B"H

Tuesday Tammuz 10, 5777 / July 4, 2017

This week’s Parsha, Balak, which will be read this Shabbat, begins with the story of Balak, King of Moab, who sent for Bilaam, who lived in Midyan, to come and curse the Jewish people.

This story took place during the fortieth year that the Jewish people were in the desert. They were now at the border of the Land of Canaan (Israel). They had just fought two mighty kings, Sichon and Og and their armies, who refused to let them pass through their land to go to Canaan and instead waged war against the Jewish people. They killed both kings and conquered their cities.

Balak was now worried that they would do the same to him and conquer his land. He knew that he had no chance against them after seeing what they did to the two mighty kings. He sent for Bilaam, whose power was in his mouth, as the Torah says, “Whomever he would curse would be cursed.” Balak wanted Bilaam to come and curse the Jews, hoping that then he may be able to defeat them.   

Bilaam, who hated the Jewish people, and in addition was also tempted by Balak's promises of wealth and honor, very much wanted to go and curse the Jewish people. Yet, he was warned many times by G-d, who came to him in a dream, not to go and not to curse them.

In the end, G-d gave him permission to go, but not to curse. Instead, G-d placed words of blessings in Bilaam's mouth and he ended up blessing them many times. The specific blessings are recorded in this Parsha. Some of Bilaam’s blessings became part of our daily prayers.

Q.How is it that blessings from a Jew-hater like Bilaam, became part of our holy prayers?

A.They were not Bilaam’s blessings. They were G-d’s words and blessings, which came through Bilaam’s mouth. Bilaam became a conduit through which G-d’s blessings came through, but they didn’t originate from him and had nothing to do with him. As such they were even greater blessings than if they had come through someone who wanted to bless them. For these were purely G-d’s blessings without any human credit. This is why they are part of the prayers.

Q.Was this Bilaam’s first encounter with the Jewish people?

A.Many years earlier, Bilaam was an adviser to Pharaoh in Egypt. Bilaam was the one who advised Pharaoh to enslave the Jewish people and then to throw the Jewish boys into the river. His hate for the people of Israel went back many years. Now he was happy to have another chance to hurt them.

A prominent Jewish statesman was invited to attend a meeting of the Warsaw City Council. When he entered he sat down in the left aisle. A Communist official approached him; “Although you are Jewish, you are an invited member. You are entitled to sit on the right side.

“I will sit on the left,” the Jew answered. “Here in Poland we Jews have no rights!”

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY