Balak: Sichon and Og, Bilam’s Spiritual Opposition, and the Power of Tefillah

Transcript

At the end of Bamidbar, it goes into the conquest of Eretz Yisrael, kibush, milchemet shivah amim, the seven nations. Kipshuto, when you look at it, it would seem that it's all about kibush, conquest. They had to get Eretz Yisrael, so Hashem wanted that they should go and conquer, kibush. Kibush is one of the kinyanim of how a person gets somebody else's land. Kibush milchamah, it's called. Kibush is conquest, and with conquest, you koneh other people's land. The truth is, HaKadosh Baruch Hu could have given us Eretz Yisrael with no fighting whatsoever. If it's a question of kinyanim, we have the first Rashi in Bereishit. Rashi says that if the goyim say we took, not true. Hashem created Eretz Yisrael, and He gave it to us. So He could have given it to us without even having us pick up a gun. And of course, in those days there was no gun, so it's just an expression, but a sword. We would have to just walk in and take it. What's the inyan of milchamah? Why should HaKadosh Baruch Hu take Jewish people, who are anshei shalom, people of peace? You know, imagine Gedolei Yisrael, like by the Ashkenazim, let's say you have Rav Elyashiv, by the Sefardim you have Rav Ovadia Yosef. Imagine them carrying a gun in the street. Who went to war? Gedolei Yisrael, the greatest people went to war. Tzadikim. Imagine the gedolim. Which gedolim take swords, guns, ammunition? Yet, HaKadosh Baruch Hu wanted Milchemes mitzvah. Milchemes mitzvah is the shiva amimim, the conquest and conquer of the seven nations. Hayitachen? What's the reason? What is the reason that HaKadosh Baruch Hu takes peaceful, holy, heilige Jewish people, tzaddikei Elyon, and tells them, פרו, a gun and fight? For what? You want them to have Eretz Yisrael? Give it to them. What is the milchamah? What is it all about? Also, it's interesting, the shiva amim is a very interesting halacha. By shiva amimim, the seven nations, when you conquer Eretz Yisrael, it's not regular war. It's not like milchemet reshus, which means that you're permission to fight, but it's milchemes mitzvah, that there's halacha of lo techayeh kol neshamah. You fight till destruction. There's nothing left. You gotta annihilate. Lo techayeh kol neshamah. Why? Why should it be that? Why should there be halacha kibush Eretz Yisrael that you annihilate till there's nothing left? So there's a very interesting Rabbeinu Bechaye I'd like to share with you. Rabbeinu Bechaye says that the milchemet shiva amimim is a lot deeper than just conquest. Milchemet shiva amimim is a lot more than just being koneh Eretz Yisrael. Milchemet shiva amimim is fighting the sarim in heaven. There's the sar of each nation. So you have to fight the sarim, and how do you get rid of the sar? When you annihilate. There's no more people. There's no zecher left from this nation, mimeila the sar is also taken out. What does Rabbeinu Bechaye mean? The milchamot, the way I understand the Rabbeinu Bechaye, the milchamot of Shiva Amimim wasn't just physical; it was spiritual. The Shiva Amimim represented different klipot and kochot hara, and we have to annihilate not only physically, but in ruchni, these kochot, and then and only then we were zocheh to Eretz Yisrael. So we're just going to repeat because Mr. Kaikov brought the coffee, deserves that I should repeat it, so I'm going to repeat it. Okay, we're discussing milchemet Shiva Amimim, that obviously it's not just conquest. It has to be a milchama ruchniyus, like Rabbeinu Bechaye explains, because you see that it's a very interesting type of milchama, like the chaya kameshama, that you're not allowed to let anything survive.

That's Rabbeinu Bechaye, the pshat is, because this is how you annihilate. How do you annihilate the kochot and the sarim of these nations? By destroying it ad tumah, till there's nothing left. So the milchames shivah amim is obviously not only physical, but more than physical; it's spiritual, to destroy, destroy min hashoresh, the klipot, the kochot hara of these nations. It's interesting to note that all nations that came against us were there that we should stand up against those nations, not only physically but spiritually, to fight their kochot and klipot. We had Madai and Yavan and then Bavel and Edom. This was all that we needed cleansing from these cultures and nations, cultures and nations. If you notice, the parah adumah is a very interesting cleansing process, right? Parah adumah was clean. Which klipot did it have to clean? So I found a very interesting medrash. The medrash says that what was the parah adumah? It says, the medrash, Parah adumah da Bavel. The parah adumah represents Bavel. Temimah, da Madai. Ein bah mum, da Yavan. Lo alalah ol, da Edom. Zohar, parshas Pekudei. On the Taf Chaf Hei. So we see in the Zohar that constantly we needed cleansing from the kochot and from the hashpaot of these nations, to the point that the parah adumah was meant to clean, to clean up, just like it was meant to clean up from the eigel. We see that it also had had its shoresh in all these galut to clean up the mess, the mess of these galut. It's interesting, Edom is the lo ala aleha oil. You know, we're in galut Edom today. Very interesting, we're in galut Edom today, which is the last galut. You know what the kochot harav Edom is? Lo ala aleha oil. Work, workaholics. Manhattan is the city that never sleeps. Work, work, work, work. As a matter of fact, there's a very interesting medrash that the Alkut Reveni here brings down, and he says, Vetzarich shelo ye'aseh bah melachah, shehi baah mehaklipah, shenigzar mechet Adam Harishon, shene'emar, Vezeh ta'apechah tochal lechem, umin haklipot baah melachah. So you see that the lo ala aleha oil is to clean up the klipah of Vezeh ta'apechah tochal lechem, which is interesting that we find that it's also, it's also for the inyan of Edom, to clean up Edom, which you see clearly part of its klipah is oil and oil and work and work. It's just an interesting observation, but it's a little off topic. The main thing we're trying to bring out is that whenever nations come against us, The purpose of it, and this is said already in the sefarim, it's already mevuar in many of the sefarim, that the purpose of all the nations, b'chol dor vador omdim aleinu l'chaloseinu, it's actually that we should fight back and repress and put a stop to the koach hatumah and klipah of those nations. So here we have Milchemes Shivah Amim, and one of them, and actually the first one was the milchamah with Sichon and Og, which was in last week's parsha. So I'd like to discuss a little bit the milchamah of Sichon and Og. What exactly did it represent? What was the ruchniyusdike milchamah behind the milchamah of Sichon and Og? And then we'll discuss what was the ruchniyusdike milchamah against Moav and Balak, and we'll take great lessons from it. We'll take great limudim from it. What was Sichon and Og about? So I want to begin by showing you something quite interesting. Vayakem lefi charev. For those that paid attention to the krias haTorah, you'll notice that it says that they killed Sichon lefi charev. Notice the word lefi. It should...

