Overview
- Balak, King of Moab
- Angel & Donkey
- Balaam’s “curse”
- 3 times
- end of days
- coming of the Messiah
- Peor
- daughters of Moab
- Midianite princess
- Plague
- Pinchas kills them
- Plague stops
- And Moab said to the elders of Midian (22:4)
Moab and Midian were erstwhile enemies, as it is written (Genesis 36:35) “…who smote Midian in the field of Moab”; but out of fear of Israel, they made peace between them.
And why did Moab seek the advice of Midian? When they saw that Israel was victorious beyond the norm, they thought: “The leader of this people rose to greatness in Midian; we shall ask them what is his measure.” Said they: “His power is entirely in his mouth.” Said Moab: “We, too, shall bring a person whose power is in his mouth against them.”
(Rashi)
- Curse me this people, for he is mightier than me (22:6)
The Hebrew phrase, Atzum hu mimeni (“He is mightier than me”) also translates, “He is mightier from me.” For in truth, the might of the people of Israel is Moshiach, who is descendent of Balak! (Ruth the Moabite, anscestress of King David, is a descendent of Balak).
(Shaloh)
- And G‑d came to Balaam at night (22:20)
The Divine spirit visited him only at night, as is the case with all the prophets of the nations (Laban, too, received his prophecy in a nocturnal dream, as it says (Genesis 31:24), “And G‑d said to Laban the Aramite in a dream at night”) — like a man covertly visiting his concubine.
(Rashi)
- And Balaam arose in the morning, and saddled his ass (22:21)
In order to place before man the “free choice” that is essential to his mission in life, G‑d so ordered His world that every positive force has its negative counterpart. Were there to exist a good element which cannot be put to corrupt use, then man’s potential for evil would be disadvantaged and would not present the equal challenge which makes for the choice factor in life. In the words of King Solomon (Ecclesiastes 7:14), “One corresponding to the other, G‑d created.”
But this “equality” between good and evil extends only to the most superficial level of reality. When a person learns to look beyond the surface of things to their inherent purpose, he will see that only the good in the world is real and substantial. Good is an existence in its own right, while evil exists merely to provide the tension which imbues the positive acts of man with meaning and significance.
Hence, there cannot be anything “original” to evil, which is but a shallow, corrupted refraction of the good in the world.
(The Lubavitcher Rebbe)
- An angel of G‑d stood in the way… his sword drawn in his hand (22:22-23)
Could not the angel have breathed on him and taken his life away, that he must draw his sword? … He could; but he said to Balaam … you exchange your trade and come against Israel with a weapon that is theirs! I, then, will come against you with a weapon that is yours."
(Midrash Rabbah)
- And the ass saw the angel of G‑d (22:23)
Ref:excellent(judaica)
(Rashi)
- And G‑d opened the mouth of the ass (22:28)
This was to impress upon Balaam that there is no place for pride over the fact that he has been given the gift of prophecy. If it suites G‑d’s purposes, even an ass will see angels and make speeches.
(Keli Yakar)
- And [Balak] went out to meet him… on [Moab’s] utmost border (22:36)
Why did he greet him at the border? He said to him: “These boundaries, which have been established since the days of Noah with the understanding that one nation does not violate the boundaries of the other—these people are coming to uproot! Come and curse them!” And he showed how they broke through and crossed the boundaries of Sichon and Og.
(Midrash Tanchuma)
N: An interesting observation. Israel was an upstart nation, breaking the convention by which the surrounding nations had maintained.
- And G‑d happened upon Balaam (23:4)
The hallmark of evil and unholiness is an attitude of “It just happened.” Nothing is coincidental to the Jew; every event is purposeful and significant.
(Chassidic Saying)
- He sees not iniquity in Jacob, and He perceives not amal (“trouble” or “toil”) in Israel (23:21)
This implies that “Jacob” does experience “trouble” and “toil” (amal), though these do not result in his guilt in the eyes of G‑d. “Israel” on the other hand, enjoys an existence devoid not only of guilt but also of struggle.
“Jacob” and “Israel” are the two names by which the third Patriarch was called and, by extension, two names for the Jewish people. Each represents a different period in the life of the Patriarch and a different dimension of the life of the people.
