Musar sur Le Deutéronome 4:34

בחודש השלישי … ביום הזה באו מדבר סיני. Rashi says that all the Torah had to write was: ביום ההוא, "On that day." Why did the Torah write: ביום הזה, "On this day?" This was to teach us that words of Torah should always appear new in our eyes, as if they had been revealed to us this very day. It is therefore incumbent upon each one of us each and every day of our lives to remember the epsiode of Mount Sinai, the revelation, and the giving of the Torah. We must be conscious that G–d chose us from amongst all the other nations although we had been so inextricably mixed up with the Egyptians that our departure from Egypt is described in the Torah (Deut. 4,34) as the removal of גוי מקרב גוי, "one part of a nation from another part of that same nation." We must remain constantly aware of all the miracles G–d performed on our account so that we should be able to arrive at Mount Sinai and shed the pollutants from the original serpent still remaining within us. We should always keep before our mind's eye that G–d gave us the Torah, something that He did not give even to the ministering angels. We must also be aware that all our collective souls were present at Mount Sinai when all this occurred and when G–d spoke to us face to face. In view of all this, how could it even occur to a person for a moment to again risk being covered with the pollutant of the serpent by disobeying G–d once again? Are we not all part of the oath which formed the Jewish response to G–d's offer of the holy Torah, i.e. "we shall do and we shall hear?" I have written more about the moral implications of all this in chapter ten of my treatise עשרה מאמרות.

אל תבט אחריך . When G–d does a person a favor to which he is not entitled by personal merit, such a person should feel shame and embarrassment. He most certainly should not feel superior because G–d has chosen to do him such a favor. This is why the angels rushed Lot, as if to say: "Be happy that at least you save your life." On the other hand, when the Jewish people were liberated by G–d from Egypt, and G–d performed many miracles, they had indeed merited those. This is why the Torah says אשר עשה ה' אלוקיך במצרים לעיניך, the miracles G–d performed for you in Egypt in front of your very eyes" (Deut. 4,34). Not only were the Israelites saved from the effects of the plagues, but they were allowed to watch the Egyptians suffer from them.

Now let us explain the difference between the terms קבה, and ארה respectively, though both are forms of curses. The word קבה means to possess the power to curse with one's mouth at the moment G–d is angry. The word ארה has two meanings. One meaning is also a form of curse, the other is derived from כמלא אורה וסלו, "like the space required by the collector (of figs) to fill his basket" (Mishnah Shvi-it 1,2). In other words, it means "collection." The Zohar (Sullam edition Balak, page 92) explains that this expression alludes to Balak asking Bileam to gather different herbs used by the most competent sorcerers, put them in a witches' brew, etc. Once he realised that Bileam's power was greater when he employed his mouth, he reverted to ask Bileam “קבה לי” (22,17)! On the first mission Balak sent the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian, seeing they were the experts on sorcery. He commanded them to ask Bileam to employ ארה, seeing that the dual meaning of that expression would include the curse by mouth and the curse by means of sorcery. He made sure the Midianites had their charms and the Moabites their respective instruments of magic. Since the Midianites had no knowledge of the closeness that existed between Israel and G–d, he did not want to affront them and therefore he sent the tools necessary for sorcery. Balak's principal intention was that Bileam curse the people by mouth. Bileam understood Balak's intention thoroughly, and that is why he mentioned קבה when G–d asked him what these men had wanted from him (22,11). The second mission, which did not include a delegation of Midianites, as Rashi has explained, comprised שרים רבים ונכבדים מאלה, "more princes of higher rank than the previous ones." The word נכבדים, refers to Moabite theologians who were aware of the close relationship that existed between G–d and Israel. This is why the emphasis is on קבה, curse by mouth, the only thing which might loosen this closeness between G–d and Israel. Whereas the first delegation consisted of politically more distinguished people, who are therefore referred to by Bileam as "princes," the second delegation did not contain such politically highly placed individuals, though those people were far more learned in the ways of magic and sorcery. Bileam referred to them as עבדי בלק, their political standing in the Moabite hierarchy. Bileam quoted the words of the Moabite man on the street who knew only that Israel had resided many hundreds of years in Egypt, the center of witchcraft and sorcery. They were therefore concerned with fighting Israel by more powerful witchcraft. Balak, who knew better, was aware that Israel did not operate witchcraft and sorcery, referred to them as גוי, an allusion to G–d having orchestrated the whole Exodus by separating גוי מקרב גוי, "one nation from the midst of another nation," as we know from Deut. 4,34. He knew that at that time Israel had discarded all their former relationship to sorcery, and assumed a close relationship with G–d instead.