Vayakim becharev. What is lefi? To the mouth of a charev, the mouth. Now the truth is, a sword has a piah; it has a mouth, and the sharp point of it is defined. The expression uses a peh; it's like a mouth. The sword has a mouth. All right. The targum Yonason, okay, and it will show you soon how the Midrashim speak about this as well, explain lefi that they used the mouth to kill Sichon, and that is the shem hameforash. Beshamta d'Kudsha Berich Hu. You have over here the Targum; you don't have the Targum. Here they have the Targum. Go ahead, look it up. It says clearly, lefi charev, that they killed—lefi, it was lefi. Beshamta d'Kudsha Berich Hu, beshamta d'Hashem, with the name of Hashem. This as well is a Midrash. The Midrash in Eliyahu Zuta that says that if you look, it says in one place that Moshe killed Sichon, vayak Moshe, then it says vayak Yisrael, and then it says vayak Moshe v'Yisrael. So who did it? Says Eliyahu Zuta, we have to say that not Moshe did it and not Klal Yisrael did it, but HaKadosh Baruch Hu Himself did it. So the milchamah, the waging of war and the conquest, is done through Hashem, and this goes very well with this Targum, that it was beshamta in the name of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Would you like to read it, Nissan? It says, Umcho Yisrael bishmata d'Hashem. Bishmata d'Hashem, with the name of Hashem. You hear? They killed, they killed Sichon. The nation of Sichon was conquered with the shem Hashem. Obviously that the war was not just a simple waging of war, like I told you. Hashem doesn't ask Yidden targum Yonason ben Uziel. I'm sorry if you don't have it in your Chumash, I can't print it for you. What's the pasuk? It's perek chaf alef, pasuk chaf daled. Pasuk chaf daled. So there it says clearly, the Targum stresses the form and format that they went and they killed out Sichon, it was b'shamta, that HaKadosh Baruch Hu, with the name of Hashem and the Midrashim, speak out clearly that this was milchemes Hashem. Hashem Himself did conquer Sichon. Now I want to point out to you a very interesting yalkut, a very interesting medrash. Medrash says that actually the milchamah against Sichon and Og was a lot greater than the milchamah against Paroi. Oh yes, very interesting medrash here. Says the Medrash, Oh, kashim hayu Sichon v'Og yoser miParoi, says the Medrash, more than Paroi, more. U'k'sheim she'amru shirah al mapalas Paroi, and just like they said shirah on the mapalah of Paroi, they said Az Yashir, kein hayah ra'ui lomar shirah al mapalaso shel Sichon v'Og. That's how great. Ela she'amra David. But David was the one who ended up saying that shirah, like it says, L'makeh melachim gedolim, ki l'olam chasdo. Right? We say it in the tefillah, Shabbos, Hodu laShem ki tov, ki l'olam chasdo. It says, L'makeh melachim gedolim, ki l'olam chasdo. So who is the malach? Right, like Malchavasha. So who are these kings? Sichon and Og. So who said shirah, David? So there are two questions. Why was Sichon and Og much greater of a problem? Why was it more kasheh l'Yisrael, Sichon and Og, than Paro? Paro enslaved them so many years. We always picture yetzias Mitzrayim, wow, look what happened in Mitzrayim. We almost fell into the nun shaarei tumah. So we always think that Paro was much worse. Yet Chazal are telling us, and like Gershon pointed out, it's a taka Rashi, I believe it's a Rashi as well, right, that Sichon and Og were kashim, were much worse, much worse. Unbelievable, no? It's like an unbelievable... Chiddush nifla, chiddush nifla. If someone would tell you what was the greatest galus, you would say Mitzrayim. We would talk about Edom. No, Sichon and Og is kashim.

Semi Pari, worse. What was so, what was so ... night? What happened? Nothing happened. So we have to delve into this to understand. Obviously, the kocho tara, hara of Sichon and Og was much greater than the kocho tara, Pari, obviously, first Midrash, first Chazal. And then we have to ask, why is David HaMelech the one to say shira for the uprooting and destruction and conquest of Sichon and Og? Why David? I'm going to show you that David's name comes up quite often, quite often, in these conquests of the shiva amim that David HaMelech is involved somehow, and for some reason, quite closely in all the Sichon, Og, Moav, in the milchamos that we held against them. I'm soon going to show this to you from many different Chazal. I begin by telling you, if you notice, there's the shira: Al kein yei'amer basefer milchamos Hashem. Okay, this is right before the milchemes Sichon v'Og, where it discusses that they went out and they began the conquest. Al kein yei'amer, go ahead, read it. Al kein yei'amer. It's Al kein yomru hamoshlim, this one? Basefer milchamos Hashem, et Vahev b'Sufah, right? Go ahead, read it, read it. No? It's after, yeah? Yeah. It says like this. First it says that they traveled to Ever Arnon, asher bamidbar, ... Al kein yei'amar besefer milchamos Hashem, es Vahev b'Sufah, v'es hanachalim Arnon. This is the beginning of the wars. It says, Al kein yei'amar besefer milchamos Hashem, k'shemisaprim nisim she'asu la'avoseinu. Says the Medrash Yalkut Tehillim, Al kein yei'amar besefer milchamos, amar HaKadosh Baruch Hu l'David. Like I told you, David's name comes up quite often in the milchamos of the Shiva Amamim, and it says, HaKadosh Baruch Hu says to David, Asok baTorah. You be involved in Torah, va'ani nilcham milchamosecha, and I shall fight your wars. That's what it means. Al kein yei'amar besefer. You deal with the sefer. You put your head into the Gemara. Milchamos laShem. Hashem will do the milchamah. Vachein Moshe, and so too Hashem said to Moshe here, Al kein yei'amar besefer milchamos Hashem, atem asaktem besefer, va'ani nilcham al yedeichem. So it's quite interesting that Moshe and David are told the same laws and instructions of war. You study, you learn Torah, you put your head into the sefer, you learn in the yeshiva, and I shall fight the war. Who? Moshe and David HaMelech. Quite interesting. What was Moav? What was Sichon? What was Og? So there's a very interesting pasuk here. Pasuk says, Oy lecha, Moav. Woe to you, Moav. Avadta, got lost, got destroyed, annihilated, am Kemosh. Now who's Kemosh? It's not Moshe. Kemosh doesn't mean Moshe. Who's Kemosh? Says Rashi, Kemosh, shem elokei Moav. It's the name of the god of Moav. That's the avodah zarah of Moav. All right, quite benign. You look at Rashi, you think, but right away you have to think to yourself, am Kemosh. So that's what you call Moav, the nation of Kemosh, avadta, Oy lecha. What do they want? What do they want over here? Oy lecha, Moav, avadta, am Kemosh. So the truth is, I went to look into this avodah zarah Kemosh. What is it all about? And I found an interesting medrash. Medrash says, you know what Kemosh is? Hu shekutz Moav. This is the avodah zarah of Moav. V'kabbalah b'yadeinu shehaysa even shechorah.

It was a black stone. Demus isha. Reminds me very much of Buddha, Buddha. The only thing is, Buddha is a man, but maybe she started off as a lady. You never know, you never know. It's not. It's a man. They did the research. It looks like a lady. It's a man that looks like a lady. But this is what it is. It's am kemoish. Who knows? In today's society, you never know how it could work out. You know, it started off as a man, and lachveish, you never know. Anyways, it's even shchaira, demus isha. Ve'amda sham misheises yemei Bereishis. And kemoish was there since the time of Bereishis. Interesting. Who made it? Pilei ployim. Who made it? Uvana lah bamah. They created a bamah, a sacrificeful altar. Vaholchu el ha'amim, and nations came there, lishtachavos, to bow. Ve'echad me'elef lo chazru, and one out of a thousand never returned. V'lo yad'u b'sibas mah. They didn't know why. Nobody knew why that happened. People used to go and never come back. Who knows? Point being that it's the avodah zarah of kemoish, woman. What's this fairy tale over here? Oy lacham, woe to you, Moav. Avaditoch. You got lost, am kemoish. I don't know, since when do we start calling nations after their avodah zarah? This lady. Something, something is very, very... It began to, my mind started to work a little bit. I saw the pasuk, and I'm saying, I'm k'moish, I don't know, what's moish, the lady avodah zarah, what is this all about? I believe that it's very significant, very significant, their avodah zarah and how the pasuk defines them according to their avodah zarah and woes them, Oy l'cha, woe to you, Moav, am Kemoish. Okay. I want to tell you that there's something very interesting about Sichon and Og, and that is that you notice that Og, Moshe was afraid of. Moshe was terrified. As a matter of fact, there's a very interesting Midrash that says the Ribbono Shel Olam told him, Al tira oso, and still he was afraid, still afraid. Says HaKadosh Baruch Hu, what are you afraid of? Not only I'm afraid, A, that I'll fall in his hand, says the Midrash, but even after Hashem promised him that you won't fall in his hand, he was afraid, but how do I know he'll fall in my hand? There's two problems. One problem is I may fall to him, and then the second problem is how do I know that he'll fall to me? So he needed a double guarantee, and the Midrash brings down that he uprooted a mountain and he was ready to drop it on Klal Yisrael, and HaKadosh Baruch Hu made his teeth grow, stam, you know the whole story, right? Yeah, you guys love these maiselach. So his teeth started to grow, and it grew into the thing, it got stuck in his head, and— All right, now, sicha in an oig. What is sicha in an oig? Malachim. So you would say, sicha in an oig, what, mamish horrible, terrible. No. The Megaleh Amukos says, echad yenikasam, echad mitzad hakedushah, me'ein klipas Yishmael. Yeah, it's very interesting. One of them, one, sicha in an oig, one of them has to do with Yishmael, the klipah of Yishmael. Ve'echad mitzad Samael, me'ein klipas Esav mitzad Yitzchak. Wow. Okay. So one has to do with Yishmael, and one has to do with Esav. That's what the Megaleh Amukos, ois lamed-zayin, says. Question: what is kedushah? It's interesting. Echad mitzad hakedushah, me'ein klipas Yishmael. So I have to define for you kedushah, klipas Yishmael. Otherwise, what is he talking about? Ah, you'll say, bichlal, why am I talking about this? Because I believe that we understand well sicha in an oig, we'll have a better understanding of why they were kasha, they were much worse, like the Medrash says, than Paro, much worse for Klal Yisrael, more detrimental to Klal Yisrael than Paro. So let's find out what, and let's define.

