Transcript
Okay, good morning to you, happy Fourth of July. This morning we have the privilege of studying together פרשת בלק Parshas Balak. I'm very excited because normally I'm on vacation this time and with it the פרשה parsha class. So the opportunity to study this פרשה parsha with you is is very exciting. We're on page 856 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash.And our פרשה parsha begins וירא בלק בן צפור את כל אשר עשה ישראל לאמרי Vayar Balak ben Tzipor es kol asher asa Yisrael l'Amori. We'll do a quick overview of the פרשה parsha and then delve into the פסוקים psukim, but most of us are familiar with the storyline, the narrative of this פרשה parsha. When the Jewish people are now emerging as a nation, we've gone from the family, dysfunctional family, to hopefully a functional family, the birth of an adolescent nation, who are going through the growing pains of complaining, of rebelling, all ספר במדבר Sefer Bamidbar really is not so heartwarming. And we fast-forwarded. Last week's פרשה parsha contained 38 years. From the beginning of the פרשה parsha to the end, we made it through most of the years of travel in the מדבר midbar. And perhaps the evidence of the growth of the Jewish people is how they are perceived as a threat now to those around them, to the point that it elicits Balak's attention. Balak feels threatened as the head of מואב Moav and wants to eliminate the Jewish people. Something that began since אברהם אבינו Avram Avinu was thrown into the כבשן האש kivshan ha'eish, when our great forefather and patriarch Avraham was cast into the furnace, through the Jewish people's travel, their attack by עמלק Amalek, then Balak, and fast forward thousands of years until this very day, we continue to be perceived for whatever reason as a threat and there are those who continue to be bent on our elimination. So Balak is introduced to us. Balak is the son of ציפור Tzipor, he lives in מואב Moav, and he rises to want to eliminate the Jewish people. And only in פסוק ד pasuk daled, the end of פסוק ד pasuk daled are we alerted to the fact that Balak ben Tzipor מלך למואב בעת ההיא melech l'Moav ba'eis hahi. Only then are we alerted to the fact that Balak is is the king. Why did it take so long? So in the new Rabbi Soloveitchik חומש Chumash, he quotes, the Rav quotes his grandfather, רב חיים Rav Chaim, saying something that certainly is not clear from the text, a little bit astounding. It says Balak, this seems to be a strange way to start the narrative. Balak is introduced at the beginning of the פרשה parsha, but the Torah waits three verses to tell us his CV. We don't find out he's the king of מואב Moav. רב חיים Rav Chaim explained that initially Balak was not the king of מואב Moav. He was simply a citizen who was fearful of the fate of the people of מואב Moav. Balak therefore sought the counsel of מדין Midyan, and developed a plan to protect the people. Only after Balak demonstrated his concern for his nation's welfare, which is the primary responsibility of a king, only then was he appointed king over מואב Moav. So unlike what we're trained to think, that when the plan arose to exterminate the Jewish people, he was already the king, רב חיים Rav Chaim suggested it was the result of that plan through which he rose to the position of being the king. But whatever the case may be, Balak gives some thought, he knows militarily, physically, the enemies of Israel has not succeeded, עמלק Amalek failed, and others. And therefore he devises a scheme, rather than physically engage the Jewish people and try to eliminate them physically, he would confront them spiritually. And he recruits Bilam, he recruits בלעם בן בעור Bilam ben Be'or to come and to curse the Jewish people. And then Bilam, which we're not going to study today, but the fascinating back and forth. Bilam is a great villain of the Torah. Bilam has an enormous potential. We know that nobody arose within the Jewish people like משה Moshe, but Bilam was a prophet in the non-Jewish world who was as great, who had that access to the Almighty, who could have been that transformative leader, but he failed. And the reason that God gave the nations of the world a prophet on par with משה Moshe was so that they could never point to us and claim, if only we had a master, if only we had a teacher, if only we had a leader as great as משה Moshe, we too would be worthy. We too would be virtuous. So God gave them that leader, but even with that opportunity, even with that access, they failed. To us, Bilam is a great villain when you read the simple text, you struggle to find out why. It's complicated. Bilam looks like he's very worthy, very loyal to the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam, to the master of the universe. He's unwilling to travel without God's consent, he's unwilling to curse without God's support. So Bilam not only doesn't look like a villain, he looks like a hero. He looks like he's acting in a proper way. And חז\"ל Chazal, our rabbis have a lot to say about him, that what he was doing externally did not reflect what his thoughts were internally. Bilam was very driven by ego, by arrogance, and that is much more than meets the eye in our פרשה parsha. But that's worthy of its own study, why the text on the surface makes Bilam look like he's doing the right thing. He asks for God's permission, God's consent, God's license. And yet we have a tradition of what a villain he is. Balak recruits Bilam when he hesitates by continuing to engage him with greater honor, until Bilam relents, he's coming with his donkey. We have the episode of the donkey speaking to him, that in itself is fascinating. Is it meant to be taken literally or figuratively? No less than the רמב\"ם Rambam in מורה נבוכים Moreh Nevuchim writes that the story of Bilam talking to his donkey, the donkey talking to him, is a נבואה nevuah. It was in a dream. This is not meant to be taken literally, it's meant to be taken allegorically. Bilam's donkey did not actually speak. Whereas we also have a great tradition that no, it's meant to be taken literally, that God suspended the rules of nature. Normally animals do not communicate in our vernacular, and in this case it was an exception. The donkey spoke and it was a message to Bilam. The same way I can put the words in the donkey's mouth, I can put the words in your mouth as well. You think you have autonomy, you think you have independence, you think you can formulate what you want to say. The same way I can suspend and interfere with the natural order to put words in the mouth of the donkey, so too I can in your mouth as well. What I always find fascinating is really there's a reverse that takes place here. The school, the tradition that say that understand and approach the Torah literally, the רמב\"ם Rambam, who's a literalist, a rationalist, who takes the Torah literally, who does not engage in a lot of exegesis, דרוש drush, here says, no, a donkey speaking is an anomaly. The רמב\"ם Rambam actually writes, the Torah wouldn't expect you to believe something that's such an anomaly to the rules of nature. Bilam is not worthy of such a miracle of interfering with the natural order on his behalf. So says the רמב\"ם Rambam, it must mean that it's meant to be taken allegorically. So the רמב\"ם Rambam who normally is the great literalist, suspends his general approach of literally understanding and says, no, it's meant to be taken figuratively. And others who engage in דרוש drush all the time, who engage every פסוק pasuk in an attitude of דרוש drush, here all of a sudden the donkey talking, now they engage in פשט pshat. So the school of פשט pshat has no problem here with דרוש drush. The school of דרוש drush has no problem here with פשט pshat, but everybody engages in what exactly is going on. Did this donkey speak? Is it meant to be taken literally or figuratively? We know that Bilam had more than a casual relationship with the donkey. We're in front of the ארון קודש Aron Kodesh, so I will not explain further, but to tell you a little bit more insight into Bilam and why חז\"ל Chazal saw him as a villain, Bilam had more than just a casual relationship with his donkey. The donkey, how do you say donkey in Hebrew? חמור Chamor. Bilam is not the only one. The Torah uses the term אתון ason here. ותרא האתון את מלאך ה' Vatere ha'ason es malach Hashem. The אתון ason sees the מלאך malach and kicks, bangs Bilam's leg against the wall. But we also call a donkey a חמור chamor. Who else rides a חמור chamor? ברוך אתה ה' אלקינו מלך העולם שהכל נהיה בדברו Boruch ata Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha'olam shehakol nihiyeh bidvaro. אמן Amen. Thank you, Moshele. Who else rides a חמור chamor? Moshe rides a חמור chamor. Who else? אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu wakes up early in the morning in order to prepare his חמור chamor. Most of our patriarchs, our greatest figures and leaders and teachers had a donkey. And the מהר\"ל Maharal, it's a theme that is pervasive throughout the מהר\"ל's Maharal's writings, is the notion of the חמור chamor, the donkey is the symbol of חומר chomer. חומר