TORAH- FAX BALAK TORAH

DIALOGUE
BALA74ED
BALAK -Numbers 22:2
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B' RABBI ED DA(I$
1. The people of the region now display great fear
of Bnei Yisrael since Moshe led them in a
deastati ng ictory of the two strongest !ings of the
area" #g and $ichon. Bala! appeals to Bilaam to
come and to c%rse Bnei Yisrael. The openi ng
portion is a &it perple'i ng( )ashem commands
Bilaam that he may not go *.1+ You shall not go
with them,- then )ashem changes )is mind *.+.
Rise, go with them ,. As soon as Bilaam does go"
)ashem is angry &eca%se he went *.++,. And
finall y after the scene with the tal!i ng don!ey"
/od0s angel tells Bilaam that he may go with them
*.12 Go with the men ,. The !ey to %nderstandi ng
the seemi ngl y shifti ng diine orders" one m%st !now
the difference &etween the two )e&rew words
which mean 3wi th3 4 _ and ': *_':,. _ means
that the two parti es are e5%al- it is a partnershi p"
&oth parties going with the same intenti on. ':
is the term %sed when the two parties are going
together &%t not sharing the same goal. )ashem
tells Bilaam that he may not go with *_ , Bala!0s
men" going with the same goal of doing damage to
Bnei Yisrael. Later )ashem tells Bilaam that he
may go with the men *_':," going with them &%t not
sharing the same intenti on. Bilaam" tho%gh" goes
with them" sharing the same intenti on *6.+1,-
conse5%entl y )ashem was angry with Bilaam. At
the end the angel tells Bilaam that he may go with
the men *.12, if that is his desire. As 7ashi states(
8n the way which a person desires to go" in that way
they lead hi m. And Bilaam will s%ffer the same
conse5%ences as those with whom he goes. *6ilna
/aon,.
+. #n his way to meeti ng Bala!" an angel of /od
stands in Bilaam0 s way. Bilaam is incapa&le of
seeing the angel" &%t his don!ey does. The don!ey
tries to p%sh to the side of the road and in so doing"
cr%shes Bilaam0 s foot against the wall. The road
had a fence on &oth sides of it *.+4,. 7ashi feels it
necessary to e'plai n that the fence was made of
stone. 7ashi0s comment goes well &eyond the
defini ti on of a _ _ since it reall y sho%ld not ma!e
any difference to %s as to what the fence was made
o%t of. The Tosefet Brachah e'plai ns that 7ashi0s
point refers to somethi ng else. According to a
Midrash" Bilaam was the grandson of Laan. Laan
and Yaa!o had esta&lished a peace treaty when
Yaa!o left. To physicall y mar! their treaty" they
&%ilt a large mo%nd of stones */enesis 11(449 24,.
:ith this treaty" neither party was allowed to ca%se
any harm to the other. By approachi ng Bnei Yisrael
now &ent %pon c%rsing them" Bilaam was &rea!ing
against the stone wall" tryi ng to &rea! the e'isting
treaty. *Accordi ng to the Targ%m Yonatan Bilaam
was act%al l y Laan and not a grandson.,
1. :hen the Targ%m Yonatan states that Laan
and Bilaam are the same person" this is an
intri g%i ng challenge to interpret. There is nothi ng in
o%r literat%re that wo%l d proe s%ch an idea &%t the
intent of the comment is o&io%s. Both Laan and
Bilaam wanted to destroy the ;ewish people witho%t
%se of a sword. 8n Laan<s sit%ation he wanted to
transform Yaa!o into a money9 see!ing indi i d%al
who wo%ld &e moral l y &an!r%pt in religi o%s
concepts and commi t ment. Bilaam also had the
intenti on to destroy the ;ewish people with a c%rse
that wo%l d &e accepted &y the Almight y. Laan
intended to swallow the ;ewish nation. )e spo!e
words that were nice li!e !isses" &%t his intent was
totall y eil. :hen Bilaam says that the ;ewish
people =dwel l ed alone> he meant that they sho%ld
lie among the non9 ;ews in a sit%ation of isolation.
And then when his c%rses do not wor!" he has
another sol%tion( sed%ce the ;ewish men with the
da%ghters of Midian. Either way he sees the
greatest c%rse withi n assimi lati on thro%gh
intermarri age. :hen will Bnei Yisrael tr%l y &e
destroyed? :hen o%r %ni5%eness is destroyed.
4. )ashem opened the mo%th of the don!ey" and
the don!ey said to Bilaam" =:hat hae 8 done to
yo% that yo% hit me three ti mes?> *++(+@, The
conersati on &etween Bilaam and his don!ey is not
profo%nd at all. More meani ngf %l is the fact that the
don!ey spo!e. The Midrash *Tanch%ma, fills in with
a more poignant line. The don!ey told Bilaam( =Yo%
are capa&le of !illing me only with the %se of a
sword. )ow do yo% e'pect to eradicate an entire
nation with yo%r mo%th?> Bilaam was silent and
co%ld find no answer. The $ages had stated that the
don!ey<s mo%th was created d%ring the last
moments of the first wee! of creation" right &efore
$ha&&at. )ad o%r $ages not said this" some people
mi ght hae tho%ght that ani mals are smarter than
we thin! and may&e co%ld &e ta%ght to spea! and
comprehend what they are saying. This incident
was totall y foreign to the laws of nat%re that goern
the co%rse of world action. 8t was a special eent
preplanned &y /od when he created the worl d. By
defini ti on" tho%gh" the a&ili ty to spea! and
comprehend *thin!, at that leel is &eyond the
scope of the ani mal world.