What the word kedusha מצד קליפת ישמעאל means, and I believe, and I know, that it means the following. Yishmael had a tremendous ma'alah, and that is, Kishama Hashem et kol hanaar ba'asher hu sham. Kochot hatefila. Sefarim write that Yishmael—I'm sure you heard this many times—Yishmael is very into prayer. As a matter of fact, they pray five times a day. It's a religion that prays more than any other religion, five times a day. Christians pray five times a year, and Muslims pray five times a day. The klipah of that is because, Kishama Hashem el kol hanaar ba'asher hu sham. I believe that Chofetz Chaim already says this as well, that the inyan of tefila—Yishmael has the inyan of tefila. So now we're starting to formulate that one of them had the klipah of Yishmael מצד הקדושה, and that might be the kochot hatefila. And therefore we could start formulating, which we'll soon see clearly with rayot brurot, that Moshe was afraid. Moshe had fear. There was a reason for his fear. Now, I do have to tell you that Og was a very—what do you call that—a very shady character. You know why? Because Og, nobody really knows his true identity. Everybody thinks that Og had a tremendous zechus, that he told Avraham Avinu ki nishba achiv, that Lot was captured. I'd like to tell you a few midrashim that say that actually you got the wrong man. He's an impostor. He has nothing to do with that guy who came and told. Everybody's eyes are getting lifted, all of a sudden everybody's starting to pay attention. There's a Medrash that says, first of all, that Og had a bris milah. Vayomer Hashem el Moshe, al tira osoi. What is the word osoi? Says the Medrash, trei osiyos ksiv b'Torah. There's two word otah, that's the two times in the Torah, l'shneiin peirush echad. V'hu ad drosh achicha oto. When you have to be meshiv aveidah, you hold it till the brother, which means the Yisrael that comes and is doresh oto. What is oto? Oto means with an ot, with a sign, with a siman. Siman. He has to give a siman b'aveidato. That's ad drosh achicha oto. Og also had a sign, and that is, ki Og hayah nimol. Og had bris milah. V'nisyarei Moshe mipnei ha'azbris sheloi. Ah, you'll ask a kasha, where did he get a bris milah from? I'll tell you a tremendous, tremendous story. The story is, says the Medrash, Og was actually Eliezer eved Avraham. Og melech haBashan hayah Eliezer eved Avraham. V'hayah loi zechus, bishvil shegamal chesed, nimol, shelo yefiga. Ooh, so now all of a sudden we have a whole different Og. The real Og, please get up. Og is melech haBashan, maybe, but is Og also Eliezer eved Avraham? Maybe. Chazal say that. Now I want to tell you even more. What's the zechus? No, no, it's not about Og, because if it's Og melech haBashan, then it's about Lot. But if it's Eliezer eved Avraham... And the answer is, shegam al chesed im Yitzchak Avinu, sheheivi lo es Rivka. Givealdig, givealdig, givealdig. He brought Rivka. Tell me, he was not doyleh u'mashkeh miToras rabboi? Yes. What about that zechus? No, that's not the zechus. What's the zechus? That he brought Rivka. Tell me something, how did he get Rivka? Chazal—I'm sorry, the pasuk, excuse me—the pasuk tells us clearly that Eliezer davened to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. He went and he said, Ribono shel olam, hakrei na lefanai hayom. Please, please give me tefillah. Very interesting, huh? Very interesting. Big shailah, but it was bigshu, it was bigshu, tefillah. Okay, so now we're beginning to formulate more and more: who is Sichon, who is Og, who is—I'm sorry—what is so special about these nations that even Moshe Rabbeinu...

Needed guarantees. He was terrified that he needed guarantees from HaKadosh Baruch Hu. So let's take a look at a very interesting Medrash here. The Medrash says, and I'll tell you the emes, I learned this Medrash when I was quite a young bochur, and it perplexed me then. I never really understood this Medrash. The Medrash says that when was the war? When was the war against Sichon? What time of the year was it? What date on the calendar? Says the Medrash, the Medrash says it was in Elul. When was the war against Og? It was after the regel, which means at the end of Tishrei. This is what the Medrash says. פירוש המדרש, free, the Medrash, famous Medrash. I never understood, what's the negeiah that it was in Elul, it was after Sukkos, after, you know, the end of Tishrei. What does Chazal want? It's so important to know when it was? Never understood. Okay, this year I was zocheh to enlightenment to understand this Medrash, and I'll share it with you. Tell me, what did Moav want? Does anybody know what Moav wanted? So if you look at the pasuk, the pasuk seems to say clearly he was afraid, and I don't blame him. I don't blame him. I'd also be afraid, right? It says in the pasuk clearly, וירא בלק בן צפור מלך מואב את אשר עשה ליקים... One second. One second. את אשר עשה ישראל לאמורי. Eilu shnei malachim, Rashi, shehayu betuchim aleihem le'amod bifneihem, anu halachos kal vachomer. Good, idols to be afraid, right? Truthfully, Sichon also. Sichon came and he said, You know why I'm going to fight, even though all you're asking is Eber haYarden? It seemed like a very moral reason. Rashi says because they used to pay taxes to them, right? They used to pay taxes that they should live on the border and protect, that any nations that come, they'll stop them before they come into Eretz Yisrael to fight. Sounds like very, very, you know, good neighbors and honest workers, no? They were hired to do a job. Tell me something more. Mitzrayim, yeah? Mitzrayim also. What were they afraid? It says in the pasuk a very simple thing. They were afraid, Pen yirbeh aleinu, right? V'nosaf aleinu, right? V'aleh milchamah banu, v'alu min ha'aretz. So it's interesting how it's always facaded, facaded, right? Facade means it's covered over with a real ta'ina. They're afraid, I'm afraid, I'm afraid. We hate the Jews. Why do we hate the Jews? Because they're taking over the, what do they call it, the banks, Hollywood, right? There's always a good reason, klaymish, which means klapei chutz. They always come up with a good reason. So that's the cher pashut pshat, right? Because the truth is, we find that Balak tries to curse. He hates Klal Yisrael. Rashi brings it down, but that could be because he's afraid of them. Nachon? Ruven, nachon? When you read the pesukim, you don't see more than fear. Pari was afraid, and he was right to be afraid, right? Because ... right? Milchamah, they'll go to war. Sichon is afraid, makes sense also. Listen, they paid us to watch. How can we let you just pass by? Moav is afraid. Look what they did to Sichon and Ai. Tell me, what did Bilam want? Does anybody know why Bilam was so anti-Semitic? Why did he hate? You look at Rashi. Rashi says clearly that Bilam hated even more than Balak. Furisha Rashi, right, Gershon? Remember the Rashi? Who hated more, Balak or Bilam? What did Bilam have to lose? Nothing. This has nothing to do with Bilam. Bishloima Sichon, I hear. Bishloima Moav, I hear. Bishloima Moav, I hear. What did Bilam—what did Bilam hate so much? Can you tell me why Bilam hated so much? No, what Bilam? Nothing, Bilam. Okay, so first of all, you want to know Bilam is—let's discuss. Bilam is Lavan. Medrash says clearly Bilam comes from Lavan, all right? As a matter of fact, Bilam is a grandnephew of Avraham Avinu. It's also Medrash. Medrash says—yeah, it says like this here.