Chomer means the material world, the physical world. חומר Chomer is matter. The מהר\"ל Maharal develops the theme of חומר chomer and צורה tzurah. חומר Chomer is matter and material, and צורה tzurah is the shape, the direction, how it's channeled. And the מהר\"ל Maharal sees within the references to those who rode the donkey, the difference between what Avraham and משה רבנו Moshe Rabbeinu and others did with the חמור chamor, with the חומר chomer. They rode the donkey, but they rode, they mastered, they manipulated, they gave it צורה tzurah to the חומר chomer. They engaged the physical world and they give it meaning and purpose. They elevate the physical in order to channel it towards the spiritual, as opposed to Bilam, who Bilam's relationship with his חמור chamor is not one of mastering the חמור chamor to give the חמור chamor צורה tzurah. It's not one of taking the physical material of the world and shaping it in order to elevate to the spiritual, but it's really exactly the opposite. Bilam's relationship with the חמור chamor is a relationship of love with the חומר chomer. Bilam has a incestuous, inappropriate, immoral relationship with the חומר chomer. He engages the חומר chomer in a way where he's not shaping it to elevate to the spiritual, but the חומר chomer, the physical is an ends unto unto itself. The, Bilam finally gets there, he opens his mouth to give the first curse, and what comes out instead? A blessing. A blessing came out instead. I'm so happy you're here. A blessing came out instead. That's right. Instead of a, pre-Gan Eden is a separate conversation, and what was the nature there of. So the, Bilam opens his mouth to give a curse, and instead a ברכה bracha comes out. As you can imagine, Balak who spent all this money and invested all of his authority in Bilam cursing the Jewish people, is rather disappointed. Bilam gives it a second shot. And what comes out of his mouth, a curse? A blessing, a ברכה bracha comes out instead. Balak again gets furious. Bilam gives it a third shot, which is what we're going to study together. And what comes out of his mouth? A blessing. A blessing, not a, you should come every week. We'll make a good, a good tag team. And instead comes out a, a blessing. Bilam gives one last prophecy, and Balak dispenses with him, you're useless. I brought you for one purpose, you didn't fulfill it whatsoever. And the end of the פרשה parsha is when our enemies finally tap into our vulnerability, where we have the greatest risk. And what is that vulnerability? Where is the greatest risk? Not militarily. Militarily, we had an advantage, a superiority. They could not succeed. Not spiritually, because the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam interfered with Bilam's curses and turned them into blessings. Where is our greatest vulnerability? So turn to page 874, the end of the פרשה parsha. וישב ישראל בשטים ויחל העם לזנות אל בנות מואב Vayeshev Yisrael baShitim vayachel ha'am liznos el bnos Moav. The Jewish people settled down. We were not targeted for extermination. We had attained a level of comfort. We are enjoying the מן mun, it's delicious, anything you want it to taste like. And if the מן mun tasted like steak and then you wanted ice cream a minute later, did you have to wait six hours? There's actually discussion among, there's discussion about these things. The ברכה bracha on the מן mun and the status of the מן mun. Interesting. But anyway, you got to enjoy the מן mun, and you got to drink from the באר be'er, and you had the protection of the ענני הכבוד Ananei HaKavod and the אש eish. You had it all. So when you have it all and you could settle into a position of comfort and you're not running for your life, you're not targeted, you're not excluded, what happens to the Jewish people? ויחל העם vayachel ha'am, the people began לזנות אל בנות מואב liznos el bnos Moav. They began to commit זנות znus. They began to have promiscuity, licentiousness, lust after the local women who were not for them. ויחל Vayachel, what's the root of that word? ויחל Vayachel? When Noach emerges from the תיבה teiva, it says ויחל נח vayachel Noach. He plants a vineyard. And Rashi there tells us, what's the root of the word ויחל vayachel? חולין Chulin, חול chol. חול Chol means mundane, profane. It's the opposite of קודש kodesh. להבדיל בין קודש לחול L'havdil bein kodesh l'chol. מוצאי שבת Motzei Shabbos, we make הבדלה havdalah and we talk about that the purpose of a Jew, the definition, the mission of our life is להבדיל בין קודש לחול l'havdil bein kodesh l'chol, to distinguish between the sacred and the profane, between the elevated and the mundane. Noach emerges from this experience, he's so traumatized, ויחל vayachel, he turns his life into חולין chulin. He goes from this spiritual giant who rescues the future of humanity to needing a drink, maybe understandably, needing a good drink, and he plants a vineyard, ויחל vayachel, he turns his life into חולין chulin. And here too, this דור דעה dor de'ah, this generation in the desert, who had heard God speak, who had experienced revelation, ויחל העם vayachel ha'am. They had attained the heights of spirituality, and now they concede their spirituality and the comfortable position they found themselves in gives them the the margin, the room in their life for זנות znus. Now they are taken by the beautiful women of מואב Moav who throw themselves at them. And we know the story that emerges and the חז\"ל Chazal tell us that these women would solicit the men. They would beautify themselves, they would be promiscuous, they would seduce the Jewish men, and right as they were about to engage in immorality with the Jewish men, they'd they'd take out their idol and they'd say, you know, just one thing do for me when they'd passed this point of so to say no return of having seduced them, just worship this idol. So they understood the vulnerability not only the Jewish people, the vulnerability of man is as our cousin, Sigmund Freud would say. But the the id, the lustfulness within within humanity is a vulnerability that is universal across time and across place. And when they failed to confront us militarily, and they failed to confront us spiritually, this was our greatest vulnerability. Rabbi Soloveitchik in his חומש Chumash at the end of the פרשה parsha writes, he quotes this פסוק pasuk, הנה איש מבני ישראל בא ויקרב אל אחיו את המדינית לעיני משה ולעיני כל עדת בני ישראל והמה בכים פתח אהל מועד Hineh ish m'Bnei Yisrael ba vayikrev el achav es ha'Midyannis l'einei Moshe ul'einei kol adas Bnei Yisrael, v'heima bochim pesach Ohel Moed. A Jewish man came, he took a Midianite woman, and before Moshe and before the entire people, they acted inappropriately, to the point that everybody was crying at the opening of the אוהל מועד Ohel Moed. Bilam understood a fundamental principle regarding the Jewish people, and he gave advice to Balak as to how to defeat them. Their God, quoting the גמרא Gemara in סנהדרין Sanhedrin, their God hates immorality. This incident is the one and only instance in which Moshe becomes despondent. He who fearlessly defended the people after the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, after the מרגלים meraglim, after קרח Korach, suddenly is found weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting. At Shitim, the brave and tenacious master of all prophets lost his resolve. Bilam was about to win his battle against the Jewish people and Moshe, his adversary, was on the verge of despair. Why? Because without the sanctity of family life, כנסת ישראל Knesses Yisrael can no longer exist. Without the sanctity of family life, when we're willing to violate the boundaries of sanctity within the Jewish home, within morality, within marriage, within the family life, that's our vulnerability, that's where it unravels from there. When foreign values and influences and images and behaviors enter into our home, and that's the threat of the world that we live in, which is not a physical annihilation, but it's the threat of foreign values, of assimilated philosophies that enter our home now through the wonderful gift of of the internet and magazines and media and print. And this is the vulnerability, that even when we can have a superior military edge, even when spiritually our enemies who seek to curse us, they're transformed into blessings, our vulnerability writes the Rav is, without the sanctity of family life, כנסת ישראל Knesses Yisrael can no longer exist. That's the end of the פרשה parsha where Bilam and Balak finally find our our weak spot. And the beginning of next week's פרשה parsha which we'll talk about next week. So coming back to the beginning of our פרשה parsha, וירא בלק Vayar Balak, Balak sees everything going on. Balak sees. We have someone else who's described as seeing everything that went on. Balak ben Tzipor saw all the Jewish people did to אמורי Amori, and what was the result? How did he respond? He was afraid, and he incited fear within his people, and he became determined to eliminate the Jewish people. But what's the name of this week's פרשה parsha? Balak. We have another פרשה parsha named