever words G-d puts into my mouth, that shall I speak.” (22:38)

Bilaam is a lesson in stark contrasts. On the one hand, he personifies evil and depravity at their nadir. Arrogant, condescending, avaricious and profligate, he was the consummate symbol of unmitigated evil. Yet, this same person spoke to Hashem and was able to maintain a dialogue on subjects that were of the loftiest esoterical and spiritual nature. How do these two polar opposites exist in one person? Horav Eliezer HaLevi Turk, Shlita, quotes from Horav Chunah Kletzki, zl, a student of the Radin Yeshivah, who, in his old age, made his domicile in Lakewood. He related that there was a…

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לא אוכל לעבור את פי ד' אלקי לעשות קטנה או גדולה

Sruly Schnair In Balak, 5782

I cannot transgress the word of Hashem, my G-d, to do anything small or great. (22:18)

In Kuntres Divrei Sofrim (24), Horav Elchanan Wasserman, zl, notes that Bilaam ha’rashah said that he would not transgress Hashem’s word to him – Hashem’s tzivui, command. He did not think that he could act in a manner counter-intuitive to Hashem’s ratzon, will. He was acutely aware that Hashem did not want him to curse Klal Yisrael, but, if Hashem had not expressly said so, Bilaam could have gone along his merry way to carry out his evil intentions. The pasuk (22:22) relates that Hashem’s anger flared because Bilaam was going to Balak. Why was Hashem angry? Did the Almighty…

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ויגר מואב מפני העם מאד כי רב הוא ויקץ מואב מפני בני ישראל

Sruly Schnair In Balak, 5782

Moav became very frightened of the people, because it was numerous, and Moav was disgusted in the face of Bnei Yisrael. (22:3)

The Torah uses two terms to refer to Klal Yisrael: Am, people/nation, Bnei Yisrael, children of Yisrael. Moav was frightened of the nation due to their numbers, which imply a physical battle, a physical victory for the Jewish nation. Concerning the children of Yisrael, which is the term most often used to describe our People, Moav was disgusted. Fear means that one is afraid, but he still has hope for victory. A change of tactics might be necessary in order to quash the Jewish threat. Disgusted, the term which is used in a confrontation with the children of Yisrael, sounds…

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וישא בלעם את עיניו וירא ישראל שכן לשבטיו

Sruly Schnair In Balak, 5781

Bilaam raised his eyes and saw Yisrael dwelling according to its tribes. (24:2)

Rashi comments (Bilaam raised his eyes): “He sought to instill the evil eye in them.” The Michtav Mei’Eliyahu explains the concept of ayin hora, evil eye. The blessings which Hashem bestows upon an individual should not serve as a source of angst to others. If one allows his blessing (such as: wealth, children, good fortune) to cause pain to others who are less fortunate (especially if he is so callous as to flaunt his good fortune), he arouses a Divine judgment against himself and a reevaluation of his worthiness for those blessings. Chazal in Pirkei Avos (5:19) distinguish between the…

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ויאמר מלאך ד' אל בלעם לך עם האנשים

Sruly Schnair In Balak, 5781

The angel of Hashem said to Bilaam, “Go with the men.” (22:35)

Hashem originally instructed Bilaam not to go with the Moavite emissaries. Then, He changed the message. He could go with them. Rashi explains this based upon the Talmudic dictum, B’derech she’adam rotzeh leilech bah molichin oso, “The path that a person chooses to follow, they bring him (and allow him to go) down that path.” In other words, Bilaam indicated that he would like to join the officers of Moav. When Hashem saw that Bilaam yearned to accompany them, He said, “Go!” Chazal’s statement leaves us with a question about the text. What is the meaning of the word bah,…

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ויתיצב מלאך ד' בדרך לשטן לו

Sruly Schnair In Balak, 5781

And an angel of Hashem stood on the road to impede him. (22:22)

