Parashas Balak

The Parsha this Shabbos is Parashas Balak . In the previous Parsha , HaShem Had Just Helped the Children Of Israel conquer the Giants Og and Sichon who were Moav's protection and now , Moav saw Israel approaching its borders and began to worry that if Israel could conquer their Giant protectors , what would Israel do to them .
In order to try overcome this immediate problem , the Moabites decided to appoint Balak , their King . He wasn't even a Moabite but part Midyanite . Moav and Midyan were not allies , but these two nations decided to work together to help each other handle the oncoming threat of our larger nation at the time.
Balak himself was a warrior and also delved into the negative Tum'a arts of magic and he knew where to curse a person from .
Balak in this Parsha is named " Balak ben Tzippor , " his Father , where his Father too was also into negative magic . Balak had the title ben Tzippor ( where a tzippor is a bird , as Balak used to catch live birds, skin them , and put their tongues into a made up copy of a bird , say certain incantations and after a few days , the birds would speak and tell of future events . On a certain occasion , this made up bird flew away and returned to Balak one day with a sudden burst of fire that came at it out of the sky and singed its tail . Balak knew he had to get help as the problems that was put to him about Israel being on the way , showed , that defeat was inevitable for the Moabites .
Balak sent emissaries to Midyan , remembering that he had heard that our leader Moshe had grown up there and Balak hoped to find out his weakness . The emissaries returned and told him that our power is in our mouths of prayer to HaShem , Who Saves us when we call out to Him , so Balak decided that the answer was to hurt us by mouth and thus came to the conclusion that we needed cursing by mouth to defeat us.
Balak remembered a man called Bilaam , who had once prophesied that Balak would become King and that Bilaam was known as a man for hire to curse enemies and that the curses would come true.
Bilaam , was the grandson of Lavan , where Lavan was the brother of Rivka and Father of Rachel , Leah , Bilhah and Zilpah , our For-Mothers and so Lavan put the hatred he had for Yaakov , their husband , into his children and it came down to his grandson and also fellow evil magician Bilaam .
Bilaam had a deep hatred for the Jewish people . Bilaam was one of Pharaoh's advisers in Egypt as one of the three advisers ,with Iyov Job and Yisro Jethro . It was Bilaam as one of the three , that had wanted and advised Pharaoh to kill little Moshe , when Moshe had sat on Pharaoh's throne as a game , in Egypt as a child , when Moshe was tested with the hot coal . It was Bilaam who had advised Pharoah to throw our Jewish boys into the Nile . It was Bilaam , who had advised Pharaoh to bathe in the blood of the Jewish children , when Pharaoh had gotten leprous sores . This was the same Bilaam who the nations were given as a prophet , so that the nations could never say about us that had they ever gotten a prophet like Moshe they too would have become high and holier . Thus Bilaam was the negative Tum'a prophet to Moshe's Holy Kedusha Prophet , each choosing their path to travel spiritually .
The Haftorah for this Parsha is in Micha 5:6-6:8 , that also mentions Bilaam and Balak .
