Musar su Genesi 35:11

Verse 3, i.e. the words אף חובב עמים, require analysis. Rashi writes that the two words mean that G–d displayed this additional love for Israel by treating each tribe as a whole nation. He bases this on G–d's blessing of Jacob in Genesis 35,11 where He refers to the as yet unborn Benjamin as a "nation." Rashi's comment on this verse is generally understood to mean that the title "nation" bestowed on a mere tribe indicates special fondness for that tribe. I do not believe that this is what Rashi had in mind. I believe that Rashi referred to the words אף חובב as meaning "a different dimension of fondness." The word אף indicates something additional. We have evidence of this in the statement in Avot 3,14: חביבין ישראל שנקראו בנים למקום, followed by the words: חיבה יתירה נודעת להם שנקראו בנים למקום. "Israel are beloved of G–d for they are called 'children of G–d.' They enjoy an additional degree of fondness (by G–d) for they have been called 'children of G–d.'" The very repetition of the wording in these two statements in the Mishnah makes it plain that the author wanted to tell us that the "fondness," חיבה, described here is not of the ordinary variety. Rashi meant to convey the same idea, i.e. that the fondness displayed by G–d for Israel is not of the ordinary variety. The verse refrains from spelling out the nature of this different dimension of "fondness" G–d displays for the Jewish people. The example Rashi quoted is only an illustration of the fact that Israel the nation is referred to in the plural i.e. as עמים, instead of merely as עם. This is why Rashi quoted the example of the tribe of Benjamin itself as being called a nation. The additional dimension of G–d's fondness for Israel then is that the whole nation is called עמים (pl.), and not that a single tribe of it is called עם. Personally, I feel that these words allude to something else. Since the Torah has many facets I may be allowed to state my own view. I understand the word אף here as hinting to us that the words חובב עמים should be read as if they had been repeated, the message being that the Torah also alludes to the light which has been hidden and will only be revealed to the righteous in the future. Since it is going to be revealed to them exclusively, this represents an additional dimension of G–d's fondness for us because we cleave to G–d.

Balak and Bileam were both very clever and learned people who used their knowledge to evil purpose. They were both well aware of the close relationship that existed between Israel and its G–d. Balak was even wiser than Bileam. He was privy to the great chain of the dynasty of David and how it would eventually result in the Messiah's descent from David. He knew that this very strength of Israel was rooted in himself, i.e. עצום ממני, as we have outlined. The reason he was afraid was that he realized that purity can emerge from an impure source, that the good can have an evil source, in order that the מלאך רע would have to say אמן, as we have explained above. This is why his mind worked overtime to devise a plan to sever this close relationship between Israel and its G–d. He wanted to reverse the relationship. He thought that if he were to succeed all the deeds of valour that would be performed by David in the future would accrue to his own people instead of to Israel. This is why the paragraph starts by telling us "Balak son of Tzippor saw all that Israel had done to the Emorite." The three names by which Balak refers to Israel represent three distinct merits or advantages of Israel. He called them עם, because they were very numerous, since G–d had blessed them to become as "numerous as the stars in the sky" (Genesis 22,17). The description בני ישראל, implies an even closer relationship with G–d. When Balak referred to Israel as ישראל he described their highest level, the level that we hope to attain when we all qualify to be the elite. The word בני, "sons of," implies that we are only branches of something just as children are branches, offshoots of their parents. ישראל on the other hand is the trunk that these offshoots come from, the place in which the image of the original Israel, the fighter for G–d, our patriarch, is engraved, the throne of G–d Himself. That is the source from which all souls are "hewn" as from a quarry. As mentioned, Balak was well aware of the cosmic forces and the role Israel played in that constellation. In order to loosen the bond between Israel and G–d he wanted Bileam to curse them at the precise moment in time when G–d is "angry." The significance of a curse is to reinforce the voice of the accuser who brings Israel's iniquities to G–d's attention at that moment when G–d allows Himself to become angry, i.e. the רגע של זעם. Since Bileam was a יודע דעת עליון, privy to G–d's mind, he knew the right time and he also knew how to present an unfavorable picture of someone. He was the ideal man for this task. Balak had a vision of an imminent sin Israel would commit, as proved indeed the case when they sinned shortly thereafter by becoming seduced by the daughters of Moab. This is why he urged Bileam ועתה לך ארה לי, "curse them for me now," seeing that their punishment by G–d would follow almost immediately. Balak had seen the expression of G–d's closeness to Israel by the many miracles G–d had performed for that people. All this is reflected in the Torah's stating וירא בלק את כל אשר עשה ישראל לאמורי, "Balak saw all that Israel had done to the Emorite." He realised that only a people who enjoyed such a lofty spiritual status as indicated by the name ישראל, could have accomplished that feat. Although Balak had witnessed the defeat of the Emorite, seeing that he had been one of the princes of the Emorite, his people had not seen it, had only heard about it. Hence when describing the feelings of his people, the term used for Israel is simply "העם." Nonetheless, even the people of Moab were aware that there existed a special relationship between Israel and its G–d; hence ויקץ מואב מפני בני ישראל. When the Moabites discussed what to do with the elders of Midian who were not aware of the special relationship between G–d and Israel, they emphasized the numerical strength of the Jewish people by referring to them as קהל, meaning that every individual tribe qualified for the description עם, and that they were as described in Genesis 35,11, גוי וקהל גוים ממך יצאו, "a nation as well as a community of nations will come out of you." The expression קהל then emphasizes the twelve tribes that between them made up this nation.

When Rashi refers to Jacob as staying behind to retrieve פכים קטנים, he meant that Jacob was solitary as long as Benjamin had not been born. When G–d had told Jacob at Bet El in 35,11: "Be fruitful and multiply…and kings will come forth from your loins," He used the plural to indicate that He referred to King Saul and his son Ish Boshet who were both anointed from a cruse. David and Solomon were anointed from a horn. Due to our various and numerous sins, G–d גדע, "dehorned Israel in a display of burning anger" (Lamentations 2,3), until in the future the horn of G–d's anointed Messiah will again be raised.