פרשה: בלק · עלייה: שלישי (תפארת)

ויחר אף ה׳…כי הולך הוא, G'd's anger was kindled that he went, etc. The Torah emphasises the word הוא, "he." G'd's anger was caused by the manner in which Bileam rose early in the morning, saddled his ass, and did not even tell the delegates of Balak that G'd had given permission for him to go. The words וילך עם שרי מואב speak volumes. They mean that Bileam and the delegates were on the same wavelength, that they shared the same objective. Bileam made it plain that he went along on his own initiative.

We may also glean another insight from the remarks of the Zohar Chadash page 168 on the words וילך שפי in 23,3. According to the Zohar this meant that Bileam isolated himself in order to draw down to him the forces of negative spirituality, impurity. When G'd observed that Bileam isolated himself from the emissaries of Balak this was a sign that he prepared himself to do as he pleased. The fact that he had his two lads with him would not interfere with his attempt at solitude as these lads were part of his regular retinue and he would always do "his thing" in their presence. G'd immediately realised Bileam's intention and this is what caused His anger. The words הולך הוא also convey to us that Bileam would have been ready to curse the Jewish people even if Balak had never asked him to do this and offered to pay him for his efforts. He thereby revealed his innate hatred of the Israelites and all this combined to arouse G'd's anger.

ושני נעריו עמו, and his two lads with him. Why did the Torah have to tell us this insignificant detail? Tanchuma on our verse says that the Torah taught us rules of proper conduct by mentioning the fact that Bileam as befits a man of his stature did not travel without his own assistants. Even if we accept this, why didn't the Torah mention this detail before telling us that G'd's anger was aroused at Bileam, and that the ass had already been made G'd's emissary to be his adversary? We may understand this in light of Berachot 43 that when one travels in a threesome one will not become aware of destructive forces in one's path nor will one be attacked by such forces. In this instance, seeing that Bileam had become aware of the destructive force arraigned against him, we must understand why he did not become its victim. Our verses explain why Bileam had not recognised the danger himself as well as why he was not harmed by it. The answer is that Bileam together with his two lads formed such a threesome as is mentioned in the Talmud.

ותרא האתון, The ass saw, etc. Why did G'd allow the angel to become visible to the ass? Why was the angel allowed to take up a threatening position three times? What was the point of squeezing Bileam's legs? Why did he strike the ass? Why did G'd open the mouth of the ass? Everything which happened here appears quite mysterious.

We may assume that the entire paragraph was designed to show us how G'd humbled Bileam seeing he had given Balak's delegates the impression that he was free to curse and that his curse against the Israelites would be effective. If Bileam had revealed to the emissaries of Balak before he set out on the way that G'd had severely restricted his freedom to curse the Israelites he would not now have been humbled. G'd paid him back by humbling him in front of the delegates and in front of the ass in a most degrading fashion. We are all aware that the composition of animals which have not been equipped with the power of speech is radically different from the composition of human beings who enjoy the power of speech. In order to suitably humble Bileam by means of an animal, G'd had to effect a transformation in the physical composition of the body of the animal in question. G'd accomplished this by means of stationing the angel in three different locations on three different occasions and by enabling the ass to see the angel in each location. In order for a creature to possess the power of speech its components must be endowed with three prerequisites. A) Since it possesses the ability to grow, something every living organism does, this component of it must be altered so that it can function even after it has been equipped with the ability to speak. B) A similar transformation must be effected in the animal's ability to move freely. C) It must be endowed with the power to verbalise its thoughts and emotions. When the angel took up position opposite the ass for the first time, the ass's basic components were altered so that they could function if equipped with the power to speak. It was enabled to see spiritual beings. When the ass saw the angel the second time its ability to move freely was altered so that it would also be able to move once it would be equipped with the power to verbalise its thoughts and emotions. After the ass had seen the angel for a third time it became equipped with the power to speak similar to a human being. As soon as this had occurred it opened its mouth, spoke intelligently and put Bileam to shame as a result. It actually put down Bileam in the presence of his assistants. The shame resulting from this occurrence was twofold and left a deep impression. 1) The ability of the animal to speak. 2) The revelation that Bileam the great prophet had been in the habit of using his she-ass as one uses a wife, i.e. as his sexual mate.