Bilaam , had a certain ability , and that was to know the exact time to curse someone , relying on HaShem's Anger for a person at that moment . This moment was usually just after midday when the Sun was high in the sky. The reason HaShem Would Get Angry at that time , was , when the Sun was high in the Sky , it was then that people used to worship it as a deity , thus making HaShem Angry at Idol Worship at that moment . Bilaam would know the time to curse and putting that together with Balak know from where to curse , the two of them would be a formidable enemy . Bilaam had originally put a curse and border holding spell around Egypt so that the Jews would be prevented from ever leaving and now , it was apparent , that this spell was broken . Bilaam knew of HaShem and accounted HaShem as G-D . So when Balak sent emissaries to Bilaam , Bilaam first asked the elders sent , to spend the night there to see what HaShem Would Respond , in the meantime , Bilaam , being a man who was completely impure , hoped to have his way with these men , as he would have with his poor donkey . HaShem Appeared to Bilaam , not in the clear way HaShem Appears to Moshe and warned Bilaam not to go and curse Israel , for by HaShem , we are Blessed . So Bilaam sent the officers back to Balak , who kept sending more emissaries of higher ranks with silver and gold to persuade Bilaam to change his mind , saying back that even if Balak gave his houseful of riches ( thus hinting that Balak should offer more than just his household full of riches ) . Again Bilaam has them stay there the night also hoping to have his way with them and hoping to still be able to go and curse us , but again HaShem warns him and says he may only go , if and only if he speaks as HaShem Commands . The next morning , Bilaam saddled his own she- donkey ( unusual as he usually had his servants do that ) , showing his eagerness to go and curse us , yet our Fore-Father Avraham also saddled his donkey himself when he was on the way to the Akeidah with his son and so , Avraham's Actions , HaShem Allowed , to cover us for this incident . In Bilaam's heart , he still hoped to curse the Jews and so , HaShem's Anger flared up because he was going for that reason . So HaShem Sent an Angel to impede him . This Angel of HaShem was none other then Satan , who is not what people think , but an Angel who comes to sometimes impede and put an opposition in our paths , to make sure we deserve the Good HaShem Lavishes on us and thus comes to test us . If we look in the Hebrew here , the name here given as the word for impede , is Satan . The she - donkey saw the Angel of HaShem with a sword drawn , even though Bilaam did not and she turned away from the road and went into the field . Bilaam hit his she-donkey to turn it back to the road . Again the Angel of HaShem stood in the path . The she - donkey saw the Angel of HaShem and pressed against a wall , thus pressing and injuring Bilaam's leg against the wall . This wall place was actually a reminder to Bilaam for it was the very mound that his grandfather Lavan and our Forefather Yaakov had set up , so as never to go against each other , and here was Lavan's descendant Bilaam going against that agreement . Bilaam ignored the place and again hit his she donkey . The Angel of HaShem went again further up , and stood in a narrow place where no movement could take place either right or left and now the she-donkey lay down and didn't move . Bilaam again hit her .
HaShem Performed a Miracle , one that was Created at the beginning of Creation , this talking she donkey ( as Pirkei Avos teaches us ) and the she-donkey spoke up against Bilaam in front of and to the embarrassment of Bilaam's servants and all that were around him . No matter how Bilaam tried to talk her down , she showed wisdom beyond his attempted lies . The she-donkey acknowledged how Bilaam would use her for other purposes , to the embarrassment of Bilaam and showed how close they were , for the she-donkey was forced to submit to such a vile man doing such vile things . It was Bilaam who was the first in history , to open up gambling houses and places of paid prostitution . HaShem Then Uncovered Bilaam's eyes and he saw the Angel of HaShem . The Angel spoke to Bilaam and even referred to the fact that he had to kill the she-donkey or else it would have become an object to be worshiped sadly . Again the Angel instructs Bilaam to go and say only as HaShem Commands .
When Bilaam finally met Balak , Balak had set up a fake city scene to show lots of people , to try and get sympathy from Bilaam of how many people would suffer if we Israel would attack . Bilaam expected a bigger welcome , but Balak sent him only a measly portion to eat and kept the best for himself so Bilaam decided that he would have Balak set up repeated altars with lots of offerings , so Balak would have to use what Balak didn't want to spare on Bilaam for a welcome meal . Bilaam again reiterated that only what HaShem Says , can he say and cannot transgress HaShem's Wish . We notice that each time they went to a separate place , Bilaam has Balak set up seven altars with seven bulls and seven rams three times . Bilaam chose this number specifically , for he wanted to try bribe HaShem by offering seven false intentioned gifts , to try counteract seven holy men from our people - Moshe Aharon , Avraham , Yitzchak , Yaakov , Yosef and Adam . HaShem Is All Wise , and so , Bilaam's attempts were turned on his own head . We notice how it says that HaShem " Happened on Bilaam ," - " Vayikar ," where HaShem Did Not Actually Want to Communicate with Bilaam , but Did it by necessity , unlike with Moshe , which has the same word " Vayikra , " but with an Alef at the end , in the book of Vayikra , showing how HaShem Wants to Communicate with the righteous Moshe Rabbeinu .
