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By Rabbi Shloimie Lindenbaum
ואת בלעם בן בעור הרגו בחרב (פרק לא פסוק ח)
Hashem commands the Jews to wage war against the מדינים as revenge for them intentionally causing the Jews to sin. The Jews killed all the males of מדין, and the פסוק adds that they killed בלעם by the sword. Rashi explains that although בלעם did not live in מדין, and he had already returned home after failing to curse the Jews, he came back to מדין to collect a reward. He had advised that by causing the Jews to sin, מדין and מואב would be able to attack them, and sure enough, the Jews had lost 24,000 people after the sin. He came back to מדין for payment. R’ Uren Reich points out that בלעם had originally been hired, and promised incredible wealth, to curse the Jews. After he tried this and repeatedly, humiliatingly, failed, he declared that he was going back home (24:14). He departed with one last piece of advice- to cause the Jews to sin. Technically, they had never requested the advice, and he never charged them for it. When, in the end, his advice prevailed and thousands of Jews died, he came back to collect what he felt was rightfully his. Although he had no legal right to the money, the משנה in אבות tells us that בלעם was a person with terrible מדות, character, and a tremendous desire for pleasure (נפש רחבה). He therefore returned, pretending as though the money was rightfully his. His return to מדין resulted in his death at the hands of the Jews. R’ Uren comments, we see that a person with incredible spiritual potential, someone capable of receiving prophecy from Hashem, was ruined because of his bad מדות. It was his unrefined character that brought about his demise. When working on our spirituality, our connection with Hashem, it must always be in the framework of refined character and good מידות. Only then can we be successful.
אלה מסעי בני ישראל אשר יצאו מארץ מצרים (פרק לג פסוק א)
Before listing off the 42 encampments of the Jewish nation in the desert, the Torah introduces, “these are the journeys of the Children of Israel, who went forth from the land of Egypt.” R’ Yisroel Simcha Schorr asks, why do we mention here that they left Egypt? What relevance does that have to their travels? He explains that the 42 stations weren’t merely for the purpose of resting physically, rather each station had its own job, its own middah that the Jews were supposed to work on and perfect. This was a spiritual journey from the lowly levels of Egypt, making them fit to enter the holy land of Israel. Hence, as an introduction to their travels, the Torah reminds us that they were coming from Egypt, raising themselves to a spiritually higher level with each place they journeyed. The Baal Shem Tov applied this to our personal lives, saying that every individual also has 42 stages in life, each with their own unique opportunity for growth, until they can achieve their destination, their personal “Israel”, in the World to Come. Thank you to Rabbi Yoni Monat for contributing this beautiful piece.
