Balak

With God's help, you and I are beginning the study of the weekly portion Balak, and we will read from verse 2 of chapter 22 of the book of Bemidbar. The weekly portion Balak differs from all the other weekly portions. We have read weekly portions that consisted of different stories, that moved from topic to topic, and we had to look for a common storyline. In our weekly portion the narrative is more or less whole, and the entire plot is unified and clear. Another peculiarity of the weekly portion is that everything happens, as it were, behind the scenes (if you look through the eyes of Israel). In the camp of Israel days give way to days, everything takes its course. The morning begins as usual: someone got up and started doing his exercises, someone got up and went to gather man, and someone got up and went to gather firewood. Nothing foreshadows trouble, no one fears trouble. But the keeper of Israel neither sleeps nor slumbers: the Most High is growing Israel's deliverance even when Israel is not worried about anything. It is precisely about what happens behind the scenes that we read in our weekly portion. And there is a lesson here for us too: very often the Most High also acts hidden in our life. We cannot even imagine from how many dangers and difficulties the Most High delivers us, so that we do not even know that they threatened us. So, let's begin reading.

Let us stop at the name Balak ben Tzippor. The name Balak comes from the ancient root bet-lámed-kuf, and means the one who opens, the one who lays open. Perhaps that is what a firstborn could have been called – the one who breaks open, who opens the womb. Tzippór – that is bird. The midrash interprets that this king had some unusual starling, or hoopoe, or some other talking bird that brought him intelligence reports, a sort of fairy-tale golden cockerel. But most likely, according to the pshat (the plain meaning), this is a man who simply has such a name, Balak ben Tzippor. And he saw everything that happened between Israel and the Amorites, saw Israel's complete victory over this people. The Amorites were not “chopped liver” either, they were a solid, serious power. Israel completely crushed them, and then also the king of Bashan. And this, naturally, struck fear into the surrounding peoples.

Naturally, the appearance in the region of a new influential force, which acts with who knows what weapons, with who knows what motives, is frightening. Clearly, intelligence reported that Israel had no heavy munitions, that they had neither battering rams, nor spears, nor cannons, nor airplanes, nor helicopters, nor weapons from the present, nor weapons from the future. And they were able to crush more than one country – perhaps by their numbers, perhaps by their patriotism. And this, naturally, is frightening. And it is frightening to think, frightening to live with the thought that right next to you such an incomprehensible and formidable force is at work. Of course, this will frighten, and this will get on one's nerves quite a bit, and therefore Moav got sick of the Israelites, they became loathsome to Moav.

The fact that the Moavites turned to the Midyanites is interesting in itself, because these were two hostile countries. Some commentators say that it was not out of love for each other, but out of fear of Israel that they united. Others say that precisely at this moment the political situation had developed in such a way that these countries were in a kind of political confederation.

So, there is a king in Moav, his name is Balak ben Tzippor. There is an aggravated political situation in which certain forces, besides the king, are whispering, holding negotiations among themselves about the fact that something has to be done: this people will eat up the whole surroundings like an ox eats up a field! We know that Israel has this command: do not wage war with Moav. But how could one not fear that, when Israel starts military action, under that pretext it will quietly requisition a cart here, a horse there, something else somewhere else. In those times requisition was practiced too, when an advancing army took by force, or bought at some dirt-cheap price, the property of the people of the country through which it passed: everything for the front, everything for victory. Naturally, it is frightening. And, most likely, such talk began: “And Balak? What is Balak doing?” Balak needs not only to take care of somehow turning the situation around with these Israelites roaming the neighborhood. Balak also needs to somehow strengthen, consolidate his political position. And Balak does the following.

Bil'am ben Be'or – just so you know – is a widely known figure, and far from only in narrow circles, although this story that we are now reading had no living witnesses, it was not written down by any of the participants in this story, the Most High revealed it to Israel. The figure of Bil'am ben Be'or (Bil'am Be'orovich) is known to us from an ancient monument. In 1967, during excavations at Tel Dir-Alla, in Jordan, a certain structure was discovered which at some point, long, long ago, long before that, had been destroyed by an earthquake. And on the wall of this structure there was an inscription, a very ancient inscription, which told about a man whose name was Bil'am ben Be'or. Here is how it is reconstructed: “The inscription of Bil'am, son of Be'or, a man who was a seer of the gods. Behold, the gods came to him at night and spoke with him. And according to these words they told Bil'am, son of Be'or, that the last days are coming: a flame, a fire of punishment has appeared. And Bil'am got up the next day and for several days was in mourning, could neither sleep nor eat, and wept bitterly. And all his people came to him and said to Bil'am, son of Be'or: ‘Why do you not eat anything, why are you weeping?’ And he said to them: ‘Sit down, I will show you a great calamity.’” Well, and so on. What follows is a long and very sad story about the prophecy that Bil'am ben Be'or received. The contents of the inscription are probably not very interesting to us, but the very testimony that Bil'am ben Be'or existed and was a very famous man, so famous that he gathered people and could prophesy about the end of the world, this is quite important for us. That is, a very famous, very influential figure in the region. And his visit to Balak could, by itself, give Balak himself very strong support – the way, perhaps, it would help the president of a small country if the head of some big superpower came, stood next to him and simply patted him on the shoulder. A popular figure whose support will give strength.

So, Balak sends messengers to Bil'am ben Be'or in Ptor. And Ptor is quite far away, all the way on the bank of the Euphrates: ashér al-hannahár (which is on the river) – the river is precisely the Euphrates.

This expression, likro-ló (to call him), would seem to be a completely ordinary expression. Yeshua said (Mt. 22:14): “Many are called, but few are chosen.” There is such a word – called. These are people of the calling, who are called to gatherings, to conferences, people as decorations, the stars of every event. In this case likro-ló is the one who is called for the political support of Balak himself, of his personal political status.

The commentators draw attention to a peculiarity of this language. The one whom you bless is blessed – that is, the person is already blessed, it is not you who will bless him, there is no power to bless. Bil'am saw that a person had God's favor, and blessed such a person; by his own power he could not bless anyone. But whom you curse will be cursed – there is power to curse, the curse has force. A very clever political move. Israel waged numerous wars throughout its entire history. These wars, of course, took place both in the spiritual and in the physical world. But the people won because the root of Israel's victory was precisely in the spiritual world, its strength is not physical strength, that is the difference. And Balak perhaps understands this well. And he understands that since the root is spiritual, the counteraction must also be spiritual. And perhaps Bil'am will turn out to be stronger than the One Who stands behind Israel, and will be able to curse the people and thereby disconnect Israel from this spiritual support that allows it to win. That is why Balak needs Bil'am to curse Israel. If Bil'am unplugs Israel from the spiritual power outlet, then perhaps Balak will be able to defeat it. So, Balak organizes a delegation to the most influential specialist of that time, Bil'am ben Be'or.

All sorts of implements needed for sorcery, with them – this is the most probable translation of the text. So that Bil'am could not say: “My crystal ball happens to be in the repair shop right now,” or: “The chain on my pendulum broke,” or: “I've run out of toad-eye powder.” And we just happened to bring some with us! Completely by chance, we have a jar of toad-eye powder in the bushes! And then Bil'am won't wriggle out of it. Well, and besides, every master loves the tools he uses in his work, and as a violin is for a violinist, as a knife is for a butcher, so toad-eye powder is the best gift for a black sorcerer.

So, Bil'am says: “Guys, I won't just go like that, it's not convenient for me. I will listen to what the LORD wants to tell me.” In fact, as we will see later, Bil'am is ready to go after all, but he wants (many commentators see this, and many midrashim point to it) to seem righteous, this is important to him. He really is in a personal relationship with the Most High. God speaks with Bil'am, and Bil'am really does know a lot. We will read in 24:16 that he yodéya dá'at elyon (knows the plan of the Most High), knows the laws on high, but this is not reflected very well in his moral qualities: knowing all this, he does not change very much. Yes, he has prophetic power, he has knowledge of God and he has certain, to put it in modern language, prophetic or super-prophetic abilities.

The sages argue over whether he was a sorcerer or simply a magician. The midrash notes that there was no prophet in Israel like Moshe. There are commentators who, on the basis of this midrash, say: “In Israel there was not, but among the nations of the world there was, and that is Bil'am.” Others say that Bil'am was a sorcerer, on the basis of what is written in the book of Yehoshua ben Nun (13:22): “And Bil'am ben Be'or, the soothsayer (kosém), the sons of Israel killed…” The word kosém means wizard, soothsayer, in modern Hebrew – conjurer. That is, they killed Bil'am, who was a sorcerer, but had such favor that the Most High communicated with him. But Bil'am used this favor neither for his own good nor for the good of others.

Some commentators say that it is right here that a doubt arises in Bil'am. Aha, so this God is not so All-Knowing after all, if He asks who these people are. Other commentators say that the Most High usually asks such semi-rhetorical questions of villains. And villains answer such questions: that is what makes them villains, that they do not understand what a rhetorical question is. In particular, Kayin, to the Most High's question: “Where is Hevel, your brother?” said: “Am I a keeper to my brother?” And here the Most High again asks a rhetorical question, and Bil'am answers.

Bil'am also singles out two goals. On the one hand, the first reason why Balak sent them to me: to get such support from Bil'am – this is Balak's personal goal, even if Bil'am simply comes. This is perhaps not very well caught in the Russian translation, but in the Hebrew text it is constantly emphasized.

