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Parshat Balak: Who Was Balaam? By Rabbi Yossi Goldin
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Delivered 10 Tammuz 5784 / July 16, 2024 www.ouisrael.org facebook.com/ouisrael #OUisrael #torah #judaism #torahlectures #balak #balaam #parshathashavua #parsha
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Transcript
Auto-generated transcript. Not time-synced to the video.
we're going to be talking again today
about
uham um now parat B is a uh is a
fascinating para and I always I always
mention every year um the point that
that I heard from my Father which I
think is very very important to really
understanding parat sorry not par B par
balak excuse me thank you for those of
you who didn't correct me those of you
did who who didn't realize I'm sorry but
those of you who did realize and didn't
correct me thank you balak but we're
going to be talking about more about B
parad balak so what's fascinating about
parad balak is that is the only para in
the Torah from the creation of the
Jewish nation that does not take place
from the perspective of the Jewish
people meaning if you think about it
from the time that the Jewish the Jewish
nation is created obvious saer bares is
unique saer bous is all about the
creation of individuals and the Jewish
family but uh from the time of of parat
shot and on when the Jewish nation is
created all of the Torah every single
Parish of the Torah takes place from the
perspective of the Jewish people
involves some kind of commandment or
event that is done from the perspective
of the Jewish people parat balak
although we could
argue happens to the Jewish people we
could argue whether that actually is
true or not it does not take place from
the perspective of the Jewish people
meaning for all we know at the time that
parad balak was taking place this entire
conversation between bam and balak and
everybody for all we know the Jewish
Nation had no clue what was happening
they might not have even been aware that
they were almost cursed or that they
were ended up being blessed if the Torah
hadn't told us we would have no idea
this conversation took place now it's
fair to assume that over the course of
the time of the Torah there were many
conversations that took place between
the enemies of the Jewish people
throughout and yet the only time the
Torah chooses to tell us about those
conversations is parad balak which begs
the question why why is it there must be
something unique or uniquely important
about the story of parat balak that is
important for us the Jewish people and
the Torah and everybody all of us who uh
you know the Jewish Nation throughout
the years that there must be important
messages that we get from this paraa and
therefore the Torah chooses specifically
to share with us a story that normally
would not necessarily find its place in
the Torah um and and one of the
questions we have to ask is why what
what is so unique so I I think today
we're going to explore a couple of
important lessons that we get from this
paraa which we'll hopefully shed light
on that on that question and as always
we're going to begin with the very very
beginning of the paraa just to set the
tone to uh to introduce the topic the
Torah Begins the paraa begins uh we're
actually not starting from the from the
very very beginning of the paraa but the
paraa begins with balak realizing that
the Jewish people are near him are are
towards his his territory and he is
nervous about the Jewish people and
their strength R and therefore he
decides to take action and what action
does he take in Source number one the
Torah tells
usor he sent Messengers to Bam the son
ofor P to the place called
P Al which is on the
River on the river next to his Nation to
call him to
and the message he sends to is there's
this nation they left Egypt they cover
the whole land I they've turned into a
very very big nation and here they now
they now sit opposite my
land I would like to request you please
come and
curse this this
nation because it is much stronger than
me maybe with your help if you were to
curse them I would be successful in
smiting them and driving them
away you are because I know says balak I
know that any nation which you bless
will become blessed and any nation which
you curse becomes cursed okay so balak
seems to assume that there is some kind
of unique and special power that bam has
and he has requested bam to come and
activate that power towards the Jewish
people because of a fear that Bak has
for the Jewish people okay and then then
the story continues but I would like to
take a step back and try to understand
who exactly was bab where did Bam get
this power from what exactly does the
evidence show us regarding bam we're
going to see there's two main approaches
one would consider him to be a navi a
prophet other sources seem to indicate
that he was not necessarily a prophet
but he was more what's called a k what
we would called today modern day of K is
a magician but we're not talking about a
magician we're talk about a sorcerer
okay the difference between a magician
and a sorcerer magician is a slight of
hand magician doesn't actually do
anything Supernatural but we do believe
there were people who did who were able
Sorcerers in the times of the Torah who
were able to somehow have special powers
and the question is where does bam fall
on all this if he was a navi why was he
a navi what what gave him the ability to
become a navi I'd like to understand a
little bit better who exactly is Bam and
why balak assumed that he had certain
powers to curse SL bless a nation
so let's see some of the evidence if you
look at source number two it begins with
a a um a a a BRI that's quoted in the g
m m means about the gar is about to
introduce a question we're in the middle
of of the gar we're not going to see all
