Chasidut for Numbers 24:17
אֶרְאֶ֙נּוּ֙ וְלֹ֣א עַתָּ֔ה אֲשׁוּרֶ֖נּוּ וְלֹ֣א קָר֑וֹב דָּרַ֨ךְ כּוֹכָ֜ב מִֽיַּעֲקֹ֗ב וְקָ֥ם שֵׁ֙בֶט֙ מִיִּשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וּמָחַץ֙ פַּאֲתֵ֣י מוֹאָ֔ב וְקַרְקַ֖ר כָּל־בְּנֵי־שֵֽׁת׃
I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not nigh; There shall step forth a star out of Jacob, And a scepter shall rise out of Israel, And shall smite through the corners of Moab, And break down all the sons of Seth.
Kedushat Levi
Numbers 24,17. “a star emerging from Yaakov has begun its journey, a scepter from Israel. It smashes the corner posts of Moab the foundation of all the descendents of Sheth.” The poetic language of Bileam becomes clearer when we look at psalms 22,29 כי לה' המלוכה ומושל בגויים, “for dominion belongs to Hashem and He rules the nations;” This will be demonstrated when ועלו מושיעים בהר ציון לשפוט את הר עשו והיתה לה' המלוכה, “when the liberators (exiles that have been freed) will march up Mount Zion to wreak judgment on Mount Esau and dominion shall be the Lord’s.”(Ovadiah 1,21)
We need to understand the difference between the words ממשלה and מלוכה, both of which refer to the exercise of authority, rule. The word מלוכה, when used in Scripture, refers to rule by a king whose subjects have submitted to it willingly, whereas the word ממשלה is used in Scripture when the subjects are unwilling, but unable to shake off the rule by the monarch or dictator. As a general rule, only the Jewish people are described as willingly submitting to G’d’s rule, whereas the gentile nations described in these verses as being in exile, submitted to G’d’s rule under protest, and rebelled against it whenever possible. G’d imposes His rule upon them in order to frustrate their evil designs against His people. In the eras described, both in psalms and Ovadiah, this situation will have changed and the gentile nations will willingly appoint G’d as their king also. (Compare Rashi on Deuteronomy 6,4,on שמע ישראל ה' אלקינו ה' אחד.( He quotes both Zecharyah 14,9 and Tzefaniah 2,9 in support of his statement.
We are aware that it is impossible for mortal man to have a true concept of the essence of G’d as we know from Tikkuney Hazohar chapter 11. When we recite daily in our prayers the line ברוך אתה ה', “blessed are You Hashem,” this is because through making judicious use of the letters, i.e. concentrating on the written text of our prayers, Jews can achieve comprehension of concepts that are incapable of comprehension to human beings if one would think about them only in the abstract. The letters, i.e. the sacred letters of the printed or written words: אתה וגו', illuminate for us the concept of G’d’s dominion over the Jewish people. As a result of this advantage we possess, tzaddikim are able to use the 22 letters in the aleph bet at will for the furtherance of loving kindness, mercy and life through our prayers which will then become engraved in the throne of Hashem.
The numerical value of the tetragram, i.e. י-ה-ו-ה is 26. When you add to this the 22 letters in the aleph bet, you will get the numerical value of the word כוכב, “star” in our verse. Homiletically speaking, Bileam refers to the emergence of a person in Israel who, by judicious use of the name of the Lord and the 22 letters He has used to create the universe, has tremendous influence on the decision making process in the celestial regions. His power will extend to smashing Moab and other enemies of Israel. When Bileam speaks of וקם שבט בישראל, the word שבט is to be understood as a simile for the rule by the Jewish people, whereas the word פאתי in the line ומחץ פאתי מואב, refers to צמצום, contraction as opposed to largesse, i.e. a major aspect of דין, application of the attribute of Justice, which severely impairs the freedom granted to human beings as long as they have not abused it (grossly) by rebelling against G’d. [Some of these words are mine. Ed.] The word מואב in our verse also alludes to the source of these disasters befalling Moab being G’d, i.e. Israel’s spiritual “Father,” מ-אב emanating from the father.
