Chasidut for Numbers 23:7
וַיִּשָּׂ֥א מְשָׁל֖וֹ וַיֹּאמַ֑ר מִן־אֲ֠רָם יַנְחֵ֨נִי בָלָ֤ק מֶֽלֶךְ־מוֹאָב֙ מֵֽהַרְרֵי־קֶ֔דֶם לְכָה֙ אָֽרָה־לִּ֣י יַעֲקֹ֔ב וּלְכָ֖ה זֹעֲמָ֥ה יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃
And he took up his parable, and said: From Aram Balak bringeth me, The king of Moab from the mountains of the East: ‘Come, curse me Jacob, And come, execrate Israel.’
Kedushat Levi
Numbers 23,7. “come then and curse Yaakov for me, etc.;”
There is a rule that each nation must possess at least one virtue, [otherwise why would G’d allow its continued existence. Ed.]This virtue is the reason of its existence. Israel, on the other hand, possesses all virtues. This posed a problem for the wicked Bileam who had been charged with cursing such a virtuous nation. Bileam/Balak was searching for a virtue possessed by the Moabites which the Israelites could not match. Once he had isolated that virtue, this would be the key to his successfully putting a curse on the Jewish people. This is the reason why Balak, instead of using the word קלל, when asking Bileam to curse the Jewish people, used the word ארה instead, as the word ארה, from the root ארר, means to isolate in the sense of “to pin point, to single out.” The word ארר is closely related to the root ברר, “isolate,” usually the refuse, waste.
When our sages (Bartenurah on Peyah 8,1) speak of אורה בתאנים, the reference is to the selection of ripe figs for harvesting as figs do not ripen all at the same time.
Apparently, Balak wanted to pinpoint a virtue possessed by his people which was not shared by the Jewish people, and to base this moral superiority entitling Bileam to curse that nation on this virtue. This is why he referred to Yaakov, meaning: “in what manner am I like Yaakov who possessed so many virtues?” He went on saying: ולכה זועמה ישראל, “so that you can proceed and curse Israel.”
There is a rule that each nation must possess at least one virtue, [otherwise why would G’d allow its continued existence. Ed.]This virtue is the reason of its existence. Israel, on the other hand, possesses all virtues. This posed a problem for the wicked Bileam who had been charged with cursing such a virtuous nation. Bileam/Balak was searching for a virtue possessed by the Moabites which the Israelites could not match. Once he had isolated that virtue, this would be the key to his successfully putting a curse on the Jewish people. This is the reason why Balak, instead of using the word קלל, when asking Bileam to curse the Jewish people, used the word ארה instead, as the word ארה, from the root ארר, means to isolate in the sense of “to pin point, to single out.” The word ארר is closely related to the root ברר, “isolate,” usually the refuse, waste.
When our sages (Bartenurah on Peyah 8,1) speak of אורה בתאנים, the reference is to the selection of ripe figs for harvesting as figs do not ripen all at the same time.
Apparently, Balak wanted to pinpoint a virtue possessed by his people which was not shared by the Jewish people, and to base this moral superiority entitling Bileam to curse that nation on this virtue. This is why he referred to Yaakov, meaning: “in what manner am I like Yaakov who possessed so many virtues?” He went on saying: ולכה זועמה ישראל, “so that you can proceed and curse Israel.”
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy