Parshas Balak

For the week ending 12 Tammuz 5759 / 25 & 26 June 1999
Outside Israel Parshas Chukat is read together with Parshas Balak

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Contents:

Parsha Questions

Kasha

I Did Not Know That!

Recommended Reading List

Answers to Parsha Questions

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Parsha Questions

Answers | Contents

1. Why did Moav consult specifically with Midian regarding their strategy against the Jews?
2. What was Balak's status before becoming Moav's king?
3. What happens to a field where oxen graze?
4. Why did Hashem grant prophecy to the evil Bilaam?
5. Why did Balak think Bilaam's curse would work?
6. When did Bilaam receive his prophecies?
7. Hashem asked Bilaam, "Who are these men with you?" What did Bilaam deduce from this question?
8. How do we know Bilaam hated the Jews more than Balak did?
9. What is evidence of Bilaam's arrogance?
10. In what way was the malach that opposed Bilaam an angel of mercy?
11. Why did the malach kill Bilaam's donkey?
12. Bilaam compared his meeting with an angel to someone else's meeting with an angel. Who was the other person and what was the comparison?
13. Why did Bilaam tell Balak to build seven altars?
14. Who in Jewish history seemed fit for a curse, but got a blessing instead?
15. What tragedy befell the Jews at Rosh Hapisgah?
16. Why are the Jewish People compared to lions?
17. On Bilaam's third attempt to curse the Jews, he changed his strategy. What did he do differently?
18. What were Bilaam's three main characteristics?
19. What did Bilaam see that made him decide not to curse the Jews?
20. Bilaam told Balak that the Jews' G-d hates what?

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Answer Contents

Kasha (kasha means "question") How would you answer this question on the Parsha? The Torah says: "G-d was angry that Bilaam went" to curse the Jews. Why was G-d angry? G-d had given Bilaam permission to go? I know what Rashi says: That Bilaam knew G-d didn't want him to go, yet he went anyway with great desire, but the text doesn't seem to say anything about Bilaam going with great desire. How does Rashi see this? Do you have a KASHA? Write to kasha@ohr.edu with your questions on any Parsha!

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I Did Not Know That!

Bilaam and Balak were ingrates! They would not have been born if not for Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov: Bilaam's ancestor Betuel was born in the merit of Avraham binding Yitzchak on the altar, and Bilaam's ancestor Lavan had children in Yaakov's merit. Balak's Moabite ancestors descended from Lot after Avraham saved Lot's life.

Ba'al Haturim

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Recommended Reading List

Ramban 22:5 Balak's Rise to Power 22:20 Bilaam's Mission 22:23 The Donkey 23:16 Bilaam's Prophecy 24:20 Amalek

Sforno 22:2 What Balak Saw 22:6 Bilaam's Power 23:22 Jewish Conquest

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Answers to this Week's Questions

Questions | Contents

All references are to the verses and Rashi's commentary, unless otherwise stated

1. Why did Moav consult specifically with Midian regarding their strategy against the Jews?
   22:4 - Since Moshe grew up in Midian, the Moabites thought the Midianites might know wherein lay Moshe's power.
2. What was Balak's status before becoming Moav's king?
   22:4 - He was a prince of Midian.
3. What happens to a field where oxen graze?
   22:4 - It shows no sign of blessing.
4. Why did Hashem grant prophecy to the evil Bilaam?
   22:5 - So the other nations couldn't say, "If we had had prophets, we also would have become righteous."
5. Why did Balak think Bilaam's curse would work?
   22:6 - Because Bilaam's curse had helped Sichon defeat Moav.
6. When did Bilaam receive his prophecies?
   22:8 - Only at night.
7. Hashem asked Bilaam, "Who are these men with you?" What did Bilaam deduce from this question?
   22:9 - He mistakenly reasoned that Hashem isn't all-knowing.
8. How do we know Bilaam hated the Jews more than Balak did?
   22:11 - Balak wanted only to drive the Jews from the land. Bilaam sought to exterminate them completely.
9. What is evidence of Bilaam's arrogance?
   22:13 - He implied that Hashem wouldn't let him go with the Moabite princes due to their lesser dignity.
10. In what way was the malach that opposed Bilaam an angel of mercy?
    22:22 - It was mercifully trying to stop Bilaam from sinning and being destroyed.
11. Why did the malach kill Bilaam's donkey?
    22:33 - So that people shouldn't see it and say, "Here's the donkey that silenced Bilaam." Hashem is concerned with human dignity.
12. Bilaam compared his meeting with an angel to someone else's meeting with an angel. Who was the other person and what was the comparison?
    22:34 - Avraham. Bilaam said, "Hashem told me to go but later sent an angel to stop me. The same thing happened to Avraham: Hashem told Avraham to sacrifice Yitzchak, but later canceled the command through an angel."
13. Why did Bilaam tell Balak to build seven altars?
    23:4 - Corresponding to the seven altars built by the Avot. Bilaam said to Hashem, "The Jewish People's ancestors built seven altars, but I alone have built altars equal to all of them."
14. Who in Jewish history seemed fit for a curse, but got a blessing instead?
    23:8 - Yaakov, when Yitzchak blessed him.
15. What tragedy befell the Jews at Rosh Hapisgah?
    23:14 - Moshe died there.
16. Why are the Jewish People compared to lions?
    23:24 - They rise each morning and "strengthen" themselves to do mitzvot.
17. On Bilaam's third attempt to curse the Jews, he changed his strategy. What did he do differently?
    24:1 - He began mentioning the Jewish People's sins, hoping thus to be able to curse them.
18. What were Bilaam's three main characteristics?
    24:2 - An evil eye, pride, and greed.
19. What did Bilaam see that made him decide not to curse the Jews?
    24:2 - He saw each Tribe dwelling without intermingling. He saw the tents arranged so no one could see into his neighbor's tent.
20. Bilaam told Balak that the Jews' G-d hates what?
    24:14 - Promiscuity.

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Question Contents

Kasha Answer It doesn't say G-d was angry at Bilaam "because he went" but rather "because he was a goer." (Not "ki halach" but rather "ki holeich".) The difference is subtle but significant: For Bilaam, going to curse the Jews wasn't a mere action he tried to do; rather, it was an action that defined his essence. At that moment, Bilaam was a "Goer," a "Jew-curser." When a person expresses his essence, he acts with desire. Based on Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch

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Written and Compiled by Rabbi Eliyahu Kane & Rabbi Reuven Subar
General Editor: Rabbi Moshe Newman
Production Design: Eli Ballon
HTML Design: Michael Treblow

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