Parashat Balak - Third Aliyah
Read the biblical text and try to understand it on your own, before reading the commentary.
One moment of inner blindness can lead a person to the abyss, even when he sees everything with open eyes. Bilam sets out with princes, honor, and a sense of mission, but beneath the surface his path arouses divine anger.
“Vayichar af Elohim… vayityatzev mal’ach Adonai baderech lesatan lo” (And the anger of God flared… and an angel of Adonai stationed himself in the way as an adversary to him, verse 22). Precisely the donkey, the simple beast, sees the angel. Bilam, the prophet of the keen eye, remains blind. Three times the donkey tries to turn aside from the way. Three times he strikes her. Until the Holy One opens her mouth, and she speaks.
A sublime moment. Prophecy to a beast. And she says the line that should shake the soul of any person who feels too righteous: “Meh asiti lecha… halo anochi atoncha asher rachavta alai… hahaskhen hiskanti la’asot lecha koh” (What have I done to you… am I not your donkey on whom you have ridden… have I been accustomed to do this to you, verses 28-30).
Only then are his eyes opened. Only then does he see the angel and understand that he erred. “Chatati” (I have sinned), he admits (verse 34). But even here, the return is not complete. He continues on his way. And the final verse of the aliyah sums it all up: “Hadavar asher yasim Elohim befi oto adaber” (The thing that God places in my mouth, that I will speak, verse 38). His speech is handed over, but his heart still grasps at its own authority.
The inner idea here cuts deep. A person can set out on a journey in the name of truth, without examining the depth of his intentions. Even a prophet can blind himself. Pride, the desire to succeed, expectations, wrap him like a cloud. And only an outside voice, unexpected, a donkey or a child or a simple incident, can rouse him to stop.
This is a great call for us: do we hear the voices that try to stop us on our way? Are we open to seeing an angel, even when we are certain of the righteousness of our path?
More Questions on the Parsha
Why does the beauty of Israel reveal itself precisely through the eyes of an enemy?
One of the most beautiful sentences ever said about the people of Israel was not said by Moshe Rabbenu or by Aharon, but by Bilam, a man hired to curse. Parashat Balak uncovers a striking truth: there is beauty that a friend sees because he wants to see it, and there is beauty that an enemy is forced to see even when he tries to deny it. The second kind is stronger.
The verb 'vayar' (and he saw) repeats many times in Parashat Balak - what are the hidden meanings behind it?
In Parashat Balak the root 'to see' is not a technical act of seeing. It becomes a test: who truly sees, and what is he capable of seeing. Balak sees fear, the donkey sees an angel, Bilam at first sees nothing, and Pinchas sees and immediately rises. Four different kinds of seeing, four different kinds of soul.
What did Bilam really see in the camp of Israel that made him say a blessing instead of a curse?
The Torah does not say that Bilam only saw beautiful tents from the outside. It says that he saw an inner order. He was searching for a point of division, and found a camp with borders, families, tribes and identity. Bilam came to curse a crowd from the outside, and discovered from within a people that has form.
Does Parashat Balak teach that a person can be surrounded by enemies, and not know at all how much protection is over him from above?
Bilam climbs the mountain to curse, Moav is afraid, messengers are sent, and all that time the people of Israel below do not even know what is happening. Parashat Balak opens a window into what is behind the scenes: there is protection a person does not see, does not hear, and does not know to give thanks for in real time.