B"H
Friday, Tammuz 13, 5784 / July 19, 2024
In this week’s Parsha, Balak, the Torah tells how Balak, King of Moab, feared the Jewish people. He hired Bila’am to come and curse them, so that he may win in battle against them and get rid of them.
Bila’am, who was blind on one eye, had special spiritual powers. He was happy to go and curse the Jews. He knew that he needed G-d’s permission to do it. In the beginning G-d wouldn’t allow him to go. Then He gave him permission but warned him to say only what G-d will tell him.
On the way, an angel blocked the road three times and the donkey, who saw the angel, stopped each time. Bila’am who didn’t see the angel, hit the donkey each time. After hitting the donkey the third time, G-d opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Bila’am: “What have I done to you that you hit me these three times?” The angel then told Bila’am, “Go with these men, but you may only speak the words which I will tell you to say.” In the end, no matter how much Bila’am tried, only blessings for the Jewish people came out of his mouth. In many of his passages he predicts about the coming of Moshiach.
Q. Why would the Torah name a Parsha after Balak, who wanted to kill the Jewish people?
A. The Talmudic sages explain that because of the forty-two sacrifices which Balak brought, he had the merit that Ruth descended from him. Subsequently, from Ruth came King David and King Solomon, who built the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. It is because of Ruth, King David and Solomon, who were descendants of Balak, that the Parsha is called by his name.
Q.Why does the Torah tell us that Bila’am was blind on one eye?
A.As mentioned yesterday, the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson as a small child asked his father, “Why did G-d create us with two eyes? I can see even with one eye?"
His father replied, “A person needs two eyes so that with the left eye, which represents judgment, he should look at himself in order to find his own faults and correct them. At another person, however, one should always look with the right eye - with compassion and kindness." The Torah tells us that Bila’am had no vision in one eye - he lacked seeing the good in the Jewish people.
In one of the concentration camps, during the Holocaust, there was a Nazi commander who was extremely cruel to the Jews. He had only one eye, his left eye was made of glass. but it was made so perfect that one couldn’t distinguish it. One evening he called one of the Jews and said to him, “If you recognize which is my false eye, I will give you a decent meal. But if not, I will shoot you on the spot!”
The Jew looked at him for a while and said, “It’s your left eye.”
“You’re correct,” said the Nazi. “I will give you the meal I promised. But how did you know?”
“I saw that only your left eye looked at me with sympathy and compassion… I knew it wasn’t you…”
SHABBAT SHALOM
Montreal candle lighting time: 8:18 / Shabbat ends: 9:30
UNITED WE STAND WITH OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CAPTIVITY. MAY THEY ALL BE RELEASED NOW.