This, on the other hand, is one more goal of Balak's. Let's compare verse 5 with ours, verse 11, that is, Balak's version and Bil'am's version, retold to the Most High. When Balak sends the princes to Bil'am, he says (in verse 5) hinné am yatzá mimmitzráyim (behold, a people that came out of Egypt), that is, am yatzá is used without the definite article – some puny people, some little people. But Bil'am, telling the Most High, speaks of the people already with the definite article, ha'ám hayotzé mimmitzráyim. Bil'am understands that for the Most High the people that came out of Egypt is a special people. Besides, Bil'am retells Balak's words and covered all the visible land a little differently. Balak twice repeats the word hinné…hinné (behold...behold): behold, a people that came out of Egypt, and behold, it has covered all the surroundings, and because of this double repetition it came out that Balak spoke more panic-stricken than Bil'am retells it (again, the Russian translation misses this). Thus, if with Balak the situation was being stirred up, here Bil'am retells a softened version. Bil'am constantly wriggles, retelling one and the same thing, constantly tries to please both the one side and the other. Further. Balak assumed that he would be able to strike the people and drive it out of the land. In Bil'am's retelling it sounds more softened: I can wage war with it and will drive it out. So, Bil'am tries to retell to the Most High what kind of people this is, but smooths the corners a little, softens the circumstances a little, understanding that God's anger may follow.

The Most High answers Bil'am with an unambiguous “no,” and Bil'am in this case obeys the Most High. Here we can ask ourselves a completely reasonable question – why does the Most High try to stop Bil'am? After all, He is the Sovereign of the world, the King of the Universe, the Supreme Judge, and can perfectly well stop everything that Bil'am says, consider his curse invalid and put the resolution “deny” on any dispatch that Bil'am tries to send off to the Heavenly court. Why does the Most High nevertheless stop Bil'am – no matter who he is: a prophet, a sorcerer, a false prophet or a charlatan? Why is it important that the curse not be pronounced? First, because the very fact that Israel can be cursed may become a bad testimony for the surrounding peoples. They may think that this people's protection is not so strong after all, if Bil'am just went – and opened his mouth, and started saying about this people whatever came into his head, fearing no one. Second, if the people of Israel is cursed, the nations of the world may hold their breath, hold their breath for a long, long time. And if someday the Most High punishes the people of Israel for sins, or some misfortune happens among the people of Israel because of its falling away from Him, then witnesses, historians or simply people of “good” memory will come and say: “A-ha! There it is, Bil'am's curse has worked! It was Bil'am who made this calamity fall upon the people!” Besides, the curse, if it had succeeded, would have united the enemies, would have strengthened Israel's enemies. Of course, the Most High can make any power into nothing, but why let the enemies grow stronger? And, finally, if the people is cursed, then even after many centuries those who remember that this people is cursed will perhaps simply be afraid to be friends and to associate with this people. That is why it is very important that this magician sign off on his own incompetence and not be able to curse the people of Israel. Also not suitable is the option, for example, of a heart attack that could have happened to Bil'am on the way, so that for this reason Bil'am would not have cursed the people. But then one could say that it was a coincidence, a concurrence of circumstances, or the intrigues of Jewish saboteur doctors who had infiltrated Bil'am's entourage. No, it is important to the Most High that the curse not be heard, so that everyone sees that Bil'am, surrounded by honor and distinctions, cannot ensure the delivery of the goods called “the curse of the people of Israel.” Perhaps that is why the Most High speaks with him and raises up such an “anti-Moshe,” an “anti-prophet” among the pagans, in order to show that a strong prophet who communicates with God (that is how everyone perceives it) still cannot curse Israel.

 We see that the Most High revealed Himself to Bil'am both as Elohim, and as Adonai. Here again Bil'am says the LORD.

But Balak does not give up so easily.

Balak decided to make one more attempt and to send a more distinguished delegation to Bil'am.

What does Bil'am do, who, it would seem, already knows the answer?

Here, it would seem, is a beautiful answer, worthy of a righteous man, which Bil'am gives his guests. And very instructive: look, Bil'am believes in the LORD so much that not for all the tea in China, not for any jewelry, not even for a house full (and Balak probably has a fairly big house) of silver and gold – not for anything will he agree to depart from the word of the Most High. Only, we know that Bil'am is not very sincere here. We know this from Bil'am's further actions, we know this from the epistle of Kefa, from the epistle of Yehuda. From all the Jewish sources we know that this statement of Bil'am's is for show. In the Mishna, in tractate Avot (5:19), there is an interesting passage that concerns our story. The Mishna says this: “Whoever possesses the following three qualities is among the disciples of our Forefather Avraham, and [whoever possesses] three qualities [listed further below] is among the disciples of the wicked Bil'am. A good eye, a humble spirit and modesty of desires are characteristic of the disciples of our Forefather Avraham. An evil eye, arrogance of spirit and unrestrained desires are characteristic of the disciples of the wicked Bil'am.” Well, it seems clear how Avraham teaches positive qualities. But the negative qualities listed here: an evil eye, arrogance, unrestrained desires – who would want to learn this, who needs to learn this? Every villain knows how to do it himself without any teachers. A Hasidic teacher, the Admor Sfat Emet, says this on the matter: Bil'am knew how to disguise these qualities as holiness, knew how to satisfy these needs of his with false holiness, and when people said: “Look how important he is! And how modest he is, too!”, this modesty added honor to him and the joy of fame. This is, in fact, a very great temptation for any person, when a person, deceiving himself, deceiving others, seems holy. And he gets so used to deceiving others and presenting himself as holy, works up this actor's holiness so much, that by then it is already hard even to repent. Because the person begins to think: “Have I repented, or am I only playing at repentance?” This is truly a very serious trap for a person. The sages, the Hasidim, all who live a spiritual life have noted this. Showy holiness is a trap, and Bil'am really drives himself into a trap here, wanting to have good relations with the Most High (as he imagines it), and to look righteous in the eyes of those around him, and to earn some money, and to do some PR for himself with fame at the expense of the people of Israel, and to establish good relations with Balak by doing what Balak asks.

With God's help, you and I continue studying the weekly portion Balak, and we will read from verse 21 of chapter 22 of the book of Bemidbar. Last time you and I got acquainted with Bil'am, got to know him a little more closely, and stopped at the point where Bil'am received at night, in a dream (or in a vision), a second revelation from the Most High, in which the Most High seemingly allowed him to go with Balak's men.

Look what a resemblance to what happens with Avraham. This parallel, which we read in the tractate Avot de-Rabbi Natan, does not arise out of nowhere at all. Let's look: when Avraham hears the command of the Most High to go and offer up Yitzchak as a sacrifice, he rises in the morning, saddles the donkey and goes with two companions (Rashi tells us that these are Eliezer and Yishmael). And here, too, comrade Bil'am saddles the she-donkey and immediately goes with two young men (we will read about them in verse 22), there is this obvious resemblance to the Forefather Avraham.

So, Bil'am received permission from the Most High to go with the Moavite chiefs, saddled the she-donkey and went.

Not very clear, right? The Most High said to him in verse 20: “If they have come to call you, then go.” And when Bil'am went, the Most High became angry. What is the essence of the Most High's permission, and why then did the Most High become angry? The first answer is given by Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, who cites an explanation from the Talmud, from tractate Makot, folio 10, where it is said: “A person is led on the road on which he wants to go.” That is, the Most High educates a person, works with him through the path that the person himself chooses for himself. In the book of the prophet Yeshayahu (48:17) we read: “I am the LORD, your God, teaching you to be useful, guiding you on the way by which you go.” That is, the person has chosen the road on which he wants to go and learn. On this road – whether it passes through the desert, through the steppe or through an apple orchard – the Most High teaches the person. There, in the Talmud, one more source is cited, from Mishlei (3:34): “If He mocks the mockers, then to the humble He gives grace.” Whether you want to go the way of a comedian or the way of humility – you will be treated accordingly. Therefore, the first time, the Most High said to Bil'am: “I do not want you to go.” Bil'am shows this almost childlike: “But I want to! Well, maybe it's possible? Maybe I can earn something, a little money, or honor?” And then the Most High says to him: “All right, go. Do you want to go this way? Go. I will cope with you. I will achieve the needed results with you, and with the people, and with the whole situation, if you go this way.” This is the principle of free will, and it is precisely this position that Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki cites in his commentary.

But if we are talking about free will and about permission, why did the Most High not say this the first time? Why not allow Bil'am to go the first time? A possible understanding, which other commentators offer, is this: the Most High said to Bil'am: “If it is only to support Balak, then go, but you will do what I tell you.” That is, if it is for Balak's personal purposes (with which we began this story), if they simply came to call you, then go with them, but do not curse My people. But he went with the intention of cursing the people, and therefore the Most High became angry with Bil'am.

And then, again, an interesting plot twist. We talked about the fact that Israel does not know what is happening, does not know that this whole story is being plotted against it, but the Most High acts for the sake of Israel's deliverance. Here, too, Bil'am is riding along on his she-donkey, singing songs, and does not know and does not see that the angel is already standing in his way.

The she-donkey saw, but Bil'am did not see and just rides on. There is an interesting parallel to this from the midrash (let us return to Avraham again), when Avraham saw the mountain from afar. The midrash says that Avraham saw a cloud, a certain special cloud that was over the mountain, and asked the young men standing next to him, that is, Eliezer and Yishmael: “Do you see the cloud?” They said: “No.” Avraham said to them: “You do not see the cloud, and the donkey does not see the cloud, therefore you will stay with the donkey, and I will go.” The midrash, of course, was written later than the text of the Torah, but it reveals a certain facet of what is happening in our story. This all-seeing Bil'am, who knows what is happening above, cannot see the angel of God, but the donkey sees him. An astonishing disgrace for a prophet of Bil'am's level, and even for a simple backyard psychic it is also a disgrace. Perhaps this picture says a lot about the character of Bil'am himself, as does the fact that Bil'am is known more for his curses than for his blessings (according to the testimony of Balak himself). As does the fact that in this case Bil'am cannot see the angel of God, does not recognize the intonation in the words of the Most High and does not fully understand the will of the Most High. A person who possesses prophetic knowledge or knows something that others do not know also walks along some road, and along this road he too is being led. Both in prophecy and in “super-knowledge” one can choose some direction. One can study the word of the Most High (let us leave prophecy aside), one can study the Torah, Scripture in order to point a finger at these and those, to condemn, to seek and find the guilty, to denounce people for their sins, to find in this the causes of illnesses and curses, or to find reasons to curse people. Or one can use this same Scripture in order to heal, to direct toward good and to do something to improve this world, to fulfill the will of God. Even while studying Scripture, one can violate the will of God with this very Scripture.

There is a tale that is told about teachers. It exists in different versions, because, as usual, when such a story is passed on, the time of the events and some details may change, but the basic framework remains. Once upon a time there lived a girl who was married off to a seemingly decent young man. They lived together in marriage for four months (it is unclear whether those were happy months or not), and the husband disappeared. Some say he left a note: “Don't look for me.” Some say that he simply went out and vanished. Others say that he went away to distant lands and did not return. Vanished. What to do? Well, woe to the woman, she is neither divorced, nor married, nor a widow (in Hebrew this is called aguná, literally bound, and in Russian one could probably say grass widow). Five years pass. A man appears and says: “I am your husband,” and he knows everything about her, in the smallest detail. And the layout of the house, as it was when he left it, he also knows in the smallest detail, and he recognizes everything, tells her about everything. And it seems, here he is, here he is, the husband, he has come back, and he even seems to look like him, but for some reason the woman's heart says: “No, this is not my husband.” She rushed to her father, the father rushed to the rabbi, and the rabbi said: “Let us test this man.” And how did they decide to test him? On Friday, before the Shabbat prayer, the father-in-law (or the father-in-law in quotation marks, we do not know yet) and the son-in-law go into the synagogue. The father-in-law says to him: “You go to our seats, and I will be right there.” And here – what bad luck! – the son-in-law does not know where their seats in the synagogue are. And an inquiry begins. After some physical pressure the young man confesses that he simply decided to pass himself off as the husband, and that this woman's husband had in fact died. For a long time they had served together on some ship, and the husband had boasted about his beautiful wife, and this man asked him about everything in detail. He gained access to all the information, learned everything he could, even about some peculiarities of her body, about some birthmarks, about some curves: since the husband was not a very modest man, he shared all of this. That is, this man asked about everything – about the kitchen, and about the body, and about the house, but it did not occur to him to ask about what concerns service, about what concerns holiness.

Something similar can happen to us too, when we study Scripture, when we seek revelations. And we can say: “I want to understand how I could succeed financially.” It is good, of course, to succeed financially, to receive a blessing for that is a good thing, but at the same time a desire to serve the Most High may not arise. In the third epistle of Yochanan, in verse 2, such a promise is written: “I pray that you may be in health and prosper in everything, as your soul prospers.” But if we want only the prosperity of the body, without the prosperity of the soul, then this is wrong. Or we can say: “I want to find out with the help of the Bible how I can find a good wife. I will find myself a girl, I will brainwash her with the help of the Bible, her brain will change, I will marry her, I will be her head, but Christ will be my head too. And then we will live it up!” This is already a quite definite path, and the question is whether on this path there is service to the Most High.

So, Bil'am really did use God's name, really did know who is blessed, and he could bless, and really could also curse, but it is precisely to such people that at the end it may be said: “Depart, I never knew you, you who do lawlessness.” We see this in his selective vision, when he cannot see the angel of God – he, the chozé (seer, soothsayer), does not see the angel of God and will not see him until the Most High opens his eyes.

Meanwhile the she-donkey returned to her former path.

A second time the angel appears, a second time he prevents the she-donkey from passing.

The midrashim tell (how could one pass by such a detail) that from this Bil'am became lame for the rest of his life. A second time the angel appears on the way, a second time the she-donkey leaves the road, tries to go around the angel, and a second time Bil'am beats her.

A third time the Angel stands in the way, and again, a third time, the she-donkey acts accordingly, and a third time Bil'am beats the she-donkey. And here a miracle happens!

And again we can see a certain parallel with Avraham, from that same mishna in the tractate Avot, which speaks of ten entities created before the onset of Shabbat in the first days of creation. Among them are the lamb that got its horns caught in the branches, and the mouth of the she-donkey (of course, not the jaw of the she-donkey, not her speech apparatus, which she does not have, but the very ability to speak). That is, translating this from the language of mysticism into a more simplified language, before Shabbat, in the plan of creation, the Most High had certain points, places of meeting with the universe, and among other things these were both the lamb and Bil'am's she-donkey. And this brings us back to what we have already said: Avraham went his way, and for him on this way a lamb is provided in advance. Bil'am went his way, did not leave the donkey behind, as Avraham did, but went under the leadership of the donkey, and on his way a talking donkey is prepared.

A great many people rode on donkeys, on she-donkeys, in those times. Donkeys are the most widespread, cheap, accessible form of transport. It must be said that donkeys were unlucky – they are not very respected animals, and stupid people are called donkeys, and the attitude toward donkeys is dismissive, and they are beaten quite often. But for donkeys to talk – that, of course, happens in fairy tales and cartoons, but in everyday life donkeys were not very talkative fellows. And here we see that a miracle happened, and the she-donkey began to speak with Bil'am. And one might expect a surprised reaction: “Wow, the she-donkey has started talking!”, or: “So why were you silent before?”, or: “So you can talk?!” But Bil'am reacts as though nothing special had happened, and simply answers the she-donkey's question.

The talking she-donkey, as the midrash says, laughed at this point. Indeed, it is funny: the great seer, illusionist, magician and wizard, who is about to curse a whole people, cannot cope with a simple she-donkey without a sword. Shame on you, comrade! What monstrous unprofessionalism!

Still, a question remains: why was Bil'am not surprised that the she-donkey started talking to him? I think the whole point is that Bil'am could imagine that he was seeing some kind of vision, a revelation, that it was not in waking reality that the she-donkey was talking to him. The reality of a person who engages in such things is often shifted, and not only donkeys but stones, monkeys and fish talk to him. That is why he was not surprised, but simply began to argue with the she-donkey, and on top of that to threaten her with cold steel. Well, and the she-donkey, strictly speaking, is not very surprised either, and continues the conversation with him.

Well, you see, Bil'am has some kind of honesty, he is honest even with the she-donkey: “No, there was no such thing.” And when at least some word of truth had been spoken, in verse 31 we read:

First of all, probably, Bil'am was very frightened, but he reacts correctly, as is proper – he bows and prostrates himself.

Pay attention, the angel begins by standing up for the poor beast and says: “Bil'am, what are you tyrannizing the poor beast for? Why do you beat her three times?” If we recall the parallel with Avraham, to whom an angel also appears, the angel tells him in advance: “Do not lift your hand against the lad, do not touch your son!” And also: “Because I know that you are faithful to Me, because I know that you did not spare your son.” Here – also the angel of the LORD, he too stops Bil'am and says: “Because you have turned aside from My way.” It turns out that Bil'am is that very donkey that walks and strays from the way and that tries somehow to get around the Most High, as the she-donkey tried to ride around the angel. But you cannot get around the Most High either on a she-donkey or on a crooked goat, and He sends an angel, and the angel intervenes in Bil'am's fate. The she-donkey as a parable for Bil'am, to show him that he himself is, by and large, a donkey, and should not take too much upon himself. The she-donkey, being between one master, Bil'am, who sits on her, and another Master, invisible to him, the angel of the LORD, who stands before her, as it were demonstrates to Bil'am that it is the invisible Master one has to obey. Even a donkey understands that! That is why the angel says to Bil'am: “What are you beating the she-donkey for? Beat yourself, for it is you who turned aside from My way.”

There is such an interesting parable. When Yeshua rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and crowds of people greeted him, the donkey thought that they were greeting it, and rejoiced, and was delighted: “Finally I have been recognized and appreciated!” We sometimes act the same way when we do some good deed in the name of the Most High. We, in essence, act as a donkey or as a courier who brings a pizza. And although he did not bake it, and he did not pay for it, sometimes he gets a tip and gratitude, and the thought arises: “What a fine fellow I am, what a good pizza I delivered.” Reasoning this way, we find ourselves in the position of Yeshua's donkey. When you serve the Most High, you have to remember that you are a courier, you are His little donkey, otherwise you may end up subordinate to a donkey. There are many parallels here, because in each of us there is a Bil'am, in each of us there is a she-donkey, well, and of our Forefather (avínu) Avraham, too, I hope, there is something. And this whole story with the she-donkey is an instructive, illustrative parable for Bil'am and an instruction for us.