for a non-Jew, who also was exposed to the goings on of the Jewish people, and it is יתרו Yisro. וירא בלק Vayar Balak, Balak saw, and וישמע יתרו vayishma Yisro, Yisro heard. Not only are they described as employing different senses, Balak sees, Yisro hears, but their reactions are completely opposite one another. What's Yisro's reaction? וישמע יתרו את כל אשר עשה Vayishma Yisro es kol asher asa, Yisro heard all that occurred to the Jewish people, miraculously liberated from Egypt, the splitting of the sea, maybe even he heard about the giving of the Torah to debate מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה mukdam u'meuchar ba'Torah. He heard about the defeat of עמלק Amalek or the stalemate with עמלק Amalek. It's a big מחלוקת machlokes what exactly he heard, but Yisro heard and he wanted to be part of the Jewish people's story. He wanted to be part of our journey. He wanted to see the next chapter. He wanted to be an insider, to touch what was going on. Balak saw what Yisro heard, exact opposite reaction. Not only does he not want to join the Jewish people, he feels threatened and afraid. What does he do as a result? He wants to eliminate. Why the different reactions? וישמע יתרו Vayishma Yisro, he joins the Jewish people. וירא בלק Vayar Balak, he becomes determined to eliminate the Jewish people. Both saw these unusual victories against all odds. They saw the exact same thing on the surface. But what they saw behind it could not be more different. You see, the פסוק pasuk describes that Yisro heard everything that who did? Everything that Hashem did, done to Pharaoh. He identified and acknowledged that God, that the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam was the driving force behind this most extraordinary story. He saw and attributed it to miracles, to divine providence and intervention. And his conclusion was, if this people have been tapped by the Almighty to interfere with nature, to be able to bring about their journey, I want to be part of that. I want to be an insider to it. But Balak sees everything the Jewish people do to אמורי Amori, and what's his what's his response? Fear, feeling threatened. Why? Because he doesn't see beneath the surface. He doesn't have a vision beyond. All he sees are a people he's threatened by. He doesn't realize this is the will of the Almighty. This is providence that's brought them to that point. And as a result, he's not impressed with the Jewish people's story. He's not inspired by the Jewish people's story. He's threatened by it, and he's determined to stop it. Two people, יתרו Yisro and Balak. They look at the same phenomenon. They read the same headlines. They see the same thing, but one sees Hashem and the other sees nothing. And that's our lives. That's part of what I think the Torah is teaching us by naming these two פרשיות parshiyos. Are we going to be וישמע יתרו Vayishma Yisro or we going to be וירא בלק Vayar Balak? Do we just see the surface or do we see what's beneath it? Do we see Hashem in our lives like Yisro, are we drawn to the miraculous story, or are we cynical, are we threatened by the surface story like like Balak. You have this also in our פרשה parsha with Bilam. Bilam doesn't see the angel. So when the donkey stops and kicks Bilam, he hits the donkey, he strikes the donkey. And when Bilam finally sees the angel, the מלאך malach, the פסוק pasuk says חטאתי כי לא ידעתי כי אתה נצב לקראתי בדרך chatasi ki lo yadati ki ata nitzav likrasi baderech. Oh says Bilam, forgive me. חטאתי Chatasi, I've done a terrible sin. I'm so sorry. I didn't know you were there. And the ספורנו Sforno and our פרשה parsha and the של\"ה הקדוש Shlah Hakadosh wonder, חטאתי Chatasi? What do you mean I did a terrible sin? If Bilam didn't see the donkey, the angel there, then what did he do wrong? What חטא cheit did he violate if in fact he simply didn't see the angel? And the ספורנו Sforno says, that was the חטא cheit. The angel was visible, he just didn't see it. He chose not to see it. He didn't live with a life of vision where he could see. And so that's part of the message I think of this פרשה parsha is that the choice is up to us to be a Yisro or to be a Balak, to see Hashem's hand, to see the providence, or to take things superficially only on only on the on the surface. And that's Rashi describes that when the angel blocks Bilam's path, מלאך של רחמים היה והיה רוצה למענו מלעשותו Malach shel rachamim haya v'haya rotzeh l'ma'ano milachto. It was an angel of רחמים rachamim. The angel that had come was an angel of compassion. And he was blocking the path because he was preventing Bilam from doing something that was a mistake, that would be self-destructive. And in our lives, sometimes there's a מלאך malach who blocks our path. And we can react like Bilam, we could smack the, we could smack the donkey. We could try to break through that obstacle and insist that we do it our way. Or sometimes we can stop and realize if there's an obstacle blocking our path, maybe that's in our best interest. That's an angel God has sent to prevent us from doing the wrong thing, from making a mistake, from acting in a self-destructive way. It's all about what we see. Do we only see our self-interest, our vision for what we want, and then any obstacle we want to break through? Or can within the obstacle we see the יד ה' Yad Hashem, a מלאך של רחמים malach shel rachamim that sometimes the obstacle to our path is for our own good, is an angel that God has sent in order to help us. Are we going to be like Balak or will we be like Yisro? That's the theme of our פרשה parsha. Yes. Bilam did a sin because he hit the donkey for no reason. The donkey saw the מלאך malach and he was afraid. You're right. He did a terrible thing. And that's why he apologizes afterwards, but he claims he couldn't see the angel, but he could have seen if only he had just opened his eyes. Sometimes we have to just open our eyes and then we can see what's in front of us all along. Great point. Okay. Let's get to the פסוקים psukim that we're going to look at. פרק כ\"ד פסוק א' Perek Kaf Daled, Pasuk Aleph, Chapter 24, verse one.פרק כ\"ד פסוק א' Perek Kaf Daled, Pasuk Aleph. וירא בלעם Vayar Bilam, what's going on over here? This is the third time that Bilam has opened up his mouth in order to curse, and it was reversed, transformed from a curse to a blessing. פרק כ\"ד פסוק א' Perek Kaf Daled, Pasuk Aleph. וירא בלעם כי טוב בעיני ה' לברך את ישראל ולא הלך כפעם בפעם לקראת נחשים וישת אל המדבר פניו Vayar Bilam ki tov b'einei Hashem l'varech es Yisrael, v'lo halach k'paam b'paam likras nechashim, vayashess el hamidbar panav. Bilam saw that it was good in Hashem's eyes to bless the people. In other words, twice he opened his mouth to curse, and what came out instead was a blessing. And so he realized there's a pattern developing here. God does not want me to curse. He saw that God preferred a blessing. So he did not go as every other time towards towards לקראת נחשים likras nechashim. נחשים Nechashim is magic, is sorcery, is divination. Like לא תנחשו lo sinachashu. But rather, וישת אל המדבר פניו vayashess el hamidbar panav. Instead of going towards magic and sorcery, instead he set his face towards the מדבר midbar. And וישא בלעם את עיניו וירא את ישראל שכן לשבטיו ותהי עליו רוח אלקים vayisa Bilam es einav vayar es Yisrael shochen lishvatav vatehi alav Ruach Elokim. He lifts his eyes and he sees the Jewish people who are dwelling according to their tribes, ותהי עליו רוח אלקים vatehi alav Ruach Elokim. And the spirit of God was on him. What happened? What does it mean he faced the desert as opposed to where was he facing before? And what does it mean he realized that God wanted him to give a blessing? So did Bilam come to his senses? Has Bilam done תשובה teshuva? Has Bilam now gone from a villain to a hero? What's going on? So here you have a מחלוקת machlokes. Here you have a מחלוקת machlokes. Says Rashi, וירא בלעם כי טוב Vayar Bilam ki tov, אמר איני צריך לבדוק עוד בקב\"ה כי לא יחפוץ לקללם amar eini tzarich livdok od baKadosh Baruch Hu ki lo yachpotz l'kallelam. I don't have to check with God anymore. He does not, a pattern has emerged. He does not want me to curse the people. That's not what he wants. Rashi continues, ולא הלך כפעם בפעם v'lo halach k'paam b'paam, כשהיה רואה שתי פעמים k'she'haya ro'eh shtei pe'amim. So he did not do as he had done previously, which was to enter his trance, to invoke his magic and sorcery, לקראת נחשים likras nechashim, לנחש שמא יקרה ה' לקראתו כרצונו l'nachesh shema yikreh Hashem likraso k'ritzono, to invoke divinations, maybe God will acquiesce to give a curse. רוצה ואינו רוצה לקללם, מסכר עון חטאיהם, ובכל כך תוהו על עון חטאיהם Rotzeh v'eino rotzeh l'kallelam, mazkir avon chateihem, u'b'chol kocho tohu al avon chateihem. Previously Bilam thought let me invoke their shortcomings. And if I incite God's wrath, if I make God angry by reminding God about the transgressions and shortcomings of the people, then God will curse them as I want. Bilam abandons that plan. And instead, וישא בלעם את עיניו vayisa Bilam es einav, he rises his eyes. The רמב\"ן Ramban, so what's going on