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Parshat Balak

By: SFW Students & Alumna
Miri Saphire-Bernstein, SFW ’04-’05, ’05-‘06

In Parshat Balak, we read about the messengers that Balak sends to Bilaam, and that ultimately G-d allows Bilaam to go with them. So Bilaam gets up and goes and the

next thing you know there's an angel with a fiery sword blocking his path. Now understandably, G-d wasn't happy about the whole situation. But He did give Bilaam permission to go. So, what's with the fiery-sword-bearing angel? What's more, even after the angel, Bilaam continues going. If G-d so clearly doesn't want Bilaam doing this, why does He send him on in the end?

Rashi tells us that G-d was angry because Bilaam knew that it was something bad in

G-d's eyes, and yet he went to do it anyway. The Sforno elaborates by saying that Bilaam didn't go as one who was simply following orders; rather, he took charge of the expedition as if the whole thing had been his idea to begin with. It wasn't just that he went - it was that he was eager to go, that in his desire for glory and honor, he wasn't paying attention to what

G-d's actual will was. (Vayakam Bilaam baboker vayachavosh et atono etc...)

What we have here is a simple lack of discernment. Yes, G-d gave His permission, but Bilaam should have been able to read between the lines and sense that it still wasn't G-d's will. But he wasn't paying attention, because he was so lost in his own ambitions and personal desires. So what's with the angel? The Ramban says that "Vataireh Haaton" does not refer to seeing in the literal, physical sense that we understand it, but rather was an understanding, or a sensing of a presence. It wasn't that the donkey actually saw the angel, but that she could not go forward out of fear. Here we see embodied in the donkey the exact midah that Bilaam lacked - that sixth sense that indicates that something is there that we can't see or hear. This point is emphasized by the fact that only the donkey, and none of the people, could "see" the angel; the others still weren't picking up on it. The donkey had to display that one quality that Bilaam was lacking, in order to teach him how he ought to have been paying attention. The Or HaChaim says that the reason for this whole process was to teach Bilaam a lesson in humility, that he was getting all arrogant about his own self-importance, and needed taking down a notch or two. This is also why, after the event, the angel didn't tell Bilaam to go home; the whole fiasco had to be fully played out in order for Bilaam to really learn his lesson.

Shabbat Shalom.