the details there but the gamar says
very
CL the non-jewish Nations had seven
Prophets The and this is who they
were at his father
benzi okay now we're not going to deal
with all the different the different
names on this list I can't even say
purpose to be very honest that I'm
familiar with many of these names some
of them I are but for our purposes it's
very very clear that according to this
Bri bam is called a a okay not only do
some sources seem to indicate that bam
was actually a a proper Prophet but
there are some sources that seem to
indicate he was even a greater Prophet
than mosh where does that come from look
at source number three in Saar towards
the end of Saar towards the end the
Torah tells
us there was no other that arose amongst
am Isel like mosu who knew Hashem face
to face
now the medish in Source number four
tries to understand there's one extra
word in this in the in in this P that
seems somewhat Superfluous what's the
extra word of this p is Isel why does it
say there was no other nvi amongst
Israel we know that we're talking about
B Isel says the med something
astounding is Source number four Kim is
there was nobody amongst is
Kim the Torah says Israel because there
was no other Navi like Moshe amongst the
Jewish people but outside of the Jewish
people I.E amongst the Jewish Nations
there was a Nai who was as great if not
greater than Moshe and who was
that bam was greater in what way was he
greater and the M goes on to list three
different ways that bam was greater than
M there were three main differences
between the prophecy of Moshe and the
prophecy
of did not always know who was speaking
to him and I have to assume that this
medish is referring to the first time
that Moshe is spoken to by God because
we know that most of the time Moshe did
know who was talking to him but the
first time that Moshe is introduced to
God right all of a sudden he hears a
voice and he doesn't necessarily know
who it is he sees the burning bush he
has no idea what's going on so Moshe
didn't always know whereas bam according
to this medish had an understanding of
who he was communicating with which
which indicates a higher level as the
says that this is this is the speech of
somebody who hears the voice of God so B
identifies that he's talking to aosh
continues the Bri Moshe or the medish
excuse me
Moshe had no idea when God was going to
speak to him
okay did know when God was going to
speak to him because it
says as part of his prophecy he says I
somebody who knows the knowledge up up
on high and therefore that seems to
indicate that and also bam said when the
when Messengers came and said do you
want to come with usam said well let me
go to sleep tonight and I'll tell you
which means he expected that God was
going to communicate with him
mosu not even despite his greatness it
almost was part of his greatness was
that he didn't know it could happen at
any point in fact if you recall only two
weeks partial from two weeks ago we have
the episode of Miriam where Miriam and
Aon are talking about Moshe and talking
about the fact that Moshe according to
the mid that mosha separated from his
wife the whole story with with Miram
speaking lar about mosha and and and and
Miram was saying to Aon why does he
separate we also talk to Hashem and one
of the answers that the medish gives was
that Moshe might hear from God at any
point in time and therefore meaning that
meaning in that understanding that was
part of the greatness of Moshe was that
was that God could appear at him at any
moment he didn't require any preparation
it could just happen as opposed to Miram
and Aon which on a lower level and
didn't know he's happened it wouldn't
necessarily happen at any time here the
Mish is point is putting that in a
different perspective that it wasn't
just it could happen at any time but
mosha never knew when it was going to
happen whereas bam knew when it was
going to happen the third and this is
another interesting one we're going to
see that this third
suggestion doesn't know it doesn't fit
100% but we'll see
MOS sorry one second
ah Moshe God would only speak to him
standing mosha had to be in a certain
position he had to position himself in a
certain way sh
God said to mosha I want you to stand
here moshe's prophecy only occurred when
he was
standing sometimes God would even speak
to him when when he was sleeping when he
was sleeping he was lying down he didn't
have to stand which the medis here seems
to indicate that bam was greater we're
going to see later that another Med she
was to show the opposite that this
actually indicates that mosha was
greater because bam God only talked to
him when he was sleeping as opposed to
when he was awake so you see the MIM are
highlighting different aspects this mes
seems to say that or says clearly that
bam was greater the fact that bam could
even access God sleeping indic or while
he was lying down indicated that he's on
a greater level because he had easier
access to to to God set ends the
measures with something very very
interesting last line on Source number
four what is this similar to
it's like the private butcher or the
private Butler of a king the private
Butler of the king knows all the inner
workings of the home and I and I was
thinking about this mush a little bit I
was thinking about it my own personal I
grew up in my family and we were we were
blessed enough that we had we had a
house a living housekeeper and I
remember one time growing up thinking
about how this housekeeper who was her
name was daffne Johnson a wonderful
woman African-American from Toronto not
Jewish she knew everything about our
family like if anyone wanted to know
what was going like cuz someone who
lives and is your butler or is your
housekeeper or is your maid they know
the family from top to bottom they know
every little thing you want to know want
