English translation — בלק

Balak<pg>149</pg>

A.

About Rashi's method in interpreting Balaam's prophecies

(in our parshah),

was explained elsewhere<sup>1</sup>,

that although Rashi established that he came in his commentary only to explain the plain meaning of Scripture and brings only Aggadot that settle the verses<sup>2</sup>,

nevertheless his commentary on Balaam's prophecy differs in this,

that he brings many derashot of our Sages — and the reason is because in the verse according to its plain meaning it is explicit "and he took up his parable"<sup>3</sup>,

meaning that according to the way of the plain meaning,

the interpretation of these verses is not according to their "plain meaning" exactly like other verses,

but they are "parables",

and a parable — the plainness of its matter is

(also)

hints and derashot

[And similarly in his commentary on the Song of the Sea,

the Song of Ha'azinu and others — because they are "songs" Rashi brings there several derashot].

We further find,

that in the prophecy of Balaam Rashi extensively brings the explanations of "its Targum" not in the usual manner of his commentary on the Torah.

And according to the above it is understood — that in bringing the words of the Targum,

his intention primarily

(is not for the translation of the language of the verses,

but rather)

for the interpretation of the allegory of the "parable" according to its Targum.

However, in this very matter we find several manners: sometimes Rashi begins his commentary "like its Targum" and afterwards brings another explanation from the exposition of the Sages,

and sometimes the opposite.

And according to the above it is understood,

that it depends on what is closer to the simple meaning of the content of the words of the "parable".

Moreover, one must examine Rashi on the verse<sup>4</sup>

"Behold, a people like a lion shall rise up, etc.",

which he explains: "When they arise from their sleep in the morning, they strengthen themselves like a lion and like a lioness to snatch the commandments: to don tzitzis, to recite the Shema, and to put on tefillin.

He shall not lie down — at night on his bed until he eats and destroys every destroyer that comes to attack him; how? He recites the Shema on his bed, etc.'",

and after the length of his explanation

(whose source is in the words of the Midrash<sup>5</sup>)

he wrote "Another interpretation: 'Behold, a people like a lion shall rise up, etc.' — according to its Targum."

And one must understand: Why does he first bring the words of the Midrash, which are a distant allusion,

seemingly,

in the explanation of the words,

and he did not first bring the explanation of the Targum,

which according to his explanation

("Behold, a people..

shall not lie down in the land until it kills a killing and inherits the possessions of the nations")

the verse speaks about the entry of the children of Israel into the Land of Israel and the conquest of the land

(and as the Ramban brought<sup>6</sup>

from the Targum)?

And beyond this: in Balaam's prophecy that followed afterwards,

where it is stated⁷

about the language of this verse — "He crouches, lies down like a lion, and like a lioness, who will rouse him?",

Rashi says "like its Targum,

they will settle in their land with strength and might" and nothing more,

and why did he not bring here initially the explanation of the Targum which is closer to the plain meaning of the verse

(also)

here?

And even more difficult,

that at the beginning of this prophecy of Balaam "God is not a man etc."⁸

Rashi says "He has already sworn to them to bring them and to give them the land as an inheritance<pg>150</pg>

Seven nations and you intend to kill them in the wilderness",

behold that the main point of Balaam's words

(and especially in this prophecy)

is founded on this,

to negate the notion "to kill them in the wilderness" — because it is clear to him

(to Balaam)

that the Children of Israel will continue to go with strength and might to conquer the land of the seven nations⁹,

and they will defeat the nations,

and following this, the explanation of the above Targum seems more appropriate.

2.

And one can say the explanation of this — simply:

In the content of Balaam's prophecies,

that he answered¹⁰

to Balak

(about that which he requested from him "Please come, curse this people for me"¹¹)

that he cannot curse Israel — there are two aspects: a)

that he cannot curse them and harm them through his speech,

because they are beloved in the eyes of the Holy One, blessed be He, and He watches over them and protects them etc.

b)

they have many virtues and merits that are not in the other nations,

and therefore

(not only is it impossible for him to harm them through his speech,

but beyond this —)

"they are worthy of blessing"¹².

