Parasha Thoughts
By Rabbi Yosef Shemtov
Parashat Balak speaks about how anxious the wicked Bilham was to curse Beni Israel. Bilham requested of Hashem to allow him to to go with the king’s messengers to curse Beni Israel. Hashem answered no because Beni Israel are blessed. He tried asking Hashem again the following night, and finally Hashem permitted Bilham to go if he thought he could get money from Balak the king. Hashem, however, forbade him from going with the intention of cursing Beni Israel.
Bilham’s hatred towards Beni Israel was so strong that he did go with them to curse Beni Israel. The Torah says Hashem brought a few incidents upon Bilham to prevent him from going, but he didn’t get the message. Finally Bilham’s own donkey started talking to him. Instead of becoming surprised, Bilham defended his actions.
When we read the Parasha we might laugh at Bilham. However, the truth is we also get many messages from the Almighty. Any difficulty in life, any hard situation, is a message from Hashem. Even though we need to say gam ze letova, we also need to find out why the Almighty has brought this difficulty upon us. If we don’t pay attention to life’s messages then we will also be like Bilham.
Shabbat Shalom