Duel. Sha, don't, don't. Rudison. Bilam, hoya beno shel Malka. He was the son of Malka. Milka, Milka. Who is Milka? Achos Sarah, the sister of Sarah. Veyoldes Kmuel and Kmuel is Bilam. Vnikra kein. Why is he called Kmuel? Al shekam keneged uma, that he went up against the nation. Right. UMilka ois akarah. Milka couldn't have children. So kemo sheispalel Avraham al Sarah, kein ispalel al Milka. V'chein omer Bilam, 'Luli Avraham lo yisti ba'olam.' Bilam would say, if not for Avraham, I wouldn't be here. And yet he hated Klal Yisrael, right? And that was his name, Kmuel. He was a Jew hater. Kam keneged uma. Okay, he used to get—he stood up against the Yid. He was called Kmuel. So Bilam is actually Lavan, right, mishpachas Lavan. He was a grandchild of Lavan, and at the same time, one medrash says that he was actually a nephew of Avraham Avinu. Good? Who says this? This is a medrash. Just read you a lashon of the medrash. And then it says he came from Lavan, that you will know that he came from Lavan. Here, here. Vayeishtachu malachim el Bilam. Who is Bilam? Melech Bela, melech rishon. Bilam is Bela. That's the name in those days, right? The five kings. V'chein omer Chazal, zeh Lavan ha'Arami. Ushneihem al kav echad ya'amdu. They both had the same kav. Now it's very interesting, Lavan was what? Bikesh la'akor es hakol. So Lavan wanted to destroy Klal Yisrael. Bilam, I guess, as the nephew of Avraham Avinu, was come keneged uma. That's the pshat kimu El, right? And pshat is Avraham davened, Avraham davened for him. So it's a very interesting question: why does Bilam hate so much? What is Bilam? Bishloima Sichon hates, all right, he's afraid. Bishloima Og hates, afraid. Bishloima Moav hates, all right. But what is Bilam? Why is Bilam such a big hater? So there's an interesting Rashi. Rashi says that actually, Eiver and the Har Pesorah, Eretz Bnei Amon. So there's a shaylah who Eretz Bnei Amon is referring to. Is Eretz Bnei Amon of Balak or Eretz Bnei Amon of Bilam? Some Rishonim learn it's Eretz Bnei Amon of Balak. So actually, Bilam lived in Balak's territory. So maybe that's why he was so anti; he was afraid. Others learn it was actually Aram, because Bilam came from Aram Naharayim. Aram Naharayim has nothing to do with Balak. So what's Eretz Bnei Amon? says Rashi, he was the one who was misnabeh that Balak is going to become king. So maybe, maybe that's his kesher, his negiut. His negiut is he was the one who told Balak that Balak will be king. He doesn't want to see his protégé, his person—he put him into power—that's going to fall in the hands of Klal Yisrael. And maybe that's why he had such a big shef over here. This is a good question. This is something we have to delve into. Why does Bilam, why does Bilam hate? What does Bilam have from it? Ma haya... ma haya tzar to Bilam? What causes Bilam to hate so much? So let me tell you, there is a Midrash that say that Bilam actually was misitra d'Amalek. There's a very interesting Midrash over here. Midrash says that he was misitra d'Amalek. Okay, we're going to read this here. Amar Balak leBilam. Yeah? Yeah. Ah, Bilam uBalak hei misitra d'Amalek. V'chein haErev Rav. Zohar Bereishis. The Zohar in Parshas Bereishis writes that Bilam is connected to Amalek. All right, could be, could be, right, right, Bilam, Amalek, good. Lemaaseh, I want to show you something very interesting. Remember I told you that Dovid HaMelech's name surfaces a lot in the milchamos of Balak and Sheva Amim and Sichon. I'm going to show you something quite interesting. Who was the first, you know, I guess witch who used to make potions? Now, whenever you read the fairy tale books, you'll have pictures of witches.

With crazy hair, funny hats that they put out in case, you know, they don't want you to drive down the street. They put like these cones, right? Those are orange. Then they have the black ones that the witches wear, all right? And then they sit there over their stoos with a broom-like, and they sit there and they mix the stew of their potions, right? What are you laughing for? It's a mefurish Gemara in Pesach. Gemara in Pesachim says that the witches have their brews and their things. They used to sit, right? They would sit there and mix the brews. Okay, but before that, way, way before that, there was a man who was the cook of all these things. See, today you have the ladies who do it. But the question is, who did the brew in those days? And the answer is Balak. Balak used to use all the asavim for k'samim. He was a kosem. Zohar, Parshas Balak. Balak hayah mechashef gadol. Balak was a big mechashef. V'hayah melaket asavim. He used to take herbs and grasses, la'asos k'shafim, to make kishuf. V'hiniach b'gedeirah, and he put them into a pot. V'ganaz tachas ha'aretz, just like Saddam Hussein. The minute he almost got caught, what did he do? He took all his weapons over there, his mass destruction weapons, and he put them in the ground. So this guy Balak did the same thing. He hid all the stuff in the land, in the earth. Amak, elef v'tav kuf amah. That's 1,500 amos. U'k'sheba David—ah, I told you, David's name comes up again. Look at that, a mezayer. U'k'sheba David chafar, famous Gemara. The Gemara says that David HaMelech dug under the Beis HaMikdash for water, right, under the ground. And the water came up, and it was almost, you know, made a mabul all over the world. It's a famous Gemara. Says the Medrash, the Zohar, that who found, while he was digging, they found an ark. Right? Tremendous artifact. They found this kedeira. They found this pot full of the ashes. Take archaeology. Unbelievable. Here, an archaeological find. V'tav kuf ama b'tahom, v'nasach mayim al gabei mizbeach. So he took water from the mizbeach, and he said, Ani erchot es hakedeira hu. I'm going to wash out with the nisuch hamayim on the Beis Hamikdash. I'm going to wash out Balak's pot. Wow. Unbelievable, huh? Very interesting. Very, very, very interesting. David HaMelech, with the nisuch hamayim, was being metaken. He was correcting and fixing this thing, this potion of Balak. Tell me something, rabosai, how deep does this fairy tale go? What's going on here? Potions and David HaMelech and nisuch hamayim. It's all over the place. What does it all mean? What is the interpretation of this beautiful, very interesting story? I'm not finished yet with you guys. I'm not finished yet. You know, it's very interesting that Balak was all about kasamim, yet Bilam was even maybe even stronger. You see, even though Balak was a mechashef gadol, but Bilam was even greater in this inyanim, and I'll explain to you. There's a very interesting Medrash here: Chochmas Balak b'kishuf. Haya yoiser miBilam. Balak was actually bigger than Bilam in kishuf. DaBilam rega echad. Bilam was able to do one moment, in one moment, right? That's pshat, right? The Gemara says that he knew one moment, the moment that Hashem got angry. That was one moment that he knew how to work with the kishuf. U'Balak, b'chol zimna. Balak was nonstop. Balak was mamish 24 hours a day kishuf, all right? Ah, so why do you call him? So what do you need Bilam for? Mikom makom, ha'mekarev ha'mafteach shel kishuf haya b'yad Bilam. Bilam knew the secret potion. You know, the secret, the mafteach. He knew all the key, the key. Balak knew all the kishuf, but Bilam knew the key to the kishuf. Dakol k'shafim she'asa haya yachol l'hashlim u'l'hotzi b'peh. He didn't need any spices for that. He didn't need any. Bilam was able to do it with his mouth, okay? Aval Balak haya kol hakshafim b'yadav. He had all the ingredients, v'lo haya yachol laasos shum davar. Which means he had a whole pharmacy full of kishuf, but he didn't know what to do with it. Bilam didn't have much, but with one word he knew how to get it all in there. He knew how to really, really do the kishuf good. All right, I want to tell—