2. The AhofetB Ahai m comments interesti ngl y on
the erse( *+1(1., "Let me die the death of the
righteous." Bilaam did not want to lie as a ;ew" &%t
he did want to die as a ;ew. Life as a ;ew is not
easy- it is filled with prohi &i ti ons and restricti ons.
This yo% may eat- this yo% may not eat. This is
allowed- this is not. There are many
commandments" o&ligati ons and responsi &i li ti es.
Cot so is the death of the righteo%s. The faithf%l ;ew
dies and !nows his death is the gate to the eternal
life of the ne't worl d. )e &eliees in the
immortal i t y of the so%l" in reward and p%nishment"
and therefore he does not fear death.
Aonse5%entl y Bilaam desired to die as a ;ew" &%t
not lie as one.
D. "He did not look at the sins of Yaakov...God
who redeemed them from Egypt..." *+1(+1"++,.
:hat is the connection &etween these two erses?
7a Meir $imcha )aEohen of Dins! e'plai ned that
Bilaam attempted to aro%se the wrath of )ashem
against Elal Yisrael &y menti oni ng their sins.
)oweer" he was %ns%ccessf%l &eca%se een when
Bnei Yisrael had s%n! to the forty9 ninth leel of
imp%ri t y in Egypt" and the $atan as!ed( 3:hy are
Yo% redeemi ng them- they are idolaters F%st as the
Egypti ans are"3 )ashem ignored hi m and saed
them. This is what Bilaam said( )ashem does not
loo! at the ini5%i ti es of Bnei Yisrael" and the proof is
the fact that )e redeemed them from Egypt in spite
of their sins.
7. The most famo%s of Bilaam0 s dii ne statements
is( "How goodl y are your tents, O a!o", your
dwellings, O #srael" *+4(2," with which we &egi n o%r
dail y prayers. 7ashi offers two e'planati ons for
3tents.3 #ne is the tents of the 8sraeli te
encampment( Bilaam saw that the doors of
neigh&ori ng tents were not directl y opposi te each
other" there&y protecti ng one0s neigh&or from an
eil eye" and granti ng each person a meas%re of
priacy and modesty in his personal life. The
second interpretati on applies the term 3 __: 4
tent3 to the Tent of Meeting" the Ta&ernacle. )ow
goodl y are the tent of $hiloh and the )oly Temple
when they are inha&i ted. 7a&&ein% Bachya says the
simpl est interpretati on is that Bilaam prophesies
the way Bnei Yisrael were to &e settled in the
Gromised Land. Ceerthel ess" we learn from
Bilaam0 s words and accept them in o%r sidd%r.
:here else do we learn somethi ng *a law or
c%stom, from a non9 ;ew and accept it for o%r own
tradi ti on?
HAFTORAH
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*I+AH
All the laws &y which 8 wish to reg%late yo%r
lies are only for yo%r well9 &eing and happi ness.
They ma!e yo% to _ " to a gro%p of h%man
&eings which are to &ear the stamp of My 7%le" not
only in what in other people are considered
3religi o%s3 matters" &%t in the whole of yo%r ciic
and pri ate life. And if the collapse of yo%r state"
and the loss of yo%r independence has F%st &een
anno%nced to yo% &eca%se yo% hae not conformed
to yo%r d%ty" were yo% not prepared &eforehand"
from the first moment of yo%r &eing freed from
slaery" for this relationshi p to me &eing yo%r
e'cl%si e calling? )ad yo%r &eing freed &een in
itself its p%rpose" F%st to gie yo% the possi&ili ty of
settli ng down on earth li!e all other nations" then"
after that was accompl ished 8 co%ld hae left yo% to
yo%rself. B%t not so. 8mmediatel y 8 &ro%ght yo% o%t
of slaery 8 appoi nted three people to &e at yo%r
head" literal l y 3sent them to &e &efore yo%3 4
Moshe" the transmi t ter of the strict 7ight- Aharon"
who r%led in the spiri t of gentleness" peace and
forgi i ng loe" and finall y Miriam" who was sent to
the women and entr%sted with their c%lti ati ng the
growth of the seeds of chaste moral i ty strewn &y
the Torah in the tents of 8srael. *)irsch,.
$HABBAT HALA+HAH
$ome a%thori ti es permi t the openi ng of cans"
&ags" and paper pac!ets which are not normal l y re9
%sed" een witho%t spoiling them as long as one
does not in fact intend to re9%se them after
remoi ng their contents and one does not
specificall y intend to ma!e a partic%larl y neat
openi ng for more coneni ent %se. Gac!ets which
are %s%all y empti ed of their contents and thrown
away immedi atel y %pon &eing opened" s%ch as
miniat%re pac!ets of s%gar" may &e opened on
$ha&&at and Yom To. #ne sho%ld &e caref%l" in
openi ng s%ch pac!ets" not to c%t or tear thro%gh
letteri ng or pict%res. 8t is howeer" allowed to c%t
them open along a line speciall y mar!ed for that
p%rpose" if indeed they are thrown away once
opened.