Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Hello my friends, and welcome back to this week's episode of the Practical Parsha Podcast. This is Rabbi Shlomo Cohen and I hope you are well.
[00:00:08] For this week we're jumping right into Parshas Balak. But before we do, as always, if you have any questions, comments, would like to say hello.
[00:00:19] Don't be shy, feel free to introduce yourself.
[00:00:22] Please email me at rabbi shlomo kon kohnil.com I'd love to hear from you.
[00:00:27] This week's Parsha is Parshas Balak. And the story in this week's Parsha primarily focuses on the episode of Balaam and Balak. Now, Balak was the king of Moab.
[00:00:44] And the Parsha tells us how the nations of Moab and Midyan, who actually they usually hated each other and did not get along, they come together because they hear of the miraculous victories of the Jewish people. And now they decide that they need to make some type of pact to protect themselves and the Jewish people, even though the Jewish nation is not going to attack them. But they decide that they need to do something to stand up to the Jews.
[00:01:14] And they hire the well known magician and prophet. He was a prophet, Bilaam, right, He was a non Jewish prophet.
[00:01:24] And actually the commentary is the Talmud talks about how God gave prophecy to Bilaam, who was a wicked person um, but either way, the nations of Moab, whose leader was Balak, the king of Moab, they come together to hire this famous magician, this prophet Bilaam um, to curse the Jewish people.
[00:01:50] And the Parsha goes into detail how the back and forth of Balak hiring Bilaam um, and how Balaam um, tries to curse the Jews every time.
[00:02:04] But God makes a miracle that instead of a curse coming out of the mouth of Balaam um, a blessing comes out of the mouth of Bilaam. Additionally, the Parasha also tells us about the donkey of Bilaam, which actually miraculously talks to Bilaam um to tell him to not go and curse the Jewish people. But he doesn't listen.
[00:02:28] And finally the Parsha concludes after Bilaam tries to curse the Jewish people and every time a blessing comes out instead of a curse, he devises a plot to seduce the Jewish men by sending the daughters of Midian to act promiscuously with the Jewish people because he knows Hashem that G D hates immorality. And he devises his plan to cause the Jewish men to sin.
[00:03:00] And to some degree he is successful. Until next week's Parsha where Pinchas we'll talk about it next week stops this plan in action by putting it to an end and stopping the Jewish men from sinning with the daughters of Moab and Midian.
[00:03:20] The first idea I want to share with you today takes us to the part of this week's Parsha that deals with the talking donkey.
[00:03:28] So, as I mentioned before, Balaam is going to curse the Jewish people.
[00:03:34] And he gets on his donkey and he's going towards the camp of the Jewish people, and his donkey veers off the road.
[00:03:43] And the commentaries tell us that actually an angel appeared. And, um, the verses in the Torah speak this out. And only the donkey saw this angel holding this sword, and the donkey tried to go around this angel.
[00:03:57] And Balaam um, in his anger, gets angry at his donkey, hits the donkey, and this episode repeats itself until the donkey talks to Bilaam and says, why are you hitting me? Right? Why are you doing this to me?
[00:04:11] Right? And there's a back and forth in the parsha. But in this episode where Bilaam um is hitting his donkey, or the donkey is not listening to his command, he gets angry.
[00:04:25] And the psukim read, ason esamalech hashem nitze baderech v' harba shlofa b' yado va' ated ha' ason min aderech vatelach basode vayach Bila um mesa ason la' atosa haderech. And the donkey saw the angel of the Almighty standing on the road, and his sword was drawn in his hand, and the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field, and Balaam hit the donkey to turn her to the road.
[00:04:54] Now the commentaries explain that Bilaam was angry at this donkey, that it didn't listen to him. And the Midrash goes on this point, comments that Bilaam um, who didn't listen to God. The Parsha tells us how G D told Balaam um explicitly not to go and curse the Jewish people, but yet he defied that order and didn't care, and he decided anyway to go and curse the Jewish people. But now when the donkey didn't listen to him and went onto the field, he gets angry. So the Medra says, this wicked person is going to curse an entire nation which did nothing at all against him, and he hits his donkey to prevent it from going off the road and onto the field.
[00:05:40] So this is, uh, a very powerful lesson, I believe, that we see from Balaam, and I think that we could apply to our own lives.
[00:05:47] You know, Balaam um, he got upset when the donkey didn't listen to his, you know, didn't follow the path, but yet when he went against God, it was. It was nothing for him. Didn't make a difference.
[00:06:00] And I think what we see from this is that, uh, many times things happen or we get irritated when someone goes against our wishes, or we see someone act in a certain way that's inappropriate.