And further the angel tells Bil'am what actually happened, opens up for him a little the backstage of what is going on.

The Most High had mercy on Bil'am, teaching him something through the she-donkey. The she-donkey to some extent took the blow upon herself instead of Bil'am. And the angel said: “I would have killed you, if not for this she-donkey. Say thank you to the she-donkey.” I think that very often in our life too it happens that we resist something and, like Bil'am, beat the donkey that, in essence, is saving us. It seems to us: why on earth is it taking us somewhere the wrong way?! What a donkey! But sometimes it turned out in life that the only donkey I had ever met was myself. And again this is a parable about the submission of man to the Most High and about Who is the main one in this cooperation, a parable both for Bil'am and for us, which we are examining here from different sides. Bil'am, it must be said, realizes his guilt, the measure, degree and depth.

Bil'am went already fully recruited to the side of the Most High, that is, having finally gone over to the side of the invisible Master.

Balak again returns to the same thought we started with: “I wanted to send for you for my own personal purposes, too.”

Some translators translate Kiryat-chutzot as the name of a city. But if you break this name down, then kiryát – that is a city, chutzót – that is squares, big courtyards, big avenues, that is, Kiryát chutzót – that is a big megalopolis. They came, apparently, to the capital, that is how it should be understood.

It is natural for a person to treat guests to tasty meat food, fresh meat – this is classic Eastern hospitality. Here everything further goes as usual, and at the end of our chapter a new story begins, probably the most interesting one.

From there we will see the very edge of the camp of Israel. This is the beginning of a new story, but it is also the end of our chapter 22.

With God's help we continue to study the weekly portion Balak, and we will read from verse 1 of chapter 23 of the book of Bemidbar. I will recall the brief content, the background. The people of Israel are moving toward the promised land, toward the land of Israel, and are approaching the borders of Moav. There are countless multitudes of Israelites around Moav, so that they fill all the visible space. Balak speaks about this, he is very worried and alarmed. And he understands that Israel has won several victorious battles, that there is some special power that protects Israel, and Moav does not have enough strength simply to go to war with Israel – especially after Israel defeated the Amorites. And therefore Balak comes up with what seems to him a brilliant move, and from far away, from the banks of the Euphrates, from the thrice-ninth kingdom, the thrice-tenth realm, he sends for a great prophet, psychic and sorcerer by the name of Bil'am. After long negotiations Bil'am arrives in Moav, he is solemnly welcomed, he is fed a hearty supper, which we read about at the end of chapter 22. But every evening has a morning, and in the morning Bil'am must set about doing what he had actually been called for.

Well, of course, we know (starting from the book of Bereshit, where there are seven days of creation) that the number seven is an important number, one that has great symbolic meaning. But here we will delve into the arithmetic a little deeper, because yet another surprise awaits us. So, Bil'am gives Balak the instruction to build seven altars.

The word shéfi can be translated as crushed, that is, he went crushed, that is how some commentators translate it. Others say that the word shéfi means hill, and then Bil'am began to go up the hill. Most commentators say that the word shéfi means alone, that is, you stand here, and I will go alone. Ibn Ezra, a well-known commentator and a great expert in Hebrew, allows himself a joke here and says: “Many translate the word shéfi as the word lonely, solitary, and this word itself is lonely, because it does not occur anywhere else in Scripture.” We do not encounter the word shéfi anywhere else, and that is why it is hard to translate. Ibn Ezra himself is inclined to translate the whole phrase as and he went onto a hill. I think that here it is important to understand it as and he went alone.

What is the whole verse actually about? Balak is not just some person, Balak is the king of Moav. And as the king of Moav, he represents the whole Moavite people. When he stands next to the altars, this symbolizes the sacrifice of the whole Moavite people. And ahead of him, in his name, as the envoy of the people of Moav, goes Bil'am. That is why he goes alone. So, Balak stayed by the altars, and Bil'am went ahead in expectation of the revelation of the Most High.

The word vayikkár (instead of vayikrá) is written short, as if the last syllable were swallowed. The commentators point out that there is in this a certain imperfection of the revelation, as if the Most High, having appeared to Bil'am, is displeased with him. Bil'am too apparently feels that the Most High is not turning to him with a shining face, and therefore he says: “Uhh… but I brought You a sacrifice over there.” Other commentators say: “Israel built You only one altar (meaning in the courtyard of the Mishkan), look, I built You seven altars, I give more.”

Everyone is waiting impatiently, but they stand humbly by the altars and wait for what Bil'am will say.

The word meshaló is usually translated as parable. Here one can translate it as artistic speech. In the book of Iyov we encounter this word in a similar meaning. From the distant mountains – this is a metaphor, one can translate it as from the thrice-ninth kingdom or from beyond the sea, from distant lands.

Let us pay attention to something we did not do earlier – to the word ara-lí (curse for me). There are several words that occur in the Torah for a curse. In the book of Devarim (23:6), when the curse of Bil'am is recalled, it will be said that the Most High turned the klalá (curse) into a brachá (blessing). The word klalá in the sense of curse comes from the word kál – light, weightless, contemptible, worth nothing. Klalá instills in a person that he is unworthy, worth nothing, pitiful, wretched, forlorn, that nothing will come of him, that there is no point even in trying.

The second word with the same meaning curse for me, which occurs in this chapter and in the previous chapter, is the word kava-lí, from the root nun-kuf-bet; the verb linkóv means to pierce an opening, to make a hole. This is when in a person, as in a vessel, a hole seems to appear: whatever you pour into him – everything will leak out, a breach in the hull of a ship.

And the third word that is used here, in our verse, is the word ara-lí – probably the most astonishing of all the words used, because its root is the same as that of the word or (light). But light is usually a blessing, isn't it? Right. But it is hard to look at the sun – it blinds, and if at night someone shines a flashlight into your eyes, that will not help you see at all: too great an amount of light can blind. Just as too great an abundance can ruin a person. If a drug addict or an alcoholic comes into a lot of money, he may be tempted and die. If a person in a leadership position gains access to a lot of money, he too may be tempted. If a person is too beautiful, too eloquent, too respected, enjoys attention, then an excess of attention can corrupt that person. In the same way power too can corrupt a person. Any thing in excess can turn into a curse if a person cannot contain it. The word ara-lí means precisely a curse through abundance, through excessive possession of something that a person is not given to possess, that he cannot cope with.

So, Bil'am begins his speech to Balak. And then he explains why he is not able to do what is expected of him.

That is: “I can dance angry dances around them as much as I like, but if the LORD has no anger toward them, then this does not affect them in any way.” But not only does Bil'am refuse to curse the people, he even blesses them in front of the whole cabinet of ministers of Moav, and completely unexpectedly for Balak himself.

One can understand this as: into the very depths, into the very depths of their history I penetrated to the root and tried to dig around in them. The Most High arranged it so that the most beautiful blessing to Israel was spoken by the mouth of a pagan, the magus Bil'am.

In the Middle Ages this passage was commented on like this: “We live here – in Germany, in France, in Poland. But neither Germany, nor France, nor Poland influences us. We live in our cultural theological ghetto, no galút will influence us, nothing will make us imitate them – we are not like them.” But this is most likely not what Bil'am meant here. And what did Bil'am mean? This can be understood on the basis of the commentary of Ibn Ezra, who says: “When allotments are distributed to the nations, the people of Israel receives its allotment according to a different program.” As it is written in the book of Devarim (32:8–9): “When the Most High gave shares to the nations, dividing people, He set the borders of the nations according to the number of the sons of Israel, for God's share is His people, Yaakov is the region of His share.”

That is: “Who can curse Israel so that it becomes dust? I would even want such a death as theirs will be. I would like to have a part, to have a share in their destiny, I would like to be part of this people.” In Odessa they say: “May I live like that!” But Bil'am says: “May I die like that, like them!” Well, naturally, this state of affairs does not please Balak.

In other words: “Sorry, I am a man under orders: whatever the LORD puts into my mouth, that is what I say. It was you who called me, you decided to get mixed up in this business. What complaints can you have against me? I said from the very beginning that I would speak what God tells me.” Here Bil'am honestly warns and says: “Sorry, I will speak what God tells me. If you think you can somehow persuade God, well, let us try, all right. But I will not say anything on my own.” In the apocrypha (4 Book of Maccabees, ch. 10) this story with Bil'am is described, who says: “I do love money, of course. But I fear the Most High more than I love money.” At this stage Bil'am has already understood a lot for himself and therefore said: “Sorry, Balak. If we somehow come to an agreement with Him there and He curses the people – I will curse, sure, I don't mind. But I will speak only what the Most High told me.”

That is, it may be that when you see the whole people, then it is clear that the whole people, the entire people, the Most High loves and blesses. But perhaps when you see the edge of the people, some outsiders, you will be able to find some mote in the eye, some speck, then you will be able to curse this people after all, and therefore – let us go to another place. Balak does not lose hope.

The field of watchers – this is apparently a place where astrologers and astronomers gathered and observed the stars, that is, some very convenient observation platform.