dirt on the family you want to know the
the idiosyncrasies of the family right
so what it's interestingly enough what
is the medish comparing bam to he was
like kind of like God's God always he
was on the one
hand the made or the housekeeper or the
butler is not the most respected person
in the family but they're the person who
knows the most so it's almost as if
Moshe was God's like special guest and
therefore he only came at certain times
he had to be standing he had to and
there's something very unique about that
and yet
bam was like God's Butler in that he had
a a different relationship more
accessible maybe less formal which came
with greater knowledge came with a
certain deeper understanding so it's a
very very I think the imagery that the
medish is giving is very very
interesting and yet it seems to be
describing somebody who had a tremendous
amount of power had a tremendous amount
of K and yet other sources seem to say
the exact opposite other sources if you
look at source number five the medish
this medish is a medish Raba in saer
Parra says no that the that as great
even though there were n there were
prophets to The Other Nation including B
all the prophets of the Jewish Nation
were on a lower level than the Jewish
prophets and it lists a number of
different proofs some of which I think
we've heard before we'll go through them
very very quickly says the
M what was the difference between the
Jewish prophets and the non-jewish
prophets
Rari list lots of different people Amar
when God would reveal himself to the
non-jewish prophets it was what we
callor what does mean it was like a half
Vision it wasn't like we know God
describes the Torah describes God
talking to Moshe it wasn't as face to
face it was like half of a of a vision
how do we know says the
medish because we know in this week's
Para
B the Torah tells
us
eloh that God the
word chaned upon B what letter is
missing from that word what what is what
word is what word is usually
used the letter Al is missing why is the
letter Olive missing soal say it wasn't
the same type of vision it wasn't the
vision that God gives to Moshe was a
difference that the word viar is not and
he called and he chanced upon he
happened upon implies much more
temporary the from the word carry MRE it
was a much more temporary happen stance
type of vision and that was the vision
that came to that came
to on the third line in the med but
whenever God would speak to the it was
always
complete because he spoke to
Moshe continues the m
another person in the M comes and says
not only does the word imply happen
stance from the word mikar is also a
language of impurity why is it a
language of impurity the word carry
refers to an omission and and and
therefore the language that's being used
here is meant to be a language of T
because even though God was talking to
the non-jewish prophets it was a lower
level
[Applause]
but God would always speak to the Jewish
prophets in a much greater way and then
the medish goes on and gives two two
other or really one other one other big
difference and I'll just say it outside
for the sake of for the sake of time
says what what was the other difference
between the way God would appear to the
non-jews and non-jewish NIV and the way
God would appear to the Jewish prophets
the big difference was when God would
appear when it comes to the non-jewish
prophets it was always Bala God appeared
to Bam during the night time when he had
a dream when did God appear to Lavon
when he was chasing after Yakov it was
during the night time God would always
appear to the non-jewish prophets at
night as opposed to the Jewish prophets
when he would appear to them during the
day now what's the difference between
during the day and at night so the Mish
goes on to explain he gives a couple of
different a couple of different uh
suggestions but the main difference is
it said it's like somebody who goes and
spends time with his wife versus
spending time with his mistress when a
person is going spend time with his wife
they walk out during the day proudly the
and in front of everybody and yet if
somebody is going to spend time with
their mistress when are they going to do
that and under the cover of the dark of
night no one's going to see it in secret
it was almost as if God was saying
you're my real na'vi I'm going to go out
with you the Jewish the Jewish people
have a navi and as a non-jewish Nim our
lower level and that is exactly
according to this medish the difference
between the non-jewish navi and between
the the Jewish Navi so this me seems to
agree that bam was a Nai but takes the
approach that he was a lower na'vi than
than Moshe taken to the Other Extreme
are those who actually suggest that
maybe he wasn't a nav at all maybe bam
was just a very good sorcerer look at
and this begins with the PUK in yosua
the safer Yoshua the PUK talks about um
discusses when bam was killed and the
Torah and the and and the na'vi says
Source number six that
hak hakos means in today's word would be
magician but back then it meant a
sorcerer and therefore bam is he was
killed killed but he's clearly described
as
a says and and this opinion this
approach which is the Other Extreme that
suggests that bab was really just a very
talented sorcerer also finds support
amongst a couple of of midashim the
first one would be this the opinion of
the sorno the Forno in Source number
seven on our para when when Bak says
to says
the it wasn't that bam had this like
magic power that whatever he said came
true his power was actually specifically
to curse and not to
bless why in what way meaning what's the
difference so says the
[Applause]
M had a very unique power it wasn't that
whatever he said went true he had a
unique power to curse why because he
knew the exact moment of when to curse
and take advantage of a certain point of