over here exactly? What does it mean that he gave up on the divinations, and he faces to, and he faces to the desert? Look at the רמב\"ן Ramban. The רמב\"ן Ramban says, כי בפעמים הראשונים היה מנחש ורוצה לקללם בנחש ki ba'pe'amim ha'rishonim haya menachesh v'rotzeh l'kallelam b'nachash. Until now, Bilam was looking to curse them using his sorcery. והיה ה' בא אליו בדרך מקרה v'haya Hashem ba eilav b'derech mikreh, לא בכונת נבואה ולא במעלה שהיה מגיע אליה lo b'kavanas nevuah v'lo b'ma'alah she'haya magi'a eleha. And God came to him במקרה b'mikreh. God came to him seemingly on chance, randomly, not with intent for prophecy. ועתה כאשר נאמר לו כי לא נחש ביעקב ולא קסם בישראל כעת יאמר ליעקב ולישראל מה פעל אל, הניח הנחשים ולא הלך כפעם בפעם לקראתם, אבל שם אל המדבר פניו אשר ישראל שם, שיראה אותם ויכין להם נפשו שיחול עליו הדיבור מאת ה' כאשר עשה עמו פעמים, וכן היה לו V'ata ka'asher ne'emar lo ki lo nachash b'Yaakov v'lo kesem b'Yisrael ka'eis ye'amer l'Yaakov ul'Yisrael mah pa'al El, hiniach ha'nechashim v'lo halach k'paam b'paam likrasam, aval sam al hamidbar panav asher Yisrael sham, she'yir'eh osam v'yachin lahem nafsho she'yachul alav ha'dibur me'es Hashem ka'asher asa imo pa'amayim, v'chen haya lo. So the רמב\"ן Ramban sees within Bilam, that for the first time, God did not happen upon him. Moshe could initiate prophecy with God. He was the only one. Every other prophet including Bilam, God had to happen upon Bilam. For the first time, Bilam did not live with God happening upon him, but God appears to Bilam in fullness, with full glory. So Bilam had come to his senses and realized that the strategy of cursing will not work. He faces the desert because he's having this genuine, complete and full prophecy. Rashi that we have just read saw the opposite. Why is Bilam facing the desert? To invoke the sin, the iniquity, the shortcoming. The desert is the place of the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, the מרגלים meraglim, קרח Korach. By turning to the desert and trying to allude, trying to invoke God's wrath at the people, Bilam had not come to his senses, he had not changed his ways. So it's a מחלוקת machlokes Rashi and the רמב\"ן Ramban what exactly is going on here. Why does Bilam face the desert? What is he trying to, what is he trying to allude to? This prophecy, this notion, the language of the רמב\"ן Ramban here, that it's במקרה b'mikreh. Let's read the רמב\"ן Ramban a little bit further. על כן אמר ותהי עליו רוח אלקים Al ken amar vatehi alav Ruach Elokim. כי עתה הייתה עליו יד ה' כאשר היה לנביאים Ki ata hayta alav yad Hashem ka'asher haya l'neviim. Now Bilam is no longer the conduit, the instrument of wickedness, of trying to curse the Jewish people. Bilam's come to his senses, he's facing the desert, as if looking with merit on the Jewish people, and looking to have access to the true insight and blessing of God. And that's what it means, says the רמב\"ן Ramban, ותהי עליו רוח אלקים vatehi alav Ruach Elokim that the spirit of God was on him. כמו שנאמר ומי יתן כל עם ה' נביאים כי יתן ה' את רוחו עליהם K'mo shene'emar u'mi yiten kol am Hashem neviim ki yiten Hashem es rucho aleihem. רוח ה' אלקים עלי Ruach Hashem Elokim alai. ועל כן קרא עצמו אתה שומע אמרי אל V'al ken kara atzmo ata shomea Imrei El. So the רמב\"ן Ramban contrasts the notion of the מקרה mikreh, the chance visit of God to Bilam. which was the rest of the time, with this unusual aberration where Bilam has a full, genuine prophecy. In fact, the פרשה parsha earlier describes ויקר אלקים אל בלעם Vayikar Elokim el Bilam, that God chanced upon Bilam. Here as well as in פרשת כי תצא Parshas Ki Seitzei, we find the Torah uses the root ויקר Vayikar, קוף ריש הי kuf reish hei, which is also the root of the word מקרה mikreh. What does the word מקרה mikreh mean? Chance, happenstance, randomness. With עמלק Amalek, it says אשר קרך בדרך asher karcha baderech. And here ויקר אלקים אל בלעם Vayikar Elokim el Bilam. God chanced upon Bilam, עמלק Amalek chanced upon the Jewish people. And we also saw this, we studied this at the beginning of ספר ויקרא Sefer Vayikra. What was unusual with that word ויקרא Vayikra at the beginning of ספר ויקרא Sefer Vayikra where God calls to Moshe? The small אלף aleph. which חז\"ל Chazal tell us, why was the אלף aleph small? Because Moshe's, due to Moshe's incredible humility, he wanted to suggest that God was also ויקר Vayikar, it was מקרה mikreh, God chanced upon him too. As opposed to the אלף aleph, God says, no. I've called out to you. It's by design. It's with purpose. It's with intent. I have called out to you. So here we have Bilam ויקר Vayikar. The רב Rav, Rav Soloveitchik writes, the word ויקר Vayikar denotes surprise. The word was never used in regard to divine revelation to Moshe or any other prophet. Bilam however, said אולי יקרא השם לקראתי Ulay yikareh Hashem likrasi, maybe God will happen to appear to me. Bilam has doubts. So ויקר אלקים אל בלעם Vayikar Elokim el Bilam. When God actually comes, it's chance. It's randomness. Bilam epitomized ויקר Vayikar. What he did and what he wanted to do cannot be understood or explained. There's an element of surprise in the fact that he received divine revelation. Why did God concern himself with Bilam at all, wonders the רב Rav? Why did he first tell him not to go, then to go? Then to go, but to bless? The story of Bilam will never truly be understood.And so says the רב Rav, עמלק's Amalek's first battle waged against בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael occurred as the nation left Egypt. Although the Jewish people's destination was distant from the land of עמלק Amalek, children of Israel had no intent of declaring war on עמלק Amalek, a remote desert-dwelling tribe. Yet suddenly and irrationally, עמלק Amalek attacked. There seems to be no motive for their hatred. Their ambush of בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael cannot be explained in psychological terms. עמלק's Amalek's attack was initiated to everyone's surprise. בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael have enemies whose enmity and hostility stem from an irrational hatred. As with עמלק Amalek, there's no explanation. In פרשת וישלח Parshas Vayishlach we read, and a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn. ויוותר יעקב לבדו עד עלות השחר Vayivaser Yaakov levado ad alos hashachar. Who is he? Where did he come from? Who does he represent? How can you reconcile differences with him? Torah gives no answer to these disquieting questions. A cloud of anonymity envelops the whole episode. We know nothing about the nature and purpose of the engagement, the bitter struggle. The fiend wanted to destroy Jacob for no reason that was apparent. The basic rules of explanation and investigation cannot be employed in situations such as the irrational attack of עמלק Amalek and the fact that Bilam received prophecy. So says the רב Rav, the use of the ויקר Vayikar, of the קוף ריש הי kuf reish hei, both עמלק's Amalek's attack and Bilam's attempt to curse us, is really at the root of all antisemitism. We just came back from a week in Poland visiting Treblinka, Majdanek, Auschwitz, Birkenau, ghettos, mass graves. And the question that hovered above the cloud of the entire trip that you can't avoid is what is the root of antisemitism? Why? Why would a advanced country who were who were intellectual... what did they say, two-thirds of the attendees of the Wannsee conference had PhDs? It's it's unimaginable. It's unfathomable. Sitting across from Majdanek, which is a borders a town, is a university. You look out the windows of the university into a death camp. You just can't reconcile. What is the root? What is the core of antisemitism? That not only in the Holocaust, a magnitude which is categorically different than anything that came before, but antisemitism that's roots began with the birth of our nation and who after the little sabbatical we took after the Holocaust, have come back with a vengeance. What is the root? And countless books have been written and attempts to try to make sense of antisemitism, to explain antisemitism. And what Rav Soloveitchik is suggesting here, that the use of the word ויקר Vayikar, the מקרה mikreh, אשר קרך בדרך asher karcha baderech of עמלק Amalek, and here ויקר Vayikar is, it defies explanation. It is irrational. It is an irrational hatred. Don't think you can understand it, don't think you can explain it. It's something which is utterly and entirely irrational. It's something which will continue. You know, the רב Rav wrote, I skipped it at the end, but when we talk about the ויחל העם לזנות אל בנות מואב vayachel ha'am liznos el bnos Moav, that we became seduced by Moab. So the רב Rav has a whole section, I'm not going to read the whole thing. Orgiastic man not only responds to inevitable biological urges whose fulfillment yields pleasure, but experiments with precipitating new pressures in unheard of, newly contrived artificial situations which challenge the body to respond by engaging in gratifying action. Our Western society is a typical representative of the aesthetic society. And he talks about when we're drawn to beauty