We still have to explain why the angel had to take up position in three different locations instead of appearing three times in the same location. Perhaps the three locations in which the angel took up position corresponded to three acts of evil Bileam had committed. 1) G'd' had told him once: "do not go and do not curse;" Bileam had failed to tell Balak's emissaries that he had been forbidden to curse. This had become the cause for Balak sending a second set of delegates. This became the reason why G'd told the angel to take up position on the way. The ass was forced to turn aside, parallel to Bileam having "turned aside" part of G'd's response to him. 2) Bileam's second sin was that G'd had told him that he was to go only if לקרא לך, if it had become certain that the mission would be of advantage to him. Seeing Bileam had failed to ascertain this he should not have gone at all. He had ignored G'd's implied warning. This is why the angel took up position in the narrow passage between the vineyards and squeezed his legs as if to remind him that G'd had tried to squeeze him to the correct path by the wording of His reply. 3) Bileam's third sin concerned the fact that G'd had made His permission conditional on Bileam saying only words G'd would put into his mouth (verse 20), meaning that he would have no latitude to even slightly alter what G'd would inspire him to say. We have already demonstrated how Bileam schemed to deviate from this restriction when we mentioned the significance of the words הולך הוא, i.e. that he did not view himself as G'd's instrument but planned to have things his own way. This impression was further reinforced by the Torah describing Bileam as riding on his ass with his two attendants. The angel stationed himself in a place so narrow that the ass -and therefore Bileam- could not even squeeze by to remind him that he had sinned intentionally. G'd employed these three incidents to show Bileam that He was displeased by what he had set out to do.

ויאמר אליו מלאך השם, The angel of the Lord said to Bileam, etc. We need to understand the angel's argument "why did you strike the ass three times?" It seems pretty obvious that Bileam struck the ass each time he perceived her to act disrespectfully towards him. Why did the angel have to ask? Besides, seeing that the angel said that he himself had been the cause that Bileam had been inconvenienced, why did he have to ask Bileam this question? The angel knew full well that Bileam had not been aware that the primary obstacle to his progress had been the angel and not the ass! The Torah itself testified that G'd had to open Bileam's eyes indicating that up until that moment they had been shut! Perhaps it was the angel's intention to humble Bileam so much that he would acknowledge by word that whereas his ass had seen an angel three times, he, the Seer who had claimed to be G'd's intimate, had not even seen the angel once. This would also demonstrate how insignificant had been Bileam's achievements in trying to penetrate the mysteries of how and when G'd does what He does. The words (verse 33) ותראני האתון, "the ass has seen me," were the ultimate degradation the angel inflicted when he contrasted Bileam's spiritual blindness with the ass's sensitivity to the presence of spiritual beings. These words had the effect of an arrow having been shot at Bileam's heart. This then was the whole purpose of G'd having despatched the angel.

The angel had also wanted to demonstrate the immediate negative effects Bileam's decision to go with Balak's delegates had on his standing as a prophet. We have been told in Sanhedrin 106 that originally Bileam enjoyed Holy Spirit. As soon as he befriended Balak this Holy Spirit departed from him and the Bible refers to him as a קסם, sorcerer, (Joshua 13,22). The proof of this is the fact that he did not recognise that the angel was blocking his way. Previously he would have immediately recognised the angel as such. The angel had been despatched against him to apprise him of the fact that he had forfeited the Holy Spirit he once possessed. The operative words of the angels are כי ירט הדרך לנגדי, i.e. because he had decided to walk along that way against the wishes of G'd he lost his Holy Spirit (compare Nachmanides' comment on this verse).

כי עתה גם אתכה הרגתי ואותה החייתי. "surely NOW I would have slain you whereas I would have allowed the ass to remain alive." What is the significance of the word "now" in this verse? Bamidbar Rabbah 20,14 on our verse claims that this verse is proof that the ass was killed. We deduce this from the sequence of the words גם אותכה, "you as well," instead of גם הרגתי אותכה. The word NOW indicates that the ass had been killed immediately before this interchange. When the angel said: "I would have let her live," he referred to what had taken place. He had not killed the first time she spoke up which would have resulted in Bileam being killed also, but had waited until the ass had revealed Bileam's spiritual blindness. The word החייתי actually refers to a new activity, i.e. "I have let her live until now." The angel pointed out that he had done something extraordinary. He had been dispatched to hurt both the rider and and the animal he rode. In this instance the rider had been saved by the action of the animal he rode. In this way the word החייתי is justified.

ויאמר בלעם…חטאתי, Bileam said…"I have sinned, etc." The word "I have sinned" referred to the angel having hinted that he had sinned by his having set out on the way. Regarding the angel's question of why he had beaten his ass, Bileam said: "I did not know." The word ועתה means that Bileam had now become a penitent. He no longer wanted to curse the Jewish people Concerrning the fact that he had set out on the way, Bileam offered that if this displeased the angel he was willing to turn back. The word לי meant that he now saw that it would be beneficial for him to go back home.