the day which we'll get to get to in
detail in one get which we see actually
in the ne in in the following the next
Source yes why is not to regard def why
is not why why is that P not regarded as
definitive it's a very good question um
we're going to see soon that there's a
that many people obviously it is
definitive meaning there's no question
that the description of K is accurate
but we're going to see some of the
different opinions uh suggest that Kos
was only happened at one point in time
we're going to see that there were some
who say that he shifted from one to the
next also question of what does k really
mean it means sorcerer but does that
mean that does that necessarily exclude
being a Nai so far I presented it that
way but not everyone will necessarily
suggest that so there's no question you
have to contend or explain that puzzle
contend meaning it seem it's clear that
he's described as a k the question is
what does Kos really mean in what way
does it mean and does it mean that
that's what he always was so we'll see
that there's a number a range of
opinions yeah that's we're going to see
that too
yes that's a good question uh it's a
good point although what you're
suggesting is is that the word Kum is
going not on on bam but on Bor I don't
know if I I can't say I did full
research on it I don't says that because
the next part of the Isel that's clearly
talking about bam not Bor because Bor
was already I believe dead interesting
suggestion and I wonder if anyone does
it I don't know I don't know I mean it
is known that Bor and we saw this
earlier in the other one who was one was
listed as one of the Nim but I think
that's an interesting suggestion okay so
what exactly was the sporno referring to
when he said that that bam knew how to
how to uh you know curse people so says
the gamar the following
this is
the is there such a thing as anger when
it comes to does God get angry does God
actually get angry it's part of a longer
discussion which we're not going to
discuss now and the gar says in in in in
the gamar language means yes I know
that's confusing right a means no in in
gamar in Aramaic means yes says the yes
we learn in a go
the Redeemer gets upset every single day
the how much does God get upset meaning
what is how angry does he get is
basically the question Rea a minute
right like Israeli Rea reaa means a
minute Rea how long is this minute okay
right when Israeli says to youa you
don't have no idea what he really means
but what does it mean here in the
gamara how much is AA answers the
one I think it's
588 58,800
most beings in this world are unable to
calculate that exact second which makes
a lot of
sense B RHA had a special again where he
got that power from we could suggest
right now seem see this sorcerer this
power that he was given he had this
power because the
says he knows the knowledge of of up
above okay so ask the gamarra very very
funny a very funny question
what does the mean that says that he
knew the knowledge of God he didn't even
know what his donkey was talking about
if this guy doesn't know what his donkey
is talking about how could he possibly
know the the the knowledge of God rather
what it means was he knew how
to he had a unique power to tap into
that one very very quick milis second
when God would get angry and that was
his key to cursing because if he was
able to access that one unique time and
he was able to curse somebody during
that second he was able to create this
idea of of of of cursing people okay so
according to this understanding he was
really just a good sorcerer who was able
to tap into so you want to call it black
magic whatever we want to call it we do
know there is this idea of we saw the
sorcerers who did have some kind of
power it did exist this idea of black
magic did seem to exist in the times of
the Torah and apparently according to
this understanding that's what bam was
bam was was a was was a sorcerer who
knew how to tap into it the radak no
sorry so those that that's the range
we've seen so far the range we've seen
so far is all the way to one end he
wasn't just a na'vi he was greater than
even Mosher Renu then you had some who
say no he was just a sorcerer he wasn't
even a navi and then we saw some who
said he was a navi but he wasn't as
great as Moshe and then just to confuse
us all we have a whole range of opinions
who say he started out as one and then
he shifted to the other and of course
true to our tradition in both directions
okay so let's see the radak the radak in
ver number nine the radak on saer
yahushua says the following why does it
call him
a tells us that this wasn't a
na he must have been just a sorcerer he
wasn't the reason the the na'vi is
mentioning that is to stress that the
essence of of who bam was was he was a
sorcerer he was not a prophet so then
what about the prophecy that we see the
BR and the CL everything that happens in
says
the at some point later on he became a
during all for the purposes of giving
the
love he kind of was given this extra
power temporarily in order to be able to
bless am so he started out as a k and
only later on was he given this power um
temporarily to be to be a that's one
direction if you look at source number
10 the gar in sanedrin says the opposite
that thear quotes the P from Yeshua asks
thear K was he really a k we know he was
a prophet why are you calling him a
he started out he was a Nai in the very
beginning of his life and up until the
story of balak he was a Nai but what
happened he lost his and he was only a k
at the end of his life when he died in
sa for yosua now why then did he why did
he lose it says
rash since by since he had The N he then
tried to use that n to curse am Israel
therefore he lost his opportunity he
lost the power of Prophecy and now he
became a proper a proper uh a proper um
sorcerer okay so so we have one opinion