and we're drawn to the external, and we're seduced by art, and we think that that's an ends unto itself, rather than a means to connect to God, then we are vulnerable, then we fall prey. He has a whole essay here, but it's most poignant and again, resonates with me given where we just were. He writes, \"Is beauty good and art cathartic by its very nature? Let me put aside philosophic abstractions and relate to you a small incident which took place in Vilna during the German occupation. I heard there was a Gestapo officer there who was an accomplished musician, an expert on Beethoven and Mozart. He was also an expert in killing children. He particularly liked to engage in both of the hobbies simultaneously. While he sat at a piano or organ in the courtyard of the Gestapo headquarters in Vilna, the officers used to line up little children. Ambidextrous, he played Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata with his right hand, while the left hand was busy shooting innocent babies with a with a pistol. Is this the kind of catharsis of which Aristotle spoke? If you investigate into the background of Hitler and his entourage, which consists of psychopaths and maniacs, you'll find among them many people with a developed sense of beauty, accomplished musicians, art critics and the like. They loved beauty and they succumbed to beauty. But they also liked spilling Jewish blood. Somehow beauty did not protect them from murder.\" And it's really worthwhile to read this entire this entire essay. So the ויקר Vayikar, you can't reconcile these two things and trying to understand antisemitism will lead to a road that has no destination. One has to see it ultimately as something which defies, is irrational, and it defies explanation. Okay, back to our פסוקים pesukim.So the רמב\"ן Ramban and the רש\"י Rashi, this debate, what does it mean that Bilam looks out at the midbar? Is that a in Bilam's favor? He came to his senses and now he wants to receive a full prophecy, no longer God chancing upon him, no longer the antisemite looking to curse, but now he wants to be a vehicle, an instrument for God's will? Or no? He's looking out at the midbar, why? Because he's telling God, yeah, the midbar. That's where they did the עגל Eigel and the מרגלים Meraglim. That's the place of קרח Korach and so on and so forth. That's the מחלוקת machlokes. Bilam lifts his eyes and he sees the Jewish people שכן לשבטיו shochein lishvatav. Says רש\"י Rashi, what does it mean? ראה כל שבט ושבט שוכן לעצמו ואינם מעורבים Ra'ah kol shevet v'shevet shochein l'atzmo v'einam me'uravim. Each tribe is dwelling independently. They are not integrated. ראה שאין פתחיהם מכוונים זה כנגד זה שלא יציץ לתוך אוהל חברו Ra'ah she'ein pischeihem mechvanim zeh k'neged zeh shelo yatzitz l'toch ohel chavero. He sees that the tents are aligned not opposite, they're staggered, so that privacy is preserved. You can't see from one tent into another. And when Bilam sees that, ותהי עליו רוח אלקים, עלה בלבו שלא יקללם Vatehi alav ruach Elokim, alah belibo shelo yekalelm. Bilam sees their modesty, sees their humility, sees their privacy, sees the respect that each שבט shevet has, not forcing them for universalism to integrate and lose their individuality, but the particularism of each שבט shevet being able to preserve its identity. He's moved by the diversity and yet the unity, the privacy, and it's seeing that virtue within the Jewish people that ותהי עליו רוח אלקים vatehi alav ruach Elokim, that he's taken by a spirit of השם Hashem, and he therefore does not want to curse the Jewish people.What does he see? Says the אור החיים הקדוש Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh, פסוק ב' Pasuk Beis, וירא לשבטיו ותהי עליו Vayar lishvatav vatehi alav. שראה בהם שני ענינים גדולים. אחד, שוכן כל שבט ושבט בפני עצמו. ב', ותהי עליו, ששורה שכינה על כל שבט בפני עצמו, מלך כל בראשו she'raah bahem shnei inyanim gedolim. Echad, shochein kol shevet v'shevet bifnei atzmo. Beis, vatehi alav, she'shora shechina al kol shevet bifnei atzmo, malko b'rosho. He sees two great things. One, each tribe lives alone. Two, that it's not only that the tribes, it's not only that שבעים פנים לתורה shivim panim laTorah, it's not only that there are diverse ways of living as a Jew, but that God embraces and loves and dwells within the diversity. והטעם שכל שבט יש לו הדרגה בפני עצמו, או לצד בזכות שיש לאחד יותר מחברו, או לפי המנין. ורמז קשר שני דברים על פי דבריהם, שאמרו שבמצות ה' נסעו ישראל בדרך זה כל שבט ושבט בפני עצמו, שכן עליהם שכינה, ששכנה עליהם שכינה ונעשו מרכבה לו. והוא מה שדקדק לומר ותהי עליו רוח אלקים V'hataam she'kol shevet yesh lo hadraga bifnei atzmo, o l'tzad b'zchus sheyesh l'echad yoser m'chavero, o l'fi haminyan. V'remez kashar shnei dvarim al pi divreihem, she'amru sheb'mitzvas Hashem nasu Yisrael b'derech zeh, kol shevet v'shevet bifnei atzmo, she'kein aleihem shechina, she'shachna aleihem shechina v'na'asu merkava lo. V'hu ma she'dikdek lomar v'tehi alav ruach Elokim. God loves our diversity. What invokes the blessing, says the אור החיים Ohr Hachaim, not when the Jewish people meld, not when there's conformity and uniformity, but when שבט לשבטיו shevet lishvatav, when וירא ישראל שוכן לשבטיו vayar Yisrael shochein lishvatav, when the tribes maintain their individuality and yet function with unity, then ותהי עליו רוח אלקים vatehi alav ruach Elokim. That's what Bilam is so impressed by, he's moved by. That's what invokes the שכינה shechina to come dwell, is that when we're able to have both. The מהר\"ל Maharal says this as well, we'll see in a moment, the מה טובו אהליך יעקב Ma Tovu Ohaleycha Yaakov, Bilam's blessing, which becomes the beginning of our סידור siddur, which is an icon of our דאווענען davening. What's מה טובו אהליך משכנותיך Ma Tovu Ohaleycha Mishkenosecha, the אוהל ohel and the משכן mishkan? רש\"י Rashi says maybe Bilam saw the tents were not aligned, you couldn't see into one another. Or the alternative פשט pshat is that this is a reference to the משכן Mishkan and to the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, and they have been destroyed. The מהר\"ל Maharal says what's the connection between not seeing into each other's tents and the משכן Mishkan and the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash? What do the two have to do with one another? Says the מהר\"ל Maharal, the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash stands only in the merit of our אחדות achdus. There were 13 entrances to the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, one for each tribe and a 13th entrance, the שער הקהל Shaar Hakoel, for those who didn't know which tribe they're from, for unusual outliers to walk in through that 13th gate. But there were multiple gates to the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash. You could access God through diverse Jewish lifestyle, Jewish living. And when we when we embrace that, the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash stands strong. And when we have שנאת חנם sinas chinam, when we hate one another and marginalize and judge and dismiss one another, בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash is destroyed. So when the tents don't look into one another, when I'm not checking out what's going on in your camp, when I'm not telling you how to live in your tent, when I'm not judging what's going on in your home, then we can have אחדות achdus in the merit of the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash. But when our tents face one another and we're peering into one another's tents and criticizing and demeaning and gossiping and dismissing one another by looking into each other's tents, then the אוהל ohel and the משכן mishkan, מה טובו אהליך משכנותיך Ma tovu ohalecha mishkenosecha, then our greatest places are vulnerable to collapse and to and to destruction. So what Bilam is moved by, and the reason the ריבונו של עולם Ribbono Shel Olam himself dwells, is something that is, we know the theme of our community, we place a lot of emphasis on, speak a lot about, but it's preserving that שכן לשבטיו shochein lishvatav, to find that right balance, diversity not divisiveness, unity not uniformity. Okay, next פסוק pasuk. וישא משלו ויאמר Vayisa mishalo vayomar. So now we get to Bilam's actual ברכה bracha. He wants to give a משל mashal, his parable, the ברכה bracha. ויאמר Vayomar, and what does he say? נאם בלעם בנו בעור ונאם הגבר שתום העין Ne'um Bilam beno Beor, ne'um hagever shesum ha'ayin. Bilam talks about himself in the third person, little arrogance. And he says the words of Bilam, son of Beor, the words of the man with an open eye. He characterizes himself as a man with an open eye. What does that mean? So look at Rashi בנו בעור beno Beor. כמו לאמר בנו מים. מדרש אגדה שניהם היו גדולים מאבותיהם. בלק בנו של ציפור, אביו בנו במלכות. ובלעם גדול מאביו בנביאות Kmo lomar beno mayim. Midrash Aggadah shneihem hayu gedolim me'avoseihem. Balak bno shel Tzipor, aviv bno b'malchus. V'Bilam gadol me'aviv b'neviyus. That Bilam and Balak were each greater than their father. And that's what Bilam is invoking with an arrogance. Bilam בנו בעור beno Beor, I, greater than my