Balak

The Torah states that Balak sent Bilam to curse Bnei Yisrael. There are a number of nissim and nifla’os that Hashem performed in order to stop Bilam from accomplishing his mission.

The pessukim state that Bilam took his donkey to curse Yisrael, but to his disbelief, the donkey veered off the path. Then, instead of moving straight forward, the donkey pushed to the side and pressed Bilam’s foot against the wall. After the third try to continue, the donkey suddenly crouched in its place and completely stopped travelling. All of these different occurrences were meant to be signs from Hashem. The donkey turning off the road was a sign to stop travelling. Bilam’s foot getting crushed was also a sign to stop travelling, as the feet are what people use to walk. The donkey stopping altogether was most obviously a sign to stop travelling. These unusual incidents were clear messages from Hashem to Bilam that he was acting improperly by trying to go curse Yisrael.

After these three signs the donkey spoke. Rabbeinu Bachya writes this was to teach that Hashem is the One who in charge of speech. Hashem Who made a donkey speak, can certainly stop Bilam from saying anything against His will. Following the donkey’s speech, a malach came and told Bilam straight out, “all this happened to you because you are going to do bad… and Hashem told you to go on condition that you don’t curse.”

Rav Chaim Shmulevitz points out that from all these nissim and nifla’os we see the great kindness and mercy of Hashem. Even to such a great rasha who was trying to do something against the will of Hashem, he was sent so many hints and signs, and was given so many chances to stop him from doing a chait. However, although Bilam knew about signs; by not stopping for a moment to notice and take Hashem’s message to heart, it shows that he was not affected. This may be hinted to by there not being any stops in the parsha throughout his prophecies.

This is an important lesson for all of us, especially during this time. They say that the iron dome has a 45% rate in other places, but in Eretz Yisrael it’s 95%! There are so many enemies of Hashem and Yisrael to no end. Unfortunately, when one is destroyed, another one starts up, yet Hashem constantly watches over us, His cherished nation Yisrael. Let us pay attention and notice these amazing miracles with hashgachas Hashem, and may it help us to serve Hashem better!