That this guy Bilam was so off the pravn path, as they say, that he wasn't even happy with all the kishuf that he was able to do with his mouth, but he went to a special university to learn more kishuf. You know that? Okay. I don't mean literally university, but Kain, Kain University. The Zohar brings down in this week's parsha—yeah, we're going to get to it—that Bilam, I think the Malbim brings the whole story, that Bilam flew to the Hari Choshech on Air Azazel. Just kidding. Azazel is the sheidim over there in the Hari Choshech, and it says—I'm going to read you the Zohar. The Zohar says as follows: when he saw that Klal Yisrael came out, when he saw that Klal Yisrael came out of Mitzrayim, and they went into the midbar, and he saw that they had tremendous greatness in the midbar, niskaneh בהם. Says the Zohar, he became very jealous. Bilam became very jealous of Klal Yisrael. He began to pull out the hairs from his head, lases karcha b'rosho, to make himself bald spots on his head, v'zikna b'zaqno, in his beard, shelo hayu la'tzaso, that his eitzah didn't work, because he was the one—don't forget, we're going to talk about this in great length—that when Paro needed yoatzim, Paro needed people to give him good advice, what to do with the Jewish people, Bilam gave advice to destroy the Jewish people, and it didn't work, because you see they came out of Mitzrayim. Halach u'parach la'azo v'Azazel. So he went to the two sheidim, Azo and Azazel, and he flew there. It's very interesting. You know Superman. He flew. He used to fly around. He had a special jet. It's called Azo and Azoyl air, air Azoyl. Sabina Air. Azo v'Azoyl Air. V'kach ha-seder l'chol מי שהפורח שם, and this is the way it happens for anybody who flies to that place, okay? Keivan sheholech el toich harei choshech, he has to fly to the harei choshech, the dark mountains. You know where the harei choshech are? It's very interesting that the Gemara in Maseches Tamid tells us that the harei choshech are in Africa. Very interesting. I won't go there. You'll figure it out yourself. Yeah, the Gemara says it. Maseches Tamid says clearly that the harei choshech was in Africa. All right. That's Maseches Tamid, first one. It's very interesting. What do they call that over there? The Bronx. The Bronx is the harei choshech, and then you end up in the White House. All right. Keitzad ro'isin Azoyl shehu gluyei einayim. Okay, so Azoyl sees that Balak is giluyei einayim. His eyes are open, are revealed. Miyad omer la-Azo, miyad heim kor'im b'kol. So he calls Azo here. So Azoyl calls Azo, and right away there's a big loud noise, voice, u'misas'im nechashim gedolim u'masrafim, so then the snakes come out. V'hamechashev harotzeh leilech etzlam, and the mechashev that wants to go to them, mamtin al haPesach, he waits by the door of the harei choshech, ad shesholchim ruach echad, till they send a spirit, k'min chai katanah, which is like a little animal, b'tzurasah k'tzuras chatul. Now, I guess I can tell you this because, you know, I really think that—you ever saw The Wizard of Oz? One of those flying things, like cats. They look like cats. That's the whole—it comes from here. That's where it comes from. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Shehu k'min chayak tana v'tzurasa k'tzuras chatul, b'rosho lo k'min rosh nachash. Maybe not exactly. Ushnei znavos lah. It has two tails, you know, the long—they have over there the tail. V'ragleiha k'tanos. Okay, v'kitzah, nice fairy tale here. Kivan she'royo oysa mechashef, oysa osek k'tores, misrefes hatarnegol lavan. They burn up a white chicken, u'maasah lifnei hashalchaya, and they throw it in front of this animal. V'yoisheves imah, laveiu azoyl. They come, and v'kivan—he sits there for fifty days, all right, and then the snakes come, and al gantze maaseh, all right. Bilam. V'chein asah Bilam. This is what Bilam was doing. He was busy with this. This is the craziness that Bilam was busy with. Miyom yetzias Mitzrayim ad yom matan Torah chamishim yom, because it's a fifty-day—you get your degree after fifty days of sitting in the Har Choshech. That's when you graduate. So for fifty days—seriously, that's what it says here. So for fifty days from when Klal Yisrael left Mitzrayim, that he became—kuku—that they left, right?

It didn't work out, his eitzah. He was sitting in the Hari Choshech. Okay. Shh. Yaim hayu sagi maim barei choshech, vayerotzu lekatrug, ulachziram lMitzrayim, HaKadosh Baruch Hu bilkalchachmasam, shalach chashmaldeihem. Okay, and then he brings over here from Ashmedai and Shichvas Zera, oh, unbelievable stuff. Okay, you guys do it on your own. Now, to make a long story short, this guy Bilam was the darkest character you could ever imagine, okay? This guy lived in some choshech that you can't, you know, the depths of tumah. It's not—it's unbelievable. Yet I want you to know something: this same creep, who was busy in the Hari Choshech with cats and burning tarnagolim and Ashmedai and Azazel and—living with donkeys, right? Chazal tell us he lived with his donkey. Are you talking about the darkest character you could ever imagine? This same dark character, Chazal tell us, was as great as Moshe Rabbeinu. He had kochos, kochos as great as Moshe Rabbeinu. The Gemara even says, Moshe kasav sifro b'sefer Bilam, that Bilam, when he spoke, it had a Torah. As he spoke, just like Moshe Rabbeinu. When Moshe Rabbeinu said, Eileh hadvarim asher diber Hashem, it became Torah. Shechinah medaberes mitoch grono. He had the same thing. Bilam had the same kochos, yeah? Bilam had the kochos of Moshe Rabbeinu, yet he was the darkest... The most, how should I say it, the shadiest character you can ever imagine. Really, you're talking about a guy who, if you had to delve into his life, you would see just choshech and choshech, messed up, completely messed up, right? How do you understand this? How do you understand this, okay? How do we understand this? Rabosai, let me tell you a little bit more. I want to tell you a little more, and then everything will fit into place. I believe, and I'll show it to you in Chazal, Bilam was jealous of Klal Yisrael. Like most hatred against Klal Yisrael comes from jealousy. Reishis koel, that same Medrash, that same Zohar I just quoted to you, says clearly, yeah? Shlosha yotzei paroi: Bilam, Iyov, Yisro. Bilam was a yoeitz, Yisro, right, and Paroi—I'm sorry—and Iyov. V'kulam hayu mechashvim gedolim. They were all big baalei kishuf, all of them. Iyov hayah gilgul Terach. Iyov was a gilgul of Terach, says the Zohar. Derasach laKadosh Baruch Hu b'avodah zarah. He got Hashem angry with avodah zarah. Yet, the key, rabosai, he did teshuvah. Yisro, he did teshuvah. Yisro also did teshuvah. He admitted. He said, Atah yadati ki gadol Hashem mikol. Bilam, amad b'reishaso. Bilam couldn't do teshuvah. Bilam was lost. You know what Bilam was jealous about? That there was such a thing called teshuva by Klal Yisrael. Listen carefully, I'm telling you a big yesod. You know what he was nitkaneh? He was nitkaneh b'Yisrael, that HaKadosh Baruch Hu accepts them with teshuva. And that's what it means, k'sheraah gedulas Yisrael bamidbar. He saw the greatness of Klal Yisrael. How did he see the greatness of Klal Yisrael in the midbar? He saw in them they fell, yet what? Right away, come, they picked themselves up and they did teshuva. Bilam knew that he had tremendous kochos, yet he was lost. He found no way to return, and therefore he put himself into choshech. He put himself into the depths of avodah zarah and kishuf. It was like a yush, deep, deep, deep. When a person knows he has kochos, yet he doesn't have the taharas halev to do anything with those kochos, he doesn't have the purity, the taharah, to be able to do something with those kochos, and he was falling and falling. And I'll prove it to you. I'll prove it to you. You ready? If you take a look at the words that Bilam said, he gives away this yesod all the time.