father. He describes himself as having a שתום עין shesum ayin, an open eye. Rashi here writes, עינו נקורה ומוצאת לחוץ eino nekura u'mutzas lachutz. His eye fell out of its socket. וחור שלה נראה פסוח v'chor shelah nireh pasuach, and you can see the socket was exposed, was visible. But if you skip down the end of Rashi, he says, ועל שאמר שתום העין ולא אמר שתום העיניים, למדנו שסומא באחת מעיניו היה V'al she'amar shesum ha'ayin v'lo amar shesum ha'einayim, lamadnu she'suma b'achas me'einav haya. The גמרא Gemara in סנהדרין ק\"ה Sanhedrin Kuf Hey says, from the fact that Bilam describes himself as blind, as open עין ayin not עיניים einayim, why does he say in the singular his eye, not his eyes? Our rabbis deduced that Bilam was blind in one eye. We find about some of the greatest villains in the Torah, they were blind in one eye. Bilam in this parsha, and last week's, two weeks ago parsha, קרח Korach. קרח Korach it says עינו התיעו eino hit'iso, his eye led him astray. Why doesn't it say עיניים einayim? Why does it say his eye, עינו eino? Because קרח Korach too was blind in one eye. What is the meaning, the symbolism of being blind in one eye?So we know the Jewish people, it's been said in the name of ר' שמחה בונים Rav Simcha Bunim, פשיסחא Pshischa, the קאצקער רבי Kotzker Rebbe, it's been said in the name of every רבי Rebbe. A רבי Rebbe once said that the job of a Jew is to walk around with a note in each of our pockets. On one it says, הנני עפר ואפר Hineni afar v'efer. I am dust of the earth. I am nothing. I am worm food. I am unworthy. I am absolutely nothing. And on the other pocket what does it say? בשבילי נברא עולם Bishvili nivra olam. For me, the entire world was created. If I were the only one to exist, all of creation would be worthwhile just for me. It's all here for me. And that the job of a Jew is to walk around with a פתק petek, with a little note in each pocket, one that speaks of our lowliness, our humility, our unworthiness, הנני עפר ואפר Hineni afar v'efer, I am utterly nothing, and the other בשבילי נברא עולם bishvili nivra olam, I am everything. And the key to life, the secret to life is to know when to take out which note from which pocket. When do you need to remind yourself of a little humility? And when do you need a healthy dose of a little self-confidence, of a little worthiness? It's that balance. The schools of thought of מוסר mussar, we've talked about this in the past at length, which I won't revisit, but סלבודקה Slabodka and נבהרדק Navardok and קלם Kelm, the debate among the schools of מוסר mussar was, what will motivate greater growth within a person? Focusing on מדרגת האדם madregas ha'adam, גדלות האדם gadlus ha'adam, or שפלות האדם shiflus ha'adam? קלם Kelm was about שפלות האדם shiflus ha'adam, the lowliness of man. If you realize how pathetic you are and you live with the humility of the knowledge of how pathetic we are, that will inspire, that will be the catalyst for growth. So they would have lotteries to pick straws, who got to be the one to clean the toilet in the bathroom of the ישיבה yeshiva. They would intentionally position themselves to be embarrassed, to say things that would be embarrassing, to go places in a way that was embarrassing because the humility, the embarrassment would generate humility, feeling pathetic, and that would stimulate growth. Whereas סלבודקה Slabodka came to the opposite conclusion. גדלות האדם Gadlus ha'adam. If you want to realize that מעט מאלקים me'at me'Elokim, the ח' פרק chet perek of תהלים Tehillim says, מעט חסר me'at chasar, I forgot exactly the לשון lashon in the פסוק pasuk. What is it? ותחסרהו מעט מאלקים Vatichasreihu me'at me'Elokim. We're just a little bit below God. We have גדלות האדם gadlus ha'adam, the greatness of man. סלבודקה Slabodka had a tailor on staff in the ישיבה yeshiva. And if you were missing a button on your shirt or jacket, you were not allowed into the בית מדרש beis medrash. Not allowed into the בית מדרש beis medrash. We had access to the image of סלבודקה Slabodka. So many of the transformative leaders of the 20th century in America were תלמידים talmidim of סלבודקה Slabodka. My mother describes seeing Rabbi Teitz in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and the way he carried himself, a regal, royal, dignified, the גדלות האדם gadlus ha'adam, the greatness, Rav Ruderman in Baltimore, Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky in Torah Vodaas. We have so many examples of of the סלבודקה Slabodka philosophy. Why am I telling this to you? Because these are the two views, and the the key to life is the balance between the two. When do you need a little dose of גדלות האדם gadlus ha'adam? When do you need to be reminded of שפלות האדם shiflus ha'adam? That you're great or you're nothing. הנני עפר ואפר Hineni afar v'efer, and הרי אני harei ani and בשבילי נברא עולם bishvili nivra olam. And we live with that balance between the two. The balance between the two provides something called perspective. And if you lack the balance between the two, you lack perspective. With one eye, we see the world through the lens of with greatness of men. And through the other eye we see through the the eye of how pathetic we are. And those who are blind in one eye, who lack that perspective are the villains of our history who led themselves and tried to lead us astray. So here Bilam lacks the eye of humility. נאם הגבר שתום העין Ne'um hagever shesum ha'ayin, he's blind in one eye. He doesn't see הרי אני עפר ואפר harei ani afar v'efer. He lacks the perspective of שפלות האדם shiflus ha'adam. He lives a philosophy exclusively of of גדלות האדם gadlus ha'adam. קרח Korach is the opposite. קרח Korach sees everybody as equal. He's blind in one, he's blind in in one eye. You have to be able to see with perspective. You have to be able to see both sides of something. What was the opening of קרח Korach? I think we shared this two weeks ago, did we have a partial class? I don't even remember. Says קרח Korach, ויקח קרח vayikach Korach, where did he take himself? רש\"י Rashi quotes חז\"ל Chazal, לקח את עצמו לצד אחד lakach es atzmo l'tzad echad. He took himself to one side. רב נפתלי מרופשיץ Rav Naftali miRopshitz, we were just near Ropshitz in Poland, רב נפתלי מרופשיץ Rav Naftali miRopshitz says, what does it mean he took himself to one side? Says רב נפתלי מרופשיץ Rav Naftali miRopshitz, on any issue there's two sides, שני צדדים shnei tzdadim. ויקח קרח Vayikach Korach, he failed to be able to see something from another perspective. He failed to be able to see the other side. פיקח Pikeiach, the word for a smart, intelligent person, the גמטריא gematria of פיקח pikeiach is the same as צד tzad times two. I said this two weeks ago. Right? To be smart, you have to be able to see both perspectives, you have to see out of both eyes. When you're blind in one eye, you lack perspective, that's when you get in trouble. Let's keep going. פסוק ד' Pasuk Daled. נאם שמע אמרי קל אשר מחזה שדי יחזה נפל וגלוי עיניים Ne'um shomea imrei Kel, asher machazeh Shaddai yechezeh, nofel u'glui einayim. The words of the one who hears the sayings of God, who sees the vision of God, while fallen and with uncovered eyes. All an introduction to his now his latest נבואה nevuah. What does he say? פסוק ה' Pasuk Hey. מה טובו אהליך יעקב, משכנותיך ישראל Ma tovu ohaleycha Yaakov, mishkenosecha Yisrael. How great are the tents of יעקב Yaakov, the dwelling places of ישראל Yisrael. Already at the period of the גאונים Geonim, this פסוק pasuk was included in their סידור siddur, was introduced in our דאווענען davening. It's a big debate. The מהרש\"ל Maharshal has a discussion. Do we invoke the language, the liturgy of non-Jews within our own liturgy? And whenever that discussion arises, you have this precedent. מה טובו אהליך Ma tovu ohalecha, it's the poetic description, the praise of the Jewish people from the mouth of a רשע rasha, of the wicked Bilam, which formed the beginning of our סידור siddur already at the time of the גאונים Geonim, in the 10th century, in the 11th century, the end of the 9th century. מה טובו אהליך Ma tovu ohalecha, why were these words chosen? What's so significant, what's so great about this praise, about this blessing? Says רש\"י Rashi, על שראה פתחיהם שאינן מכוונין זה מול זה Al shera'ah pischeihem she'einan mechavnin zeh mul zeh, as we said earlier, what moved Bilam was he saw their tents were not opposite one another. They preserved a sense of privacy. This actually is within Jewish law. We began discussing at מנחה Mincha yesterday, we'll continue today. We have a concept called היזק ראיה hezek re'iyah. Just like there are the laws of מזיק mazik, of היזק hezek, I can't punch you in the face, I can't hit your car with my car, I can't, we have all the laws of damages. One of the damages is if I rob you of your privacy. So if I build a second floor that looks into your pool, and you no longer are able to operate in a private way in a place in which you had a right and an expectation to have privacy, that's a form of מזיק mazik. It's a form of היזק hezek. It's a form of damages. I've stolen your right to have privacy. And it falls within הלכה