Jacob was born grasping the heel of his elder twin, Esau; thus he was named “Jacob” (Yaakov, in the Hebrew), which means “at the heel” (Genesis 25:26). Years later, when Jacob disguised himself as Esau to receive the blessings that Isaac intended to give the elder brother, Esau proclaimed: "No wonder he is called Jacob (‘cunning’)! Twice he has deceived me (ibid., 27:36).
“Jacob” is the Jew still in the thick of the battle of life — a battle in which he is often “at the heel,” dealing with the lowlier aspects of his own personality and of his environment. It is also a battle which he must wage with furtiveness and stealth (the second meaning of “Jacob”), for he is in enemy territory and must disguise his true intentions in order to outmanoeuvre those who attempt to ensnare him.
Threatened by a hostile world, plagued by his own shortcomings and negative inclinations, “Jacob” is defined by the axiomatic condition of man — that “man is born to toil” (Job 5:7) and that human life is an obstacle course of challenges to ones integrity.
In contrast, Israel (“divine master”) is the name given to Jacob when he “struggled with the Divine and with men, and prevailed” (Genesis 32:29). “Israel” describes the Jew who has prevailed over his own humanity, cultivating the intrinsic perfection of his soul to the extent that he is immune to all challenges and temptations; who has prevailed over the divine decree that “man is born to toil,” achieving a tranquil existence amidst the turbulence of life.
The Jewish people include both “Jacobs” and “Israels”, and the life of every individual Jew has its “Jacob” periods and its “Israel” moments. For “there are two types of pleasure before G‑d. The first is from the complete abnegation of evil and its transformation from bitterness to sweetness and from darkness to light by the tzaddikim. The second [pleasure] is when evil is repelled while it is still at its strongest and mightiest… through the initiative of the 'intermediate man” (beinoni)… as in the analogy of physical food, in which there are two types of delicacies that give pleasure: the first being the pleasure derived from sweet and pleasant foods; and the second, from sharp and sour foods, which are spiced and prepared in such a way that they become delicacies that revive the soul" (Tanya ch. 27).
(From the teachings of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi)
- I called you to curse my enemies, and, behold, you have blessed them altogether (24:10)
The Talmud forbids to name one’s child after a wicked person, quoting the verse (Proverbs 10:7), “The name of the wicked shall rot.” Yet an entire section of Torah is named after Balak, King of Moab, to whom the Midrash accords the title “who hated [the Jewish people] most of all their enemies.”
For Balak is the Parshah of the future, where evil is transformed to good and curses emerge as blessings. It is in Balak that the most beautiful verses describing the uniqueness of Israel and the speciality of their relationship with the Almighty issue from the vile mouth of Balaam, summoned by Balak to curse the Jewish people. And it is in Balak that the most explicit reference to the era of Moshiach in the Five Books of Moses is found, in the form of a prophecy by the selfsame Balaam.
In the Parshah of Balak we enter a Moshiach-like world—a world of “the greater wisdom that comes from folly, and the greater light that comes from darkness” (Ecclesiastes 2:13).
(The Lubavitcher Rebbe)
N: I am not sure where the reference to the Mashiach is?
- And the people began to go astray after the daughters of Moab (25:1)
Said she to him: “Would you like to drink a glass of wine?” Having drunk, his passion was inflamed and he exclaimed to her, “Yield to me!” Thereupon she brought forth an idol from her bosom and said to him, “Worship this.”
(Talmud, Sanhedrin 106a)
Behold, a man of the children of Israel came, and brought… a Midianite woman before the eyes of Moses, and before the eyes of all the congregation of the children of Israel; and they stood weeping (25:6)
The woman said to him: “I shall give myself to none but Moses, for so my father Balak bade me, not to yield to any one but to Moses your master, because my father is a king.” Said he to her: “Behold, I am as great as he is! I shall bring you out before their eyes!” He seized her by her plait and brought her to Moses. He said to him: “O son of Amram! Is this woman permitted or forbidden?” He answered him: “She is forbidden to you.” Said Zimri to him: “The woman whom you married was a Midianitess!” Thereupon Moses felt powerless and the law slipped from his mind.
All Israel wailed aloud, as for it says, “And they stood weeping.” Why were they weeping? Because they became powerless at that moment.
(Midrash Rabbah)