Musar do Zachariasza 2:19

The "winds" mentioned in the Midrash are references to the dispersal of Israel among the nations. We know this from Zecharyah 2,10: "For I have scattered you like the four winds." Rashi on Genesis 25,21, explains the word ויעתר to mean repeating, multiplying; he cites Proverbs 27,26: "the kisses of the enemy are profuse," in support of this. We already said that this verse in Proverbs alludes to the curses turning into blessings, i.e. the "enemy" showers you with kisses. Another thoroughly treacherous aspect of Bileam comparing Israel to cedars prior to adding the words עלי מים, is that the ארזים are always a symbol for the Patriarchs. The merit of the Patriarchs has always stood by Israel and saved it from destruction. Bileam wanted them to rely on that merit, thus make them feel they did not have to repent while in exile. This is why he emphasizes "there is no harm in sight for Jacob, no woe in view for Israel" (23,21). By lulling Israel into complacency with these flattering comments he hoped to prevent Israel from returning to G–d in penitence. If someone truly loves a person, has his real interests at heart, he will reprove him rather than flatter him, and will draw attention to any blemish such a person may suffer from. The word ארזים, cedars, also has a connotation of stubbornness as we know from Taanit 20b, that "a person should strive to be soft as a reed and not hard like a cedar. The remedy to such hardness lies in one's humbling oneself." Words of Torah are compared to water, since just as water starts in a high place and flows downwards, i.e. water is content to "lower" itself, so words of Torah which originate in high places cannot be fulfilled except by people who are first prepared to humble themselves (Taanit 7a). In light of the foregoing, the comparison to "cedars" is a great blessing indeed. It means that we ourselves are now comparable to the Patriarchs who in turn had been compared to the "cedars of Lebanon."

When we read in 31,16: לעשות את השבת, the extra word את suggests that we should add a little from the weekday to the Sabbath, i.e. commence the Sabbath before sunset. The words: לא תבערו אש, "Do not make a fire" in 35,3, also hint at the statement in the Talmud that wherever we find that the Sabbath is also being desecrated, we are liable to find a conflagration (Midrash Hagadol based on Jeremiah 17,27). Observance of the Sabbath on the other hand, will lead to the redemption and the rebuilding of the Holy Temple. G–d will then be as a wall of fire for Zion, as we know from Zachariah 2,9.

Although this parable describes the descendants of Esau as burning the Holy Temple, we must remember that no human being can burn G–d's building unless G–d wants it burned. To remind us of this, Jeremiah, in Lamentations 1,13, describes the Temple as being burned ממרום, "By Heavenly decree. This appears to make G–d guilty of the burning of the Holy Temple, in line with the example quoted in Baba Kama. Exodus 22,5 describes a situation where a fire is lit within one's private domain, the fire crosses that domains's boundary, ומצא קוצים, and "encounters stray thorns," as a result of which the neighbor's corn-stacks are burned. The Torah clearly holds the party that started the fire as liable for any damages arising from his action. Allegorically speaking, G–d assumes the blame for the destruction of the Temple, saying: "I have lit the fire." This is the meaning of Lamentions 4,11: ויצת אש בציון ותאכל יסודותיה, "G–d set fire to Zion and it consumed its foundations." G–d will also personally rebuild it, as we know from Zachariah 2,9: ואני אהיה לה נאום ה' חומת אש מסביב ולכבוד אהיה בתוכה "I, says the Lord, shall be a wall of fire surrounding it, and I shall be glory in her midst." When the Torah had said in Exodus 22,5 שלם ישלם המבעיר את הבערה, that the one who started the fire shalll surely pay for the damage, G–d says that it is He who has to pay for the damage caused by the fire.