Chasidut zu Bereschit 3:18
וְק֥וֹץ וְדַרְדַּ֖ר תַּצְמִ֣יחַֽ לָ֑ךְ וְאָכַלְתָּ֖ אֶת־עֵ֥שֶׂב הַשָּׂדֶֽה׃
Dornen und Disteln wird sie dir wachsen lassen, und du müsstest das Kraut des Feldes essen.
Kedushat Levi
Numbers 22,4. “now this multitude will lick up all that is around us as does the ox licking up the grass of the field, etc.;”
Why did Balak draw a comparison between the encampment of the Israelites and the manner in which oxen denude the soil of its grass cover? Before explaining this it will help to explain Deuteronomy 11,15 where the Torah promises the Israelites that when they observe the Torah once they are on their own soil: ונתתי עשב בשדך לבהמתך ואכלת ושבעת, “I will provide the grass of the field for your beasts and you will eat and be satisfied.” After the first sin G’d had condemned Adam to eating the grass of the field. (Genesis 3,18) We need to remember that whatever man eats is surrounded by commandments of the Torah being fulfilled in the process. Long before the farmer can eat the bread from the corn he grew this corn was subject to a variety of regulations of the Torah that have to be fulfilled first, in order for the farmer not to have been remiss. The farmer had to fulfill commandments relating both to ploughing, such as not having a donkey and an ox pulling the same plough; when seeding the farmer must take care not to seed the same field with a mixture of seeds of different grains, etc., before the tithes and related gifts to the poor, etc., of the actual harvest become applicable. (compare Deut. 22,10 and 9) By performing these various commandments prior to enjoying the result of his labours, the Jewish farmer becomes G’d’s partner in spiritually elevating the “sparks” (of holiness) contained in some of these foods, i.e. rehabilitating parts of G’d’s creation, such as some angels which had been spiritually downgraded through failing to perform their duties.
When man is reduced to eating the grass of the field, i.e. vegetation which grows without human input, he is unable through his eating, i.e. his partaking of G’d’s largesse, to accomplish his own or his environment’s rehabilitation.
This was the negative effect of the curse pronounced by G’d as part of Adam’s punishment, i.e. road to rehabilitation, decreed in Genesis 3,18. [This more than offsets the apparently beneficial effect of picking his food from the ground effortlessly and eating it as is. Ed.]
When the Torah describes the Israelite as “eating and being satiated” in Deuteronomy 11,15, it does not refer to the Israelite eating grass, but to his eating the ox after it has been duly slaughtered, examined for blemishes, its blood having been removed, etc., etc., i.e. numerous commandments having been performed, so that by eating it eventually the party doing so participates in the process of rehabilitating “fallen” sparks. Through this round about manner of man eating grass, i.e. grass which had first been eaten by the ox, he is enabled to participate in the rehabilitation of holy beings that had been demoted from their lofty origins.
In his writings, the Ari’zal has stated that the four basic levels of phenomena in this lower universe in which we mortals live, i.e. the inert, the vegetarian, the animalistic and the articulate, i.e. the human beings, there exist four levels in the universe known in a descending order as atzilut, b’riyah, yetzirah, and assiyah. In other words, the level of the animalistic, or חי, corresponds to the level of בריאה, creatures in the early stage of existence known as בריאה a stage in which this “creature” is distinct from other “existences” on a similar level.
The soul of repentant sinners is in a better position to help rehabilitate converts (who used to be pagans) than is the soul of a person who has always been a true believer in monotheism. The wicked Balak of which our portion speaks, was afraid of Israel because the Israelites had demonstrated their ability to help rehabilitate fallen sinners, i.e. “sparks,” during their journey through the desert, and he hated holiness, as has been alluded to in the line ויקץ מואב מפני בני ישראל, “that Moab was disgusted by the Children of Israel,” i.e. their moral/ethical values. The mere thought of having to be in the presence of holiness, literally caused Balak to puke.
[The root occurs in connection with Rivkah’s telling Yitzchok of being disgusted with her life if Yaakov would marry a daughter of Canaanite descent as had his twin brother Esau. (Genesis 27,45) Ed.]
According to Ari z’al what bothered Balak most, was the fact that during their wanderings the converts had been most successful in rehabilitating these “fallen” sinners, “sparks” and that is why the Torah describes this עם, i.e. the converts of the Jewish people as being רב, a major component of the people who rehabilitated sinners. He feared them more than the natural born Israelites, i.e. ויגר מואב מפני העם מאד, “Moab feared the newly converted Israelites very much.” The reason was that רב הוא, they were such a powerful influence in rehabilitating pagans. The Moabites were not nearly as afraid of the בני ישראל, the natural born Israelites being able to attract as many converts.
In Balak’s eyes it was as despicable to be an Israelite as it had been in the eyes of the new King over Egypt and his nation in Exodus1,8-12.
Moreover, he was aware that if his people would come into contact with other recent Jewish converts, the influence of those converts who had themselves come closer to G’d through joining the Jewish people, would be powerful enough for them to elevate Moabite converts to the highest spiritual level of life on earth, i.e. the level of בריאה. Referring back to the 4 spiritual levels of existence in the physical part of the universe, spiritual ascent, when it occurs, proceeds to the next higher level, the level of בריאה being the one corresponding to חי, the level of animalistic creatures. This is hinted at by Balak when he compared the people to the animals eating grass, i.e. כלחוך השור את ירק השדה.