halacha. הלכה Halacha has rules and regulations about what has to happen. Tonight at מנחה Mincha, we're going to learn a תשובה teshuva Rav Weiss wrote to our community. I asked him a שאלה shailah based on someone here, who built a second floor, and his two neighbors objected for opposite reasons. One said if you put up landscaping, you'll block my view, you have no right to block my view. The other neighbor said, if you don't put up landscaping, you'll see right in my pool, you better put up landscaping. So here we have two neighbors who have two interests. One says don't put up anything that will block my view. The other says block the view to my pool. Which interest supersedes the other? Are both of them halachically valuable interests? Does a view have significance in הלכה halacha? Privacy have significance in הלכה halacha? So the גמרא Gemara in בבא בתרא Bava Basra on דף ס' daf samach, on דף ע\"א daf ayin aleph, when it deals with this issue, the origin of היזק ראיה hezek re'iyah, it quotes our פסוק pasuk, that Bilam blesses the Jewish people, מה טובו אהליך יעקב Ma tovu ohalecha Yaakov, wow, your construction, your HOA rules, Jewish HOA rules are different than anyone else. Because one of the variables is not just how much of the lot did you build on and square footage and the the box look and whatever, one of the concerns is and did you invade the privacy of your neighbor? מה טובו אהליך יעקב Ma tovu ohalecha Yaakov. This is the origin of היזק ראיה hezek re'iyah. What's so great about this? משכנותיך Mishkenosecha says רש\"י Rashi, חניותיך chaniyosecha. דבר אחר מה טובו אהליך, מה טובו אוהל שילה ובית עולמים בישובן שמקריבין בהן קרבנות לכפר עליכם Davar acher, ma tovu ohalecha, ma tovu ohel Shilo v'beis olamim b'yishuvan shemakrivin bahem korbanos l'chaper aleichem. That's what I alluded to earlier, that the אוהל ohel and the משכן mishkan are Shilo and the Beis Hamikdash. משכנותיך Mishkenosecha, רש\"י Rashi says, אף כשהן חרבין, יפים הן, שהן משכון עליכם, חורבנן כפרה על נפשות af keshehen charvin, yafim hein, shehein mashkon aleichem, churbanan kappara al nafshos. They are a משכון mashkon, they are collateral on you, even in their destruction, it is an atonement for you and for your sins. The ספורנו Sforno interprets differently. Look at the ספורנו Sforno. מה טובו אהליך יעקב, בתי תורה, כענין יושב אהלים Ma tovu ohalecha Yaakov, batei Torah, k'inyan yoshev ohalim. What's an אוהל ohel? אוהל Ohel is always used as a symbol of a בית מדרש beis medrash. יעקב Yaakov is described the איש תם יושב אהלים ish tam yoshev ohalim. יעקב Yaakov is the diligent student who sits and learns. So מה טובו ma tovu, how great are the אהליך יעקב ohalecha Yaakov, יעקב Yaakov the איש תם יושב אהלים ish tam yoshev ohalim, how beautiful are your בתי מדרש batei medrash, your places of study. And what are משכנותיך mishkenosecha, says ספורנו Sforno? בתי כנסיות ומקדשי קהל המיוחדין לשכן שמו שם Batei knesios u'mikdashei kehal ha'meyuchadin l'shakein shmo sham. משכנותיך Mishkenosecha, לשכן שמו שם l'shakein shmo sham, are the places, not the בתי מדרש batei medrash, but the בתי כנסיות batei knesios. לקבל תפילות המתפללים l'kabel tefilos hamispalelim. It's the place we go to daven, it's the place we go to sacrifice. מה טובו כי לא בלבד הם מטיבים לאוספים בם, אבל מטיבים לכל האומה Ma tovu, ki lo bilvad hem meitivim la'osfim bam, aval meitivim l'chol ha'umah. מה טובו Ma tovu, they are a source of goodness. When our בית מדרש beis medrash is filled, and the room behind, check it out on your way out, we have a magnificent summer כולל kollel of 20 young men from Yeshiva University learning here all day and all night this summer, absolutely incredible what's going on. When you have a vibrant בית מדרש beis medrash, the the אהליך יעקב ohalecha Yaakov, and you have an equally vibrant משכנותיך mishkenosecha, the shul is filled with the sounds of תפילה tefillah, not God forbid of talking, then מה טובו Ma Tovu, it is a benefit not just to those who are in there, but it's a benefit for the whole community, it's a benefit for the whole nation. It's a benefit for everybody. And the ספורנו Sforno continues, this is the meaning of the next פסוק pasuk. פסוק ו' Pasuk Vav. יזל מים מדליו וזרעו במים רבים וירום מאגג מלכו ותנשא מלכותו Yizal mayim midalyav, v'zar'o b'mayim rabim, v'yarom me'Agag malko, v'sinasei malchuso. Water shall flow from his wells, his seeds shall be by abundant waters, his king shall be exalted over Agag, and his kingdom shall be upraised. Says the ספורנו Sforno, what is this notion of the flowing water? Writes the ספורנו Sforno, כי אמנם בתי כנסיות ובתי מדרשות לחכמי ישראל הם כמו נחלים שנוטעים על שדות להשקותם Ki omnam batei knesios u'batei midrashos l'chachmei Yisrael hem k'mo nechalim she'not'im al sadot l'hashkosam. Just like water flows to the field and irrigates it, the Torah that emanates from the בית מדרש beis medrash, the sounds of תפילה tefillah that emerge from the shul, flow to the Jewish people and water them, nurture them, nourish them. וכן יושבי אוהל התורה דולים משכין מתורתם להמון עם V'chein yoshvei ohel haTorah dolim mashkin m'torasam l'hamon am. כמו כן המתפללים הם כגנות עלי נהר שלא ימישו מעשות פרי K'mo kein hamispalelim hem k'ganos alei nahar shelo yamishu me'asos pri. A beautiful imagery of the of the of the ספורנו Sforno.Rav Kook has a different interpretation of the מה טובו אהליך יעקב, המשכנותיך ישראל Ma Tovu Ohaleycha Yaakov, the mishkenosecha Yisrael. Why do we go from an אוהל ohel to a to the image of a משכן mishkan? And why do we go from יעקב Yaakov to the image of ישראל Yisrael, these two changes. So Rav Kook says the following. He says, as we strive for spiritual growth, we utilize two different means that are different but complement one another. The first is our aspiration to elevate ourselves. We want greater wisdom and enlightenment, want to refine our emotions, to ennoble our spirit. We're on a path and a trajectory of growth. The second is restraint. That in order to internalize these gains, we need to sometimes show restraint and to rest and to apply what we've gained. Says Rav Kook, the tent and the משכן mishkan are both types of temporary shelter. They both relate to the soul's journey. The tent, the אוהל ohel, is connected to traveling. When is it that you pitch a tent and you take it down? When you're journeying, when you're traveling. It corresponds with ambition, aspiration, spiritual growth. The משכן mishkan is what you build in between your journeys. The משכן mishkan represents what you do when you're resting. Says Rav Kook, which one is greater? The אוהל ohel, when you're moving, when you're journeying, when you're growing, when you're aspiring, or no, the משכן mishkan, when you build a a משכן mishkan in between your journeys when you rest and you set up a residence? So which one, says Rav Kook? It's אהליך יעקב ohalecha Yaakov, but יעקב's Yaakov's greater name is ישראל Yisrael, the משכנותיך ישראל mishkenosecha Yisrael. Because when you're on the move, when you're spiritually inspired, that's wonderful. When you're growing, it's phenomenal, it's impressive. But when you're in between your growth spurts, when you're resting and you can still live on that level, that's the higher level. That's the משכנותיך ישראל mishkenosecha Yisrael. That's at an even higher level. One last thing, we're already running out of time, but skip ahead, as part of this third third ברכה bracha that Bilam gives, one more פסוק pasuk. כרע שכב כארי וכלביא מי יקימנו, מברכך ברוך וארריך ארור Kara shachav ka'ari, u'chalavi mi yekimenu, mevarchecha baruch v'orerecha arur. So the end of the third time that he gives the ברכה bracha. פסוק ט' Pasuk tes. He crouched and lay down like a lion and like a lion cub, who can stand stand him up? Those who bless you are blessed and those who curse you are cursed. מברכך ברוך וארריך ארור Mevarchecha baruch v'orerecha arur. If only we believed that as much as evangelicals and other nations of the world, that those who bless the Jewish people are themselves blessed, those who curse the Jewish people are themselves cursed. That's how Bilam ends the third of his series of of ברכות brachos. But it's the first half of that פסוק pasuk that's really I want to call to your attention. First of that פסוק pasuk. כרע שכב כארי וכלביא מי יקימנו Kara shachav ka'ari, u'chalavi mi yekimenu. He crouches and lies down like a lion, like a lion cub, who can stand him up.The גמרא Gemara is an incredible גמרא Gemara in ברכות Brachos. And the גמרא Gemara says the following, אמר רבי אבהו בן זוטרתי אמר רבי יהודה בן זבידא, בקשו לקבוע פרשת בלק בקריאת שמע Amar Rabbi Avahu ben Zutarti, amar Rabbi Yehuda ben Zevida, bikshu likvoa parshas Balak b'krias shema. When the סידור siddur was established, when דאווענען davening was ordained, was organized, the thought was that we would read this parsha every day just like we read שמע Shema. In דאווענען davening we read שמע Shema, we'd also read בלק Balak. ומפני מה לא קבעו? משום טורח ציבור U'mipnei mah lo kavu? Mishum torach tzibur. And why was it not instituted into our דאווענען davening? Because give a brief sigh of relief. בלק Balak is not a short פרשה parsha, מפני טורח ציבור mipnei torach tzibur, it would imagine how long דאווענען davening would be every morning if you had to read all of בלק Balak within דאווענען davening.