Balak /
בלק
“If Balak will give
me a full storage
house of gold and
silver I cannot
ignore the words of
Hashem.” At first
glance it seems like
a very noble and
praiseworthy
statement. The Bais
Halevi however
compared it to a
person who is called
upon to slap the
King in the face and
says for no money
would he do it. Of
course he wouldn’t
do it and of course
he would not be able
to do it. Therefore
his mere statement
effuses arrogance
and haughtiness.
Would he say “I will
not pick up that
mountain for all
money in the world.”
Bilam showed his
true colors by even
suggesting the
possibility.
Bilam said “don’t
curse the people for
they are blessed”
The Chazal, in
reference to this,
say to respond with
“we say to the bee,
don’t give me your
honey, or your
sting” The world, in
dealing with the
Jewish problem,
takes two
approaches. Either
destroy them and
cause misery to
them, or treat them
kindly and try to
encourage them to
assimilate. When
Bilam saw the first
way was not being
successful, he
changed tactics. He
suggested rather to
praise them and
treat them with
respect, but still
with the same
results in mind. (Mayana
shel TORAH).
Bilam rose early in
the morning and
prepared, by
himself, his donkey
for the trip. Hashem
said “Rasha, Avrohom
Aveinu already
preceded you with
his zeal to perform
the mitzvah of
akeida, he also
saddled his own
donkey. R’ Moshe
points out from here
the following
thought. We are
taken to task to
reproduce all the
zeal, fervor and
commitment we exert
for our business,
our profession, our
family, our
philosophy - in our
service to Hashem.
If Avrohom had not
duplicated this act,
then the act of
Bilam would have
created a criticism
of the actions of
the Jewish people.
Furthermore, it
should be understood
that, in reality,
the source of the
zeal of the two acts
can be traced to two
opposite emotions.
Bilam’s hatred of
the Jewish people
produced the simple
emotion of a desire
to harm them and to
hasten this.
Avrohom’s zeal to
bring his own child
was not a natural
reaction but a
calculated result of
his genuine belief
in Hashem and
therefore a major
accomplishment (
lekach tov ).
Or HaChaim:
In the prophecy of
Bilam is a full
description of
Moshiach.
“I see him but not
now -- as a star
shoots through the
sky"
“I see him but not
close -- as a ruler
rises among the
nations"
We are told by
Chazal that if we
are deserving, then
Moshiach will come
suddenly like a
shooting star. If
not he will come in
due time, up through
the ranks as a
ruler. Also the star
is a reference to
Moshiach ben Dovid.
If we are in lower
category of “Yaakov”
then we will only
merit Moshiach ben
Dovid but Moshiach
ben Yosef will be
killed. However if
we will be on a
level of “Yisroel”
we will merit both
saviors. We are
instructed to pray
for the welfare of
both.
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