Why did Balak draw a comparison between the encampment of the Israelites and the manner in which oxen denude the soil of its grass cover? Before explaining this it will help to explain Deuteronomy 11,15 where the Torah promises the Israelites that when they observe the Torah once they are on their own soil: ונתתי עשב בשדך לבהמתך ואכלת ושבעת, “I will provide the grass of the field for your beasts and you will eat and be satisfied.” After the first sin G’d had condemned Adam to eating the grass of the field. (Genesis 3,18) We need to remember that whatever man eats is surrounded by commandments of the Torah being fulfilled in the process. Long before the farmer can eat the bread from the corn he grew this corn was subject to a variety of regulations of the Torah that have to be fulfilled first, in order for the farmer not to have been remiss. The farmer had to fulfill commandments relating both to ploughing, such as not having a donkey and an ox pulling the same plough; when seeding the farmer must take care not to seed the same field with a mixture of seeds of different grains, etc., before the tithes and related gifts to the poor, etc., of the actual harvest become applicable. (compare Deut. 22,10 and 9) By performing these various commandments prior to enjoying the result of his labours, the Jewish farmer becomes G’d’s partner in spiritually elevating the “sparks” (of holiness) contained in some of these foods, i.e. rehabilitating parts of G’d’s creation, such as some angels which had been spiritually downgraded through failing to perform their duties.
When man is reduced to eating the grass of the field, i.e. vegetation which grows without human input, he is unable through his eating, i.e. his partaking of G’d’s largesse, to accomplish his own or his environment’s rehabilitation.
This was the negative effect of the curse pronounced by G’d as part of Adam’s punishment, i.e. road to rehabilitation, decreed in Genesis 3,18. [This more than offsets the apparently beneficial effect of picking his food from the ground effortlessly and eating it as is. Ed.]
When the Torah describes the Israelite as “eating and being satiated” in Deuteronomy 11,15, it does not refer to the Israelite eating grass, but to his eating the ox after it has been duly slaughtered, examined for blemishes, its blood having been removed, etc., etc., i.e. numerous commandments having been performed, so that by eating it eventually the party doing so participates in the process of rehabilitating “fallen” sparks. Through this round about manner of man eating grass, i.e. grass which had first been eaten by the ox, he is enabled to participate in the rehabilitation of holy beings that had been demoted from their lofty origins.
In his writings, the Ari’zal has stated that the four basic levels of phenomena in this lower universe in which we mortals live, i.e. the inert, the vegetarian, the animalistic and the articulate, i.e. the human beings, there exist four levels in the universe known in a descending order as atzilut, b’riyah, yetzirah, and assiyah. In other words, the level of the animalistic, or חי, corresponds to the level of בריאה, creatures in the early stage of existence known as בריאה a stage in which this “creature” is distinct from other “existences” on a similar level.
The soul of repentant sinners is in a better position to help rehabilitate converts (who used to be pagans) than is the soul of a person who has always been a true believer in monotheism. The wicked Balak of which our portion speaks, was afraid of Israel because the Israelites had demonstrated their ability to help rehabilitate fallen sinners, i.e. “sparks,” during their journey through the desert, and he hated holiness, as has been alluded to in the line ויקץ מואב מפני בני ישראל, “that Moab was disgusted by the Children of Israel,” i.e. their moral/ethical values. The mere thought of having to be in the presence of holiness, literally caused Balak to puke.
[The root occurs in connection with Rivkah’s telling Yitzchok of being disgusted with her life if Yaakov would marry a daughter of Canaanite descent as had his twin brother Esau. (Genesis 27,45) Ed.]
According to Ari z’al what bothered Balak most, was the fact that during their wanderings the converts had been most successful in rehabilitating these “fallen” sinners, “sparks” and that is why the Torah describes this עם, i.e. the converts of the Jewish people as being רב, a major component of the people who rehabilitated sinners. He feared them more than the natural born Israelites, i.e. ויגר מואב מפני העם מאד, “Moab feared the newly converted Israelites very much.” The reason was that רב הוא, they were such a powerful influence in rehabilitating pagans. The Moabites were not nearly as afraid of the בני ישראל, the natural born Israelites being able to attract as many converts.
In Balak’s eyes it was as despicable to be an Israelite as it had been in the eyes of the new King over Egypt and his nation in Exodus1,8-12.
Moreover, he was aware that if his people would come into contact with other recent Jewish converts, the influence of those converts who had themselves come closer to G’d through joining the Jewish people, would be powerful enough for them to elevate Moabite converts to the highest spiritual level of life on earth, i.e. the level of בריאה. Referring back to the 4 spiritual levels of existence in the physical part of the universe, spiritual ascent, when it occurs, proceeds to the next higher level, the level of בריאה being the one corresponding to חי, the level of animalistic creatures. This is hinted at by Balak when he compared the people to the animals eating grass, i.e. כלחוך השור את ירק השדה.
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