This is the second time that Bil'am and Balak offer up fourteen animals as a sacrifice.

Constant festive trumpet calls sound among the people of Israel, a constant joyful trumpeting from the presence of the King.

That is, in leaps from peak to peak, at great speed, swiftly the Most High brought them out of Egypt.

What kind of strange phrase is this? What strange idea is Bil'am voicing? He says that Israel cannot be understood by magic, it is impossible to discern the future of Israel by coffee grounds, by a crystal ball or by an apple that rolls around a little plate. And Israel itself does not engage in this. And it is given to no one. In its time it will be revealed what Israel is destined for.

In Hebrew there are several words for a lion and even more for lion cubs, that is how it developed historically. In this case, in the first part of the verse kelaví yakúm – like a lion (laví) will rise. In the second part of the verse vecha'arí yitnassá – and like a lion (arye) will lift itself up. That is, the same expression is said in two different ways. Of course, this is not about the people of Israel drinking blood. This is a parable comparing Israel to a lion.

Bil'am says: “I cannot keep silent either, since you called me, since you dragged me into this business – then here it is, receive it and sign for it. I will do what the Most High told me, and there is no getting away from it for us.” But Balak does not calm down: the mice cried, pricked themselves, but kept on eating the cactus.

Maybe there is some such angle of view, maybe somehow with the help of a hacker program to pick the little keys to the Most High, and at this angle it will get through, at this angle you will be able to curse the people.

For the third time Balak and Bil'am build seven altars and offer fourteen sacrifices on them. In total, three times fourteen – forty-two sacrifices are offered by Balak and Bil'am. The number forty-two occurs often in Scripture. Three times fourteen – that is the genealogy of Yeshua from Adam in the Gospel of Matthew (1:7). Three times fourteen – that is the number of sacrifices that the friends of Yov offered (book of Yov, 42:8), seven bullocks and seven rams from each. The forty-two stations of the sons of Israel in the wilderness are described in chapter 33 of our book Bemidbar. So here, too, the number forty-two is hidden, in verse 30 of chapter 23.

With God's help we continue to study the weekly portion Balak, and we will read chapter 24 of the book of Bemidbar. We stopped at the point where, after two unsuccessful attempts to curse the people, Bil'am decides on a third attempt and for the third time asks King Balak to prepare fourteen sacrifices.

Bil'am understood that for him himself his conduct would be good in the eyes of the Most High if he blessed the people of Israel. The Most High wants a blessing from him for the people of Israel, and Bil'am has finally understood this, he has come to terms with it and no longer tries somehow to out-argue the Most High, he submits to the Most High in this. And in order to find something out, to understand the situation, Bil'am no longer needs the little apple that rolls around on the little plate, or a crystal ball, or a pendulum, or the smoke of burning incense. He uses no magical things at all, but looks only with his own, perhaps supernatural, sight at the wilderness, which is filled with the people of Israel.

We know that the expression vayissá et-enáv (and he lifted up his eyes) occurs when a transition to some prophetic level takes place. Bil'am refused to receive any information from the sources of his magic, by means of a trance or in some other unknown way, began to look with a human gaze and rose to a prophetic level. This time he is granted that the spirit of the Most High descends upon him, and it is precisely by the spirit of God that he will now speak his speech.

The phrase shetúm ha'áyin occurs in the text very rarely. And every time such a situation arises, it is hard to understand what is being talked about, and one has to look for some parallel sources, and there are almost no parallel sources. And we try to guess through some other languages, through something close, and two options arise: the first option is a torn-out eye, an open eye socket, a gaping eye, as it is usually translated; the second option is an excessively opened eye, as one would say today in New Age language – an open third eye, that is, a person who sees with supernatural sight. That is how Bil'am speaks of himself, and most likely it is the second option that fits best, because a person beginning his speech is hardly going to say: “Listen to me, for I am one-eyed.” True, the idea of a one-eyed prophet also took root in literature and folklore, it became a proverb. In the Talmud there is a proverb whose meaning is clear: “On the street of the blind, even the one-eyed is called a prophet.” So, to denote a one-eyed person, precisely this expression is used, shetúm ha'áyin. But most likely in the times of Moshe, in the times when the Torah was given, this expression did after all have the meaning opened, wide-open eye. This is part of how Bil'am, speaking of his authority, presents himself, how he announces who is going to speak now.

It is interesting that here Bil'am names the name Shaddai. This name is used in the book of Bereshit, the Patriarchs utter it very often. This name occurs many times in the book of Iyov, which belongs roughly to the same times. The fact that Bil'am uses this name shows that he is familiar with an ancient tradition. What does the expression falls and remains with open eyes mean? It means that visions are opened to him and appear to him in sleep. Bil'am's speech begins with a testimony about the vision of Shaddai, that is, before a person speaks about why he should be listened to, he introduces himself, who he actually is. In this case Bil'am says: “Now a great prophet will speak to you, who sees the vision, hears the utterance, a prophet with a gaping eye.” Remember how Paul introduced himself: “I am Paul, a servant of Yeshua Mashiach”? Here, though, it is an introduction that is supposed to create a stir among the listeners: why, such an authority, Bil'am himself is going to speak now! What will the great Bil'am say?

The commentators say that Bil'am looked from above and saw that the tents in Israel were arranged in such a way that an entrance was not opposite an entrance, so that from one tent one could not see what was happening in another tent – just as the windows of houses should not be opposite each other, so as not to create a temptation, so as not to accidentally expose the private life of other people. The Talmud discusses this question, discusses whether spying on a person is doing him damage. Clearly, if I broke a person's sewing machine, then I did him damage. If I inflicted bodily injuries on him, then I did him damage (and there are numerous other cases). But if I stood and watched through the window how he cuts herring, did I do him damage by this? The Talmud says – yes, I did him damage. Every person has a right to a private life, even if he is doing nothing reprehensible or immodest, but is simply engaged in his everyday work, living his everyday life, and there is no reason to spy on him. And the commentators say: “The tents of Israel stood in such a way as not to be opposite one another, so that the people would not spy on one another, would not strive to penetrate into someone else's private life,” not only on the level of windows, not only on the level of doors. Again the commentators say: “Well, Bil'am could not have seen this miracle of architecture from such a huge distance.” But by the air that Israel breathed, by how Bil'am saw the camp, by how the city looked, he understood that in the city there were none of these squabbles, that Israel has this quality – non-interference in private life. As they say, this is one of the explanations of why Bil'am was so delighted with the tents of Israel. Bil'am knows how nomads live, and he had seen all kinds of tents.

Other commentators say that ohalécha and mishkenotécha are names of the sanctuary. Bil'am is delighted that the Most High lives in Israel, that at that moment this is the address, known among the other nations, at which the Most High is registered in this world.

Here there is a whole series of plant elements, various kinds of beautiful trees of different degrees of height and different degrees of usefulness. An interesting remark: like cedars by the water. The thing is that a cedar usually does not need streams of water, it does not strive to grow by streams of water, and most likely by the name érez (plural arazím) some other tall tree that bears no fruit is meant here, it need not be understood as a cedar.

Well, we know that Agag is the king of the Amalekites, who will reign much later, in the times of Sha'ul. And the commentators see in this, possibly, a prophecy that speaks of Sha'ul, that is how it can be understood. Here Bil'am, under the influence of the spirit of God, speaks a prophecy. On the other hand, one can understand the word agág not as a proper name, but as a title: king, pharaoh, padishah, pasha, sultan, bey, or, for example, agág. And then it is about the king of Israel being higher than the agág (in rank). But most likely it really is about a prophecy, this fits well with what happened with Sha'ul, who was able to defeat Agag and whose kingdom was exalted.

That is, like a lion or a lioness that are tired after they have sated themselves with prey, have mauled all their enemies and have imperturbably, languidly lain down on the grass and are resting, so that hares, rabbits and wolves can hop about calmly nearby. This does not bother the lions, a calm, phlegmatic indifference descends on the sated lion – and who will rouse him? This is Bil'am's prophecy about the people of Israel, which after its victories will live peacefully, calmly, securely in its land.

The one who blesses you will be blessed, and the one who curses you will be cursed – this is a general principle that the Most High states more than once regarding Israel, but in this case it has a special meaning. Bil'am has been invited in order to curse, next to him is Balak, who falls into the category of the one who curses, and that means he himself will be cursed, and Bil'am here not only blesses Israel, but also curses Balak. And Balak could not fail to understand this, this could not fail to enrage Balak.

He clapped his hands, maybe he slapped his palms on his knees – a gesture like that, meaning not applause, but disappointment.

Well, Bil'am does not have to reach into his pocket for a word, luckily, it has long been on his lips.

Bil'am says: “What complaints can you have against me? I did warn you that I work in relay-station mode: what the LORD says, that is what I will say, and for no money will I agree to anything else.” Of course, Bil'am had the hope that the Most High would curse Israel, that is why he ventured on this. But he did warn in advance that the system might fail.

The commentators dwell on two words, lechá i'atzechá (come, I will advise you), and say that this is about the advice to slip Israel girls from the neighboring peoples as a temptation, simply to seduce Israel through debauchery. There is a hint of this in our book (31:16), where Moshe says that these maidens appeared on Israel's horizon by the word of Bil'am. Here, however, we read the plain meaning.