And it can be said,

that in general this is the difference between his first prophecy and his second prophecy: in the introduction to the first prophecy he said¹³

"How can I curse whom God has not cursed, and how can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?"

while the introduction to the second prophecy¹⁴

is "Behold, I have received a blessing, and He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it."

[And although in the second of the prophecies

(and likewise in the third and fourth prophecies)

there are of the two matters

(modes)

mentioned above,

why he cannot curse them

(and furthermore,

the way of Rashi in his commentary on these verses that he brought more than one interpretation,

because it seems that one should add to the interpretation of Balaam's words regarding the merit and virtue of Israel),

nevertheless it depends what is the main point].

And with this is explained the general distinction between Rashi's commentaries in these two prophecies:

In the first prophecy that begins¹⁵

"For from the top of the rocks I see him",

Rashi explains "I look at their beginning and at the start of their roots and I see them established and strong as these rocks and hills through the patriarchs and matriarchs..

his ancestors merited for him etc.'",

to emphasize that he cannot harm them with his speech because of their preciousness before the Holy One, blessed be He;

And in the second prophecy that begins¹⁶

"He has not beheld iniquity in Jacob etc." Rashi wrote first "according to its Targum",

and afterwards brings the explanation of the midrash — that specifically according to the Targum

("there are no worshippers of idols in the house of Jacob and also no doers of falsehood in Israel"),

it speaks of the merit of Israel themselves,

but according to the midrash it does not speak of the merit of Israel themselves

(in terms of their deeds),

but rather their preciousness etc. before the Holy One, blessed be He

(that also¹⁷

"when they transgress His word He does not scrutinize them<pg>151</pg>

To contemplate their ships and their labor that they transgress His religion")¹⁸.

And likewise is it in our verse "Behold, a people like a lion shall rise up etc.": according to "its Targum" that speaks about the conquest of the land "they will not rest in the land until they kill slaughter and inherit the possessions of the nations",

behold it speaks primarily about this, that the Holy One, blessed be He, will do with them.

And therefore Rashi precedes the explanation of the Midrash "when they arise from their sleep in the morning they strengthen themselves like a lion and like a lioness to snatch the commandments etc.",

meaning that it speaks about the greatness of the virtue in the deeds of Israel¹⁹,

and that this is a constant order among them²⁰,

every day.

And from this it is understood,

that in addition that it is not applicable that Balaam will curse them, heaven forbid,

behold moreover "they are worthy of blessing"¹².

3.

And based on this, we can also explain the reason in the first interpretation that Rashi changed from the wording of the Midrash:

In the Midrash it says²¹

"He will not sleep until he eats prey; when it says Hashem is One, the destroyers are consumed before Him, they whisper after Him 'Blessed be the Name of His glorious kingdom forever and ever' and they flee,

and he is supported by the merit of the Shema from the guardians of the day to the guardians of the night,

and when he comes to sleep he entrusts his spirit into the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, and says 'Into Your hand I entrust my spirit,'

and when he awakens he proclaims the Holy One, blessed be He, as King,

the guardians of the night hand him over to the guardians of the day, as it is said, etc.";

And Rashi writes "He shall not lie down at night on his bed until he eats and destroys every harmful thing that comes to tear him; how? He recites the Shema on his bed&lt;sup&gt;22&lt;/sup&gt;

and entrusts his spirit into the hand of the Omnipresent; if a camp or troop comes to harm them, the Holy One, blessed be He, guards them and fights their battles and fells them slain".

That is,

that Rashi adds and emphasizes at the beginning of the commentary "until he eats and destroys every harmful thing etc.",

that in addition to the fact that the act of the Holy One, blessed be He, is in the merit of man's action,

it is also in a manner that the act of the Holy One, blessed be He, itself is related to man's action.

4.