[00:06:14] And it bothers us. It bothers us that, how could this person do this to me? How could this person act in this way? How could this person be late? How could this person talk back to me? How could this person question my authority? And the list goes on and on.
[00:06:31] But really the question we need to ask ourselves is that how come we don't get upset when we do that to other people?
[00:06:39] Because we do.
[00:06:41] Maybe not on the same level, maybe not to the same degree, but we are all that person who, you know, who's getting us upset. We're that person as well.
[00:06:52] Uh, do we never question someone's authority? Do we ever, you know, do we never come late? Do we never do something incorrect? Right. And don't want someone to get upset at us?
[00:07:04] Right. So the.
[00:07:06] The message that we see from Bila, which M. I think we could take out, is that when something irritates us or something negative happens to us, we should try to process it in the way that we would want to be treated if we acted in that way. Because we do act in that way at times. It happens to us. And we want people to be, um, you know, easy on us and not too hard and not scream at us and treat us and not get irritated with us.
[00:07:34] And, you know, a lot of times I think this to myself, let's say you're at a meeting.
[00:07:38] And I always say you can learn a lot about people at meetings, how they conduct themselves and what, you know, how they talk and the questions they ask. And a lot of times you could be at a meeting and you could see other people ask questions that make them look absolutely foolish, or they do things which, you know, are ridiculous, make them look funny.
[00:08:02] And you're like, in your mind, you're, like, looking at them like, why would a person act in this way?
[00:08:08] And I always try to process this in a way that we're that person. Sometimes we're that person who acts foolishly at times and says that funny question or that acts in that way that it's a little interesting. And I think this is this idea because it shouldn't be. We shouldn't just think, you know, it's other People that act in this negative way, how dare anyone defy my will because.
[00:08:37] And get upset about it. Because when we defy other people's will, right, we don't want people to get upset. So I think it's keeping things in perspective, um, helps us be more balanced to deal with the situations that come to us in life and hopefully make the right decisions and have the right feelings when we're supposed to have them. So when we take these situations that make us upset, make us angry, we can use it as opportunity for self improvement to think about how we want to be treated.
[00:09:09] How would we want people to look at us and think that'll help us refine our character traits, our me does to be better people. The second idea I want to share with you today takes us to the first blessing of Balaam.
[00:09:24] Now, when Bilaam went to curse the Jewish people, God miraculously makes his curses turn into blessing. But the communistaries tell us that even in his blessing, you know, it was hidden his inner essence.
[00:09:38] So the verse reads as follows. The first blessing, Mimana afar Yaakov misbares Royva Yisrael Thomas Nafshi mois yesharam husahi acharisi kamoihu who has counted the dust of Jacob or numbered a quarter of Israel.
[00:09:55] May my soul die the death of the upright, and may my end be like his. Referring to the Jewish people that Bilaam is wishing to die like a Jew.
[00:10:08] Now, the question that's asked by the Chavatz Chayim is why is it that Balaam, um, is asking to die, you know, like Jacob, like the Jewish people, to die like a Jew? Why isn't he asking that he should live like a Jew? Right? Why is he focusing on to die like a Jew? Right. It would make more sense that he should live like a Jew, right?
[00:10:34] And Chavitz Chaim gives a tremendous insight to this answer, that when it comes to, you know, living and dying, right, As a Jew, Bilaam, who was a wicked person, he just wanted to get the easy way out.
[00:10:51] He wanted to have the good life and it's easy to die as a Jew. He didn't want to put the hard work in, right? And the Chavatz Chaim says a Yiddish expression that it's easy to die as a Jew. The trick is to live as a Jew.
[00:11:08] Because, you know, obviously when we go through life, there's challenges. It's not a bed, uh, of roses as the Chavez Chaim brings down. Obviously it's beautiful, it's enjoyable.
[00:11:21] But to live As a Jew has challenges. You know, there's things you could do and you can't do. There's things you could eat and you can eat. There's things you could say and you can say.
[00:11:32] There's responsibilities that comes. There's tremendous responsibility that comes with being born as a Jew and living as a Jew, Dying as a Jew is simple, right? A person, once a person dies, they're gonna receive their reward of what they earned in this world. All the work is done already. Then is the time to enjoy the reward.
