Join our weekly Peninim on the Torah list!

Category

Back to Home -> Balak ->


ויפתח ד' את פי האתון ותאמר לבלעם מה עשיתי לך

Hashem opened the mouth of the she-donkey and it said to Bilaam, “What have I done to you?” (22:28)

Bilaam struck his donkey three times – unaware that it was Hashem who was impeding Bilaam’s path. The donkey just stood and refused to go forward. Bilaam was clueless to this, therefore, like most arrogant people who are incapable of accepting the truth, he lashed out at his donkey. Three words – “What have I done to you?” was all the donkey said in admonishing Bilaam. His reaction was, “If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you!” (Ibid. 22:29). All Bilaam could think of was the donkey’s impertinence to him. After all, he was the greatest…

Continue Reading

ויאמר אל עבדי בלק אם יתן לי בלק מלא ביתו כסף וזהב לא אוכל לעבר את פי ד'

He (Bilaam) said to the servants of Balak, “If, Balak, will give me his household of silver and gold, I cannot transgress the word of Hashem.” (22:18)

Rashi notes that, by speaking of a houseful of gold and silver – implying that if he could transgress the word of Hashem he would accept no less – Bilaam showed his true colors. He was arrogant and greedy, obsessed with furthering his immoral lifestyle. One of the well-known Mishnayos in Pirkei Avos addresses the deficient character traits of Bilaam ha’rasha, as opposed to those of Avraham Avinu. The thought of comparing the two is ludicrous, since Bilaam was, and remains, a symbol of greed and moral profligacy, and the actions of Avraham, the Patriarch of our nations, concerning the…

Continue Reading

מראש צרים אראנו ומגבעות אשורנו

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…

Continue Reading

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)

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…

Continue Reading

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)

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…

Continue Reading

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)

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…

Continue Reading

וישא בלעם את עיניו וירא ישראל שכן לשבטיו

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…

Continue Reading

ויאמר מלאך ד' אל בלעם לך עם האנשים

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,…

Continue Reading

ויתיצב מלאך ד' בדרך לשטן לו

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…

Continue Reading

עתה קבה לי אתו

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,…

Continue Reading

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Join our weekly Peninim on the Torah list!

You have Successfully Subscribed!