Bilaam , instead of cursing us blesses us . By his words in each of the four times he speaks , one can see what he really wanted to say as a negative wish , but HaShem Turned everything he wanted to say to a Positive Blessing . Bilaam ends us blessing us and angering Balak . Balak decides to go to another place to find a vantage point to hopefully find iniquity in us , but again , HaShem Turns it into a Blessing and Bilaam speaks his second words of blessing to us . Bilaam realized our Tznius and family purity and how not a single tent's opening or window of ours faced a neighboring husband and wife's tent , for pure modesty , so no evil eye could be put on us . Bilaam hoped to catch HaShem's Moment of Anger , but for our sake , HaShem Chose Not To Sit in Judgement that day .
By the end of the second words of Bilaam , Balak was so angry with Bilaam , that he hit Bilaam in the eye, making him lose an eye and that is why Bilaam then refers to himself as the one with the open ' eye ' ( singular ) . The third time Bilaam speaks , he talks of future prophecies of what we will do to different enemies in the future , like Amalek and the Kittim . Bilaam even speaks of the End Of Days and Mashiach in his prophecies and reminds the World that HaShem Is Not A Man ( Numbers 23:19 ) . Again Balak gets angry and hits him . Bilaam reminds Balak that he cannot go against HaShem's Wish . Automatically , Bilaam suddenly goes into his fourth prophecy and tells Balak what we will do to his people at the End of Days , thus reminding him that we Israel have no intention at that time to attack Moav in that day and generation , but only in the future long in years after that . Bilaam then leaves but not before he decides to help set up a trap for Israel that may bring on HaShem's Wrath with us on purpose , seeing that it won't happen otherwise . At times in our history , Bilaam's intended negativity against us has carried and hit us at times , like the 42 aggressive youths killed in Elisha the Prophet's time , when they came out at Elisha , for Bilaam offered in this Sedra 42 animals as offerings . We need to thus ensure that we remain close to HaShem's Laws and keep family purity and modesty and always be of a holy pure Physical and Spiritual character for Tznius purity keeps negativity away .
A market got set up on the border near the Israelite camp , with wares to sell and inside each tent was a young lady set to trap the young men of our people . Even Bilaam's daughter was set up to try and entice Moshe and with her , Balak's daughter too , also to try catch Moshe , yet she ( Balak's daughter ) ended up with Zimri , leader of the Tribe of Simeon .
The place they chose for this was Shittim , a place known at the time for an air of immorality . HaShem Already had , prior to this , Taken into account the sin that would be committed there And Had Already Prepared something that would help us atone for this sin , and that was the wood used in the construction of the holy place in the Wilderness , wood from Shittim .
Once the Israelite men would be browsing in the market , they would be tricked into going and looking inside the tents of the markets , where the young girls ( a mixture of Moabites and Midianites ) were waiting to ply them with drink and apparent friendliness ( at that time , the prohibition of drinking foreign wine was not yet in force ) . The result was that these women got some of them to drink and eat with them and then end up paying homage to the idol by relieving themselves in front of it , which was the way they worshiped their idol . HaShem's Anger Flared and Instructed Moshe to kill them , those who had done this . Moshe asked HaShem how to know who was guilty , and HaShem Revealed the guilty ones , By Removing from above them the Clouds Of Glory , and so the sun shone brightly on the guilty ones ( thus does HaShem Instruct that they be hung against the sun ) .
The leader of the Tribe of Simeon Zimri ben Salu , managed to persuade Cozbi ( daughter of Balak ) who was meant to entice Moshe , to come with Zimri , into his tent , in direct view of Moshe . Moshe was so stunned that he couldn't even respond . Siting near him was Aharon's relative Pinchas , who could not take this affront to HaShem and his Rebbe Moshe and asked Moshe what he should do , for a child of Israel who cohabits with a gentile woman , the punishment is that he will be killed by zealots . Moshe responded that ' what he states , may he go and fulfill it . ' Pinchas , picked up Moshe's spear and followed Zimri to the tent and pierced them both , causing to halt , the plague HaShem Had Sent . 24 000 people fell that day , the same amount of our people that died as Rabbi Akiva's students later on in history . Pinchas was now covered and protected by HaShem for his action in saving the Honor of HaShem and of his Rebbe Moshe . It is here that the Parsha ends .