[00:11:55] So Bilaam um was an evil person. He didn't want to work on himself. He just wanted enjoyment. He wanted pleasure. So to him, he asked to die as a Jew, that he should just go to the next world, to heaven, to Ulam Haba, to the next world where he could enjoy the life, you know, the reward that would be waiting for someone that lived a proper life. He didn't want to live the proper life that he wasn't interested in that he wanted just to go straight to the death to have that enjoyment going forward. And I think the lesson here, which I saw brought down not just from the Chavez chayyim, but from, um, Rabbi Plissken as well, is that when a person lives his life, we can't just be cardiac Jews. I've said this many times. We have to be Jews in action. It's an action based religion that Judaism, the Torah is not about sitting back and, uh, just going with the joyride and, uh, enjoying and just hoping that, uh, God, I was a good person, I was a decent person, so everything will be okay with me. No, it's action based.
[00:13:06] And the actions that we need to do are clearly defined for us in the Torah. What our responsibilities are, what our obligations are, what we need to do now. It is a beautiful life, right? And I'm sure everyone would agree to me that when you put in effort, that's when you get the most enjoyment out of your life, right? Which days do you enjoy the most when you work? Is it the days that you worked hard and you feel good when you come home, or is it the easy days when you did nothing and you come home? Which one do you feel better about yourself?
[00:13:41] I could just tell you for myself, today was a, uh, hard day. I feel like I earned my paycheck today, thank God. But I feel good. I feel good. I feel accomplished. And I think that's the life of a Jew as well. When we talk about the responsibilities, the quote unquote, hard things we have to do, the effort we need to put in, right? When it comes to Torah mitzvahs, learning, doing mitzvahs, it's not a bad thing, it's a good thing, it's a positive thing. Because when we put that effort in, and especially the effort that we're putting into it is for spiritual matters, which are, uh, things are eternal, which. These are actions that feed our neshama, that feed our soul, which can only be nourished with spirituality, with mitzvos, with learning Torah. Nothing else in the world is going to fill that void, right? That's why you see people, they're always looking for the next thing because their neshama, their soul, their godly soul is not being filled. And the only way we could fill that void in our, you know, in our neshama is by filling it with spirituality.
[00:14:46] And I think this is a very important idea, that we shouldn't be afraid of living like Jews, right? We should want to. Don't be afraid of the mitzvahs, don't be afraid of doing them, of being involved, being connected. Don't be afraid of learning Torah. You know, a lot of times there's Jewish people, they don't want to know, right? They're afraid. They think they're going to feel guilty, I don't know the reason all the time. And I think sometimes they think they're going to have to uproot their whole life. But that's not how it works. It's not an all or nothing religion. Sure, we want to get to a point where we're observing all the mitzvahs, but it takes day by day, one thing by one thing. Hashem knows we're human beings. Rome was not built in a day. And we have to take small things at a time, what we could handle. And I think that's how we grow. Small actions compounded equals something much, much larger. And just really one more thought on this verse, right? Tamos nafshi moishe Sharm. But let me die the death of the righteous. Let my end be like his.
[00:15:50] We know it's brought down that Balaam um knew what he was supposed to do in life, right? He knew what was correct and what was not correct. But the difference between Bilaam um and the children of Jacob, Jewish people, the righteous, is that Balaam um didn't want to put them into action. Going to this point again, this action based religion we're talking about, he knew conceptually, philosophically, what was correct and what was not correct. But he wasn't willing to apply it to his own life.
[00:16:24] You know, it's brought down. I forgot which great uh, philosopher, right that he was, you know, which one it was either Pluto or aristocracy. Aristotle, uh, that in their own personal lives they were very immoral and they didn't act in the most upright way.
[00:16:45] So I forgot where I saw this. But someone once said, asked one of these philosophers, like, aren't you like a, uh, very. You're a great philosopher, everyone looks up to you. And he said, you know, I'm only this philosopher from, you know, from my neck up, from his neck down. He was pretty much an animal. But the point is, is that we have to. It's not just enough to know what's right in our mind. We have to be willing to put it into action, to internalize it and make it part of us.
[00:17:14] And that's another insight to this verse, that Bilaam, um, he just wanted to die in the correct way that he should go to the next world to olam ah haba, he should go to heaven.
[00:17:24] But he wasn't willing in this world here. Meaning he knew what was intellectually correct, but he wasn't willing in this world here, in the life that he's living to apply it and put it into action, to be deserving of it himself, to be deserving of the next world himself. And I think this is important to us. These ideas are really tied together. Number one is this action, Judaism's action based religion, don't be afraid of the action. And number two is that it's not just enough to know philosophically and to theologically know what is wrong and what is right.
[00:17:58] We have to be willing to apply it to our lives, everyone on their level and everyone at their pace.
[00:18:06] You know, don't be afraid of it. And I think that's it's applying it and internalizing it and making part of us.
