Hatred Prevents Thinking Straight - Ari Abramowitz: The Land of Israel Fellowship

so mosha and Bam were likened in regards to prophecy so how was it that this Elite Prophet on the level of Moses himself was able to be so fundamentally and antithetically different from Moshe when they were on the same level and I think it came down to his will came down to his heart it came down to how he received this prophecy to begin with because you know on the Heart level he was compared in quite a different way to Abraham I don't know if you know this bam is like one of the most evil people in history and he's compared to Moses and compared to Abraham and lyen and and so Ru goldsher brings this teaching from ru cook who contrast Bam's heart not only with Abraham's heart but with the hearts of each and every one of the prophets of Israel so this is from the midash all of the prophets of the Jewish people were motivated by the attribute of Mercy towards both the Jewish people and the Nations as for the prophets of the nations of the world they were motivated by the attribute of Cruelty for bilam arose to uproot an entire nation for no reason at all so Bam's heart wasn't really compared to Abraham's heart at all in reality it was contrasted to because Bam's hatred was so great and his will was at such fundamental odds with the will of the god of Heaven and Earth that he was channeling that he actually believed that Hashem would be with him to curse the nation of Israel now we've talked about this in past fellowships one of the most prominent contrasting actions of bam and Abraham was their saddling of their donkeys who remembers this from last year PRI prior years same words are used and what what this action of saddling of the donkey says about each of these characters pretty much says everything that you need to know so let's just take a quick glance backwards at the context here Abraham was commanded by God to sacrifice his beloved Son Isaac who is his spiritual Heir um he was his only son with his beloved wife Sarah the son who had been praying for and he's asked to sacrifice his son his message his future everything that he knew and understood bilam on the other hand is finally granted what he thought was a green light to go ahead and curse the nation of Israel that he so badly wanted to curse this would be hiset to fame and honor unimaginable wealth and the eradication of this people who he really hated in his heart and for both Abraham and bilam the Torah tells us that they arose early and saddled their own donkeys they saddle their own donkeys that would be like like Jeff Bezos filling up his own car with gas right like he had to be really motivated to go where he's going you know saddling their own donkeys for each of of them was beneath both each of their dignities as far as wealth and social status was concerned but that each of them did so conveyed the eagerness in their hearts to do what it was that they were about to do and so our sages teach us that regarding bilam he shered these societal and social norms of of saddling his donkey in order to go with the Nobles of Moab it says he went with them right not only physically but really he was United with them in spirit in their shared goal of cursing Israel he just totally disregarded his honor his dignity because as the sages say hatred prevents thinking straight right hatred prevents thinking straight his hatred was just so great that he couldn't wait another moment for a servant to do the Dirty Work of donkey saddling he was more than willing to do it himself but if uh if it's hatred that prevents thinking straight then what about Abraham why did he wake up so early to saddle his donkey to fulfill such a terrifying task because our sages teach love prevents thinking straight love prevents thinking straight these are both exact same teachings of the the sages of Israel uh from the midra ethics of our fathers pavot focuses us even more acutely on this difference when it contrasts Abraham with bam so this is from like ethics of our fathers whoever possesses these three things he is the disciple of Abraham Abraham our father and whoever possesses three other things he is the Disciples of bam the wicked a good eye a humble spirit and a moderate appetite he is of the Disciples of Abraham our father an evil eye a hoty spirit and a limitless appetite he is of the Disciples of bilam the wicked and so r r gold shider points out that this is fundamental difference Abraham had an eyeing toe he had a good eye and what's a good eye not like in Sniper School a good eye is someone who wishes good fortune on others when that that's why a lot of people you know don't post pictures of their children or things that show their wealth or whatever on on social media because they're afraid that people may look at them with an evil eye with a drudging eye with a resentful eye with a jealous eye and then the spiritual forces may come against those people and say do you really deserve that they don't want to have the energy of that negativity on them so it's a good eye a good eye is someone who wishes good fortune on others when they see their neighbor flourishing in any way even in a way which they themselves may not be experiencing that they're flourishing and that they so badly want they view their neighbor with genuine happiness and blessing their eyes broadcast authentic Joy at their neighbors Good Fortune more than they may even feel if they themselves were the recipient of such a blessing that's a good eye and where does a good eye come from ru cook explains that a good eye does not come from you know working on one specific character trait like having a good disposition or uh you know not being uh Angry controlling your temper or stinginess those are all individual character traits not a good eye a good eye comes from a deep internalization of an entire world view an entire perspective on life in which one knows that just as God is infinite and abundant and good so to are His blessings and that his neighbor's blessing in no way comes at the expense of his own and when you have a good eye you see the Divine spark within everyone and everything which causes your love for God to spill over to love for all of his Creations because there's a spark of him within each and every one of us and the love for him implies the love for them that's a good op and that's something that Abraham in his lifelong quest to come to know and love God worked his entire life with all his being and all of those tests all of that was to really result in that good eye that's what he was refining and and acquiring Abraham toiled every moment of his life to achieve the level of Consciousness and awareness and godliness that would result in that good up