It is well-known that the Shem Hashem, Name of G-d, yud-kay,vov-kay, denotes the middah, attribute, of Rachamim, Mercy. In other words, the angel of Hashem/Rachamim, who was sent to prevent Bilaam from going to curse the Jews, was sent on a mission of mercy. Since when is reproof attributed to mercy? It is much closer to Din, Strict Justice. Horav Chaim Toito, Shlita (Torah V’Chaim), explains this with the following story. During the tenure of the Alter, zl, m’Kelm, there lived a wealthy man whose enormous wealth was overshadowed only by his miserliness. He absolutely refused to share any of…

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עתה קבה לי אתו

Sruly Schnair In Balak, 5781

Now go and curse it for me. (22:11)

In Bilaam’s dialogue with Hashem, he related that Balak, king of Moav, had petitioned him to curse the Jewish people. The word Bilaam used for curse is kavah, imprecate, which is a stronger, more emphatic, tone of curse. Rashi observes that kavah is stronger than arah, which was the actual term which Balak employed. Bilaam changed the word from arah to kavah, because Bilaam’s enmity for the Jews was more intense than that of Balak. Balak feared the Jews. He was anxious lest they overrun his country, as they did to the other pagan kings in the area. Bilaam’s animus,…

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מה טבו אהליך יעקב

Sruly Schnair In Chukas, Balak, 5780

How goodly are your tents, Yaakov. (24:5)

What impressed Bilaam about the Jewish tents? Bilaam saw that the entrances to one another precluded intrusions on the privacy of other families. Furthermore, tents refer to the batei medrash, study halls. (According to Rashi, it refers to the Mishkan and Batei Mikdash when they were extant). At first glance, tznius, privacy and modesty, and study halls do not seem to coincide, unless the Torah is suggesting to us that the study hall – or Torah study of those who occupy the bais hamedrash, who devote themselves wholly to studying Hashem’s Torah – should reflect tznius, privacy and modesty, in…

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וישלח מלאכים אל בלעם בן בעור

Sruly Schnair In Chukas, Balak, 5780

He sent agents to Bilaam ben Beor. (22:5)

Is it possible that, concerning all outward appearances, one not only manifests himself as righteous, but he even receives the fringe benefits and special treatment accorded to a tzaddik; yet, he remains throughout a despicable rasha, wicked person, of the lowest order? Yes! Bilaam showed us that it can be done. Bilaam was Hashem’s “gift” to the pagan/gentile world, so that they could not assert that they had no worthy spiritual leadership. Bilaam was on a lofty spiritual plane, a prophet of the highest order. He was the gentile world’s Moshe. So what happened? He refused to purge himself of…

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מראש צרים אראנו ומגבעות אשורנו

From its origins, I see rock-like, and from hills do I see it. (23:9)

ויאמר בלעם אל בלק... היכל אוכל דבר מאמה הדבר אשר אלקים ישים בפי אתו אדבר

Bilaam said to Balak… “Am I empowered to say anything? Whatever words G-d puts into my mouth, that shall I speak.” (22:38)

לא אוכל לעבור את פי ד' אלקי לעשות קטנה או גדולה

I cannot transgress the word of Hashem, my G-d, to do anything small or great. (22:18)

ויגר מואב מפני העם מאד כי רב הוא ויקץ מואב מפני בני ישראל

Moav became very frightened of the people, because it was numerous, and Moav was disgusted in the face of Bnei Yisrael. (22:3)

וישא בלעם את עיניו וירא ישראל שכן לשבטיו

Bilaam raised his eyes and saw Yisrael dwelling according to its tribes. (24:2)

ויאמר מלאך ד' אל בלעם לך עם האנשים

The angel of Hashem said to Bilaam, “Go with the men.” (22:35)

ויתיצב מלאך ד' בדרך לשטן לו

And an angel of Hashem stood on the road to impede him. (22:22)

עתה קבה לי אתו

Now go and curse it for me. (22:11)

מה טבו אהליך יעקב

How goodly are your tents, Yaakov. (24:5)

וישלח מלאכים אל בלעם בן בעור

He sent agents to Bilaam ben Beor. (22:5)

YEARS

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