[00:18:12] The last idea I want to share with you today takes us to the second blessing of Bilaam.
[00:18:18] Now the sukim read as lahibit avin biakov le ro amel be Israel Hashem eleikav imayusruas melech bo.
[00:18:28] He perceived no iniquity in Jacob and saw no perversity in Israel. Hashem, his God is with him and the friendship of the king is in him.
[00:18:40] Now the Orachayim Hakadosh explains a novel insight on this verse.
[00:18:47] So if you look at the word, he perceived no iniquity in Jacob and saw no perversity in Israel, that the word amal is translated as perversity, that it's. That he's praising the Jewish nation, that they are upright in their morals.
[00:19:09] They didn't deviate from proper morality. But the Orochayim has another, uh, understanding of this verse, that the word amal can also be translated as toiling.
[00:19:25] And if you translate the word amal as toiling, the verse reads that he didn't see any toil in Israel, right? He perceived no iniquity in Jacob and saw no toil in Israel. So what does that mean, no toil in Israel? It's referring to Israel, is referring to Jacob. Israel is, uh, Jacob's other name, and it's referring to him as a person and the nation of Israel, the Jewish people.
[00:19:50] So this means as follows. There's a story that's brought down that there once was a merchant who's traveling on a ship, and when he got to port, he hired a, uh, you know, somebody to schlep all his packages to the place that he's staying.
[00:20:07] And when this porter brought all these packages to the destination of this merchant, he's sweating profusely.
[00:20:18] And he drops it down. And the merchant says, it's not my packages.
[00:20:22] And this porter or the schlepper who's carrying all this load of stuff, he's like, how do you know? You didn't even open them yet.
[00:20:30] The reason why I know it's not my packages is because my packages were not that heavy. You're sweating like crazy. You're toiling like crazy. I could tell.
[00:20:38] And my packages were just full of light jewelry. And you wouldn't be sweating that much. You wouldn't be toiling that hard.
[00:20:45] And the lesson that we could take from this parable is that what is our outlook when it comes to mitzvos?
[00:20:53] You know, when it comes to Torah and mitzvos, do we look at it as 613 Mitzvos? M.
[00:20:59] Or, God forbid, do we look at it as 613 problems?
[00:21:04] Right? What's our attitude? What's our level of enthusiasm? Is it, uh, a toiling or is it a pleasure to do it? Right? And this really has to do with our. With our outlook.
[00:21:17] And this is what it means, according to the Orochaim Hakadosh, when Bilaam was blessing the Jewish people that he saw, when the Jewish nation pray when they serve Hashem, it wasn't like the other nations of the world, when they come to serve their gods, that it's. It's burdensome, it's hard, it's cumbersome, it's Challenging, but rather it was something which was not a, ah, toil. It was enjoyable, it was a pleasure. Because that's the praises of the Jewish nation that when it comes to serving Hashem, when it comes to davening, it's something that's innate in them. It's in their nature, it's in their DNA that they enjoy, that they want to do. It's a pleasure. It's not something which is a challenge and hard to do.
[00:22:03] And I think this is a very important mindset for us when it comes to avodas, uh, ah, Hashem, when it comes to service of G D, how do we look at the things that we're doing spiritually? Is it like, I need to check the boxes off, just check it off. I need to check off davening, check off my learning, check off the mitzvahs I do in a day.
[00:22:23] Again, Judaism is, you know, we're into routine, but we don't want it to be a routine, a burdensome routine. We want it to be an enjoyable routine. And I think a way for us to get to this point of enjoying our mitzvahs and not being toiling in it is obviously, number one, is understanding what we're doing helps us gain an appreciation for the things that we do. But it's also, it's. I think it's the attitude. So if we're doing something, we're doing it anyways. We're davening, we're doing a mitzvah, uh, shouldn't we just do it? Right, right. To have the right attitude to realize what we're doing. And it's really. I think it comes back to just knowing what we're doing and try to internalize that and the things that we're doing already to try to do them correct as well. So that's a very important insight. We see from this week's Parasha how Bilaam blesses Jewish people regarding their attitude when it comes to mitzvahs, that it's the right way and something that we can learn to apply to our lives, to have the correct insight that, God willing, when we do what Hashem wants, when we do mitzvahs, when we learn Torah, it's an enjoyable thing for us.
[00:23:28] It's not a burden. It's something we want to do and God willing, that helps us become the best we can be. So with that, I'm going to finish it for today's podcast. If you have any questions, comments, or would like to reach out, feel free to send me an email at Rabbi Shlomokon kohnmail.um com have a great day.