Perhaps, after Bil'am understood that the design of the Most High is to bless the people of Israel, he added a new description to his title. Other commentators say that Bil'am had such a harmful trait: he knew when the Most High is angry, and knew how to catch these moments. He knew, as it were, the biological clock of God (if we assume that He has one). But this seems too simple a scheme, and most likely one can suppose that Bil'am now credited himself with the experience of direct communication with the Most High on the basis of this very occasion, when the spirit of God came down upon him.

And Bil'am again repeats that he sees the vision of Shaddai and falls with open eyes. This is his traditional opening, the traditional introduction to his parables. This is already the second time we are reading this.

An interesting word darách: lidróch means to tread, lehidaréch – to be cocked, like a trigger. Here it is used as to rise upward. At the same time, this word shares a root with the word deréch (way). That is, the star from Yaakov can rise, or it can become a guiding star, begin to show the way. The commentators see in this first of all a hint of David and, of course, a hint of the Mashiach (the one does not exclude the other). Ibn Ezra says that this prophecy is specifically about David, and there is no need to speak about the Mashiach here, we have enough places about the Mashiach. But it may well be that this is about a general principle of the Most High's action. And since the Mashiach is the son of David, his revelation can also be a parallel to the revelation of David. Therefore one can say that there is a star that will rise from Yaakov, the star of Yaakov, which will be a guiding star.

Apparently this is about David, this is what happened in his times, as is the fact that David crushed the outskirts of Moav. After this Bil'am switches his prophetic gaze, switches channels.

What does it mean, Amalek is the firstborn of the pagans? How did it come about that he is the firstborn? He is the pioneer of attacking Israel. When it had not yet entered anyone's head to attack Israel, Amalek had already ventured on it. The commentators give the example of a hot mikva, some hot pool. Because it is hot, steam rises from it, and no one dares to go down into it. And then along comes such an Amalek, jumps all chipper into this hot pool – and everyone understands that it is not all that scary after all.

Perhaps this is not about a rock, but about the city of Sela, which is in the south, and a dwelling has to be built in it.

This expression can be roughly translated as “Well, they won't exile you any farther than Siberia anyway.” Even if you are carried off somewhere into captivity, then not far and not for long, because there is simply nowhere farther to go. We see here that Bil'am's prophecy relates not only to Israel. This is a great prophecy for the whole region: the Most High says what will change with the entry of the people of Israel into this region, into this area, without tying absolutely everything to the fate of Israel. Through Bil'am the Most High tells the nations about their future.

Here Bil'am prophesies about the fall of Ashur after the attack of a fleet that will come from one of the islands of the Mediterranean Sea. This is the fall of Ashur and of the whole region beyond the Euphrates, what Bil'am calls Ever (the other bank). That is, there will be a great war, practically over the whole territory of the land of Israel, but Kitim will also perish. With this Bil'am finished his prophecy, his prophetic address to Balak.

With this chapter 24 of the book Bemidbar ends, and, it would seem, everything is going well, everything that was to happen has happened. We said that all this is happening behind the scenes, Israel does not know and does not see any of this, and in Israel everything goes on in its usual course. No one knows that the Most High is carrying out His plan, only to us does the Torah reveal it a little (through Moshe), no one from the people was a witness of this story.

Let us continue reading chapter 25, from verse 1.

Naturally, while they were walking through the wilderness, such a problem did not arise. But now the people settled next to other peoples, reached a place where one can get acquainted with foreign women, and began to get acquainted, and this led to harlotry.

After all, the cultural life of Moav was apparently not very rich: where do you go in the evening with a girl? The movie theaters had not opened yet, there are no theaters, and nobody had signed up at the libraries. Therefore the girls, after romantic dinners, invited the people to a sacrifice to their gods: “Will you take me to our shrine tonight? – Well, of course I'll take you, darling.”

In ancient Semitic texts the verb lehitzamed (in relation to some god) means to make a covenant with a god. That is, many of the Israelites broke the covenant with the Most High and entered into a covenant with the horned Moabite god by the name of Ba'al-Pe'or. Ba'al – master, ruler, Pe'or – pit, grave. That is, this is a sort of god of death, a god of burials, his whole cult is connected with the cult of death. And so it was to this comrade that the people of Israel clung through the Moabite girls, and broke the covenant with the Most High.

The LORD says to Moshe: “Bring out all the rulers and hang them up, expose them to disgrace before all Israel.” Moshe acts differently, as we will see further on. The word lehokia (to denounce, to brand) here means to hang on a cross, to hang up or to publicly expose to disgrace. In the epistle to the Colossians (2:15) we read about the Mashiach: “Having stripped the rulers and authorities of their power, He boldly exposed them to disgrace, triumphing over them by Himself.” That is, these rulers (but no longer the rulers of the people, but rulers in the spiritual sense) were hung up after all, exposed to disgrace, and the Mashiach triumphed over them. This correction is completed by the Mashiach, who conquers the sin of idolatry and the striving for a covenant with foreign gods, the turning aside to the right and to the left – all that for which certain spiritual principalities bear responsibility, which enslaved the people of Israel through sin. It is precisely them that the Mashiach conquers; the command of the Most High speaks of the Mashiach: “He brought out all the rulers and hung them up to disgrace,” that is, He punished all who were responsible for the people's pull toward sin.

Meanwhile, in response to the command of the Most High, Moshe does not do what the Most High commanded him to do, he acts differently. Moshe commands the judges to deal with those who are starting this debauchery.

Moshe commands the judges to deal with their subordinates. He is not ready to hang the rulers up to disgrace. But in fact this command of Moshe is not carried out either, or perhaps it does not get the chance to be carried out, because events overtake it.

In full view of all the good people, a certain Israelite went into a tent with the Midyanite woman and said: “This is my girlfriend, I live with her now, and look, I pay no attention to all your efforts, I am not a racist, and you are all religious fanatics.” This happened before the eyes of the whole community, the whole community was weeping, and no one dared to take any action, but there was a man by the name of Pinchas.

The word hakuba (niche) is used both to designate a place for intimate relations and for all sorts of indecent public establishments.

So, there is this situation, that the people of Israel received the blessing of Bil'am. The people never did learn of this blessing, but the blessing is at work. When the feeling appears in a person's spirit that he is perfect, righteous, exalted and chosen, this can push him to the point that he may risk sinning, thinking that the sin will be forgiven him, that everything is permitted to him, or that more is permitted to him than to others. Thus a blessing can turn its reverse side toward a person, God forbid. The commentators say that the blessing was a great light, and Israel could not cope with this light, although it neither saw nor understood what was happening behind the scenes. Israel, having received the blessing, perhaps became attractive in the eyes of the Midyanite women, who knew this whole story, and this is what it led to. Not all the sages, not all the teachers approve of Pinchas's deed, it is not always possible to act this way. What happened to Pinchas next, you and I will learn when we study the next portion, the portion Pinchas.

At the center of our weekly portion are two main characters: the king of Moav, Balak, and the prophet Bil'am ben Be'or. Balak, the king of Moav, sees the political events that are taking place around him, and this frightens him very much. Introducing Balak, the Torah calls him simply: Balak ben Tzippor. What is special here? Usually, when a king appears in Scripture, he is called king. It would have been correct to write Balak – king of Moav. But Balak is frightened, stunned, that is, he is in such a state that he is not a king at all, but simply the son of Tzippor. And the frightened Balak turns to the prophet for help, asks Bil'am, for money, to curse the people of Israel. We can take a closer look at this man, the prophet, whose name is Bil'am. When archaeologists were carrying out excavations in 1967, they found several stone tablets, several stones glorifying the deeds of Bil'am. Moreover, such tablets were found both in the Judean Desert and in the very north, at the border of the Golan Heights. That is, the man was not just some petty prophet, a local shaman, but was widely known for those times. We also see in the Torah that he is not a false prophet, the Most High Himself comes to him, appears to him. That is, this is a prophet who has communication with the God of Israel. Jewish tradition says that there was no prophet like Moshe in Israel. In Israel there was not, but among the nations of the world there was, and that is precisely Bil'am. And so King Balak turns to Bil'am with the request to go and curse the people of Israel. At first Bil'am refuses. He says to the king's messengers: “Even if Balak gives me his house full of silver and gold, I will still not go, if the LORD does not tell me. Therefore stay for the night, during the night I will listen and do what the LORD tells me.” And in the end Bil'am does agree after all. What is the reason, what made him agree? One can say that a whole people of prophets is entering the land of Israel, a people that has living communication with God. And who will Bil'am be now against this background? All his distinctiveness, all his fame – all this will be worth nothing if the people of God enters the land. And therefore it is important for Bil'am that the people of Israel should stumble.

The question arises: can it really be that Bil'am, who saw all the events that had happened to Israel and understood that the people is blessed, can it really be that he does not realize how dangerous it is to go and curse such a people? Still he goes ahead with it, and we can try to understand how he himself assesses what is happening. Here comes a people that is under the protection of the Most High and that has already been with the Most High for more than one decade, coming from a devastated Egypt, freed from every house of slavery. The commentators say that Bil'am perhaps thought that the people had made this whole journey in order to be handed over into his hands, and they saw in this an error that often happens to a believing person. When a person receives some revelations and has communication with the Most High, he can begin to see his own importance in the eyes of the Most High, can begin to think that the Most High, as it were, even serves him and does what the person tells Him. And he tries to use these revelations both to obtain some glory and honor and simply to earn money. And in this respect the revelation of the Most High that he receives leads him astray. It seems to him that if there is revelation, that means he has peace and a right relationship with God. In the second epistle of Kefa (2:15) it is said: “Having left the straight way, they (the prophets) went astray, following the way of Bil'am ben Be'or, who loved the wages of unrighteousness.” That is, communication with the Most High became for Bil'am a means of earning money.