You know what he says all the time? First of all, he begins like this: Aven b'Yaakov, v'lo ra amal b'Yisrael. You know what that means? Hashem sees no bad. The Chofetz Chaim explains that Hashem, as far as He's concerned, Klal Yisrael does nothing wrong. Lo hibit aven b'Yaakov. The only reason why Klal Yisrael ever gets punished is because there's mikatrigim, and Hashem has to listen to the kitrug. That's why, if you notice, on Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, what do we do? We try to take away the kitrug, b'ein melitz yosher. Why? This is what I added to the Chofetz Chaim. You notice that the main nekudah of Rosh Hashanah is the kitrugim, the kitrugim, because Hashem, without the kitrugim, lo hibit aven b'Yaakov v'lo ra amal b'Yisrael. I want to tell you further. Wait a minute, wait a minute, we're not finished yet. The Yaaros Dvash of Yaakov Emden says, Lo hibit aven b'Yaakov v'lo ra amal b'Yisrael, eilu yemei Elul v'Tishrei. Oh! I want to tell you more. Remember I told you the first Medrash? We spoke about a Medrash that when was ...? Elul and Tishrei, huh? Okay, we're not finished yet. Listen carefully, rabosai. Tamus, Nafshi, Moi, Yesharim. What did he want? says the Aruch HaChaim HaKadosh. You know what he wanted? He wanted to die like a Jew. What does that mean, b'tshuva, says the Aruch HaChaim. Tamus, Nafshi, Moi. He wanted to be able to do teshuva. He was lost, gone. He wanted to be able to do teshuva, and that's why, I hold, he was nitkaneh b'Yisrael. And I found that the Megaleh Amukos, and that's why I want to tell you this year, it all came together for me. Says the Megaleh Amukos, says the Megaleh Amukos, says the Megaleh Amukos, Esav and Yaakov, cholku hachadashim. Esav and Yaakov, they divided the months. Esav lakach Tammuz and Av. Yaakov, Elul and Tishrei. Sounds familiar? So we were given Elul v'Tishrei. V'zeh haya ha'inyan Bilam u'Balak, ratzu likach miYisrael chodesh Elul, shehaya mitchilasi shelo, u'milchemes Sichon v'Og haya b'sof Elul. Exactly what I told you. I always never understood this. Why do we talk about milchemes Sichon and Og, that it was in Elul and Tishrei? What is Bilam and Balak, what does that have to do with Tishrei? The answer is it has to do with the teshuvah. They try to take it away from us. And the milchamah that we held against Sichon and Og and Moav and Bilam was about Elul and Tishrei, the inyan of teshuvah. They tried to take away from us, says the Megaleh Amukos, clearly. Esav and Yaakov cholku hachadashim. Esav lakach Tammuz and Av. Yaakov took Elul and Tishrei. The destruction of the Beis HaMikdash was when, rabosai? Tammuz and Av. Now I'm going to tell you another shtikel Megaleh Amukos here, which is unbelievable. Shamu ha'amoshlim birkiah she'amru bo cheshbon. Malchei Amori, sachtuv, amru, shultanasa giborim, oymelcha Mayav. So what happens? Lecha ora li. He comes and he says, Lecha ora. What does ora mean? Alef, reish, hei, says Megaleh Amukos, alef Elul, reish hei, Rosh Hashanah. Lecha ora li. And what's li? Give it to me. Lecha ora li. No? Ora, alef Elul, reish hei, Rosh Hashanah. Megaleh Amukos. Ora, alef Elul, reish hei, Rosh Hashanah. Li. We want it back. And also the li, very good. It's also the days, very good. Arbaim yom, that's very good also. Lecha ora li, beautiful. He doesn't say this, but it could be that's what it is. Yemei de-teshuvah, okay? Lemaaseh, he says that Bilaam, what did he have? He had ketef Meriri. I'm sure you all know about ketef Meriri, kufes Tammuz. Tammuz, that ketef, this is the kishuf, the kochos of ketef Meriri. Those are the kochos of klalah, all the klalos from Klal Yisrael. That's why you're not supposed to go out at certain times during the day in Tammuz. Ketef Meriri is sholet. It's called kufes Tammuz. That's why you're not allowed to get married. Certain times you're not allowed to get married, ketef Meriri. Anyways, he says that's the pshat. Vayapech Hashem...

What does the word es mean? Es says the Megaleh Amukos, es el l'tishrei. But if you, mehapoch, if you switch it around, what do you have? Av in Tammuz. Vayapoch Hashem. Hashem switched around es. What is es? Elul Tishrei. Es, Av in Tammuz. What does that mean? That just like Av in Tammuz, Hashem, He could have given that there was ketev meriri still, He made it like Elul and Tishrei and He didn't get angry. That's vayapoch Hashem l'chas habracha l'klalah, es, by switching it around, by making Av in Tammuz just like Elul and Tishrei, which was the chodesh that was given to Klal Yisrael. Now, rabosai, I begin to understand where does Dovid HaMelech come into the picture. How did Dovid HaMelech... You know, the koiches, the teshuvah, excuse me, the teshuvah of Klal Yisrael during Elul and Tishrei is through the koach of tefillah. It's through tefillah, right? L'David, Hashem, Ori v'Yishi. Hashem protects Klal Yisrael through what? Rosh Hashanah, Ori is Rosh Hashanah, Yishi is Yom Kippur. Why is it l'David? Because Dovid HaMelech was the tefillah. You know, the yesod of the machlokes, the fight between Bilam and Klal Yisrael is brought down in all the sefarim. Klal Yisrael was kocham b'peh, and Bilam was kocho b'peh. B'peh means they're able to... tefillah. They're able with tefillah. Tefillah, they're able with tefillah. But Bilam... He uses that pad for chayshech. He uses that pad for ksamim. He uses that pad to do all the terrible kishuf, the black, the magic, the horrible depths of tumah. That's where the shem hameforash. That's the answer. Now you see, lefi charev. That's why I started the shiur with. Now you understand what I'm trying to bring out. How did they fight Bilam? Lefi charev. He was killed with the shem hameforash. Pinchas killed him. Kochos of tefillah. Bilam was all about using the pad. He knew yodea daas Elyon. And what did he do with it? What did he do with it? Tumah, harei chayshech. What does Klal Yisroel use the pad? Use the pad to daven. This is what he was jealous. What was he jealous? What did he try to take away? The eilam and the Tishrei. The eilam and the Tishrei. The eilam and the Tishrei was trying to take away. That's why David. What is nisuch hamayim? Does anybody know what nisuch hamayim is? No? No? What is nisuch hamayim? What is nisuch? It's merutzah, it's tefillah. It's the whole inyan of davening. Baishani, it's the mayim. It's all tefillah. It's all inyan tefillah. So David HaMelech went to the Beis HaMikdash. What is the Beis HaMikdash? Ki beisi beis tefillah yikarei l'chol ha'amim. So Balak wanted to put ksamim. He wanted to bury all the witchcraft over there. David HaMelech comes, he digs it up. What does he do? Ani menakeh. I clean out. I'm going to clean out this thing of Balak. Shap vay maya. It's very interesting. It says that what was Balak was afraid, Ki chasa ku mi? Many. Who's mi many? Says the Chazal, mi, many from me, because David HaMelech is going to come. And who is he going to come from? He's Balak. He's a grandson of Balak. Who do you think he was from? Rus HaMoaviya. Rus HaMoaviya. Ki chasa ku... So he's going to overstrengthen, says the Medrash, mi many, but it's going to come from me, David HaMelech. Anecdote. Anecdote, the tikkun against Moav. Moav comes and he's busy with the kishuf and the avodah zarah. What is Klal Yisrael busy with? We're not into all these nechashim, all these lechashim. We know charba. What is our cherev? I want to tell you something very interesting. The Gemara says that originally they wanted to take—it's Gemara in Bava Brachas—originally they wanted to take the parsha of Bilam and put it into Kriyas Shema. Oh yes. Oh yes. The mefurash Gemara. Because of tircha, huh? Because of tircha we decided not to do it. But originally they were to take...

