From: Weekly Torah To: parsha@torahzone.com Subject: Weekly Dvar Torah B"H "Path Markers" Balak: By: Yaacov Silverstein e@mail: hm16@popeye.cc.biu.ac.il HomePage: http://faculty.biu.ac.il/~hm16/ Year: 5762 This Years Parsha Series is prepared in the memory and merit of my grandfathers: Rav Yitzchak Zev Ben Yisroel Mordechai Hakohen Solomon Z"L Rav Chaim Meir Ben Yakov Silverstein Z"L *****^^^^^^^***** Did you tell your friend or relative how to subscribe to this Parsha List?? It's simple, just tell him to send a blank E-mail to: parsha-subscribe@torahzone.com And it is and always will be (B"H) FREE!! Purchase discounted Seforim online at: http://www.artscroll.com/torahzone Download the free DafYomi Calendar - http://faculty.biu.ac.il/~hm16/downloads Pasuk: (22:28) "Hashem opened the mouth of the she-donkey and it said to Bilam, "What have I done to you that you hit me these three times?" Rashi explains that animals are allowed to see spiritual beings that are blocked from the human eye, because human intelligence would cause people to live in constant fear if they could see everything around them. When Bilam's donkey saw the angel blocking its path, he tried to pass the angel the first two times. The third time, the angel blocked its path completely with a drawn-out sword. Since Bilam was oblivious to the angel, he hit his donkey with his stick. After Bilam hit his donkey for the third time, there was a miracle and his donkey was granted the power of speech to admonish Bilam for striking it. The purpose of this miracle was to show Bilam that a person's ability to speak, comes directly from G-d. This proved to Bilam that his plan of sorcery against the Jewish People could not prevail, since it was against G-d's Will. The fact that the donkey stated "these three times", was no coincidence. Rashi explains that this was an allusion to the future merit of Israel, which would protect it from all the "Bilams" in our history, who wish to harm us. The merit for the "Regalim" (festivals). Three times a year, for the 3 pilgrimage festivals (Pesach, Shevuous, Succos), Jews would leave their fields and homes without any protection, and go to the Temple in Yerushalayim (Aliyah l'Regel). How could Bilam think that he could harm such a people with such great faith and trust in G-d? By cursing and annihilating the Jewish nation, he would be wiping out a nation who observes the three Regalim. The obvious question is, that out of hundreds of Mitzvos which the Jews perform, why was this specific Mitzvah picked? There are two Midrashim which will help clarify this. The first Midrash states that Hashem said to Bilam, "If you decimate the Jewish people, who will observe My commandments? All the other nations already refused!" Bilam answered Hashem, "I will observe your percepts instead." The second Midrash is found in Sanhedrin (105b) which states that Bilam was blind in one eye and also limped on one foot. According to Halacha, one who is maimed in such a way is exempt from fulfilling the Mitzvah of Aliyah l'Regel. Hashem told Bilam that the Torah will not be observed if the Jewish people would (G-d forbid) be wiped out. Bilam then stated that he would keep the Torah. Hashem answered Bilam that this Mitzvah is not applicable to him. It was specifically this Mitzvah that Bilam was unable to keep, and thus it was this Mitzvah which was used as a reason for not allowing him to curse the Jewish people. Yet there is more behind this Mitzvah. There is also great merit for observing it. This Mitzvah which deals with "walking" is different than all other Mitzvos. Rav Schwab explains that we find in the Gemarah (Sotah 22a), if there are two Shulls, one closer and one which is further away, it is best to go to the Shull which is further away, for one receives reward for each step he takes to the Shull. When we look at all the other Mitzvos, we don't find such a reward. We aren't told that we get extra reward for walking to a Succah which is further away. The Maharal explains that this only applies to a Shull. This reward comes from the Mitzvah of going to the Temple in Yerushalayim three times a year on the festivals. Since a Shull is a "Small Sanctuary", one also receives reward for this Mitzvah. This is what the donkey was hinting to Bilam. She (the donkey) wasn't willing to budge, she wasn't willing to take one step against Hashem's Will. If one receives reward for walking to do Hashem's commandment, for sure there will be punishment for those walking against Hashem's will. If so great is their merit for this Mitzvah, how could one go to curse the Jewish people. The Kesav Sofer gives a slightly different reason why specifically the three festivals were chosen and not Shabbos which occurs much more often (we also don't do work on this day)? He explains that just keeping Shabbos does not prove one's faithfulness towards Hashem, since all religions have a day off. Just like in the USA Sunday is a day off, a day to be with the family. Yet the festivals are different. At times they even occur after a Shabbos, and especially if we are working in a company, it is not always easy to explain to the boss that you have to take a day off in the middle of the week. From here we prove that our intent in keeping the Shabbos and Festivals is not because it is a "good idea", rather the reason is because Hashem commanded us to do it. Bilam who had prophecy, and had "knowledge of the higher worlds", tried to find the "hour of rage" and curse the Jews at that time. This was not possible for him, because management of time was given to the hands of the Jewish people. The Jewish people were given the act of deciding when Rosh Chodesh occurs and thus are the ones who decide when the festivals will occur. It reaches such a level, that Chazal say that we can even change the way nature works, based on when the Beis Din declares Rosh Chodesh. The donkey was telling Bilam, "how can you curse such a nation, for even if you find the hour of rage, the Jewish people can change this time based on their actions". We also find in the Gemarah (Berachos 7a) that during this time period, there were no days of rage. We see from here that the Mitzvos are not just "another ritual", the Mitzvos are part of the nature of the world, and the Torah is the world's blueprint. (Adapted from - Artscroll Chumash, Shabbos Delights, Kesav Sofer, Shemen ha'Tov vol3, Maayan Beis ha'Shoeiva) --------***********-------- A special Thank You to my mother for checking & correcting the first DT draft. A special Thank You to Project Genesis - http://www.torah.org for hosting this list. If you ever want to remove yourself from this mailing list send a blank email to the following address: --------***********--------