ויאמר מלאך…לך עם האנשים, The angel said: "go with the men, etc." Why did the angel say: "with the men?" Our sages in Bamidbar Rabbah 20,15 say that the angel told him that the die had been cast, that from now on Bileam belonged to the same team as these men, and that ultimately he would be deprived of any future in the world to come. I believe that this is pure homiletics; we need to understand the plain meaning of the angel's words. We need to understand further why the angel did not tell Bileam to go home as the latter had offered to do and as we would have expected. However, the angel wanted to explain to Bileam the reason he agreed that Bileam continue to travel with the emissaries. It all had to do with what these emissaries would think if Bileam suddenly went home. They would conclude that G'd was afraid of what Bileam would be able to do once he was in Moav and that on that account G'd had forbidden him to come along. Allowing the emissaries of Balak to arrive at such a conclusion would be a desecration of the name of G'd, i.e. would lower G'd's image in their estimation as I have already explained on the words הולך הוא. Perhaps the angel's instructions have to be understood thus: "go with them and do not isolate yourself in solitude." In this way Bileam would not have an opportunity to prepare himself to contravene G'd's instructions by consulting his charms. Bileam complied, as we know from the words וילך בלעם עם שרי בלק, "Bileam went together with the ministers of Balak."

ואפס את הדבר…אותו תדבר. "However, the word which I put in your mouth, it you shall utter!" Here the angel made a new condition, something that G'd had not told Bileam outright in his dream. When G'd had spoken to Bileam previously (verse 20) He had said: "the word I shall tell you that is what you shall do!" G'd's wording at that time had allowed Bileam to plot how to get around what G'd had obviously had in mind. His own strength lay both in deed and in speech. The deeds would be the practice of magic. He also exercised his power by means of his evil eye. Zohar volume 3 page 202 draws attention to this in connection with 24,2: "Bileam raised his eyes and saw Israel, etc." This is a hint that Bileam tried to employ his evil eye against the Jewish people at that moment but that G'd covered the Israelites with His protective "shadow" so that Bileam could no longer see them. When the Torah said in 24,2 ותהי עליו רוח השם, the subject is the Jewish people, not Bileam. G'd protected Israel against the evil eye (Zohar volume 3, page 211.) The power Bileam exercised by mouth was his ability to curse. When G'd had said to him during the night: "it you shall do," He had meant to forbid him also to speak against the Jewish people if such words as he would say would result in deeds. Bileam had not understood this correctly as his mind was bent on finding a loophole in G'd's instructions. This is why at this point the angel told him unmistakably that he must not even utter a word against the Jewish people. This included the giving of advice designed to harm the Jewish people. Bileam did not comply with this part of the warning. Bamidbar Rabbah 20,18 writes on 23,5 "The Lord put a word in Bileam's mouth," that G'd placed an iron bar in Bileam's mouth and that every time Bileam tried to utter something evil the bar threatened to choke him. In this way G'd frustrated Bileam's evil intent. We also know that Bileam gave the advice to Balak which eventually caused the death of 24.000 Israelite males. He even endeavoured to violate G'd's instructions by putting his evil eye on the people until G'd intervened. All of these things combined provided sufficient excuse for the Israelites to kill Bileam by the sword in the course of their punitive expedition against Midian. According to Sanhedrin 97 Gentiles are culpable both for sins committed by deed and for sins committed by word of mouth. Bileam had been warned by G'd on both counts so that he only received his due when the Israelites killed him.

ויצא לקראתו אל עיר מואב, He came to welcome him to the city of Moav. Why did the Torah have to bother to tell us where the meeting between Bileam and Balak took place? Perhaps the Torah wanted to show us that Balak did not hold Bileam in high esteem. Although Balak had heard that Bileam was on his way, he did not leave his city to prepare a welcome such as one does for highly placed visitors. He was content to await Bileam's arrival before welcoming him.

ויצא לקראתו אל עיר מואב אשר על גבול ארנון אשר בקצה הגבול. Why all these details about the location of the border? Perhaps the Torah wanted to tell us that if Balak did trouble himself to go to the border of Moav which was close to his capital, he did not do so in order to honour Bileam but that he had a different reason. Bamidbar Rabbah 20,16 explains that the reason Balak went to this border was to tell Bileam that this border had been established already in times of Noach [not literally speaking as Moav was not founded till after Abraham's time. Ed.] He wanted to show Bileam how both Og and Sichon had been guilty of violating these longstanding borders. At any rate, if not for these political considerations, Balak would not have troubled himself to come out towards Bileam even this little distance.

עתה היכול אוכל דבר מאומה? "Am I now able to say anything?" The reason the Torah quoted Bileam as saying עתה, "now," was to show us that this was his reaction to what the angel had told him when he had been expressly forbidden to be anything but G'd's mouthpiece. When Bileam repeated the words היכול אוכל he revealed the depth of his wickedness as he told Balak that he had tried 2 different ways to speak evil, but that G'd had blocked him in both instances. If only he had retained his freedom of action he would surely have cursed the Jewish people.