We read in the Parsha about בלעם הרשע attempting to give קללות to Klal Yisrael but instead was forced to give them ברכות. The נתיבות שלום asks, this entire episode was carried out without the knowledge of Klal Yisrael, and not in their presence. Why then did the תורה find it worthy to relate this story, which is seemingly a private interaction happening between 2 רשעים?
Answers the נתיבות שלום, by explaining the definition of a ברכה and a קללה.
We say by שים שלום,
ברכנו אבינו כולנו כאחד באור פניך, כי באור פניך נתת לנו…וצדקה וברכה ורחמים וחיים ושלום.
Since הקב”ה is the מקור הברכה, the sourse of all the ברכות, then when we’re connected to Him, we have all the ברכות in the world.
And the opposite is a קללה. That happens when there’s a disconnect to הקב”ה. In that state, there is a loss of connection to the source of the ברכות, resulting in negative consequences.
Rashi notes: מברכותיו של אותו רשע אתה למד מה רצה לקלל. We see from the ברכות what בלעם really attempted to say.
He looked for ways to bring קטרוג on Klal Yisrael and to cause a disconnect with הקב”ה. So for instance, when he said מי מנה עפר יעקב, Who can count the מצוות Klal Yisrael does with the earth, such as כיסוי הדם, or כלאיים, his real intention was to say that Klal Yisrael was too connected to ארציות, materialism. By trying to point out their flaws, he hoped to cause a separation with הקב”ה, which would result in loss of protection and a קללה.
He failed to realize however, that there can never be a separation or disconnect between us and הקב”ה. We have an eternal bond, which can never be severed. It’s a bond of love that nothing and nobody can ever break, no matter the situation of Klal Yisrael.
We now understand why this episode is recorded in the תורה. To remind us at all times, that we remain connected to הקב”ה with an eternal bond of love, and that bond will never be severed.
We’ll conclude with a story highlighting this idea and the live between us and הקב”ה. The well known AARTS committee, was visiting Yeshiva Derech Chaim in Brooklyn, to determine the Yeshiva’s eligibility to receive aid in the form of college grants. The committee is comprised of college professors, both Jewish and non Jewish. After visiting the Yeshiva’s בית מדרש, they went to convene in a conference room to discuss their impressions of the visit. A non Jewish member asked to remain in the sanctuary to continue observing the scene of the בחורים learning. The following was told over by the Rosh Yeshiva, Harav Chaim Rennert, who observed it personally. ” Some 20 minutes later, the professor came running in to the conference room. You won’t believe what I just saw, he remarked excitedly. At the end of the learning session, when the boys put away their copies of the Talmud, they kissed it! In the colleges I teach, there is a hateful relationship with the text books, so much so that at the end of the term, students often perform a book burning ritual. Who ever heard of students loving and actually kissing their books? ”
Such is the eternal bond of live we have between us and הקב”ה, which will never be disconnected!
Weekly Parsha Shiur 