that says he started out as K became a
navi one opinion says he started at his
Navi became a k and then the ran fills
us in by saying he started at his Navi I
think he says he started out as a k it
became a Ai and then went back to being
a k so we got everything we we fill all
the different every part of the picture
look at the ran in Source number
11 says the ran it can't be that bam was
a where does he prove it from from the
story of the
donkey because if if was really a why
would the TK need to say by the story of
the donkey that God had to open up his
eyes if he's a navi his eyes were
already open he already has that certain
power so if he didn't If he if he didn't
know what was going on and God had to
open up his eyes that means at least in
the beginning he was not a prophet now
let's skip to the underlined part in
Source number 11 so rather he says he
must have been a k AAL says the says the
ran
then because this is God appeared to Bam
in the very beginning of the story and
said don't go and then he said you can
go but that beginning of Prophecy only
started again similar to what we saw in
the he then continued to get a greater
level when he got to see the Mal in
front of the donkey and
then and then he got an even greater
level of Prophecy when he blesses the
Jews and this was all again to honor and
to give him but then says the raan very
clearly what
happened after this episode concludes
and Bam goes home what does he come out
to be he goes back to being a k again
okay he goes back to being to being a
prophet he goes back sorry he goes back
to being a sorcerer okay so what we've
seen just to summarize so far is a real
I would say either confusion or I would
probably the better way to say this
ambiguity ambiguity regarding who is
this person B we see some who say he was
one of the greatest Nim ever we see some
who say he was a na but he wasn't so
great others suggest he was a Kain he
was just a great sorcerer he had special
powers he was able to tap into then
those who say he vacillated oscillated
excuse me between one and the other
depending on the
circumstance but then the question
becomes first of all why would there be
so much ambiguity number one but number
two based on all of this what made bam
balak think that bam had the power to
curse and to bless and I'll take the
question a different
way we generally let's let's let's say
two ways number one if he was just a CO
if if bab was just a great sorcerer what
does that to do with cursing your
blessing okay number one number two even
if he's a navi let's think about for a
second in in in our Jewish history what
niim generally did what was the role of
a na'vi anyone want to anyone anyone
want to just summarize what did a navi
do he improved people's behavior
excellent but how did he do that how did
he try to improve what what let's say it
this way what power did the na Nim in
our history actually have do we did
didim bless and curse people and make
things come true in the future based on
the things they said no they could
sometimes predict the future right the
Torah talks about what happens if you
have Na and one way to find out that
somebody's a false nav is if they
predict something that's going to happen
it doesn't happen sometimes they can
predict the future other times they can
say bring a warning or a message from a
didim ever curse or or bless not in this
way no so the question becomes whether
we say they were a k or they were a Nai
where did we get the idea or what what
why would balak therefore assume that
Bam's status would enable him to curse
SL SLG AA so let's start first with with
with with the with the understanding
that maybe he was a sorcerer if he is a
sorcerer why does that therefore enable
him to bless or to curse so we already
saw Yes vo good correct it is it is like
voodu by the way again laav de simply
because we're talking about the story of
the Torah but the description does
remind us I I said black magic maybe the
idea was what we just said a second ago
a couple of months ago we learned in the
gamarra that if he was a sorcerer he
knew how to tap into the moment when God
got upset if he knew how to tap into the
moment he got upset that was his power
maybe B balak was basically saying to
Bam I want you to come and curse these
Jews because I know that you have the
ability to tap into that one second of
the day Mill millisecond of the day and
through that I want you to curse the
Jews that could be what it is the
problem is how does balak
describe he doesn't just say if you
curse it curses how else does he
describe him
as are whoever you bless becomes blessed
and whoever you curse becomes cursed is
that really bam bam is a sorcerer he
knows how to tap into this one second
where did balak get this assumption from
so the Mish actually suggests that balak
knew this based on past experience there
were two previous stories that don't
take place that are not mentioned in the
Torah where balak and Bam had encounters
and based on those encounters balak
thought that bam had special powers
beyond what he actually had what were
those stories so look at source number
12 for a second Source number 12 is a
medish whoever you bless is going to be
blessed and whoever you curse is going
to be cursed asked the
med how does he know this how did Bak
know that bam had some kind of power
like this answers the
med there was a moment when wanted to
fight with
Mo he was afraid because he knew that
that that and his people were very very
strong uh sorry was nervous that maybe
Mo was very strong so what did
so hired and his father to curse moav
and then as a result s was able to
capture land from moav which means that
b balak saw this balak saw already a
previous engagement where ban was hired
to curse somebody and as a result those
people who he cursed were defeated yes