מאי טעמא Mai ta'ama, why did they want to put it in? What פסוק pasuk in פרשת בלק Parshas Balak made the rabbis want to institute reciting בלק Balak every day with שמע Shema? Says the גמרא Gemara, קל מוציאם ממצרים Kel motziam miMitzrayim, because God took us out of Egypt. לימא פרשת ריבית ופרשת משקלות Leima parshas ribbis u'parshas mishkalos. So that's the case, why don't we also include in דאווענען davening the פרשה parsha, the story of the prohibition of of usury and of of dishonest weights, דכתיב בהן יציאת מצרים d'chsiv bein yetzias Mitzrayim, they also mention leaving Egypt. So you're right. אלא אמר רבי יוסי בר אבין Ella amar Rav Yosi bar Avin, so the גמרא Gemara gives another answer. משום דכתיב בה האי קרא Mishum d'chsiv bah hai kra, כרע שכב כארי וכלביא מי יקימנו kara shachav k'ari u'ch'lavi mi yekimenu. You know which פסוק pasuk in this פרשה parsha motivated the rabbis to want to include it in דאווענען davening? The פסוק pasuk we just read. He crouches and lays down like a lion, like a lion cub, who can stand him up? What about that פסוק pasuk motivated the rabbis to want to include it in שמע Shema? What is so moving about that פסוק pasuk specifically? Why that פסוק pasuk? Any ideas, any thoughts?So, I think I don't remember where I first saw this, I think it was from the Rov, it's not in the new חומש Chumash. But שמע Shema contains two fundamental axioms, two principles of the Torah. The unity of God, ה' אלקינו ה' אחד Hashem Elokeinu Hashem echad, קבלת עול מלכות שמים kabbalas ol malchus shamayim, and קבלת עול מצוות kabbalas ol mitzvos. The two paragraphs, first two of שמע Shema. We recognize God's uniqueness, the unity of His existence, we accept His dominion over us, and we also accept as an extension that we have an obligation therefore to bend to His will, to answer His call, to perform מצוות mitzvos. What ties the two together, what binds them, is the Jewish people. שמע Shema is only fulfilled, קבלת עול מלכות שמים kabbalas ol malchus shamayim and קבלת עול מצוות kabbalas ol mitzvos only have meaning in combination when you see at their root the eternality, the timelessness, the immortality of the Jewish people. The prophecy of בלעם Bilam says the Jewish people lie down like a lion. We're the strongest in the kingdom. What, the lion king. The lion is the king. Everyone else in the animal kingdom sleeps with one eye open for fear they will be eaten by others. Only the lion can sleep with his eyes closed, can sleep at night with no fear at all. And maybe חז\"ל Chazal wanted us to read בלק Balak and שמע Shema together to remember that there are two non-negotiables in the world. The two non-negotiables in the world, you know, kingdoms rise and fall, fads come in and go out, fashions come and go, but the two non-negotiables in the world are the Almighty and the Jewish people. And that's what this פסוק pasuk, שמע Shema is God's immortality, God's eternality. That's שמע Shema. But that פסוק pasuk, that we go to sleep like the lion, we can rest with both eyes closed knowing we will be here forever, that we don't run the risk of disappearing, that speaks to the immortality of the Jewish people.And this the Rov did say, that one of the אני מאמינים Ani Ma'aminim that we believe, we sang this together on our trip in Treblinka, because the tune, the haunting tune of אני מאמין Ani Ma'amin familiar to us was composed on the train to Treblinka and delivered to the מודז'יץער רבי Modzitzer Rebbe, it's an incredible story in its own right. But the אני מאמין Ani Ma'amin states that I believe with all my heart, with all my faith, the ביאת המשיח bi'as haMashiach. I believe משיח Mashiach will come, even if I wait. And he asks for Rabbi Soloveitchik, this is in his על התשובה Al HaTshuva. He says, how can you believe in משיח Mashiach if משיח's Mashiach's arrival depends on us? Maybe we'll never be worthy. Maybe he'll never come. And the Rov says faith in משיח Mashiach is faith in the Jewish people's worthiness. It's that we will one day prove worthy, that we have that capacity within us, that we can live to God's expectations of us, we can realize God's dream for us. That that power is in our hands. So בשכבך ובקומך b'shochbecha u'vekumecha, when we go to sleep and when we wake up, as we recite the שמע Shema, the belief that there is a God, we recite this פסוק pasuk from בלק Balak, the belief, the confidence that our people can yet prove worthy, that despite these systematic attempts to annihilate and exterminate us, that we are here and that we are here for good, that we are a non-negotiable in the world.I'll end with this. Rav Schechter has in his new ספר sefer on the פרשה parsha, he quotes Rav Teichtal. Rav Yissachar Teichtal, the author of the אם הבנים שמחה Eim HaBanim Smeicha, a Hungarian חסיד chasid, anti-Zionist, who in his experience in the Holocaust became a great lover of Israel and wrote the book אם הבנים שמחה Eim HaBanim Smeicha. It's been translated several times now into English, wrote it from memory with no access to sources, an extraordinary תלמיד חכם talmid chacham. He quotes the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim from our פרשה parsha. Elsewhere, בלעם Bilam says, דרך כוכב מיעקב וקם שבט מישראל d'rach kochav miYaakov v'kam shevet miYisrael. A star has issued from Yaakov, a scepter has risen from the Jewish people. What is this talking about? So this is the רמב\"ם Rambam quotes this as the origin of the belief in משיח Mashiach from that פסוק pasuk, a פסוק pasuk in our פרשה parsha about the וקם שבט מישראל v'kam shevet miYisrael. כוכב מיעקב kochav miYaakov. A star has come from Yaakov. What does that remind you of? כוכב מיעקב kochav miYaakov. This פסוק pasuk was the source of Rabbi Akiva's grave miscalculation. Rabbi Akiva thought that שמעון בר כוזיבא Shimon Bar Koziva, who led the rebellion against the Romans 60 years after the חורבן churban, thought that he was משיח Mashiach. And therefore nicknamed him not בר כוזיבא Bar Koziva but nicknamed him בר כוכבא Bar Kochva, the son of the star. Why did he call him בר כוכבא Bar Kochva? Because of the פסוק pasuk in our פרשה parsha, כוכב מיעקב kochav miYaakov. כוכב kochav, the star, כוכבא Kochva, כוכב kochav. The ירושלמי Yerushalmi says other תנאים Tannaim disagreed with Rabbi Akiva. But they had a tradition from the גמרא Gemara and so on. So Rav Teichtal quotes an interesting comment of the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim in our פרשה parsha. If the גאולה geulah comes due to the merit of בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael, משיח Mashiach will appear as a wondrous miracle, shining forth from the heaven like a כוכב kochav, like a shooting star. But if not, the redeemer will come sluggishly as a שבט shevet, a scepter, in the form of a government like all others. This comment echoes the גמרא Gemara in סנהדרין Sanhedrin says Rav Schechter, which similarly distinguishes between the two ways in which משיח Mashiach can arrive. אני ה' בעתה אחישנה Ani Hashem b'ita achishena. I am God and in its time I will hasten it, a פסוק pasuk from ישעיה Yeshaya. The גמרא Gemara says if Jews are deserving, זכו zochu, God will hasten the redemption. If they're not deserving, it will come in the preordained time. If the Jewish people are worthy of redemption, the arrival of משיח Mashiach will be supernatural and swift. If they are not deserving, he'll come like a humble man riding on a donkey. relates back to the חמור chamor of בלעם Bilam and Avraham and Moshe. In a slow and a natural, and a natural process. So this פרשה parsha is all about the way we look at the world. Is it like יתרו Yisro, is it like בלק Balak? The end of the פרשה parsha is about our vulnerability, the sanctity of the Jewish home is what preserves our strength. It's about בלעם Bilam being impressed by our diversity and our unity. But ultimately it's about the immortality of the Jewish people. כרע שכב כארי וכלביא מי יקימנו kara shachav k'ari u'ch'lavi mi yekimenu, almost saying this in our דאווענען davening every morning and every night knowing that not only is God forever, not only is God a non-negotiable, but our faith and our belief, sometimes our faith is shaken. When we make a חילול ה' chillul Hashem, as happened again so recently, when the Jewish people make headlines in a negative fashion, you can lose your faith in the Jewish people, in the Jewish experience, in the Jewish story. But we have to remember this פסוק pasuk. When we go to Poland and we see the destruction of six million, a million and a half children, you could lose your faith that our people have a future. That's what this פסוק pasuk, every morning, every night, we don't do it because of טרחא דציבורא tircha d'tzibura, but every morning and every night, what חז\"ל Chazal thought of was the same way we need to constantly be מחזק mechazek, renew our faith in God's existence, the non-negotiable of his existence, so too in the existence of the Jewish people, the belief and the confidence and our worthiness that משיח Mashiach will yet come.