Says the Megaleh Amukos ... Why would we put it in Kriyas Shema? So there's another shtikel Megaleh Amukos which really, really speaks to the yesod that we just said. You know what Bilam wanted? You know what Balak wanted? To mevatel Kriyas Shema utefillah, yichud Hashem and to daven to Him. That's what they wanted. So therefore, the parshah of Bilam, says the Megaleh Amukos, was supposed to be taken and put back into the Kriyas Shema. First Megaleh Amukos, this yesod. You know what Bilam—Bilam was great. Bilam was able to talk to the Eibishter every day, yet what happened? He didn't. Yet he didn't. He had the ability, yodea daas Elyon, to be a navi, to talk to Hashem, and what was he busy with? Flying monkeys and squirrels and cats and ... unbelievable, huh? Unbelievable. Shugen a zach. The guy was—why? He lost, and he went deeper and deeper into this choshech, yeah? Yet he was nitkaneh b'Yisrael. He had kinah. What was his kinah? Lo hibit aven b'Yaakov v'lo ra'ah amal b'Yisrael. I want to tell you two more beautiful nekudos. What does the word hibit mean? Does anybody know what the word hibit—hibit, hibit? I want you to know something. Today's shiur, I hope, ... is a zechus that he gave it, because I finally understood the whole sugya of Bilam and Balak, what was going on there. It's a strange sugya. Lo hibit—hibit means to look deeper. The Chida explains that way. Lo hibit is habatah. It's deeper than just re'iyah. So he explains that when a person does an aveirah, that's maaseh that you see on the outside. But when you look deeper, you could see that maybe he had machshavos to do aveirah, because machshavah to do aveirah, says the Chida, lo hibit. Hashem doesn't look at the machshavah, and HaKadosh Baruch Hu mitztaref. You know why, says the Chida? Because when He looks deeper, He sees it's not avon b'Yaakov. The Jew really doesn't want to do it. Lo hibit. When He looks deeper into the Yid, He doesn't see. You know why? Because He doesn't see it. And that's why when the Yid, v'lo rah amal b'Yisrael. What does amal mean? Anybody ever thought about it? So Rashi says amal is a lashon aveirah. Why is amal a lashon aveirah? And the answer is beautiful, rabosai. You want to hear? A Jew could be amel. He could toil and work hard to do an aveirah. Lo yarah amal. Hashem doesn't look at it. As much work as he puts, Hashem says, Ah, he really doesn't want to do it. Yeah, but what do you mean? He ran, he bought a ticket, and he drove 20 hours to go to this, to do this aveirah. What happened? And the answer is, lo rah amal. Hashem doesn't see that. Why? So I want to add, because it says in the pasuk, lo hibit aven b'Yaakov v'lo rah amal b'Yisrael, Hashem Elokav imo, uteruas melech bo. What does teruas melech mean? You know what it means? We say this on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and that's what the Acharonim are saying, that this pasuk is all about Elul, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur. What do we say? Teruas melech. What is teruah? Lashon reiut. The pashut translation, simple pshat, what's the translation of the pasuk? Teruah, lashon reiut, teruas melech. That's the translation of the pasuk. Because deep down a Jew really is what? Love Hashem, and Hashem loves him. V’truas melech bo is in him. This is what Bilam couldn’t stand. Bilam couldn’t take it. Tomus nafshi mos yesharim. He lived his life disconnected from HaKadosh Baruch Hu, but I want to be able to do teshuva. It’s not going to work. A Yid has teshuva. Lo ra’am am b’Yisrael, lo hibit aven b’Yaakov, because it’s truas melech bo, because he really does love Hashem. This is how I explained the Chida. I want to tell you another piece of Chida. The Chida says a gevaldige thing: the uma gedolah shesumah ayin. It says in the Mishnah that Bilam had ayin ra. So everybody knows what an ayin ra is, except for the Rambam. The Rambam didn’t hold there was such a thing as an ayin ra. Famous. The Rambam didn’t hold of ayin hara because he didn’t hold of all these zoharim and all these things, and therefore he translates ayin ra: someone who is lahut to make a lot of money. That’s how the Rambam translates the Mishnah. If your talmid of Bilam is ayin ra, says the Rambam, that he’s lahut to make money. Means he works day and night, a workaholic to make money. Ayin ra, work and work and work to make money. Reb Leib Chasman—correct—Reb Leib Chasman says it’s a very, very scary thing to say, but it comes out that most of the people work all day and all night. They’re talmidim shel Bilam. That’s what it says according to the Rambam.