and his father was say ah so that's what
somebody else suggested that's what
nobody else suggested although again it
could be that that reads that well in
the P why was father mentioned so no no
here we the thing is if you look at the
firstar that we saw the Bri also
mentioned both bam and his father as n
so it's a little bit tricky they both
seem to have had this status as a navi
and as a kosan and again this middle
this middle ground but what we see from
this story ladies and gentlemen is that
we see already that balak had experience
with bam balak's experience with bam was
he already cursed maav and as a result
maav Was Defeated and therefore I know
he has the power to curse what about the
power to bless where do we know where
would Bak have gotten that has the power
to bless so if you look in Source number
13 the quote another M Source number
13 there was a moment in time in the
past I don't know exactly when this is
quoted by the me at some Point bam ran
into balak while he was still just a
regular guy and said to him you're going
to be king someday and then when balak
became king he remembered oh my God this
guy bam he knows what he's talking about
number one he helped he helped defeat
moav so he's able to curse people he's
he's also able to bless people because
he gave me a br he said you're going to
be the king and look I became the
king but says the or but that was just a
fat that was just a facade really all
bam was able to do was curse because of
his ability to
to that one second millisecond when God
got angry what about what about this so
says bam was very very very shrewd he
didn't know he didn't have any power to
give blessings to people his Blessing
was his ability was only to curse people
by by tapping into that one second but
what did he do he would find people who
were already very successful on the way
to success and he would say you're going
to go far buddy I gave you a blessing
that you're going to go far and then
when they got far he would say it was
all up to me it was all it was all me so
bah was a very he was a k according to
this understanding he was a sorcerer he
was what he was able to tap into
something there was some power that he
had but he was also very shrewd and very
sve and he was able to then make it
appear like he had greater Powers than
he actually did and that says the is why
Bak says whoever you bless is be blessed
because he really thought that in his
mind the only reason he became was
because bam gave him but bam was that
kind of guy who just knew find those
guys he said you're going to be good
you're going to go far and probably nine
out of 10 didn't go far they forgot
about them and the one guy who did go
far now thought of it and said hey it
was because of it was because of bam so
that's the opinion of the of the or the
or tries to understand if he was only a
sorcerer where did it come from it was
he was able to tap into that anger the
anger the cursing was an ability that he
had but when it comes to blessing that
was just a facade that bam was able to
was able to put up now getting back to
the other question if he's a na let's
assume is once again we never ever see
that Nim cursed or blessed people theob
of the Nim was to guide the people was
to inspire the people sometimes a n
might have to predict the future in
order to in order in order to tell them
what's going to happen if they do this
or if they do that or maybe even to show
their legitimacy but we never see a
na'vi coming and say and starting to
just create realities on the ground
based on whatever they want so where did
this come from
so says the rashbam the rashbam says
this is also just it wasn't not a
misunderstanding but balak was taking
things a little bit farther balak knew
that he wasn't he was just a prophet and
this isn't what prophets do but he
figured if he's a prophet and he's able
to do with these things then he's
probably better than some other guy to
ask to do this cursing or to do this
blessing look at the rash verse number
B that it was through propy that he
would tell the future
sometimes maybe was through
sorcery since this was somebody who
already had certain powers either
through or through prophecy even though
that wasn't the classic thing that a na
usually did balak said listen I want
someone to give a blessing to curse
these Jews I can either pick a random
person or I could pick somebody who I
know has power in other areas and
therefore what does he do he picks bam
okay so what we've seen is it but but
again we're we're still at this question
of this isn't what a na'vi does so again
we're not going to go through all the
sources because because of because of
time but I think if you go through some
of the other sources that describe the
way that bam ask acts as a navi and they
highlight how different it was than the
way that the Nim the Jewish Nim used to
act the Jewish Nim used to come to speak
for the people they were there to
inspire the people what does Bal what
does bam try to do destroy a people not
only does he come to destroy people he
also causes the people to become even
less moral Jewish niim were there to
create morality bam causes the people of
mijan to become less immoral the the
contrast and this is in Source number 15
the M di mention I'm not I'm to say it
outside now just because of time the
contrast is huge the contrast between
the way that bam acts versus the Jewish
Nim is huge if you look at source number
16 we'll read this inside also notes two
other main differences is between the
way that bam acts as a prophet versus
the way that Jewish prophets used to ask
look at source number 16 in English I'll
read it I'll read it
together in what lies the contrast of
the above comparison the prophets of
Israel do not themselves run after
prophecy right that most prophets what
happens when God says to MOS I want you