In this Parsha , one evil man calls another to come and put an ' Ayin Horah ' - ' An Evil Eye , ' on an innocent nation Israel . Instead of Bilaam cursing us , HaShem Sees to it that we get Blessed instead .
We notice that in referring to the ' Ayin Horah , ' - ' Evil Eye , ' we note that only one eye is mentioned . Don't people usually have two eyes . So why only mention a single eye as an Evil Eye ?
The answer to this is that those who curse and wish harm on others , are only looking at part of the picture and that makes them jealous . They are not looking clearly , as if with both their eyes open . They are thus viewing a distorted view of reality , seeing only the things they want and not the full picture about the person whom they covet , that may also have their problems too as we all have . This is why Bilaam ended up with one eye , as punishment for his distorted view of his own jealous reality , which isn't a reality at all . Only HaShem Sees All , Viewing All Facets of a situation , as if with many eyes , and thus can never do Negative or Evil Things , for HaShem Never Just Looks With one covetous eye , for all things Belong to HaShem and He Doesn't Need to Covet what is already His By Being The Creator Of All .
We say that one eye looks to the Physical , while the other looks higher , to the Spiritual . Thus to look with one eye , is to only see the Physical and the wants and desires of the flesh . This is the error of the ones who curse others for bad , due to their negativity within them . To see the full picture , we need to open up both our eyes , the physical and the Spiritual , that is within us and look On High . Look always toward G-D . Look beyond what we think we see . We see so little with our limited human capabilities . Only G-D Can See All . Only G-D Can Truly Judge . Only G-D Sees Creation as it truly is . All those of the nations who see the Jews in the antisemitic ugly ways they choose to , are only looking with a ' Single - Eye , view . ' They are not able to see the depths and Spiritual reaches of the Jew . They are not able to see beyond their own physicalities and so , they call for our harm and destruction , as did Bilaam and in a similar way Haman , as well as all the others through History who wanted so badly , our extermination . But it will never happen , as they can't see with anything more than a single limited view , the view of the one that looks with only the one open eye , like Bilaam . At the End of Days , the nations will open both their eyes , and realize how wrong they were all along , and that false beliefs and deified men and false physical deities that they see with only the one open physical eye, were actually never of any use . The only True Path , Is The Path Of HaShem , the only Path with Open View Wide Deep and Holy Truth . So what HaShem Did , Was To Open Both Bilaam's Eyes to Show the True Truth , and so , did Bilaam utter The True Prophecy from HaShem . The now open eye , Bilaam referred to , was the one he never made an effort to open , so he could see a fuller picture . HaShem Thus Opened his view , and so he was able to see the Truth and Speak it . After these prophecies , Bilaam never again prophesied and his life thereafter got the result he had wanted for us , for he ended up being slain by the sword , just like Haman got the death he had wanted for Mordechai , and so will be the case with all our enemies .
As we start now , at this time from 17th of Tammuz till Tisha B'Av , the Three Weeks of Mourning, may we all open up both our eyes , the one outside and the one that sees far ranging Spiritually within , and work toward fixing ourselves from within , to see beyond our own limited physicality , opening both eyes , so that we can work away our Aveirahs and give HaShem Most Of All and others , the benefit of the doubt , for we see so little of the total picture And Only HaShem Sees All and Truly Serve HaShem in Spiritual and Total Love Always And Forever . I Love You HaShem .
I wish HaShem With Love , A Very Sweet and Beautiful Shabbos Kodesh with Love and to all my fellow Yidden , a very special and beautiful Shabbos Kodesh with love and a Meaningful Fast .