When we read the story of Bil'am, we can see that Bil'am is not just some historical figure. Bil'am is a kind of spiritual disease, when a person who has communication with God puts Him at his own service, and not the other way around, himself at the service of God. And so, infected with this disease, Bil'am rises and sets out on the way, goes to curse Israel. And the LORD performs a miracle for him. And not only for him, but also for the Midyanite and Moabite priests who accompany him: the she-donkey begins to speak. And the commentators ask: “Why was a miracle needed here? Why not give some direct revelation or something else?” And the answer they give is connected with understanding the traditions of that time. Very often rulers staged attacks by some enemies and thereby created fictitious victories in order to improve their reputation. Therefore already then the opinion could have arisen that these Jews had deliberately bribed King Balak in order to make themselves a good image, a good reputation. And for this purpose such a miracle was shown before all the priests.

And there was one more aspect, this time for Bil'am: it was shown to him who is really the prophet here. Prophetic speech is given to a person by the Most High, and the Most High can make even a she-donkey a prophet. This was a warning for Bil'am that he must not exalt himself, that he has no importance whatsoever in the eyes of the Most High. But Bil'am still understood nothing, continued on his way and was ready to pronounce the curse.

The Torah says that the Most High did not hear his curse. There is a very interesting place in the book of Devarim (23:6): “But the LORD, your God, did not want to listen to Bil'am, and the LORD, your God, turned the curse into a blessing for you…” When could the Most High hear a curse? Here we must understand one more particularity of a prophet. Communication with the Most High is given to a prophet so that he teaches his people. And with Bil'am it was exactly the same. Originally the gift of prophecy was connected with his position as a teacher, he was supposed to teach the people. As a man who is appointed as a teacher, appointed to bind and to loose, he could speak rebuke and even announce punishment. That is, in the case that he stands before God. But Bil'am loved the wages, and since he loved the wages, the Most High did not want to listen to his curse, Bil'am simply could not say it. How does prophecy work? The prophet announces a verdict, and the Most High can say “Amen” to this verdict. But Bil'am departed from his position, departed from the rank of prophet, and therefore the Most High did not want to listen to him. Do not forget that the Most High did not answer Bil'am's prayer when he asked to die the death of the righteous (23:10), that is, Bil'am did not have a good end (31:8).

And what does this give us as believing people? It is material for reflection on whether we stand before the Most High, even having the gift of prophecy. This question remains all the same, it can still turn out that we do not stand before the Most High. Thinking that we are on good terms with Him, we do not in fact serve Him, and it is necessary to check ourselves in this constantly.

In this talk we will speak about one of the facets that the weekly portion Balak opens up to us a little. The story we will dwell on is written in chapter 22 of our book, from verse 21.

Bil'am, a widely known (not only in narrow circles, but everywhere) sorcerer and curser, a man with whom the Most High communicates, rides on a donkey to curse the people of Israel. On the way he encounters an angel, whom he does not see, but the she-donkey sees him. The first time the she-donkey turns off the road, Bil'am beats her. The second time she presses against the wall, Bil'am beats her again. The third time she lies down, and Bil'am now beats her very hard. And then the mouth of the she-donkey is opened. Then the LORD opens Bil'am's eyes, and he too sees the angel. And the first question the angel asks Bil'am: “What do you beat your she-donkey three times for?”

Any person who rides a donkey, what can you do, beats the donkey. That is how all peoples handle donkeys: people who ride donkeys beat their donkeys. What is the complaint against Bil'am? The complaint against Bil'am is that, being a man who calls himself one who communicates with God, a sorcerer, a magician or something of the kind, he must pay attention to the events that happen around him. He should have paid attention and understood that it was not for nothing that the she-donkey was behaving like this. Rabbi Levi-Yitzchak of Berdichev says in his commentary: “A person must pay attention to the events that happen in his life.” But Bil'am did not pay attention.

We know other examples. Moshe, who saw the bush that did not burn up, came over to look at why this bush is burning and does not burn up. He is interested in examining, interested in understanding what is happening around him. Or, when Yosef goes to look for his brothers, he meets a man on the road. The commentators say that this was an angel. Yes, perhaps it was not an angel in the literal sense, but it was a messenger of the Most High, some person who turned out to be necessary in his situation and really played the role of an angel. And later, much time later, Yosef will say: “Brothers, do not grieve that I was sold, it was God who sent me.” In the events happening to him Yosef sees the hand of God. But Bil'am does not see it.

That is actually why he is addressed: “You, Bil'am, seem to have a prophetic gift. But in fact you have this gift because I, the Most High, gave it to you, and I can take it away from you and give it to a donkey. And then the donkey will see the angel, and you will not. The donkey will understand what is happening, and you will not. You have this gift only by My grace, it is My gift, not yours. And in essence you are no different from a donkey.”

Let us return again to the thought of Rabbi Levi-Yitzchak that a person who communicates with the Most High needs to see the Most High in the events that happen around him. And he also says that a righteous man is a person who watches himself attentively. This does not always have to be taken literally. In everyday life it can happen that you keep putting your shirt on inside out, you have to keep changing it. Or you want to pull one banknote out of your pocket, and another one comes out. If this keeps happening, then you need to pay attention to it and understand what the Most High wants to tell you by this.

Continuing this idea, let us read part of the blessing with which Bil'am, against his will, blesses the people of Israel. This is chapter 23 of our book. There are different translations, I will give the classical one. Bil'am says (23:23): “For there is no divination (nachash) in Yaakov and no sorcery (kesem) in Israel, in its time it will be revealed to Yaakov and Israel what God is preparing.” What kind of strange phrase is this? It is clear that this is about different kinds of magic that Israel does not practice, being simple before the LORD. There are cases when many religious families do not even check the sex of the future child by ultrasound, although, it would seem, this is not magic, not prediction, but they say: “We will not ask. Whoever the Most High gives, that is who it will be.” There is such an approach. We do not check, we do not find out, we do not try to tell fortunes in any way.

The Meishloach, Rav Lainer, gives an interesting understanding of this verse, opens up an interesting facet. The word nachash (divination, soothsaying) can be understood as coming from the word nachush (persistent, stubborn, obstinate). When a person pushes headlong toward some goal and says: “And I will do it anyway,” paying no attention to any accompanying events. This is the example of Bil'am for us, who rides and beats the she-donkey and says: “Why are you turning off the road, I have to get there!”

Here is what we observe: although Yaakov received the name Israel, in the Torah he is periodically called Yaakov again. It is held that Israel has two states. When he is in a certain weak state, when the will of God is not fully revealed to him, he is called Yaakov (therefore the vicesiThe Russian says “the vices” here, most likely a slip for the very similar Russian word for “the prophets” (compare Amos 7:2: “how will Yaakov stand, for he is small”). It is translated as written. often say that Yaakov is to be pitied, he is so small). Yaakov is not in a state of nachush (persistence, stubbornness). When a person is in the state Yaakov, he does not know the will of God exactly, he tries to understand it, and then he must listen attentively to events, not do something headlong, at any cost. There are cases when Scripture forbids this unequivocally, forbids all possible ways of influencing reality. For example, a husband has left the family, and we will go and cast a love spell, we will bring him back by magical means. By magical means (and it does not matter whether it works or not, what matters is the very turning to it) we will draw in a money channel, by magical means we will do something else. Any kind of magic that tries to bend reality to one's own will is forbidden.

So, we do not know what the will of God is when we are in the state Yaakov. There are situations when it is unclear to us whether something needs to be done, whether it is right to act in some way, to talk to a person or not, to go somewhere or not. And then one needs to listen to the circumstances. For example, I cannot decide whether to go to Tel Aviv or not, and I say to myself: “If I go to the bus stop now and there is a bus, then I will go; if not – then I will not go.” Or I was thinking about whether to talk to this person or not to talk, to tell him something or not to tell? And suddenly he comes to me and starts talking to me on the very topic I wanted to talk about. And I understand that I need to talk to him now, that it will be right now.

Israel is the same Yaakov, but in a state of awareness of the will of God, when we understand exactly that what we are doing – this is the will of God. A person creates some aid fund, a person is engaged in some charity, and he realizes that he is not in the state Yaakov, but in the state Israel. But there is resistance. When a person understands that he is doing what God wants, resistance appears. Why is there resistance? The goals are good, the means are good. Why does it not work out? Sometimes this happens because the Most High wants to teach us something. There is this classic example. A mom stands with a rattle and waits for the child to crawl to her. He crawls, he does not manage. But the mom wants to give him the rattle, the mom wants him to crawl to her, so that he learns something, so that he perhaps gets up on his feet, somehow learns to walk. Perhaps, if this is a confrontation with bureaucracy, one has to stand up against the bureaucracy. That is, there are situations when one has to rush forward like a lion and carry out one's task.