to go to Egypt send somebody else okay
we also see the story with Yona we see
other places where the prophets are not
running for prophecy they're running if
anything away from prophecy because they
don't want to deal with the
responsibility on the contrary a glance
sorry the prophets Isel do not respon do
not themselves run after prophecy on the
contrary a glance at Exodus 3:4 or
Jeremiah 1 reminds us that they objected
as a rule to this sudden imposition of
responsibility from on high far from
seeking it it was thrust upon them bam
on the other hand hankers after prophecy
and strives through magical means to
obtain such power to force it down from
Heavens as it were through the medium of
seven altars seven bollocks enchantments
and Solitude another difference between
bam and the true prophets has been
noticed by our commentators the prophets
of Israel continually emphasize the
Divine Authority whenever whenever a
navi introduces their n they start Kar
Hashem okay we don't see that from bam
we say right if anything bam quotes
himself right he says I'm I'm speaking
he describes himself the prophets
emphasize the Divine authority of their
utterances as expressed in says the Lord
which recurs like a refrain in their
prophecies only this gives them the
right to prophesy and justifies their
claims to be heard bam on the other hand
prefaces his two latter utterances with
the introduction said bamor the man
whose eyes are open his utterances he
attributes to himself his family in
antecedence and his own powers so we see
that bam uses n in a totally different
way than the Jewish people the Jew than
the Jewish prophets did and in fact the
torima quotes from another
huge another huge difference between the
two and he gives actually a very very
fascinating masal a fascinating Parable
we're in Source number 17 the second
paragraph when I studied in the says
the he used the following Parable to
describe the difference between Moshe
and between B
the difference between an eagle and a
bat both the bat and the eagle are able
to have an innate sense as to when the
sun is going to rise and when the sun is
going to
set however they deal with that
knowledge or
they act upon that knowledge in exact
opposite way
because we know the
eagle we know that an eagle loves
sunlight and has trouble seeing in the
evening when it's dark
outside when does a bat when is a bat
able to really be himself in the night
time during total
dark he's scared of the of of of the
light
when the Sun
rises they both know when it's going to
happen but their reaction to that
reality is drastically
different when the Sun rises what's the
reaction of the eagle he wakes up and he
takes advantage of the sunlight that's
in the
day and the bat knows that's his time to
now go back into Slumber and to hide
they both know automatically innately
when night is going to
begin but the ner the eagle knows now to
go and to hide and the bat knows to come
out what what does that have to do with
M and he says the
[Applause]
following this is a great Parable for
the understanding that both Moshe and
Bam had in terms of their understanding
of God they both had a very very natural
understanding of what we
call but they dealt with it
differently when there was a moment to
bring goodness to bring
Divinity then mosha would come up and
take advantage of that opportunity and
use it and I think he's
representative of other other Nim he
would use that knowledge and use that
opportunity to bring more light into the
world Moses knew when God was in a
moment where he could bring more light
into the world and that was when he
jumped that was when he was like the
eagle jumping up in the middle of as the
morning comes up to take advantage of
the of the
day also knew when there was a time to
bring goodness into the
world but he would hide would run away
from those moments cuz he didn't want to
take advantage of those
moments he would at those moments he
would act as if he didn't know God he he
wanted no part in bringing out the ore
the light and the goodness into the
world in contrast when when it became
darker quote unquote in the world and it
was a time of anger and it was a time to
bring curse into the world who jumped up
at that opportunity bam and who had run
away from that opportunity Moshe and
therefore it says towards me I think
this is a beautiful way to summarize the
difference it's true that this that bam
acted in a way that no other Navi acted
but says the Torah to MIMA it all came
from one main point which was a
connection to God n specifically MOS
were given very intimate understanding
and knowledge of a that's what a na is
given
the question then becomes what does that
Navi do with that understanding do with
that knowledge MOS took advantage of
that opportunity to bring light into the
world to guide the Jewish people and to
guide them to become moral and and
people full of Torah and mitzah and most
of arim in Jewish history did the same
thing bam was also given that ability
and yet he he would dealt with it in a
totally different way and I think we
could perhaps we could even suggest and
I don't know if this is true I didn't
see anyone who says this directly the
whole discussion was he a na'vi was he a
k was he a sorcerer versus a prophet and
we saw a whole range in a lot a lot of
different opinions perhaps the answer
was he was
both cuz what is K on some level
sorcerer is black magic is using is
using maybe he was a navi who chose to
use that prophecy that closeness to God
and use it in a certain way that made
him similar to a k channeling into the
time of anger using it for Destruction
cursing people and that was what bam did
Bam was given this unique
power excuse me and what he chose to do
with it was to go with in a totally
different direction which leads us to
one final question the final question
that I have is why okay if this was how