All right, most meforshim learn that it actually means ayin hara, that he had a bad eye, ayin hara, literally. That's how most Rishonim learn the Mishnah, that Bilam had a bad eye, and any guy who has a bad eye is a... Okay, what is a bad eye? How does that work? So, grada, there's a very interesting Medrash that I saw on Shabbos, which really perplexed me, because we always think that ayin hara has to do with jealousy. But the Medrash brings down that actually ayin hara is a metzius in the briyah. Some people just have an ayin hara, and he says that there are certain animals that have ayin hara, that when they look at you, they could kill you with the poison of their eyes. So that's what he says. He says certain animals could do it with their scream, and certain animals could do it with their eye. And he says that Alexander the Great, a very interesting Medrash, that he met these animals, so how did he kill them? He put a mirror in front of them. The Medrash says he put a mirror in front of them. Don't tell it to the ladies, because sometimes they can look in the mirror and it can be a killer, so maybe they'll think they have an ayin hara. Okay, anyways, b'kitzur, Alexander the Great, how did he kill these animals that have ayin hara? He put a mirror in front of them. All right, good. L'maaseh, l'maaseh, l'maaseh, according to this Medrash, ayin hara is not about jealousy. That's what this Medrash is saying, right? These animals don't have an ayin hara against human beings, right? They're not jealous. This is a koach in the briyah. All right, pashtus, it has to do with ayin hara. So I want to tell you all a mekor that you can think. In all the... what is the word shetum? So everybody thinks it means blind. It's a lashon of satum, that it's closed, right? But the truth is, he was called the Gluyei Einayim, so it's an interesting contradiction. Tosafos in Niddah daf lamed says shetum doesn't mean blind; it means the opposite. It means galui, it means open, patuach einayim, he was open. If you look at the targum, the targum... Also, this sheetah that he says, shetuma ayin means the shaper chazi, that he saw good. That's the lashon of the targum, that the eye saw good, shaper chazi, saw well, not blind in one eye, the opposite, that he saw good. The Baal Shem Tov says a very interesting pshat. It's כדאי to say it over; I say it over all the time. It's a beautiful pshat. The Baal Shem Tov says he was actually blind, and yet the medrash, the targum says that his eye was able to see. How does that work? If he was blind, so why do you say that shaper chazi, he saw good? He says a marvelous kushya: how could it be that such a piece of tamei, such a piece of zevel, the Ribono Shel Olam came to him? We know that a navi has to be at the highest levels. A navi has to be someone who's a gibor and a koveish es yitzro and a tzaddik, an unbelievable great giant of a human being. So how could Hashem come to this piece of garbage? Says the Baal Shem Tov a gevaldige vort: since he was blind in one eye, so that eye didn't do aveiros, so Hashem came to him through that eye. That's pshat shaper chazi. The blind eye was his good eye; that was the only good thing about him. Says the Baal Shem Tov, a beautiful vort: shaper chazi, yeah. The rest of the guy wasn't worth two cents; it was a piece of garbage. But his blind eye, shaper chazi, that's where he saw good from. Chida says a marvelous pshat. Chida says, shetuma ayin — you want to hear? There's a big yesod: ayin hara, you literally have to close one eye to give an ayin hara. What's wrong? Beautiful Chida. I loved it. You should know the Chida's gevaldig. Oh yes, peirush Rabbeinu Yeshaya: Va'yeisa bilam es einav. Ksiv, shtum ayin. So which one is it? Did he have ein of two eyes, or shtum ayin was blind? He's going with the pshat that he was blind. So he says, ad shelo לקלל את ישראל, till he didn't curse, he had two eyes. משהיר לקללם, but then when he decided to curse them, one eye. And then he says, from the Kli Yakar, that what is the one eye? שירצה לשים עין הרע על ישראל. So therefore he became blind. Why? Why did he become blind if he wanted to give an ayin hara? Says the Chida, אפשר לומר בדרך הלצה, he brings from the shita mekubetzes on Brachos, בשם המקובלים, דאי אפשר לשים עין הרע אם לא כשסוגר עין אחת. You have to close one eye. Okay, like this: you got to go with one eye open, and that's how you give an ayin hara. What happens is, if you have these witches over there that both eyes open and they give you ayin haras, you don't have to worry about it. That's what it says here. You, you have two big eyes, so you have nothing to worry about. That's what it says here. An ayin hara has to be one eye open and one eye closed. Okay, so he says that's the pshat, that he wanted to give an ayin hara on Klal Yisrael. לכן נסתמא לרמות לו. That's why he became blind, to be meramez him, close that bad eye. All you need is one eye to give an ayin hara. So Hashem said, close that bad eye. That's how the Chida learns the pshat shtum ayin. What do I have from this Chida? You see the inyan of ayin hara, which...

tested with kinah, he was very jealous. The yesod of Bilam was jealousy, and this is what his jealousy was. His jealousy comes out like, Hibit Avin b'Yaakov, teshuvah, that Klal Yisrael is able to do teshuvah, Taanis nafshi meisharim, all the inyanim of teshuvah. This is pshat what the Megaleh Amukos explains: he tried to what? To take away Elul and Rosh Hashanah. And the tikun for this is, David HaMelech, David HaMelech, David HaMelech. So this, rabosai, is a tremendous lesson. I think it's a tremendous thing that we have to learn. If we understood the true Hashem, if we understood how the Ribono Shel Olam is really dear to us, and He has love for us, to the point, to the point, that we're able to constantly do teshuvah. It's a gift. It's a tremendous gift. And this is something that we have in our techunah, that we fall, we pick ourselves up right away. We fall, we pick ourselves up. Sichon and Og was kasheh; they tried to take away the Elul and Tishrei, the teshuvah, so they were worse than Paroh. That's what the Chazal begin with. Why are they worse than Paroh? Kasheh was much worse. And who says shirah? David HaMelech. Dafka David says the shirah, because David HaMelech was about tefillah. Mani tefillah, mani tefillah, mani tefillah. David HaMelech was about tefillah. They tried to take away, and like the Megaleh Amukos says, the kriyas Shema, the tefillah. That's why they want to put Parshas Bilam back into where? Back into Kriyas Shema and tefillah. Rabosai, the zechus that we have, that we have Kriyas Shema and tefillah. You know, I pointed out something. Shabbos, pointed out that with this I'll end. You know, tefillah is supposed to be literally: whenever I need, whenever I want, whenever something bothers me or hurts me, I talk back to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. They say over from a Chatzkel Abramsky that whenever something bothered, he would turn to Hashem. He would say, Abba, koev li. I have a headache. Hashem. That's how we talk to Hashem. I'm cold. He used to talk like that. Why are you so cold? No, he used to warm. Something bothered him, he would say, you know, Tatteh's bothering. Talk to the Eibishter. Talk to the Eibishter. Pashut, pashut. Trust melech vai. I want to tell you, I noticed that in Europe, it's maybe, I don't know if you'll appreciate what I'm saying, but those that had, you know, from the Litvish background, Chassidish backgrounds, whenever something bothered a person, he would be goneiach. Goneiach is to krechts. And you know what he would say? Tatteh zisseh. Tatteh zisseh. Tatteh zisseh. Means, Abba hamatok, Abba hamatok. You know what it is? There was a certain temimus, pashut, talking to Hashem. Today, when something bothers you, you right away call the lawyer. It's a whole different way of thinking. It's a whole different way of—maybe you say, Oh God, maybe, I don't know. Maybe that's at least a something. It's better than nothing. The point being that Bilam was jealous at this connection that Klal Yisroel had. He knew that he was great. He knew he was able to talk to Hashem, yet he just didn't—he wasn't able to do it. Capable, but not able. That's the key word. He was capable, but he wasn't able. And therefore he ran into the choshech. He ran into the depths of yiush, of ksamim, of magic, and all the stupidity of the world. I want to show you another point, maybe, and then we'll end. You know, last week's parsha, we find in a nachash and a choshech. It's an interesting thing, huh? Whoever looked at it got healed. Tell me something: what is the ultimate, the ultimate destruction, destruction of life in this world? The nachash. The nachash was the one that was gorem misah. You want to know something? Most of the nachash is venom and poison and snake, it's the worst, right? Okay. Yet, when it came to refuah, he used the nachash and the choshech. He used the nachash. Why? So there's this very interesting Zohar. The Zohar says that when you looked at the nachash and the choshech, it reminded you of death, reminded you of death. I want you to know that most medicine today is antidote from the poison itself. It's like a mara dika thing. They give you the poison. They take the poison and they give it to you.

What's the pshat? It comes from this yesod, the Chash and the Choshech. You know what the yesod is? La nachash meis. Ela ched meis. This is the yesod. The main ingredient is the poison itself. You want to heal a guy, give him the poison. Do you know that when you want to heal cancer, they give you chemotherapy? Chemotherapy is poison that the body can't be... and that's the refuah. Why? They're trying to teach a person. The lesson of a person is, Hashem is the rofeh and the marpeh. Don't go after all the asavim. Bilaam went after all the asavim, all the asavim. Yeah, that's how you give polio, all these things. They give you polio to teach you this lesson. It's not the poison. It's not the sickness that kills. It's if you don't have Hashem with you, it's going to kill you. And if Hashem wants, the poison is going to kill you. It's going to marpeh, it'll heal you. If Hashem wants. If Hashem wants, the nachash and the nachashis, the nachash that's the ultimate of death, the symbol of death. You know what's interesting? I was always thinking about it. You know, medical, what is the symbol of medical? The snake. And the stick. It's this, the symbol of medicine l'doros is the snake that causes the poison and the death to the world. This, rabosai, is Bilam and Balak. Instead of turning to Hashem, which was koicham b'peh, they could have done it, what did they turn to? They turned to asavim and harei choshech. That's what they turned to. This is the lesson. I wish you a wonderful week. Hatzlacha.