However, it is puzzling regarding the fundamental change that Rashi made from the Midrash at the beginning of his commentary — for in the Midrash it says "they stood from their sleep standing like lions, snatching the Shema,"

and Rashi writes "to snatch the mitzvos, to wear tzitzis, to recite the Shema, and to don tefillin."

And according to its simple meaning, Rashi brought all the mitzvos that a person does in the morning immediately when he rises from his sleep,

and not only the Shema.

But this itself needs to be understood,

why was Rashi compelled to add to the words of the Midrash and also bring "to wear tzitzis" and "to don tefillin."

Also, one needs to understand the order in which Rashi enumerated these three mitzvos — tzitzis,

Shema and tefillin²³

—<pg>152</pg>

that is not according to their order in the portions of the Torah

(that first the portion of tefillin is said

(in Parshat Bo),

afterwards the portion of tzitzit

(in Parshat Shlach)

and finally

(and after our parshah)

the portion of Kriat Shema

(in Parshat Va'etchanan))²⁴

; and likewise²⁵

not according to the order of their performance²⁶

by a person,

for even though the custom is to wear tzitzit in the morning immediately after netilat yadayim²⁷,

and afterwards recite Kriat Shema,

Kriat Shema comes after the laying of tefillin²⁸,

and as it is stated in the Gemara²⁹

"Whoever recites Kriat Shema without tefillin is as if he bears false witness against himself etc."

(and as brought in the commentators of Rashi here³⁰)?

And it will be understood with a prior introduction of another difference in the language of Rashi from the language of the Midrash: In the Midrash²¹

it is stated "Behold they are asleep from the Torah and from the mitzvot; they arose from their sleep, they stand like lions, snatching Kriat Shema and crowning the Holy One, blessed be He",

and in Rashi the language is "When they arise from their sleep in the morning, they strengthen themselves like a lion and like a lion to snatch the mitzvot to wear etc."

That is to say a)

Rashi omits what is said in the Midrash "they are asleep from the Torah and from the mitzvot".

b)

He adds to the language of the Midrash a general introduction — "to snatch the mitzvot".

c)

He omits the content of the mitzvah of Kriat Shema that is explicit in the Midrash "and crowning the Holy One, blessed be He".

And one could say,

that these three changes are dependent on each other:

In the Midrash that wrote "they are asleep from Torah and from mitzvos",

it emphasizes that the sleep is

(also)

spiritual sleep³¹,

that they are not awake to the Torah and mitzvos of the Holy One, blessed be He,

and the "standing" from this "sleep" includes also the awakening to Torah and mitzvos,

that they accept upon themselves the yoke of the kingdom of heaven,

and this is what the Midrash continues "they stood from their sleep, standing like lions, snatching the Shema and crowning the Holy One, blessed be He".

But Rashi who wrote according to its simple meaning,

they stand from the study of the morning,

that is, at a time when they are not

(obligated and are not)

able to fulfill the commandments,

therefore immediately when they stand they strengthen themselves "to snatch the commandments",

that is, commandments in general,

for all the commandments they were not able to fulfill during the time of sleep.

And therefore he wrote them in this order specifically,

because this is according to their order in relation to all the commandments:

First "to wear tzitzis",

that the mitzvah of tzitzis is equivalent to all the mitzvos³²,

and as it is written in the portion of tzitzis³³

"And you shall see it and remember<pg>153</pg>

all the mitzvos of Hashem and do them",

"in order that you remember and do all My mitzvos"

[and as it is brought in the Gemara³⁴

"and let him say to them..

fulfill all the mitzvos entirely" and he answers

(for then it was referring to)

"the mitzvah of tzitzis³⁵

for the Master said the mitzvah of tzitzis is equivalent to all the mitzvos entirely"³⁶,

and in the Sifri³⁷

it is stated that "whoever fulfills the mitzvah of tzitzis, it is accounted to him as if he fulfilled all the mitzvos"]

; and afterwards he brings "to recite the Shema",

that it too is a general mitzvah,

that in it is the unity of Hashem, love of Him, etc.