A recurring theme in the author’s definition of true service of the Lord is that when pertaining to service of the Lord, ecstasy is not only permitted but desirable, whereas ecstasy when applied to anything material, secular, is strictly forbidden. Furthermore, true service of the Lord is performed in a “hidden” manner, i.e. must not attract public attention, so as not be seen as arrogant behaviour. Whatever man does publicly, i.e. to draw attention to himself, is by definition חצוניות, externalism, not reflecting the sanctity of the soul. Bileam refers to the קרקר, extreme coldness, to be maintained when engaged in secular but necessary activities, so that any show of enthusiasm for the performance of such tasks will not be mistaken as religiously inspired.
We need to understand the difference between the words ממשלה and מלוכה, both of which refer to the exercise of authority, rule. The word מלוכה, when used in Scripture, refers to rule by a king whose subjects have submitted to it willingly, whereas the word ממשלה is used in Scripture when the subjects are unwilling, but unable to shake off the rule by the monarch or dictator. As a general rule, only the Jewish people are described as willingly submitting to G’d’s rule, whereas the gentile nations described in these verses as being in exile, submitted to G’d’s rule under protest, and rebelled against it whenever possible. G’d imposes His rule upon them in order to frustrate their evil designs against His people. In the eras described, both in psalms and Ovadiah, this situation will have changed and the gentile nations will willingly appoint G’d as their king also. (Compare Rashi on Deuteronomy 6,4,on שמע ישראל ה' אלקינו ה' אחד.( He quotes both Zecharyah 14,9 and Tzefaniah 2,9 in support of his statement.
We are aware that it is impossible for mortal man to have a true concept of the essence of G’d as we know from Tikkuney Hazohar chapter 11. When we recite daily in our prayers the line ברוך אתה ה', “blessed are You Hashem,” this is because through making judicious use of the letters, i.e. concentrating on the written text of our prayers, Jews can achieve comprehension of concepts that are incapable of comprehension to human beings if one would think about them only in the abstract. The letters, i.e. the sacred letters of the printed or written words: אתה וגו', illuminate for us the concept of G’d’s dominion over the Jewish people. As a result of this advantage we possess, tzaddikim are able to use the 22 letters in the aleph bet at will for the furtherance of loving kindness, mercy and life through our prayers which will then become engraved in the throne of Hashem.
The numerical value of the tetragram, i.e. י-ה-ו-ה is 26. When you add to this the 22 letters in the aleph bet, you will get the numerical value of the word כוכב, “star” in our verse. Homiletically speaking, Bileam refers to the emergence of a person in Israel who, by judicious use of the name of the Lord and the 22 letters He has used to create the universe, has tremendous influence on the decision making process in the celestial regions. His power will extend to smashing Moab and other enemies of Israel. When Bileam speaks of וקם שבט בישראל, the word שבט is to be understood as a simile for the rule by the Jewish people, whereas the word פאתי in the line ומחץ פאתי מואב, refers to צמצום, contraction as opposed to largesse, i.e. a major aspect of דין, application of the attribute of Justice, which severely impairs the freedom granted to human beings as long as they have not abused it (grossly) by rebelling against G’d. [Some of these words are mine. Ed.] The word מואב in our verse also alludes to the source of these disasters befalling Moab being G’d, i.e. Israel’s spiritual “Father,” מ-אב emanating from the father.
A recurring theme in the author’s definition of true service of the Lord is that when pertaining to service of the Lord, ecstasy is not only permitted but desirable, whereas ecstasy when applied to anything material, secular, is strictly forbidden. Furthermore, true service of the Lord is performed in a “hidden” manner, i.e. must not attract public attention, so as not be seen as arrogant behaviour. Whatever man does publicly, i.e. to draw attention to himself, is by definition חצוניות, externalism, not reflecting the sanctity of the soul. Bileam refers to the קרקר, extreme coldness, to be maintained when engaged in secular but necessary activities, so that any show of enthusiasm for the performance of such tasks will not be mistaken as religiously inspired.
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