bam
acted why would God give and let's even
even without knowing how bam was going
to act okay let's take a step back every
person has free choice why would God
give a prophit to the non-jewish people
right we generally have most of the
prophets why was there why was there
such a thing as a and we saw that there
were seven of them why would God give
seven give seven prophets to the
non-jewish people so the standard
understanding to this is is a is is a
Rashi quotes it in Source number 18 and
it was also quoted in the me that we ski
but the beginning of it was basically
God gave a prophet to the Jewish Nation
so that they wouldn't complain look at
source number 18 and R says
Rashi this is this is an our para if
you're going to say
why would God give Divine knowledge
intimate Divine knowledge intimate
connection to God we usually Associate
Connection to God with a high level and
if bam wasn't on a high level then why
was he given there why was this intimate
knowledge given to a Russia so says says
Rashi and he's quoting a
m so the other nations won't complain to
say if we had only had we would you're
God you're punishing us for not acting
for acting immorally not acting
appropriately it's not fair you didn't
give us a you gave them a navi they had
the prophets the prophets told them how
to act and that's why the Jewish people
act the way they do we weren't given it
so in order to preempt a complaint by
the Jewish
people he did give them and what was
their reaction what did they
do and they broke through and they
caused sin and
immorality because initially even the
non-jewish Nations kept to a certain
sense of
morality yet we know that what happens
after this story at the end of par Bak
is the whole story of the women of mijan
coming and seducing the Jewish men where
did that come from According to kazal
that was Bam Bam knew that this was
something that really bothered God and
he convinced them to act immorally so
what the mag are saying is God gave them
this because it was that way they
wouldn't complain and yet what did Bam
do what did the other the non do they
used it for immor immorality they show
they took this power and they us it an
appropriate way and therefore God took
it away and therefore God took it away
and there's and that's why there's no or
there were no future
nian I would like to I I believe that we
could take a different approach to this
and to suggest that the reason why God
gave a a navi to to the non-jewish
Nations wasn't just simply because so
they wouldn't complain but if we take
take a step back and again take a bigger
picture to what was what's God's
relationship with the non-jewish people
we all know and again this is a larger
discussion but just to to speak for it
speak about it briefly we all know that
God calls
is by definition if we're the Bor what
else are there other children right if
we're the firstborn then there's other
children which means what's God's
relationship with the rest of the world
also as a father to a child ultimately
we may have a you want to call it unique
you want to call it special however you
want to describe it or you want to call
it chosen for responsibility okay
whatever you want to call it perhaps the
reason why God gave Nim to the
non-jewish world was because God also
wants them to be moral God also wants
them to do good the problem was God saw
what happens when you give this power to
Nations don't necessarily have a way to
deal with it or a way a way to control
it and so it wasn't just because what
are they going to say it was because was
saying I want the entire world
right everybody will eventually come to
a world to have a world of morality but
what happened was God gave that power
and it was misused so God had to take it
away from the non-jewish nation but if
God took it away now he's left with a
problem how is the rest of the world
going to now be able to come to God if
if they're not going to have the niim
and we're going to have the niim so then
who's going to show the rest of the
world how to come to
God who that's exactly that's our
mission that's our mission in a way it's
almost as if and I I having in my notes
here from from previously that I saw
this idea in refar but I I can't find it
but perhaps the idea is that before this
everybody was going to have their niim
and they were all going to come to God
in their own way once God no longer was
able to give niim to the non-jewish the
non-jewish world because of the abuse of
the power or that or that role that was
being given God needed now Isel to step
in to be
the to be the nation that's going to
have the that's going to have the that's
going to have the leadership that's
going to show them a certain way which
we then will create a certain torist
society that will act as we call an or
in order to model that to the rest of
the world and so parad balak which takes
place very very close before am is are
about to enter Isel is almost as if
we're learning a very important lesson
here it's lesson of why we're here and
what our role is in the world we see we
see the example of where B takes
advantage of the power that was given to
him as a result that power was taken
from the Jew from the from the
non-jewish nation and instead that
responsibility was now given given to us
that respon and right before we enter
the land of Israel and become and begin
to become that that very very long road
towards creating this nation or this
Society that's meant to show at the
world about God we have this story of
balakin ban and we see why the other
nations could no longer have prophets
which then requires us on some level to
step in and uh and act as their as their
guides thank you all yes I'm sorry I'm
just going to I'm going to end I'll
having to take the question I want to
give everyone a break so that uh Rob
finlin can start uh a minute or two