(and in general — acceptance of the yoke of the kingdom of heaven)

which is the foundation³⁸

of all the mitzvos³⁹,

but not like the mitzvah of tzitzis which itself is equivalent to all the mitzvos

(and brings about the fulfillment of all the mitzvos entirely)

as above⁴⁰

; and afterwards "and to lay tefillin",

which is a particular mitzvah,

but it is said about it "And it shall be for a sign for you upon your hand and for a remembrance between your eyes..

for with a strong hand Hashem brought you out of Egypt"⁴¹,

that the remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt is a foundation for several mitzvos of the Torah⁴².

5.

And one may add to this,

that according to the above, the difference between Rashi and the words of the midrash is,

whether the morning Shema is

(only)

in the category of the snatching of acceptance of the yoke of the kingdom of heaven or whether it is in the category of the snatching of all the actions of the commandments.

And one may say,

that this depends on the dispute whether the commandment of Shema from the Torah is only the first verse alone or whether it includes more than that

(the first portion,

two portions,

or all three)⁴³,

and that is whether the definition of the commandment of Shema is that one coronates the Holy One, blessed be He, upon oneself by saying the first verse⁴⁴

"Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One",

in which one accepts upon oneself His unity, blessed be He, explicitly⁴⁵,

or that the definition of the commandment of Shema includes acceptance of the yoke of commandments

(and as is explicit in the Mishnah regarding the two portions of Shema⁴⁶)

:

To the midrash,

The definition of Kriat Shema is that they coronate the Holy One, blessed be He, and He

(mainly)

in the first verse

(or also the first portion⁴⁷),

and as is also implied from the continuation of the words of the midrash above "coronates the Holy One, blessed be He, he shall not lie down until he eats prey; when it says 'Hashem is One,' the destroyers are consumed before Him,

they whisper after Him 'Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom forever and ever.'"

<pg>154</pg>

Whereas according to Rashi's commentary, the definition of the mitzvah of Kriat Shema includes that they coronate the Holy One, blessed be He, in "Hashem is One,"

acceptance of the yoke of the kingdom of heaven in the first portion,

and acceptance of the yoke of commandments,

and therefore it includes in "to snatch the commandments" also Kriat Shema.

[And perhaps one could say even more than this,

that according to Rashi

(in his commentary on the Torah)

the mitzvah of Shema includes also the third portion,

for the fulfillment of the mitzvah of Shema in its completeness in accepting the yoke of mitzvot in general is only when he accepts upon himself the mitzvah of tzitzit⁴⁸

which includes

(the remembrance of)

all the mitzvot altogether⁴⁹.

Therefore, when he comes to fulfill the mitzvot properly

(this is the content of the matter of "snatching the mitzvot" as will be explained below in section 6)

(also the mitzvah of Shema),

he is not satisfied with this, that he reads the portion of tzitzit,

rather he puts on tzitzit and afterwards recites Shema

(including the portion of tzitzit),

so that the remembrance of all the mitzvot through the mitzvah of tzitzit⁵⁰ should be

in actuality⁵¹].

6.

And based on what was explained above

(section 2),

that Rashi gave precedence to the explanation of the midrash over his translation,

because according to the plain sense of Scripture it is more plausible

(especially in this prophecy

(the second)

of Balaam)

that it speaks of the virtue of Israel in their deeds,

and not only that the Holy One, blessed be He, does with them

(which shows the greatness of their power etc. towards the nations of the world),

one must explain the reason that Rashi changed in this matter from the midrash:

Snatching indicates that the snatched thing is most beloved to the snatcher⁵²,

For a thing that is not so precious and beloved to him he takes it calmly,

But a thing that is beloved to him — he snatches it.

And according to this it is understood,

That the matter of "they snatch Shema and coronate the Holy One, blessed be He" in the Midrash indicates that the matter of "snatching" is only regarding the very acceptance of the yoke of His kingship,

But the fulfillment of Torah and commandments that comes afterward comes in a regular manner,

Calmly.

