"And Bil'am answered and said to Balak, I've already told you that all that G-d says to me, that I will do." (Bamidbar 23:26). Bil'am was reluctantly telling Balak the way it is. As great as Bil'am was (and/or thought he was), he was only able to do (or say) what G-d told him to do (or say). Had this not been so, had Bil'am been divinely endowed with the ability to do and say what he wanted, we would have had some serious problems with him.

One might say that we merited this essential restriction to Bil'am's powers by virtue of what is described in Sh'mot 19:8, with many similar words. "And all the nation answered and said all that G-d says, we will do...

We earned the right to what the Bil'am/Balak pasuk is telling us by virtue of what the Sh'mot pasuk is reporting about Bnei Yisrael.

Not only do these two p'sukim have similar phraseology, they also have the same numeric value. The G'matriya of each of these p'sukim is 3258.

From Hasidic Wisdom by Simcha Raz (Elkins/Elkins)

I am very suspicious of minor transgressions, which are considered less severe. When you stick a needle into the flesh of living beings, it will pierce them and cause great pain. But if you prod them with a thicker rod, it does not hurt as much. - Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk

>From the Desk of the Director

Dear TT reader,

A major aspect of our collective memory is Hashem's blessing to our forefather Avraham: "..Venivrechu vechah kol mishpechot ha'adamah" - 'and all the families of the earth shall be blessed through you!' Thus, it is somewhat strange when we consider that we, the Jewish People, are "blessed" by one outside of our group. And by no less than the arch-sorcerer and master of curses, the Aramite, Balaam, prophet of the nations.

These blessings were so significant that they were included in the very essence of our prayers: The declaration "How goodly are Your tents, O Jacob..." precedes our every entry into the Synagogue. And "He perceived no iniquity in Jacob..." is found in the Shofarot section of Mussaf on Rosh Hashanah.

Some say that the purpose of these sublime blessings emerging from the immoral mouth of Balaam is that all the world - including our tormentors - would know that Israel cannot be harmed against Hashem's will.

And what of us? As Jews, and sometimes as victims, we often internalize negatives heaped upon us by our enemies, to the extent that we identify with our aggressors. And, paradoxically, we also absorb the "blessings" of foreigners into our national and religious consciousness: We argue that we must be all right if they say so!"

So our "tents are goodly" and "there is no perversity" - but maybe there is complacency. If Balaam was able to deceive us in the plains of Moab, then surely we are able to be deceived today.

Sincerely yours,

Menachem Persoff, Director, Israel Center

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