That is, I will repeat again the thought of Rav Meishloach: “There are two states. Yaakov – this is the state when we do not know the will of God. Then one must look at how the circumstances develop, whether the circumstances will favor our doing something. There is the state Israel, when we understand the will of God, when we know that we have to act, we have to rush forward like a lion, set ourselves against the circumstances and move.”

So, what then must be done? One must be in the state ka'et (now, at this time, at the present time). One must look at what time it is now, what state I am in now, what the situation is now, and evaluate one's actions: either I will rush forward now, I will move now, I will be moving now, or I must now wait to see how the circumstances develop. But only not in the case when this contradicts the Torah, when it is forbidden. That is, I cannot say: “If kosher sausage turns out to be cheaper than non-kosher now, then I will buy kosher. If not, then I will buy whichever is cheaper.” Here it is clear what the will of God is. But if in some situation there is doubt, there is wavering, then one needs to look closely at the circumstances. One needs to understand that our sense of righteousness, our sense of ourselves as Bil'am, or Moshe, or a prophet can fail, and it may turn out that we have lost this gift, one needs to watch over this. And sometimes one must not beat the she-donkey, but turn in the other direction. But when we know exactly what we will do, then we must move, despite the circumstances.

Rabbi Meishloach also has another commentary, which he relates to this same place. The Most High gives the commandment not to make for oneself a molten mask (molten gods). A molten mask – this is a form cast from metal, for a statue, for example, of some deity. A remark in parentheses: some commentators say that this mask is anger. Anger so contorts a human face that it becomes like a mask of the type “disperse, be afraid of me and run away from me.” Rabbi Meishloach paraphrases this commandment for other circumstances: “Do not create for yourself bureaucratic rules that cannot be got around.” That is, sometimes it is more logical and more correct to say that there is room for compromise, there is a possibility to depart from the rules or to change something. For example, a person was about to give a talk, to speak on some topic. He enters the classroom, and the class is stormily caught up in some other topic or some event. Or a person was driving in a car, preparing some lesson, and suddenly heard some important news. And one can change the original plan.

There are many situations that happen to people who are only beginning to take the commandments upon themselves. They run into incomprehension or rejection of this by their parents or family. And if strict halacha says that under no circumstances may one act in such and such a way, then in the case when a person is only setting out on the path of teshuva, there is a certain flexibility. One must not say that this is not accepted among us, we do not do it this way, we will never and under no circumstances do it this way, because this will be exactly the molten mask. There is no need to turn your tradition, your settled habits, your views into a molten mask. Listen to the circumstances, listen to the world. If you think all the time that you are in the state Israel, do not make a molten mask out of it, you may turn out to be in the state Yaakov. Sometimes one has to change the plan one had in mind, depart from some tradition and listen to the world. And the Rambam speaks about this, and Maimonides says: “A person must see every event in his world, in his surroundings, in his life as a manifestation of Divine involvement.” Something happened – we look attentively at what happened, why it happened this way. There is no need to fall into mental illness because of this, no need to lose common sense, but it is worth observing some events that keep happening in your life.

These are the thoughts I wanted to share.

Let us, using the example of our weekly portion Balak, talk about how a curse actually works. But first a little background. The Moavite king named Balak ben Tzippor, frightened of the coming clash with the people of Israel, decided to turn to sorcery for help. Being a very thorough and quite wealthy man, he turns to the most famous, the most authoritative specialist of his time in the field of sorcery, not simply a sorcerer, but a man with whom the Most High communicates, a man named Bil'am. The Torah tells a long story, full of twists and turns, about how Bil'am made his way to the place, how he tried to curse the people of Israel and how he did not succeed. And in verse 8 of chapter 23 we read the cry of the soul of this professional: “How shall I curse, if God has not cursed? How shall I bring down wrath, if the LORD is not angry?”

And the question arises: if one can curse only the one whom God has cursed, then why is a curse needed at all? What is Bil'am needed for at all then, if he can curse only the one who is cursed anyway? We will try to understand this by turning to the commentary of Chaim ben Atar, who is better known by the title of his book Or ha-Chaim (Light of Life).

But first one needs to understand how God's long-suffering works. We know that the world is built on the principle of reward and punishment. The righteous man receives a reward for his good deeds, receives help in his good deeds, and although this is not always obvious, we believe that it is so. A righteous man cannot be cursed, one cannot curse the one whom God has not cursed. The wicked man receives punishment for his evil deeds. Here again it is worth adding that this too is not always obvious, and many have been puzzled by the prosperity of the wicked, but it is so. Why can a wicked man prosper for some time? We know that God is long-suffering. And not only long-suffering, He also has such a quality as rachamim – nurturing, protecting love. Even toward a person who has committed a sin. The LORD takes care that he turns from his sin, that he has the possibility to repent, to return to the true path.

What happens when the LORD shows long-suffering toward a wicked man? When a wicked man commits a sin, his sin becomes as it were a separate entity, which accuses him above and says: “So-and-so or so-and-so created me.” This entity is at the same time a part of the wicked man himself, it lives in him. This is one of the facets of what is called by the Most HighiThe Russian wording is open: it can mean what the Most High calls Himself, or what is said of the Most High, “He who bears sin”. The English keeps it literal. nose avon (bearing sin). We are surrounded by our deeds, we clothe ourselves in our deeds as in clothing. But the LORD, who gives life to all that lives, in His mercy gives life also to this destructive sinful entity born of the wicked man, in order to give the wicked man the possibility to live. Otherwise the sins would crush him with their mass. When a curse sounds, when a person is cursed, this curse rises up above, rises up before the Most High (if it is deserved, of course). It interrupts or shortens the process of long-suffering, and at some moment there is an outpouring of wrath, of which Bil'am speaks. It is exactly a moment, as David says in Tehillim (30:6): “For His anger is for a moment.” That is, long-suffering is a process, a curse is an event.

And Chaim ben Atar explains in a few words how a curse works. God says to all these entities: “Go and feed on the one who created you. The one who created you, the one who begot you, let that very sinner feed you.” And they come to him, and they eat up his soul, eat up his life, because he has no independent life of his own, he is not a source of life. And so the curse acts in a person, destroying his life and perhaps killing him. In essence, a curse is the interruption, the shortening of God's long-suffering toward a person, the outpouring of God's wrath on the person. All that the LORD bore on Himself, all the person's own evil deeds pour down on him from above, and under this heap the person is destroyed and perhaps even perishes. This is how God's wrath is poured out. This, of course, is only one of the views, this is again some kindling for the little campfire of reflection.

There is a well-known joke that traffic lights are the only place on Earth where the speed of sound is greater than the speed of light. You have barely seen the green light that has come on for you, and you already hear a horn from behind and you are being hurried to move forward. If we look at this through the eyes of the person who is behind us (we often find ourselves in his place), then it may seem to us that someone in front of us is dawdling, that because of some clumsy oaf we are not keeping up in life, there are some obstacles that hold us back, and otherwise we would have made it, otherwise we would be moving forward, and that is why each of us honks his own horn. Then, having looked more closely, having stopped, having honked our fill, we may see that there is some old grandpa who is still crossing the road, or someone who is moving and breaking the traffic rules, who is the cause of the delay of the one standing in front. And then we understand that we were honking and getting angry simply because we did not see everything that was happening.

A similar story happened in our weekly portion with a perceptive man, a seer named Bil'am. We read about this in chapter 22 of the book of Bemidbar, from verse 21 to 34.

Bil'am, to put it in today's language, began to honk his horn after the she-donkey turned off the road the first time, having seen the angel of the LORD. And when she pressed Bil'am's foot, then he is already in pain, imagine how he honks his horn! And Bil'am is so carried away with his horn that he does not even pay attention to the fact that the she-donkey has started speaking with him.

Then something astonishing happens. Bil'am confesses that he has sinned, and says: “The cause of my sin was that I did not see everything.” It would seem, here is a good lesson for Bil'am – look at the full picture, learn, you can sin when you do not see everything, when you see only part of the picture. Confessing his sin, Bil'am learns this lesson, but continues on his way, intending to curse Israel.

Further on (23:13) we read: “And Balak said to him: ‘Go, I pray you, with me to another place, from which you will see it (Israel), but only its edge you will see, and all of it you will not see. And curse it for me from there!’”

That is: “Perhaps you will see some not-best part of it, and you will manage to latch on to something in order to curse it.” This is convenient for Bil'am. He deliberately closes his eyes so as not to see everything, so as to curse and not to bless. And only when he sees all Israel, when he looks from a height and sees the whole camp of Israel, does he bless Israel.

This is something that happens in our life quite often. We constantly honk the horn of our complaints, we say that what is happening to us is not the right thing and not the right way. Perhaps it happens this way because we do not see the angel – not with a sword, perhaps, but a guardian angel who stands and protects us. All the events of our weekly portion Balak take place as it were behind the scenes, the people of Israel do not take part in them. This is a deliverance of the people of Israel of which the people of Israel do not even know, and a lesson for us. Perhaps we do not see the series of deliverances in our life, and it is worth our while to reconsider the situation, to look at our life from a different angle. This will help us stop honking the horn and start blessing the Most High for the good that is already in our life, for the fact that we are sitting in the car after all, just a little more – and we will drive forward.

Read also the portion Chukat, the talk about blessings and curses and the weekly portions of the Torah.