[And therefore it is not mentioned in the Midrash in continuation of this the fulfillment of the commandments,

but rather "they set out to derech eretz for business and commerce",

for in the fulfillment of the commandments themselves there is not discerned a special superiority in their fulfillment,

and the coronation of the Holy One, blessed be He, in the Shema in a manner that they snatch the Shema benefits them that when they set out to derech eretz and to business and to commerce this setting out will be in a kosher manner,

his business and commerce with faith⁵³,

and "all your deeds shall be for the sake of Heaven"⁵⁴,

and the like].

And according to Rashi the nature of the children of Israel is that when they arise from their sleep in the morning they strengthen themselves "to snatch the commandments",

that all the commandments are precious and beloved to each and every one of Israel,

that they snatch the commandments,

and he is not satisfied with the snatching of one commandment,

but rather he snat-<pg>155</pg>

They snatch another mitzvah,

Kriat Shema,

and they snatch another mitzvah,

laying tefillin,

and it is understood that so it is throughout the entire day in the fulfillment of His mitzvot, may He be blessed.

And this expresses a more elevated manner in the virtue of Israel.

7.

Based on the above, also understood is the connection of Parshas Balak

(which is read every year in proximity)

to Yud-Beis Tammuz,

the day on which was redeemed the Rebbe, my father-in-law, from his imprisonment, who was imprisoned because of "the great work" which he worked "in spreading Torah and strengthening the religion"⁵⁵.

The explanation of "snatching" is — an action not according to order and reckoning,

and in the service of G-d this indicates a service that is above reason and intellect,

the service of self-sacrifice⁵⁶.

And this was the manner of the great work which his holy honor, my master, father-in-law, and teacher, the Rebbe, performed in that country,

and with which he educated and taught his students and chassidim,

work in a manner of actual self-sacrifice,

and not only on general matters and essential matters of Torah and mitzvos,

but on every single mitzvah,

the light as the severe,

self-sacrifice for building or maintaining a mikvah,

to establish cheders to teach young children alef-beis and the like,

and together with this and with the same force and self-sacrifice for the dissemination of the inner dimension of Torah,

the secrets of Torah,

and likewise self-sacrifice for beautification of mitzvos.

[And also in this manner of work of snatching,

self-sacrifice for every step,

he requested and demanded in his talks at that time⁵⁷

a snatch within a snatch,

self-sacrifice within self-sacrifice,

"Jews, snatch self-sacrifice, snatch,

for the time of self-sacrifice is passing and fleeting,

soon a time of complete freedom in religious matters will come and then you will seek a manner of self-sacrifice and will not find,

soon a time will come when you will speak of the virtue of one who merited "to sit"

(in prison)

because of his being a teacher,

because of his maintaining a cheder,

a yeshivah or a mikvah of purity.

You will envy them and be pained over yourselves that you did not merit this,

Jews — snatch self-sacrifice"].

And with this power the Children of Israel stood in that state for tens of years in a situation of decrees and persecutions against the religion,

And this power was impressed upon his emissaries and upon those who walk in his ways,

that even when they are, by the kindness of G‑d, in a situation of freedom, they will not be satisfied with a manner of snatching the Shema to accept upon themselves the sovereignty of the Holy One, blessed be He,

but rather that they will also have the service of snatching the commandments — all the commandments,

and not to take into account any calculations and hindrances and delays,

and not to be impressed by mockers etc.,

whether in the service of G‑d itself,

and whether in the dissemination of Torah and Judaism.

Until the fulfillment of the explicit prophecy in the portion of Balaam⁵⁸

"And shall arise⁵⁹

a star from Israel..

And he shall possess etc. This is the King Messiah, as it is said⁶⁰

And saviors shall ascend Mount Zion etc. And the kingdom shall be the L‑rd's."

(From the talk of Shabbos Parshas Balak 5731)